texans on the autobahn

Joe takes the first bite of the chocolate meringue pie made especially for him. . .he managed to get one more slice before it all disappeared! 

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 10:50 AM 0 comments

Robin got into a great discussion about his confusion learning the German language while surrounded by our German friends. At one point, even they were arguing with each other about what was correct. . .needless to say, that the German language is not only difficult for foreigners to learn, but it's also difficult for native speakers! De, der, das. . .whatever! 

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 10:49 AM 0 comments

An international Thanksgiving with three German families and three American families. New friends we'll remember for a lifetime! 

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 10:47 AM 0 comments

Joe and Mom on Thanksgiving in Germany. . . 

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 10:45 AM 0 comments

Sam and Zach contribute to the Thanksgiving feast by pealing potatoes! 

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 10:45 AM 0 comments

God is Good!

Last week I started physical therapy for my knee. Right now, it consists of me laying down and the therapist doing most of the work, stretching my leg, and massaging it for about an hour, and also showing me strengthening exercises I can do at home. The only bad thing is that after an hour of massage on my bad leg, my good leg and the rest of my body feel neglected! On Thursday I went back to see my doctor. I can’t tell you how nice it has been to have a doctor who is so kind. Dr. Buehler said on Thursday that I am doing good and he is pleased with my progress so far. Then he started telling me that he knew another American woman in a nearby town that he thought was really funny, who had 3 children. He sat at his desk and was looking up her name and phone number because he thought I might need a friend. I assured him that I had many friends here because of our involvement with the community through soccer, but that I would look up her name in our school directory. How often is it that a doctor is kind enough to be concerned that a stranger in a different country has friends? Here I was so concerned about the “bed side manner” of German doctors, and I think now that it is better than American doctors! I must say, my heart is overwhelmed with his kindness and generosity. All of the prayers of my family and friends from home certainly contributed to such kindness during a difficult time. God is good all the time. All the time God is good!

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 7:14 PM 0 comments

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag

On Monday I celebrated my birthday in Germany. So on Sunday night, I requested an adults only dinner at a restaurant in downtown Munich called Thaifoon, serving Thai food; similar to PF Chang’s at home, but no lettuce wraps!!! We invited our neighbors the Islers and our friends, the Glagows. Because most people living in Germany, including each of the families coming to the dinner, don’t have cars big enough for more than 4 people, we suggested to our friends, the Glagows, that we all ride the s-bahn or train into Munich. Tom, having just arrived that day back in Munich after a week long trip to New York City (yes, I am envious) said that he and Vera would just drive. So we and the Islers took the train and said we would meet them at the restaurant for a 6 pm reservation. Now, here’s the funny part. The Glagows were really late!!! Why is that funny you might be wondering? Well, to me it’s funny, because here we are, a bunch of Americans, and we had no problem getting to or finding the restaurant. And what’s even funnier? Well, Tom called trying to get directions from Robin. They had arrived nearby but of course, parking is not always close to where you want to be. Robin tried to describe to Tom where the restaurant was “ you know Tom, the church that has the two onion top things on top”. Of course, any tourist who had spent any time in downtown Munich would have known what he was talking about. So Tom then talked to one of the waiters to get directions from him in German. Guess what happened? The waiter, who spoke German, told Tom and Vera to go the wrong way! Eventually, Tom and Vera made it to the restaurant, and because it had started snowing last week, they were quite cold. Now, granted, we had been there before, both by car and by train, but come on, a bunch of Americans know Munich better than those who have lived here a lot longer? Well, it’s like I told Robin who lived in San Antonio. It’s not much different from you never having been to the Alamo and you never took the opportunity to visit it before you met me. So, the lesson here? Take advantage of the cultural opportunities where you live. . you would hate to get lost in your own city wouldn’t you? Dinner was great and I loved spending time with my friends.

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 7:13 PM 0 comments

Our first snow of the season, and it's a big one. We had a small amount of snow on Friday, and a lot of soccer games were cancelled including Sam's. However, on Monday it is dumping snow - time to get out the shovels and clear the driveway and the sidewalk in front of our house as that is the law in Germany! Good thing I have boys in the house that can handle this! 

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 9:19 AM 0 comments

Joe plays a game in the snow on the artificial turf. . .November 19, 2005. Only snow that covered the important field lines were cleared. Lohhof wins 4-2. 

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 9:17 AM 0 comments

Ahhhhhh, that feels good!

Today I went to my first session of physical therapy. Above the gym where I was exercising before my accident, is a PT office, so I decided to go there so that I can visit my friend Vera when she's exercising. There is a cappucino bar, and it's a place where a lot of people hang out, whether they are exercising or not.

Laura, was my PT today and she spoke a little English. Robin was supposed to have made the appointment with a specific therapist that definitely speaks English but somehow that's not what happened. Not sure if that was an English to English error between Robin and me, or an English/German to German error between Robin and the receptionist over the phone. But no worries, Laura and I were able to communicate clearly. She was surprises that she could understand my English so well. I have been told that a lot, and I tell them, just because I'm from Texas doesn't mean I'm not educated. . .

