Lizzie's Age!
12.21.2008
12.14.2008
Anyone Seen Will & Cara?
So, Thanksgiving came and we had lots of people over. And we were real busy. Hmm...are real busy. So, this is to let you know that, again, we're still alive on this side of the world. Cheers!
11.14.2008
Format troubles :-/
So, the previous two posts are backwards... Halloween was first; Gongju was mid-Nov. I just happened to start the Gongju one first, so even though I published 'Halloween' first, when I posted 'Gongju', it showed up as if it were earlier! Grr... So, sorry for any confusion!
Halloween
I've been so looking forward to Halloween, because I found Lizzie a tiger costume! And a super cute one at that. My squadron is the Tigers, so it's very appropriate. Enjoy!
Lizzie with her Gma, showing off her Tigerness
Kim learning what it's like to be mommy to a cute little girl in an Asian country (i.e. mobbed by everyone with cell phone cameras), at the Squadron's Halloween Sports Day. Lizzie became our team's mascot, we won the tournament, and she got to take home the MVP prize!
Lizzie Tiger got a little tired from all the sporting excitement
TSgt B was glad to hold her, while mommy took part in the Tug of War, which clinched our victory!
At home, she played for awhile before changing into non-Tiger clothes
We went to our church's 'Hoedown', which is their Halloween-alternative. Lizzie had a good time (for the most part!)
Will decided to rock his giant belt buckle, and it was a hit!
Lizzie with her Gma, showing off her Tigerness
Kim learning what it's like to be mommy to a cute little girl in an Asian country (i.e. mobbed by everyone with cell phone cameras), at the Squadron's Halloween Sports Day. Lizzie became our team's mascot, we won the tournament, and she got to take home the MVP prize!
Lizzie Tiger got a little tired from all the sporting excitement
TSgt B was glad to hold her, while mommy took part in the Tug of War, which clinched our victory!
At home, she played for awhile before changing into non-Tiger clothes
We went to our church's 'Hoedown', which is their Halloween-alternative. Lizzie had a good time (for the most part!)
Will decided to rock his giant belt buckle, and it was a hit!
Gongju!
Hello again! Last weekend we (Will, I, Lizzie and Will's mom who is here to play with her grandbaby while I work) went to Gongju, which is a smaller town a few hours south of here. The drive there was great - drove through some of the countryside, so there wasn't so much traffic, and we weren't in the middle of tall apartment buildings the whole way.
Lizzie was good as usual, and slept most of the way. She cried when she needed her diaper changed, and when she was hungry once, and that was it. We tried out her new stroller, and she seemed to like it for the most part, when there was something interesting to look at. Though, when I put her in front of the mirror in the bathroom so she could see herself, she immediately had a pouty face and started crying! Silly Lizzie...
When we got to the town, we followed the signs to a burial ground, which had a king's tomb. We wanted lunch, but didn't see a restaurant, so we ate ramen from the souvenir stand. Then we went to see the display. The tombs were all closed up, but they had recreated them inside a museum. We walked through and saw the displays, which were simple, but nice. It was fun to see a bit of history.
The king and queen's symbols were pretty neat, they are very intricate. The king's tomb was noticeably different from the others. All were brick/stone domes covered with earth (so they look like little hills from the outside). The king's tomb was made of small bricks which were all carved with symbols. Some of the other tombs were created of large, rough stones.
After the short stroll through the museum, we went outside to see the tombs themselves. It was a gorgeous day, clear blue sky, pleasant temp, and lovely fall leaves on the trees. We walked up an incline to look at the tombs, which looked like little round hills. The doors were all sealed, so nobody could get in.
While we were there, about 8 busloads of elementary-aged kids came for a field trip. They were going through all the exhibits with worksheets, trying to find the answers to the questions. I remember doing the same thing when I was young! When they saw us (the only foreigners), they said 'Hello!', 'Glad to meet you!' and 'Obama, Obama!' We laughed at the last one - who would expect a South Korean 4th grader to know about US politics? Just shows the world was watching.
After the tombs we went to a fortress. It was basically a wall around an open area, and other than a good view of the town and river, it wasn't all that exciting. The only thing of note was when one of the ticket sellers looked at me, looked at Lizzie, then looked at Will, and said 'your baby look like American president'. Umm... ok. I guess all mixed babies look the same! Lol.
