Bummer.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
The best laid plans sometimes come to a crashing halt. I had a babysitter lined up and planned to meet a friend for coffee this morning. The sun was shining, I was able to take a shower AND wash my hair... and then Lydia woke up. With a mysterious fever. She was showing no signs of illness and in fact had a much sweeter disposition than I have come to expect in the morning. But I just didn't feel right leaving her with a sitter. Maybe if she was a 2nd child, right? By then I might be saying "Hey, she's not throwing up...". So, I was under house arrest with Lydia today. Thankfully, she was really pleasant and into playing with her toys. I was worried about having her out in the sun too much with a fever, so we spent a beautiful, sunny day indoors and had a movie marathon. Our friends, Emily and Eloise, were kind enough to lend us some of their DVDs for a little variety. We crammed 2 days of movies into one day and felt a little couch-potatoey by evening. Let's see; in Czech that would make us "pohovka brambory".
Monday, August 29, 2005
Did you know that they are importing GOLD into the Czech Republic and selling it under the name "Pam"?!? Yes, I paid $4 for my can. Since we couldn't move aerosol cans from the States, I have been Pam-less for 6 months. It's true, I have managed to get by. But when I saw this on the shelf at the potriviny (corner store) I just had to snatch it up. I promise I will make it last the duration of our time in Prague...
Member #3322
Friday, August 26, 2005
We're members! Last week I was introduced to the local video rental store by our neighbor, Bente. Since it's in Suchdol (the town near us) and not Prague, the prices are quite reasonable. So in preparation for the weekend, I decided it was time to rent a DVD. All they required was my passport and the membership fee of 20 Kc (less than one dollar). For that bargain basement price, I can rent a DVD for less than $2... even a new releases. Lookout Blockbuster -- here comes VideoNiko!
18 month check-up
Tuesday morning at 9:00 we had Lydia's 18 month check-up scheduled at the medical clinic. Of course, she decided to "sleep in" and I had to wake her up at 8:00 to make the appointment. Yes, that was my first mistake... waking her up. Let's just say Lydia was not so agreeable at the doctor's office. It felt a little ridiculous when they were trying to check her hearing by shaking a little toy behind her head and she was screaming so loudly that she couldn't hear the toy. It was one of those Little Lydia moods where she doesn't want to be held, or put down; she doesn't want to play with toys, or give them to me; she doesn't want her shoes on, or off... you get the picture. When it came time for her immunizations, the Dr. went to fetch a nurse. I was by Lydia's head, the nurse ready to hold her feet and the doctor had the needle. They stuck Lydia in her leg and she didn't make a peep. Not one tear. The doctor said, "Wow. That was easy. I thought we were going to need extra assistance". Now, where do you think she ever got that idea?!?!?
Lydia is "very healthy". Still off the charts, but they assure me she's just fine since she's following her "own personal growth line". She weighs 13 kg and is 87.5 cm long. You can do the math on that -- I just know she's a lot bigger than her friends! I'm beginning to think gymnastics and figure skating may not be in Lydia's future.
Lydia is "very healthy". Still off the charts, but they assure me she's just fine since she's following her "own personal growth line". She weighs 13 kg and is 87.5 cm long. You can do the math on that -- I just know she's a lot bigger than her friends! I'm beginning to think gymnastics and figure skating may not be in Lydia's future.
Sinks, weeds and a "kanibal"???
Monday, August 15, 2005
Today was the most dreariest, rainiest day. I am becoming resolved to the idea that summer was over in Prague before it ever began. Looks like we're leaping right into fall. Lydia did not fare well cooped up indoors all day, and we were all quite happy to see daddy at the end of the day.
Our landlord, Mrs. Korcova, and her entourage arrived to fix our kitchen sink. I guess it was a minor problem since it only took 10-15 minutes to repair. Then Mr. Blaum felt the need to demonstrate that the leak was fixed by filling the sink, draining it and wiping his hands on the pipes below the sink before showing me that his hands were still dry. He repeated this demonstration two or three times to ease my fears.
Now on to the story of my neighbors and my weeds. After arriving home the other day, the English-speaking construction worker, George, (remember the one who pointed out to me that Nellie was outside too long on a "hot" day?) approached my gate with another Czech homeowner in the neighborhood. After asking if I "have a minute" and proceeds to ask me for "my help". The area between our fence and the street is not landscaped because the entire neighborhood is still under construction. In fact, for the time being the area in question is used on a regular basis as a parking spot for random construction vehicles. Over the course of the 6 months we have been here, some pretty tall weeds have grown in that area. George and his buddy were appalled at the appearance of this area and requested that I help them by threatening my landlord that we are not happy with the weeds and that we will not pay rent if he does not do something about it. "After all," George reasoned "You have guests come to visit, and certainly you care what it looks like to them. And I am certain that in America neighbors would be very unhappy if their neighbor's house looked like this." He continued, "Actually, I am quite surprised you have not already complained to your landlord." Oh Boy. Doesn't George know that the weeds are the least of my worries and that as we speak the locks on my front gate and my front door are not functioning and my kitchen sink is leaking?!? Actually I am in quite a state of bliss with my functional, 99% complete terrace!