I didn't have to do too much, I just laid on the table while Laura attempted to stretch my leg. It was a lot like doing stretches before or after training but with the trainer handling it all, and only on one leg. Towards the end of the stretching I was having a cramp in my pelvis and she said that was because the muscle runs from below my knee all the way up and the muscle is short right now, so stretching it is necessary. Then I enjoyed (for the most part) a massage all over my quad. That's the strange thing to me, I guess because I don't know a lot about the body, but I have had a lot of pain in my thigh/quad and my calf. The massage felt nice and I asked her if she could just do that all day, either that or teach Robin how to do it. When the massage was over, she gave me this big popsicle of ice and I had to move that around on my knee for about 5 minutes. (I much preferred the massage).

I have PT sessions scheduled from now until the middle of December. Things are looking up . .. the doctor said I could even ski again if I want, but not before Christmas. I'm sure my parents and family don't think that's a great idea! We'll see. . .my knee will surely be stronger now than it was before the surgery.

Thanks for everyone's prayers!

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 3:41 PM 0 comments

RRRIIIPPPPPP ! What was that in my knee??????

I can't even begin to describe the experience I had when the doctor removed the drainage needle from my knee. There are no words to describe the sensation! And I also don't believe this is related to any way to being in a different country and culture!

As I was sitting on the exam table, the nurse was beginning to remove the bandages from my knee. Robin was in the room, but not too close. He had promised me he would hold my hand when the doctor came in to remove the drainage needle. Shortly after the nurse started removing the bandages, the doctor walked in rather quickly, didn't say a word to me, and immediately moved towards my leg. I knew something was up!!! "OK, what's happening? What's going on?" I panicked, then rrriiiippppppppp, I felt like a thin knitting needle was being removed from my leg (and Robin says I was right about the description as he later went to look at it in the trashbin!) I wish I had recorded the sound that came out of my mouth, because I don't think I have ever made that sound before, and I pray that I never will again. The doctor gave me no warning. He didn't speak to me, or shake my hand first, which he had always done previously. I couldn't, as my mom had suggested, prepare for child birth breathing techniques before he removed it. Just rrriiiiippppp! Oh my God! Because Robin was no where near the hand he had promised to hold, I ended up sitting bolt upright and grabbed the skinny little nurse's arm. And I know that I grabbed it quite firmly! It took me a while to even catch my breath, as my eyes welled up with tears. In the end, I guess they have to do it that way - really fast and when you least expect it, otherwise no one would ever sit still for it! Of course, after the doctor ripped the device from my knee, he left the room again! He came back not long after, and at that time he attempted to shake my hand, but I just balled up my fist at him, while he and the nurse laughed. I eventually regained some semblance of composure, and everyone was laughing, though I was laughing the least.

Since I don't understand much of what they are saying in the doctor's office when they are speaking German, I have decided that they must rate everyone's scream when these needles are removed, and they all must have a good laugh about it every time. Otherwise, I'm not sure if they could even continue to do it every day! Thank God the worst is over. Let the healing begin!

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 3:24 PM 0 comments

I don't ever want to do this again!!!

My surgery is over and it was more complicated than the doc had anticipated. What should have taken 30-45 minutes took almost 2 hours because I had a complete rupture of the meniscus. Dr. Buehler also cleaned up some of the “fibers” from my torn acl. However, as it turned out, I didn't need my own robe, as this time I was provided a surgical gown. Thank God!

I had thought that Robin would get to be with me up until the point they took me into surgery but he didn't. I waited in the "staging" area for about an hour. I think I was the doc's 2nd surgery that day. I wished Robin had been able to stay with me before the surgery because I was alone and of course everyone was speaking German, andI didn't have my ipod to listen to because it was in the locker.

I crutched myself into the surgery room. That is so weird. When I had Joe I walked myself into the surgery room too. It's just a weird experience. I think they should put you to sleep then wheel you into the surgery room. So I get in there and I hop up on the table, not an easy thing to do in my condition. I was really nervous. The anesthiologist started talking to me telling me I would start to feel light headed and dizzy and before you knew it, I was out. . .that was so weird, so weird, so weird.

I woke up in the recovery room really groggy and thirsty. The doc came in a little while later and tried to talk to me, but that wasn't happening. He later told me that I had looked green when he had come to talk. I think my blood pressure was really low. They had me sipping some tepid tea and then they had me drink some water that had drops of some medication to bring my blood pressure up.

I still had pain, but it was in a totally different location and just different. The pain of the ruptured mensicus was gone, the pain I had was from the drainage tube/needle in my knee. I finally got to go home around 5:30. We had planned to be home sooner than that, but since the surgery took so much longer. . .it took me a while to get out of the place, because I was still groggy and on crutches. They had me sit down on the couch and drink some more of the water with drops.

We got home and I was hungry, but I found out that eating was a mistake. I only ate a few saltine crackers and some cranberry juice with water and got sick. Not pleasant. Poor Robin! I know he can't wait for this to all be over and he can get back to a normal routine. But I couldn't ask for a better husband! He commented that we had reached a new level in our relationship!

The day after the surgery I went back to the doctor's office. I had not slept well at all, with all the queasiness, and discomfort. We thought the doctor was going to remove the tube but he decided to leave it in until tonight. Sam and his friend Zach, thought the flask type thing draining all the blood and fluid from my knee was "cool", but I finally decided to cover it with a sock so I didn't have to look at it. Because there was so much fluid, the doctor said if he took it out too soon and my knee swelled up, then he'd have to drain it, and I definitely didn't want to do that again. While we were there however, I got to hear a lady scream when her drainage needle was removed. I made the doc promise to be gentle, though I'm not so sure you can be so gentle that it won't hurt.

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 3:15 PM 0 comments