We drove back via a different route, much quicker but through the city. A lovely day overall!
And now, some photos of Lizzie...
What Lizzie thinks of her toy catalog:
Naptime!
Bathtime with Mommy!
Bedtime story with Daddy!
Lizzie was good as usual, and slept most of the way. She cried when she needed her diaper changed, and when she was hungry once, and that was it. We tried out her new stroller, and she seemed to like it for the most part, when there was something interesting to look at. Though, when I put her in front of the mirror in the bathroom so she could see herself, she immediately had a pouty face and started crying! Silly Lizzie...
When we got to the town, we followed the signs to a burial ground, which had a king's tomb. We wanted lunch, but didn't see a restaurant, so we ate ramen from the souvenir stand. Then we went to see the display. The tombs were all closed up, but they had recreated them inside a museum. We walked through and saw the displays, which were simple, but nice. It was fun to see a bit of history.
The king and queen's symbols were pretty neat, they are very intricate. The king's tomb was noticeably different from the others. All were brick/stone domes covered with earth (so they look like little hills from the outside). The king's tomb was made of small bricks which were all carved with symbols. Some of the other tombs were created of large, rough stones.
After the short stroll through the museum, we went outside to see the tombs themselves. It was a gorgeous day, clear blue sky, pleasant temp, and lovely fall leaves on the trees. We walked up an incline to look at the tombs, which looked like little round hills. The doors were all sealed, so nobody could get in.
While we were there, about 8 busloads of elementary-aged kids came for a field trip. They were going through all the exhibits with worksheets, trying to find the answers to the questions. I remember doing the same thing when I was young! When they saw us (the only foreigners), they said 'Hello!', 'Glad to meet you!' and 'Obama, Obama!' We laughed at the last one - who would expect a South Korean 4th grader to know about US politics? Just shows the world was watching.
After the tombs we went to a fortress. It was basically a wall around an open area, and other than a good view of the town and river, it wasn't all that exciting. The only thing of note was when one of the ticket sellers looked at me, looked at Lizzie, then looked at Will, and said 'your baby look like American president'. Umm... ok. I guess all mixed babies look the same! Lol.
We drove back via a different route, much quicker but through the city. A lovely day overall!
And now, some photos of Lizzie...
What Lizzie thinks of her toy catalog:
Naptime!
Bathtime with Mommy!
Bedtime story with Daddy!
10.22.2008
Lizzieness
Hello again! With work, church, baby, etc, life is so busy it's hard to have a minute to think straight enough to have more than a paragraph of summary, and even harder to have a few minutes to type that info for all to see!
But, here is the copied/pasted list of the first section of the 'Lizzieness' file I started to record the little things Lizzie does. It's easier to keep that up than to write lots of blogs, and I figure it's interesting to at least some of you out there, as well! I'll throw in a few current photos too. I'm not editing it, so I hope it isn't too long. Enjoy!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But, here is the copied/pasted list of the first section of the 'Lizzieness' file I started to record the little things Lizzie does. It's easier to keep that up than to write lots of blogs, and I figure it's interesting to at least some of you out there, as well! I'll throw in a few current photos too. I'm not editing it, so I hope it isn't too long. Enjoy!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
During Sept, she tried out lots of new sounds, so she had lots of vowel and consonant sounds while babbling.
Lizzie often talks to her mobile that was hanging above her changing table. It had lots of black and white designs. She especially liked the outline of the little boy face, and would tell it stories, with very expressive faces and sounds, and lots of smiling. Beginning about Oct 1, she no longer looked at the mobile. When we replaced the b/w designs with colored pictures, she again enjoyed her mobile.
For about a week, starting on 1 Oct, Lizzie wouldn’t make her talking noises, only a high-pitched screeching that we termed ‘pterodactyl speech’. This lasted about a week, then went back to normal babbling.
5 Oct – Lizzie turned from her side to her stomach. She tries to sit up by doing a crunch and raising her legs at the same time. Must be good for strengthening her tummy muscles.
10 Oct - Lizzie sometimes spends up to 30 minutes in her play mat, talking to her lion, and manipulating the duck that rattles. Back in early Sept, her time on the mat was only 5 min. She also is now able to catch items even when swinging, and hold onto it, and let it go at will. She can hold onto the swinging duck now too. While on the mat, she often turns herself 360 degrees, by pushing with her feet on the stereo speaker, or coffee table next to the mat. And she also scoots. It looks like she will turn over onto her stomach but hasn’t done it in the mat.
