Good News

I just noticed that we haven't blogged in a while, so I wanted to at least get something out there. This will be short...

Brett has been applying for jobs since Vienna and he finally received and accepted a job offer!!! This is HUGE for us. So it looks like we are eventually going to be heading back east. Once HR gets his processing done, we'll be real people earning real money! Before that we might be in AZ though, so that's pretty exciting for us. :)

Anyway, that's the news. I'm so proud of Brett. :)

Oh and I'm still pregnant, with less than a month to go. So weird. I can't believe we're going to have a little baby. I think we might be getting closer to a name, but we might not settle on one until he gets here...

We don't have our camera cord here, so even though I have some pregnancy pictures to put up, they will remain on our camera for now. So, here's a picture that I just like.

So as it turns out, pregnancy is one of the most uncomfortable experiences EVER and I still have to go through that whole labor thing, which I hear can also be somewhat uncomfortable. All I know is that this kid is kicking, punching, and draining the life right out of me. He's been sucking up all of my iron and even finding a way to make sure my lungs are good and squeezed so I can't breathe. But in the "bright side" category of all of this... I guess this means that he is healthy. It's good to know that he's moving around like normal (even if it hurts me), and that he has a "good, strong heart beat" according to the doctor. So all is well there. And now in the "holy crap I can finally relax a little bit" category, we finally have insurance for me and little guy!

Applying for insurance here in CA has been a real headache and we were seriously starting to think I would have to fly back to AZ to apply for AHCCCS - you know, health care for people who don't have jobs that provide insurance or people who can't afford other health care. At first they told us we had too much money to qualify. I thought it was funny that having "too much money" sure felt like not having enough, considering that the money in my bank account was money we had saved specifically for when we moved here because rent, groceries, and gas are all super expensive in CA. And the money Brett had was mostly from student loans, which is like fake money. At any rate, after jumping through all of their crazy hoops, I finally have MediCal insurance. Woot woot!

Also in other good news, Brett is starting to finally hear back from some jobs. He's been applying for all kinds of jobs since we were in Austria and it's been really stressful for him waiting to hear back. I didn't stress about it too much because I couldn't fathom how someone like Brett wouldn't get a job. That's just plain crazy. So all-in-all, things are finally looking up for the Walker's. Life in Monterey started out a little horrible, but things seem to have taken a turn for the better. And for the sake of adding a picture to the blog, here's me and Lexie (my little sister's dog that I have dognapped for the time being.) She's been great company since Brett is gone all day most days and she also forces me to actually go outside and walk for at least 30 minutes a day.



I realize this is a short post, but we'll have more updates later. I just wanted to get the good news documented.

It has been a while since we last blogged. I might feel bad if there was something to actually be blogged about. Though we both agree that this has easily been one of the longest months of our lives.

Since the housing market crash and all the foreclosures, many people in Monterey have begun to rent. This puts quite a strain on the already difficult (and expensive) rental market. Since technically school is done in December, we were looking for a place to stay only through the end of the year. Nothin doin. The rental agencies have gotten wise. Minimum one year leases are the new norm, and all rentals have gone up about $200 a month since a year ago. Bummer.

We finally found a place that would let us go month to month right away. But it needed a serious scrubbing down. I literally bleached the walls and ceilings of this place. When one does this, it is best to wear gloves. Extended exposure to bleach can open up some pretty gnarly sores on a person's hand. But the new apartment is doing the trick. And it's only a 5 minute walk to the beach.

Other notable occurrences in this last month were the anti-nationalized health care protests in Monterey. Lots of people were protesting Obama and his proposal with slogans on big white poster boards. Except for one rascal. One grizzled protester had a tattered cardboard sign that just said "Quit Lying, Bro." He is obviously light-years ahead of the political dialogue in this country.

I can't believe that is the most memorable thing from this last month.

Lindsey's belly is growing out of control. I swear it was like I woke up one morning and our little guy just decided to thrust his presence on the world. But she is such a pretty little pregnant woman. Three more months and our band of gypsies grows by one. Unreal.



There might not be any more posts until then... because we're lazy people.

