FROHE WEINACHTEN- MERRY CHRISTMAS in NEVER NEVER LAND **

FROHE WEINACHTEN BLOG!


Weather: Unfortunately we have not received any measurable snow.....and I know why.....its because next winter LEGS will be away and I will have to do ALL the SHOVELING by myself.....


Exchange Rate:  Due to the fact that the EURO is in trouble our exchange rate has been much more forgiving.....


After all the drama, debates, and tug of war it turns out......


LEGS says: 'I'm excited about Christmas.....'


In my mind: 'Is he fucking serious?'


LEGS and I hardly ever drink hard alcohol.....in fact I would say that the one month out of the entire year we do drink booze is December......


Last time I remember buying a bottle of booze was back in August when I canned 30 jars of Red Vodka Sauce.........


We have this thing over here.....its this hold over of WWII, its a rations card, we have to show it when we buy liquor, tobacco or coffee......


I think that its a little silly since.....every time I visit a commissary/PX I see germans in there shopping for everything else- and I just don't see the point of regulating things- its not like during the war that these things are hard to come by now- AND its not like we don't have the 19% tax removed from the items we buy on the economy.....


Anywhoo......


I don't remember what happened to the damn rations card and I am up against booze deadlines......


This is how the conversations went:


ARMS:'LEGS? Have you seen the rations card? I can't find it....'
LEGS: As usual he is half paying attention to me....'NO....'
ARMS:'Well what should I do if I can't find it?'
LEGS:'I don't know I think I get into trouble.....it will turn up....'
ARMS: GRUMBLE GRUMBLE GRUMBLE.....


Knowing that I have not changed my wallet, my purse or where I would place the rations card I am convinced its lost in the nebular of papers stacked in secret places in the house......


I would also like to state at this time that I said out loud to LEGS that I had NOT changed my purse or wallet since the last bottle of booze I purchased......


Not knowing what to do next I inquired what my next step might be on the Spouses and Moms group page on facebook for us military wives over here.....


The answers were bleak......mostly that LEGS would get a counseling because I had misplaced the rations card- which is a CONTROLLED ITEM....


%$#@!


*&^%!


$#@%!


Gosh DARN IT!  I was going to be one of those wives that is irresponsible and gets her husband in trouble......


The next day I went to speak to somebody about it....SURELY I wasn't the FIRST DIZZY WIFE that had lost the rations card?


I parked and went into the headquarters building.....which is already nerve racking as it is....the Colonel is housed in this building a long with numerous other important people....


I walked into the specific shop that controls and handles the rations card business with a fellow wife and liason....the ENTIRE office stared at me like I was a silly stupid girl, and basically told me that LEGS would have to report to his chain of command, confess to the LOST rations card, take a COUNSELING STATEMENT, and then they would re-issue one.....


Frustrated, embarrassed, and a little scared to admit to LEGS what was going to have to take place.......I hung my head in shame and left the headquarters building.....


I called LEGS on the phone......and as soon as he answered I lost my nerve to tell him the situation.....


When he got home later in the evening I told him what I had discovered earlier that day about the rations card......


AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED......

LEGS:' I FOUND IT!!!!' From the bedroom....
ARMS: Walking down the hall.....'WHERE AT?'
LEGS:'.............uh.....In my wallet........'
ARMS:' ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?'


Good friends of ours were kind enough to invite us over for Christmas Eve Dinner.  She was going to prepare a rack of lamb.  AND she went through a lot of trouble to obtain that rack of lamb.  Two trips to Nuremberg in two days to purchase a rack of lamb from the Turkish Meat Market.  


We arrived and brought with us side dishes and AUNT FRAN'S famous BRANDIED EGG NOG cheesecake.  We feasted and celebrated together the life long dream of mine to spend CHRISTMAS IN NEVER NEVER LAND.....


We have been together for a long time.....so I can always tell how things will end up, but it does not oppress my annoyance......


LEGS LITERALLY FELL ASLEEP AT THE DINNER TABLE......

I suspect he will argue with me over this, so let me clarify.....


The lights were on but nobody was home.
The mall was open but nobody was shopping.
The elevator was not reaching the top floor.
His eyes were open but he was not AWAKE.....


HORRIFIED at his LACK OF ENTHUSIASM, PERSONALITY and the seeming BORDUM he was displaying I attempted to pep him up, beg, tease and plead for him to WAKE UP! To no avail.......I hustled him right out of there and proceeded to GRILL him about his behavior the whole way home.....

And then he proceeded to stay up until 130am when we arrived home.....


We opened one present on CHRISTMAS EVE:

Matching FOOTSIE pajamas- with the added benefit of wearing our rightful alter-ego symbols.....AND handmade by OMA MARIANNAE house shoes!


A CHRISTMAS MORNING MONTAGE:


First I would like to say that for a family of two- we are VERY VERY SPOILED- we received many presents from the MOTHERLAND, and were able to purchase some nice items for each other.......


Sometimes I turn around and I am doing the same things that bothered me as a kid.......


While I snoozed Christmas morning LEGS stood at the door coffee in hand, begging me to get up while I replied....the same way my Mother used to growing up on Christmas morning....


"5 more minutes......10 more minutes....we will open in half hour!"

I painted LEGS a painting of him for CHRISTMAS: This is the painting in stages.....WHO KNEW~!?! Turns out I can PAINT!