10 Oct – Lizzie likes to hold her toy key ring, then drop it. Then we pick it up and give it to her, and she drops it again. She watches it the whole time, and knows what she’s doing. I think she’s practicing her coordination. Sometimes it gets stuck on her thumb, so she has to tip her hand to make it fall off.
Oct – She likes to help when we change her diaper, holding her legs up or straightening them at the right times.
10 Oct – Lizzie nearly sits without assistance. She can sit for a minute or two before falling to one side. She likes to play with her feet while sitting, and with colorful toys. She tries to put the ring of keys onto her toes, like grandma Claire often did. She is good at taking the keys off of her big toe when grandma Claire puts it on the toe.
11 Oct – Lizzie likes to grab her toes. I think I saw her chewing on her toe once too! She sits and tries to grab them, then holds on and moves her feet around with her hands. She does this while she’s sitting, while she’s laying down, and while I’m holding her.
13 Oct – Lizzie has been sucking on her bottomlip today. She started when she woke up, and often goes ‘hmm, hmm’ with her lip pulled in.
16 Oct – Lizzie definitely knows that the music starts on her play mat when she kicks it. She was determinedly pushing her feet against different parts of the foot pad until it started. Also, over the past month she has started the music in her crib several times, at night or in the morning, when she is bored or wants to go to sleep. To start that music, she has to push a button twice.
18 Oct – Lizzie is 4mo old!
18/19 Oct – Lizzie figured out how to roll over on purpose, while she was supposed to be sleeping. She was with mommy on a retreat in Seoul and was sleeping on a blanket on the chapel floor. When mommy went to check on her, she had rolled out of her wrapping and off the blanket, so at least a few rolls away. That night she wanted to practice rolling over in bed, near mommy but not with mommy’s help! Nobody got much sleep! At home later, she rolls over from her tummy to her back fairly consistently, but doesn’t have much motivation to go the other way – she doesn’t know it can get her closer to fun things yet!
21 Oct – Lizzie played with her book while on her tummy, chewing on the pages and moving it, and closing it. She is getting much stronger, and I think she may actually crawl (I had thought she would walk first). She can hold herself up on her hands/knees for a few seconds when I put her down, and also lifted herself on her hands and toes for a second at one point, like she was doing a real pushup! Mostly she tries to move by pushing her feet on things, she hasn’t figured out the value of her knees yet.
22 Oct – Lizzie can balance herself pretty well while she’s sitting. She puts an arm down in the middle or to one side to help, but can pick up toys and move them without falling over.
And finally, a video of Lizzie playing with her kitty ball in the back of the car!
10.01.2008
Still Remiss....
So, yeah... still remiss with the blog. I forget sometimes that we have this. All is still good, although Lizzie just got her first cold. On top of that, she got a mosquito bite that she learned how to scratch. So Lizzie didn't get that much sleep that night. Cara brought her into our bed due to the mosquito situation in Lizzie's room, which left me with not a whole lotta room to sleep, and a constant reminder to NOT ROLL OVER. Despite all that, I probably got more sleep than Cara, so I'm not gonna complain (too much).
Its finally starting to get cool here. This was the first week in which the temps were below 80° and the humidity wasn't ridiculous. The reason I mention this is because our power bill came. $531. Not bad actually... we were keeping a Lizzie & Grammy Claire cool all day long. The last time we ran 1 (one) AC like that, we ended up having a $800 bill. So, I think we're doing better. Plus this time we had 3 different ACs running at various times and sometimes simultaneously (Main room, Guest room, Master Bedroom).
I think that about covers most of anything....if not... you'll have to wait till I'm actually awake, and not my I-took-my-ADD-medicine-too-late-and-now-I'm-still-awake-at-3:00am state. I need to get up earlier.
Its finally starting to get cool here. This was the first week in which the temps were below 80° and the humidity wasn't ridiculous. The reason I mention this is because our power bill came. $531. Not bad actually... we were keeping a Lizzie & Grammy Claire cool all day long. The last time we ran 1 (one) AC like that, we ended up having a $800 bill. So, I think we're doing better. Plus this time we had 3 different ACs running at various times and sometimes simultaneously (Main room, Guest room, Master Bedroom).