Home

So I didn't write anything before I left. There are many complex reasons for for this, but mostly it's because I didn't want to.

Growing up I never was able to go over seas or "do" Europe on my summer breaks. So this last year around the world, and especially this last 6 months in Austria, has been without precedent. This will be a short summation of Europe through Brett's eyes.

Firstly, I have always been a big fan of stereotypes. Anyone who knows me knows that. I find they are a shortcut to the truth. Being an American, I have collected many preconceptions about Europe and its inhabitants throughout my life - many of them thanks to The Simpsons. I am proud to report that everything you have read on the internet and seen on TV about Europe is true.

The most pronounced feature of Europe by far is the smell. While we like to joke about smelly Europeans and how they don't shower, etc., I can honestly report that I have never had a stereotype confirmed in such an aggressive way. Hot summer days on unconditioned subway cars make for some highly offensive commutes.

The second thing is the size. Everything in Europe is small. I had about 6 inches of wiggle room in our little shower. So I could hardly move without bumping the faucet handle and turning the water off, turning it to scald, or turning it so freeze. Whereas in America the shower is a good place to relax, get warm and give yourself a good scrub-down, in Europe it is a constant battle against your own body mass. I suppose this reality might be a factor in the previous observation.

Lastly - the styles. Europeans loves wearing scarves. They wear scarves as long as humanly possible before they sweat to death. And mullets. The mullets in Europe are like a thing of the future. The really stylish kids all have mullets. In fact, the regular mullet is just a starting point. Anyone who considers themselves totally sweet has at least the basic mullet. But it's how you improve on the basic model that really proves your worth. To be taken seriously one must have some tight jeans with all kinds of pockets and zippers on them, and a mullet with some serious razzle dazzle.

That's all I feel I can say about that right now. So on to my feelings about fatherhood.

I am not actually sure I've come to terms with the fact that Lindsey is pregnant. I know there is something kicking around in her belly, because I've felt it. And I know that it is growing, because I can see it. But that's about all the reality that has hit me so far. As for being a father - who even knows how to prepare for a thing like that. I guess I'll not leave out sharp objects as much and try to watch my cursing as best I can. But I just know that the whole gush of fatherhood's realities are going to hit me as soon as I actually see the thing for the first time. Until then, I really don't even know what to say about it.

Also, we really don't know what to name him... so suggestions are welcome.

It's good to be back in AZ.

Francy Pants

Lindsey and I went to Paris for three days or so. We are not going to spend any time blogging about it because anybody can already guess everything that we did and saw when we were there. Guess what? There were palaces, cathedrals, a river, and tasty local cuisine...



Here are the pics from the event.

We will be home from Europe on Tuesday. But before we come back, I plan on writing a final treatise on our European adventure, and how I feel about fatherhood. I'll also include some personal thoughts on soon becoming a dad. Stay tuned...

!!!

Salzburg

I just want to state for the record that I now understand why Maria was traipsing around the hills of Salzburg singing.

Case in point:

(Also, doesn't Brett take nice pictures?)

We didn't have a lot of time to hang out in Salzburg, so we basically just wandered around the downtown area, checked out where they filmed parts of The Sound of Music, and we tried to go to the Eagle's Nest on our last day. Unfortunately you can't drive up to it and it was 15 Euros a piece to take the bus up there and that doesn't include the tour that you have to pay for if you want to go inside. Sure, we could have walked up to the building, but that would have been two hours of walking and although I'm in the best shape of my life right now, we didn't have time for that because we had to get our rental car back to Vienna. (Please tell me you know I was being sarcastic about the "best shape of my life" comment.) At least the view from up there was worth the drive.

Somehow I don't think Hitler ever sat back and enjoyed the view though...


Here is a picture of me and Brett by the river (and you can kind of see my baby bump).



Schloss Mirabel is where they filmed the Do, Re, Mi scene. So obviously I had to walk around the whole place singing the song... although as it turns out, having only seen the movie once I didn't really know all of the words. Is there more to it than the Do a deer, a female deer, Re a drop of golden sun, etc.? The world may never know.