While I was painting this picture- I REALLY CONSCIOUSLY REALIZED how INCREDIBLE LEGS IS......A recon marine who can jump, dive, survive, shoot well and has COMBAT EXPERIENCE.......In addition to that......he is the AVIATOR of one of the MOST CHALLENGING AIRCRAFT that EXISTS TODAY........


A NEW COUSSEN FAMILY TRADITION:  Christmas Morning Brunch 


We had Æbleskiver (Danish meaning apple slices (singular: æbleskive)) are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. The English Language spelling is usually aebleskiver or ebleskiver.

Its things like this that make me so grateful that I have TRAVELED out of ALASKA and experienced these things- after spending Christmas in a foreign country I now have COOKIE RECIPES, NEW TRADITIONS, GLUHWEIN, OLD CHRISTMAS with more TRADITIONAL NON-AMERICAN TOYS/ORNAMENTS and a more worldly knowledge/perspective that will carry on in MY OWN family until the DAY I DIE.....


KNITTING PROJECTS:


Here is one of my most favorite pieces I have made so far:

Fitness Update:


So......I started going to a boxing gym in NEVER NEVR LAND.....it took some definite coercion by LEGS to actually pull the trigger and go.  Boxing gyms in the States are already intimidating places, most people don't just walk into them even though they are curious, most rough men I know won't just walk into a boxing gym without at least knowing somebody who goes there.......


Imagine walking into a boxing gym in a foreign country! Nobody speaks your language, how will you know what to do?  How stupid are you prepared to look?  LEGS said "Tiff.....your a rare bird.....you are less than one percent, no- less than 1/2% who would ever walk into a boxing gym in a foreign country...."


I sat out in the parking lot thinking about how nobody speaks any english, I had no idea what to expect, I was confident in ONLY ONE THING and that was I am in FANTASTIC SHAPE.....still what would they subject me to my first day!?  I was more nervous about walking into this German gym than I was in most of my fights......so nervous I LITERALLY almost THREW UP in the parking lot.......


I did learn a valuable lesson......


Its never as bad as you think its going to be.  I actually enjoyed myself, and the Coach reminded me a lot of my first boxing Coach.  It made me smile a lot during practice and at one point I almost shed a tear because I miss him so much........


Practice is twice a week, I have been going for a month.  The Coach is Russian, and his german is deplorable.  I am one of the oldest people in the gym, and of course the ONLY girl.  But........it makes me happy being in there, for 2 hours, twice a week, I get to be inside my own head, I get to do something that I enjoy, something I don't even need to think about....I get to be myself.......even IF I am the ODD GIRL OUT.....


ALSO- here is an update on my progress in ADVOCARE:


JULY 2011 138lbs.  Beginning of my 24 Day Challenge:

DECEMBER 2011 132lbs.  5 Months Using ADVOCARE......


TTC Update:


After months of giving my Primary Care Provider the benefit of the doubt.....I finally changed her for another.  I respected her, we had a lot in common and I was confident in her abilities as a doctor, but communication-wise she was not suitable for me.  


My new Primary Care Provider is not a MD, he is a Physicians Assistant, HOWEVER, for the first time since I have been in NEVER NEVER LAND- I felt that like he ACTUALLY LISTENED TO ME, and we moved forward and several things.  


It turns out- I have Amenorrhea.  Its the absence of a Menstrual Cycle for a woman during her reproductive years.  I have SECONDARY which means that I used to have normal periods but PROBABLY DUE to my years on birth control AND my THYROID PROBLEMS- there has been a hormonal imbalance........


LEGS is going to get his LEGIONS checked- as a precautionary measure.  I have a WELL WOMAN exam after the NEW YEAR and we are moving forward to see a FERTILITY SPECIALIST.  


I feel relieved that we are moving forward, but also scared and nervous.....I am worried they are going to tell me that we can't have children.  Most people would say not to think like that- I am not, but I won't say this isn't in the back of my mind......


We look around us and EVERYBODY, every SINGLE one of our FRIENDS have kids or are expecting.....its hard, I am not going to LIE.....its also really hard seeing and hearing people complain about the kids they DO have, or yelling at them, or taking them for granted.......or in general being BAD PARENTS......


What's worse is the INSECURITY I experience to SAY anything....since I don't have children I don't say anything, because who am I if I don't have children.......NOBODY.......




Recipe by Tiffany: 


GRILLED VEGGIE PITAS- EASY AND HEALTHY- AND DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

4 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed and gills scraped out
2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
1 red onion, cut into 4 even slices
1 red bell pepper, thickly sliced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces Humboldt Fog or other fresh goat cheese
4 whole wheat pitas or thin sandwich buns, halved

Method

Preheat a grill to medium heat. Brush mushrooms, zucchini, onion and bell pepper with vinegar and oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill vegetables, covered, 8 to 12 minutes or until tender, turning once halfway through cooking (mushrooms and onions will take longest). Set vegetables aside to let cool, then roughly chop. Spread cheese in pitas and stuff with vegetables.

BEFORE YOU DIE: GO TO A GERMAN CHRISTMAS MARKET

MOVIE PICKS:


127 Hours


Water for ELEPHANTS


RANDOM THOUGHTS:




When people consistently complain about life- its always like the ONE re-occuring constant is YOU.....


KARMA WORKS.....you may be done with the past but the past may not be done with you.....LATELY I have had a FRONT ROW seat to the KARMA FACTOR and it hasn't been pretty.......


CHRISTMAS......in the life of an UNLIKELY MILITARY WIFE.......**