I think that about covers most of anything....if not... you'll have to wait till I'm actually awake, and not my I-took-my-ADD-medicine-too-late-and-now-I'm-still-awake-at-3:00am state. I need to get up earlier.
9.06.2008
Update!
Hello! We've been remiss lately, so here are some quick updates:
I've been back at work for 2wks now, and it hasn't been too bad. I've been able to pump each day, in a new office that isn't occupied yet (no furniture). Once people move in, I'll have to find someplace else, but for now it's great! My job seems like it will be a lot less stressful than the other two I've held at Osan, and the guys I work with are wonderful.
We were in Beijing for 4 days of Olympic fun, check out photos and captions here
My mom is here until mid-October, taking care of Lizzie, and my dad came out for the weekend from Vladivostok. Lots of fun, and they love their grandbaby!
Lizzie is growing quickly, and is starting to really enjoy her toys, especially her playmat (from Uncle Kurt!) and her new Jumparoo. She has so many outfits, and is super cute every day! She's sleeping 6hrs then 4hrs at night, so not too bad, and she takes the bottle well from Grandma during the day (though she gets really excited to eat when Mommy gets home!).
Will is still working, and playing the bass at church. He also was pretty involved in VBS at church, so we got to see him up in front in skits for a few weeks.
We are both still going to our Tuesday night Bible studies. The women's study is about the Psalms of Ascent, and it is great fun.
That's about it! Lizzie keeps us busy, and entertained, and we are still enjoying life :-)
I've been back at work for 2wks now, and it hasn't been too bad. I've been able to pump each day, in a new office that isn't occupied yet (no furniture). Once people move in, I'll have to find someplace else, but for now it's great! My job seems like it will be a lot less stressful than the other two I've held at Osan, and the guys I work with are wonderful.
We were in Beijing for 4 days of Olympic fun, check out photos and captions here
My mom is here until mid-October, taking care of Lizzie, and my dad came out for the weekend from Vladivostok. Lots of fun, and they love their grandbaby!
Lizzie is growing quickly, and is starting to really enjoy her toys, especially her playmat (from Uncle Kurt!) and her new Jumparoo. She has so many outfits, and is super cute every day! She's sleeping 6hrs then 4hrs at night, so not too bad, and she takes the bottle well from Grandma during the day (though she gets really excited to eat when Mommy gets home!).
Will is still working, and playing the bass at church. He also was pretty involved in VBS at church, so we got to see him up in front in skits for a few weeks.
We are both still going to our Tuesday night Bible studies. The women's study is about the Psalms of Ascent, and it is great fun.
That's about it! Lizzie keeps us busy, and entertained, and we are still enjoying life :-)
8.17.2008
Lizzie's Friends
Hello all! I know we haven't written for a long time. Blame our trip to the US (which was great! check out the photos on Picasa), then the Olympics starting soon after we returned. Speaking of which, you may know that we don't regularly have TV, just dvds and video games. But, I wanted to watch the Olympics, so we borrowed a satellite dish and receiver from some friends who didn't use theirs because they recently moved on base. Will managed to set up the satellite dish after a few tries, and it's worked like a charm! We missed opening ceremonies, but I've had it on almost every day. Can't wait to go in person, we leave in the morning!
The main topic of this post is Lizzie, as usual :-). She used to hate her diaper changes, and would scream bloody murder from the time her back hit the changing pad to the second we had the new diaper fastened. We never figured out why. Well, that was before we went to the states for 3 weeks. At some point, she grew up a bit more, and started to realize that diaper changes were helpful, not hurtful. She became resigned to them, no longer screaming, but not really happy about it. After we returned, though, she noticed the mobile over her table. It had always been there, but she could never see it before. Now those mobile pictures are her best friends, and she talks to them whenever she lays down! No more screaming diaper changes :-)
Here is a video compilation of several changes. It may be a bit long, but I hope you enjoy my happy, talking baby Lizzie!
The main topic of this post is Lizzie, as usual :-). She used to hate her diaper changes, and would scream bloody murder from the time her back hit the changing pad to the second we had the new diaper fastened. We never figured out why. Well, that was before we went to the states for 3 weeks. At some point, she grew up a bit more, and started to realize that diaper changes were helpful, not hurtful. She became resigned to them, no longer screaming, but not really happy about it. After we returned, though, she noticed the mobile over her table. It had always been there, but she could never see it before. Now those mobile pictures are her best friends, and she talks to them whenever she lays down! No more screaming diaper changes :-)
Here is a video compilation of several changes. It may be a bit long, but I hope you enjoy my happy, talking baby Lizzie!