We also visited the palace where they shot some of the exterior shots of the Von Trapp home. Here we discovered the "Sixteen going on Seventeen" gazebo from the movie, but Brett was too disappointed with it to take a picture. (Apparently all of the interior shots of the gazebo, including the dancing, was shot on a sound stage in California. And this particular gazebo is locked up because according to imdb, "the public had to be excluded from the interior because film fans who were considerably older than 'sixteen going on seventeen' were injuring themselves while trying to dance along the seats.") So here's just a random picture from the palace.



We also hiked up to what we thought was the stone theater they used in the movie. It didn't turn out to be THE stone theater from the movie but it was A stone theater...



Our trip was short, but it was beautiful. We'll be home in less than two weeks and we can't wait! I am pretty sure that I'm going to put on at least 10 pounds in the first week after we get home though. I'm so excited to eat everything I've been dreaming about. (I literally dreamed about food all night last night. I guess that's what happens when you look at cooking and baking websites and blogs for too long. I just get so hungry sometimes!)

In conclusion, I don't know what this guy was playing, but he sure was good.

Red, White and BLUE

Over the last three years, Brett and I have had some pretty un-American 4th of July's. Three years ago, Brett and I were thousand's of miles apart, but both equally sweatty and miserable. Brett was in Middlebury, Vermont having a conversation with an FBI agent and anxiously waiting for the power to come back on, while I was in Arizona with my parents attempting to watch the fireworks but being forced to leave early because of my younger brother. This was probably the worst of the last three. (Oh and just in case you didn't know, Brett wasn't being interrogated or interviewed by the FBI agent or anything, he was just talking to a fellow student in the intensive summer Arabic program at Middlebury College.)


Last year, we were together, but we were also in Jordan. We actually did get to see some fireworks that night, but only because you can pretty much count on a fireworks show every night due to the ridiculously high amount of weddings in Jordan. We did manage to make the evening somewhat American with a rousing game of BANG! with some other Americans, but we were also getting over some food poisoning which makes life much less exciting.

This year, we tried again to make things as American as possible, starting our 4th of July with some "I'm Proud to be an American" and any other pro-America songs we could find. That night we went to TGI Friday's and ate some delicious hamburgers.

I love that they have this saying painted on the wall:


After the burgers, we walked down to the Rathaus (City Hall) to see what they were playing for the summer film festival. They really only play ballet's and opera's (it is Vienna after all) and I thought it would be nice to see a ballet, but it was a really weird one, and Brett can only handle so much anyway (he once took me to the Nutcracker for Christmas and could hardly stop giggling at the men in tights...) So after about a half hour, we went home.



On Sunday I decided to make a flag cake. According to my cake there were only 7 original colonies and 20 states, but that's ok, right?



The thing that makes this holiday even more difficult is hearing from family and friends about all the fun stuff that they are doing. Brett's family all headed up to Utah to get out of the heat and just hang out as a family. It broke our little American hearts every time we talked to them and saw how much fun they were having together. So hopefully next year we will be with family and friends in the good old USA. I always knew that I loved America, but living outside of the US has made me appreciate it even more.

As for why the blue in the title is capitalized... we found out on Wednesday that we are having a little boy. :) He was quite the little showman about it too. My mom not-so-secretly hoped I would have a girl first and Brett's mom and Caraline also thought I would have a girl, but I think everyone is happy either way. He's healthy and growing along like a champ. I already have a little bump and I can also already feel him moving around. Even the doctor was surprised that I could feel him moving already. She's also been surprised at his activity level the last two visits. Once when she was trying to get a clear picture of him for us to take home she said, "oh my goodness! He's dancing!" (She actually said "it's dancing" because this was before we knew it was a boy.) At any rate, he's very lively. I hope that he will settle down once he makes his debut into the world... To all the moms out there, do you think there is a correlation between a baby's activity level in the womb and their temperment once they are born?

I think that's about all the news I have for now. Sorry I haven't put up any pictures from the ultrasound's, but you all know what those look like, right? We're just happy that he's healthy and all is well. We also have some other things that we are looking forward to....
Harry Potter, anyone?

(This is my "over the moon" face)
After Harry, we're heading to Paris and then we're coming home, so all-in-all, things are good.