Happy Birthday Mike!

Monday was Mike's birthday. He is the big 3 9. We are going to have quite the party next year so mark your calendars! I think he had as nice a birthday. He was a very good sport, he spent the whole day at clinicals (equivalent to work) and then was drug to my ladies' group at church (Circle) for his evening entertainment and meal (not exactly what he was expecting). It was a lot of fun and he had a much better time than he thought he would. We did sit with his podiatrist and briefly discussed feet (low point for me – feet freak me out!) but luckily not the entire time and he and his wife are really nice. There were performances by Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Chubby Checkers, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sonny & Cher, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. AND Marilyn Monroe personally serenaded Mike for his Birthday. It was quite a treat. He was tickled. I didn't know they were going to do it but he still said I set him up. Oh well, if ever there was a guy that deserved to be serenaded by Marilyn Monroe, I would say it was Mike, as long as that is all she tried. ;) So I think/hope Mike had quite a birthday!

Cultural Weekend

Well the baby had quite a culture filled weekend. German was the main theme but we wrapped it up with some Italian. Friday night we went to see The Producers downtown and it was great. (For those of you who don't know, a large part of it is poking fun at Hitler) I saw it in New York last time I was there but Mike and the rest of the family had not seen it. Thorsen Patrick didn't get half of it (thankfully) but he decided that Ms. Taylor, his science teacher, would fill in the gaps. Good Luck Ms. Taylor!

Saturday morning was an Herbal Adventure on Teas. (the leader of this H.A. was our resident German – more German culture). I made tea the entire time and was exhausted by the time it was over. I took at two and half hour nap afterwards.

Saturday night we went to Taliano's with my folks to one of their "Emmy's" nights. Emmy's was a German restaurant in town that went out of business for one reason or another and they were testing out the cuisine to see what kind of interest there would be if they brought it back. Evidently it was popular but we never went and Saturday night I found out why. I don't believe I am much of a fan of German food. I didn't particularly care for most of it when I was over there as a teen and didn't really care for it Saturday night. We did have a very nice evening of dining but I wouldn't choose that particular cuisine again. The pork sausage in the appetizer was the best part – the whole two bites!

And we wrapped up culture fest weekend on Sunday night at the I.C. Spaghetti Supper. We went with Mom and Dad Hassler and Uncle Gene. It was a nice event as always, more my kind of eats too. Spaghetti and mushrooms. Yum! And an ice cream sandwich for dessert. I think the baby liked this night the best too, not that I can feel it but I can only assume.

Icky Sicky

Not a lot to report on the baby front this week. I have been down with a big dose of an upper respiratory infection. Mike took me to get an ultrasound Friday at school. The teacher couldn’t make it so he did it all by himself. It looks like it is doing a lot of wiggling around in there and we watched when I coughed (I have a horrible cough that is the worst symptom I have) and it just jostled around what looked like all over the place. Poor kid, I know it hasn’t been an easy week for it. The cough has been pretty fierce. I haven’t been this sick since I had Mono in grad school.

Hopefully I will be on the mend by Monday. Mike, Hazel and my folks have been taking very good care of me. Next week or so we are going to try the ultrasound thing again to see if Mike can figure out the gender. Can’t wait!

Wocka Wocka Wocka

We went to the doctor yesterday for the monthly check-up. We got to hear the heartbeat. It was so fast and and furious. We didn't record it because of the static but Doc said that as the weeks go on that it will get louder and more clear. So we will record for all to hear in the future. It sounds a bit like "wocka wocka wocka." Not the Fozzie the Bear "Wocka, Wocka, Wocka," but very fascinating and surreal. I have a little bambino growing inside of me!