7.13.2008
Traveling to the US from Korea with an Infant...
So, Cara and I just finished the trek from Incheon Int'l Airport ROK to Denvier Int'l Airport, and it was a lot harder than it should be.
First, we got a ride to the Local bus terminal and got to ride in comfort to Incheon airport, and got on the bus, and was pretty nice ride. Once we got to the airport, and tried to check in, everything got difficult. First, we wanted to verify that we had an infant seat that would allow us to put Lizzie in a bassinet. When we did that, the ticketing agents found out that we hadn't paid for our infant ticket yet (which we knew). Then, when we showed them our passports, they noticed that Lizzie's Passport didn't have a Visa stamp and became worried. We got kinda annoyed cause Korea states that if our child is going to be in the country for more than 30 days, we have to get him/her a SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) stamp. Lizzie was only in country (out of the womb at least) for 21 days, so there shouldn't have been a problem. But even after explaining all of this, we still had to go to customs. On top of that, the office that would let us purchase the ticket was closed for lunch, so we had to call them to see when they were opened.
When we get to the Customs office, the line is rather ridiculous, and I end up changing Lizzie's diaper, and Cara had to feed her. We finally get called up, and show the Customs agent official Lizzie's passport. He looks at it a little strange at first, and then exlaims "No Problem!" He writes some Hangeul on the a scratch piece of paper and then staples it to the passport. We head over to the Delta office and get the infant ticket and then have to change Lizzie again on the way out of the Delta office. As we're heading back to the ticketing counter, we walk past a lot of Korean Flight Attendants. As they see Cara and Lizzie, they start to making the adorable "awww" sound as only women can do. So, in an effort to prevent a scene, we let them look at the baby. They were very happy about it. We finally head back to our ticketing agent (who has been waiting this entire time for us...wow...) and get everything squared away and head to the international security area.
When we get there, they ask where I'm going, I say US, and they hand me a set of sandals to wear that are like 5 sizes too small, while my shoes go through security. The koreans behind me chuckle as they see the shoes are not coming close to fitting. I take all of my electronics out (video camera & laptop) and and wait for my laptop back to get cleared. Well the guy scanning sends my bag through like 5 or 6 times, and keeps taking things out of my bag in the process. I know I have no scissors, nor anything flammable, so I wonder what's going on. Finally, he pulls out what he's looking for. I had a set of hex tool bits for a ratchet screwdriver with a phillips head bit on it. The phillips head bit was pretty sharp, and thus considered it gone. I apologize to the agent for bringing the phillips head bit out, but soon find out that the reason he pulled that out, was because they were tools. Grr... I can't stab anyone with those, nor can I use them on anything. I think someone misread the guidelines. But what do I know.
So we're finally through customs, and we hurry over to our gate cause we want to pre-board. When we arrive at the gate, I see the economy line is verrrrry long. So I walk to the gate agents to try and explain we have a baby, but they wave me to the Business Class line with out hesitation. Sweeeet. As we're walking down the Personnel Bridge (sorry, Jetway is a copyrighted company), we look for the gate check people. We don't see them, so we keep walking... and walking...and enter the plane. The ladies end up taking of stuff and storing it in the over head compartments. I never knew 747s had that much over head storage space.
Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that Cara and I couldn't get seated together cause there was only one bulkhead seat left. So we figured we'd try our luck with the bartering system. As I'm sitting, Cara tells me to come back to the front of the plane and we'll try and negotiate the seat switch. So as I get back to our seat, Cara asks the Korean Air Flight attendant to ask the lady sitting in the seat next to Cara, if she will switch with Me (Will). So the Flight attendant starts speaking english to the lady. That kind of startles me, since you'd figure she'd speak in Korean. I look at the flight attendants nametag, and... Oh! She's Japanese! That's not gonna work. Then a gentleman behind starts to translate the whole thing for us. Then the lady speaks. But it's not English, Japanese or Korean... wait... is that..? Yes! That's Chinese! Holy Cow! So, basically, she figures out what we're asking, and agrees. We find out later that the seat she was in wasn't the right one... but then later find out that everything was fine.