To wrap things up, if any Czechs are reading, I'd like some input on a rendevous I had with some beef this week. I needed some ground beef, but all that the store had looked a bit fatty. That is, except this one lone package off to the side. It had the words I'm used to reading on the packages of beef, but they were followed by the word "kanibal". This has me quite concerned since I am reasonably confident they are not selling human meat in the grocery store -- but what else could this mean?!? The meat has already been consumed and we are suffering no ill effects. Hmmmmmm.....
Our landlord, Mrs. Korcova, and her entourage arrived to fix our kitchen sink. I guess it was a minor problem since it only took 10-15 minutes to repair. Then Mr. Blaum felt the need to demonstrate that the leak was fixed by filling the sink, draining it and wiping his hands on the pipes below the sink before showing me that his hands were still dry. He repeated this demonstration two or three times to ease my fears.
Now on to the story of my neighbors and my weeds. After arriving home the other day, the English-speaking construction worker, George, (remember the one who pointed out to me that Nellie was outside too long on a "hot" day?) approached my gate with another Czech homeowner in the neighborhood. After asking if I "have a minute" and proceeds to ask me for "my help". The area between our fence and the street is not landscaped because the entire neighborhood is still under construction. In fact, for the time being the area in question is used on a regular basis as a parking spot for random construction vehicles. Over the course of the 6 months we have been here, some pretty tall weeds have grown in that area. George and his buddy were appalled at the appearance of this area and requested that I help them by threatening my landlord that we are not happy with the weeds and that we will not pay rent if he does not do something about it. "After all," George reasoned "You have guests come to visit, and certainly you care what it looks like to them. And I am certain that in America neighbors would be very unhappy if their neighbor's house looked like this." He continued, "Actually, I am quite surprised you have not already complained to your landlord." Oh Boy. Doesn't George know that the weeds are the least of my worries and that as we speak the locks on my front gate and my front door are not functioning and my kitchen sink is leaking?!? Actually I am in quite a state of bliss with my functional, 99% complete terrace!
To wrap things up, if any Czechs are reading, I'd like some input on a rendevous I had with some beef this week. I needed some ground beef, but all that the store had looked a bit fatty. That is, except this one lone package off to the side. It had the words I'm used to reading on the packages of beef, but they were followed by the word "kanibal". This has me quite concerned since I am reasonably confident they are not selling human meat in the grocery store -- but what else could this mean?!? The meat has already been consumed and we are suffering no ill effects. Hmmmmmm.....
We're baaa-ack!!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
So, it's been a bit silent in Prague 6, hasn't it? We returned on Monday around noon and spent 5 not-so-fun days tackling jet lag. Actually, our internet has been out of commission most of the week and has been off and on this weekend. But besides that, it has taken us a little while to readjust to our life in Prague (particularly Mommy and Lydia).
Our flight back to Prague was pretty tumultuous. Yes, we were again "that couple"... only this time our pain and agony lasted 8 hours. From the moment we boarded the plane in Minneapolis, Lydia made it quite clear that she was not in the mood. Brandon and I both agreed that the experience ranked pretty high on our "Top 10 List of Life's Most Painful Experiences". Lydia finally slept the final 2 hours of the flight, but that was it for the night. Needless to say, she was shutting down by the time we were in the car from the airport to home.
Brandon dove right back into work and didn't have any hint of jet lag. Lydia woke up pretty consistently for an hour around 1:00 am and then would sleep until I had to wake her up at 9:00 a.m. so that the afternoon nap wouldn't be destroyed.
It's been good to get together with our friends in Prague again. We've already made several trips to the park with Emily and Eloise and our neighbors Bente and Henric. Hopefully the play groups and other activities will resume again soon as well.
Lastly, do not fear... it looks like the Blogger Fodder continues to flow. We have discovered a leak under the kitchen sink that is supposed to be repaired tomorrow morning (I'll let you know how that goes!); Our pool circulator is making a strange grinding noise; And I've been approached by a couple of future neighbor men about the unsightly weeds between our fence and the road... But that's a story for tomorrow as well.
Our flight back to Prague was pretty tumultuous. Yes, we were again "that couple"... only this time our pain and agony lasted 8 hours. From the moment we boarded the plane in Minneapolis, Lydia made it quite clear that she was not in the mood. Brandon and I both agreed that the experience ranked pretty high on our "Top 10 List of Life's Most Painful Experiences". Lydia finally slept the final 2 hours of the flight, but that was it for the night. Needless to say, she was shutting down by the time we were in the car from the airport to home.
Brandon dove right back into work and didn't have any hint of jet lag. Lydia woke up pretty consistently for an hour around 1:00 am and then would sleep until I had to wake her up at 9:00 a.m. so that the afternoon nap wouldn't be destroyed.
It's been good to get together with our friends in Prague again. We've already made several trips to the park with Emily and Eloise and our neighbors Bente and Henric. Hopefully the play groups and other activities will resume again soon as well.
Lastly, do not fear... it looks like the Blogger Fodder continues to flow. We have discovered a leak under the kitchen sink that is supposed to be repaired tomorrow morning (I'll let you know how that goes!); Our pool circulator is making a strange grinding noise; And I've been approached by a couple of future neighbor men about the unsightly weeds between our fence and the road... But that's a story for tomorrow as well.