Partway through the flight, we have the bassinets installed in the seats in front of us. They are super nice cause it lets us put Lizzie to sleep without have to hold her the whole time. The downside is that they are engineered for people shorter than 6'4" (me) and thus, I had no leg room in part cause of the bulk head seat, but also cause of the bassinet. Dude... That was a long flight.
After that, everything became smoother. We got to LAX, went to customs, and changed Lizzies diaper. Then went through customs, sent to the back of the line for filling our paperwork in purple, went to the next customs agent, and interrupted his coffee break (he was a little disappointed, we could tell, but to his credit, he put his coffee away and got to work). Turns out that Lizzie was the youngest person he'd ever seen go through customs. We get our luggage, clear customs, recheck our luggage, and head to the terminal. Security this time is a breeze, and get to our gate, wait, and then board the aircraft. I get an exit row seat, and immediately pass out (I hadn't had any sleep since we took off from Seoul), and Cara ends up getting a seat with no one next to her. We land at Denver, get our luggage, and then get to the rental car place. We get upgraded for free and get to drive a Chevy Equinox .. its a nicer SUV than we were supposed to get (Kia Sportage...[I came to America to see something besides Hyundai & Kia...]).
We get on the road, and immediately notice that there is no traffic, parking spots are larger, and there's a whole lot of variety when it comes to the cars on the road. But I digress. Cara pulls out the directions for our hotel, and it states: Get off at Colorado Blvd at exit 226, take a left, and the hotel is on the right. Well, as she says that, we pass Exit 283. Either that's not right, or... that's not good... As it turns out, they meant exit 276. Whew. So we get off the highway, and turn left... and start looking on our right. And keep looking on our right... and keep looking. We figured we've been led down a bad path, so we stop and get a map, and ask for directions. Turns out we were on the right path, but no one mentioned how far south from the Highway the hotel was. So we keep driving... and driving... and driving.. and Yay! There it is! So we park, check-in, and start to relax. Ahhh.....
First, we got a ride to the Local bus terminal and got to ride in comfort to Incheon airport, and got on the bus, and was pretty nice ride. Once we got to the airport, and tried to check in, everything got difficult. First, we wanted to verify that we had an infant seat that would allow us to put Lizzie in a bassinet. When we did that, the ticketing agents found out that we hadn't paid for our infant ticket yet (which we knew). Then, when we showed them our passports, they noticed that Lizzie's Passport didn't have a Visa stamp and became worried. We got kinda annoyed cause Korea states that if our child is going to be in the country for more than 30 days, we have to get him/her a SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) stamp. Lizzie was only in country (out of the womb at least) for 21 days, so there shouldn't have been a problem. But even after explaining all of this, we still had to go to customs. On top of that, the office that would let us purchase the ticket was closed for lunch, so we had to call them to see when they were opened.
When we get to the Customs office, the line is rather ridiculous, and I end up changing Lizzie's diaper, and Cara had to feed her. We finally get called up, and show the Customs agent official Lizzie's passport. He looks at it a little strange at first, and then exlaims "No Problem!" He writes some Hangeul on the a scratch piece of paper and then staples it to the passport. We head over to the Delta office and get the infant ticket and then have to change Lizzie again on the way out of the Delta office. As we're heading back to the ticketing counter, we walk past a lot of Korean Flight Attendants. As they see Cara and Lizzie, they start to making the adorable "awww" sound as only women can do. So, in an effort to prevent a scene, we let them look at the baby. They were very happy about it. We finally head back to our ticketing agent (who has been waiting this entire time for us...wow...) and get everything squared away and head to the international security area.
When we get there, they ask where I'm going, I say US, and they hand me a set of sandals to wear that are like 5 sizes too small, while my shoes go through security. The koreans behind me chuckle as they see the shoes are not coming close to fitting. I take all of my electronics out (video camera & laptop) and and wait for my laptop back to get cleared. Well the guy scanning sends my bag through like 5 or 6 times, and keeps taking things out of my bag in the process. I know I have no scissors, nor anything flammable, so I wonder what's going on. Finally, he pulls out what he's looking for. I had a set of hex tool bits for a ratchet screwdriver with a phillips head bit on it. The phillips head bit was pretty sharp, and thus considered it gone. I apologize to the agent for bringing the phillips head bit out, but soon find out that the reason he pulled that out, was because they were tools. Grr... I can't stab anyone with those, nor can I use them on anything. I think someone misread the guidelines. But what do I know.
So we're finally through customs, and we hurry over to our gate cause we want to pre-board. When we arrive at the gate, I see the economy line is verrrrry long. So I walk to the gate agents to try and explain we have a baby, but they wave me to the Business Class line with out hesitation. Sweeeet. As we're walking down the Personnel Bridge (sorry, Jetway is a copyrighted company), we look for the gate check people. We don't see them, so we keep walking... and walking...and enter the plane. The ladies end up taking of stuff and storing it in the over head compartments. I never knew 747s had that much over head storage space.
Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that Cara and I couldn't get seated together cause there was only one bulkhead seat left. So we figured we'd try our luck with the bartering system. As I'm sitting, Cara tells me to come back to the front of the plane and we'll try and negotiate the seat switch. So as I get back to our seat, Cara asks the Korean Air Flight attendant to ask the lady sitting in the seat next to Cara, if she will switch with Me (Will). So the Flight attendant starts speaking english to the lady. That kind of startles me, since you'd figure she'd speak in Korean. I look at the flight attendants nametag, and... Oh! She's Japanese! That's not gonna work. Then a gentleman behind starts to translate the whole thing for us. Then the lady speaks. But it's not English, Japanese or Korean... wait... is that..? Yes! That's Chinese! Holy Cow! So, basically, she figures out what we're asking, and agrees. We find out later that the seat she was in wasn't the right one... but then later find out that everything was fine.
Partway through the flight, we have the bassinets installed in the seats in front of us. They are super nice cause it lets us put Lizzie to sleep without have to hold her the whole time. The downside is that they are engineered for people shorter than 6'4" (me) and thus, I had no leg room in part cause of the bulk head seat, but also cause of the bassinet. Dude... That was a long flight.
After that, everything became smoother. We got to LAX, went to customs, and changed Lizzies diaper. Then went through customs, sent to the back of the line for filling our paperwork in purple, went to the next customs agent, and interrupted his coffee break (he was a little disappointed, we could tell, but to his credit, he put his coffee away and got to work). Turns out that Lizzie was the youngest person he'd ever seen go through customs. We get our luggage, clear customs, recheck our luggage, and head to the terminal. Security this time is a breeze, and get to our gate, wait, and then board the aircraft. I get an exit row seat, and immediately pass out (I hadn't had any sleep since we took off from Seoul), and Cara ends up getting a seat with no one next to her. We land at Denver, get our luggage, and then get to the rental car place. We get upgraded for free and get to drive a Chevy Equinox .. its a nicer SUV than we were supposed to get (Kia Sportage...[I came to America to see something besides Hyundai & Kia...]).
We get on the road, and immediately notice that there is no traffic, parking spots are larger, and there's a whole lot of variety when it comes to the cars on the road. But I digress. Cara pulls out the directions for our hotel, and it states: Get off at Colorado Blvd at exit 226, take a left, and the hotel is on the right. Well, as she says that, we pass Exit 283. Either that's not right, or... that's not good... As it turns out, they meant exit 276. Whew. So we get off the highway, and turn left... and start looking on our right. And keep looking on our right... and keep looking. We figured we've been led down a bad path, so we stop and get a map, and ask for directions. Turns out we were on the right path, but no one mentioned how far south from the Highway the hotel was. So we keep driving... and driving... and driving.. and Yay! There it is! So we park, check-in, and start to relax. Ahhh.....
7.09.2008
3 Weeks
According to the Korean ladies, today is the first day Lizzie should be allowed to leave the house. I heard about this several times each time we went out previously, the first being when we brought her to church at 4 days old. A Korean lady I know came up and said, "she can be out?", told me that in Korea babies don't leave the house until 3 weeks, and then justified it to herself because the weather was nice. Since then, many Koreans have told me she is too young to be out, and look at me dissaprovingly. Though, in Starbucks when she was 9 days old, a Korean asked me how old she was, and then whispered, "when my daughter was 9 days old, we went to a movie!"
I don't think I've ever seen a "little" Korean baby. I see many larger ones, who seem to be around 6mo old and up, but never a small one. I wonder what they do while they're hiding?
The interesting thing is, when I carry her in the Maya wrap, I don't get any comments! Maybe they think she's older, or that it's ok because she's bundled close. Not sure.
One thing I do know, I couldn't have stayed in the house for 3 weeks. Not counting the doctor's appointment we had to go to, the paperwork processing we had to do to get that appointment, and the forms I had to turn in for leave, all of which required me to leave the house, I wouldn't have been able to stay without going stir-crazy! My trips to Starbucks in between errands were lovely, and walks around the neighborhood are a good way to get out and get some exercise.
But, in honor of Lizzie being allowed to leave the house, we'll go to the US :-)
----------------
Some things about Lizzie:
-she gets really really excited when it's time to eat
-she likes to try to 'inch' around, especially when she's laying on mommy or daddy, and gets mad when she can't (usually because she's run into something)
-she sleeps best wrapped up and in her bed
-she doesn't like her car seat very much, and won't sleep in it unless we're on a long road trip, but when we stop she wakes up
-she enjoys snuggling
-she likes to look around and watch shadows and faces, and sometimes we're not sure what she's watching
-her eyes get real big when she's close to something she wants to see, and she sometimes leans sideways to keep watching something
-she likes to be lifted high
-she doesn't want to be laying down if she's awake, she'd much rather be held vertically
-she hates diaper changes
-when she poops, it's really loud
-after she poops loud, she makes a cute, high-pitched "eh" sound
-she doesn't like wet diapers at all, even if they are just a tiny bit damp, but she will sit in a poopy one for quite awhile
-she likes to lay over a shoulder (in the 'burp' position)
-her fingers are super long and she likes to grab (she likes to hold mommy's finger when she eats)
-she sucks on her hands, and is learning about her thumb. she gets it about 1/3 of the time now
-she gets mad if she can't have access to her hands (i.e. don't wrap them up inside her blanket)
-she makes a super-cute pouty face right before she's about to cry
-her 'reflex' smile is adorable, mommy and daddy can't wait for the real ones
-she acts surprised when daddy blows air puffs at her
-she looks super cute in a fruffle
I don't think I've ever seen a "little" Korean baby. I see many larger ones, who seem to be around 6mo old and up, but never a small one. I wonder what they do while they're hiding?
The interesting thing is, when I carry her in the Maya wrap, I don't get any comments! Maybe they think she's older, or that it's ok because she's bundled close. Not sure.
One thing I do know, I couldn't have stayed in the house for 3 weeks. Not counting the doctor's appointment we had to go to, the paperwork processing we had to do to get that appointment, and the forms I had to turn in for leave, all of which required me to leave the house, I wouldn't have been able to stay without going stir-crazy! My trips to Starbucks in between errands were lovely, and walks around the neighborhood are a good way to get out and get some exercise.
But, in honor of Lizzie being allowed to leave the house, we'll go to the US :-)
----------------
Some things about Lizzie:
-she gets really really excited when it's time to eat
-she likes to try to 'inch' around, especially when she's laying on mommy or daddy, and gets mad when she can't (usually because she's run into something)
-she sleeps best wrapped up and in her bed
-she doesn't like her car seat very much, and won't sleep in it unless we're on a long road trip, but when we stop she wakes up
-she enjoys snuggling
-she likes to look around and watch shadows and faces, and sometimes we're not sure what she's watching
-her eyes get real big when she's close to something she wants to see, and she sometimes leans sideways to keep watching something
-she likes to be lifted high
-she doesn't want to be laying down if she's awake, she'd much rather be held vertically
-she hates diaper changes
-when she poops, it's really loud
-after she poops loud, she makes a cute, high-pitched "eh" sound
-she doesn't like wet diapers at all, even if they are just a tiny bit damp, but she will sit in a poopy one for quite awhile
-she likes to lay over a shoulder (in the 'burp' position)
-her fingers are super long and she likes to grab (she likes to hold mommy's finger when she eats)
-she sucks on her hands, and is learning about her thumb. she gets it about 1/3 of the time now
-she gets mad if she can't have access to her hands (i.e. don't wrap them up inside her blanket)
-she makes a super-cute pouty face right before she's about to cry
-her 'reflex' smile is adorable, mommy and daddy can't wait for the real ones
-she acts surprised when daddy blows air puffs at her
-she looks super cute in a fruffle
USA or Bust...
Except, that the only thing keeping me from the US is our plane crashing into the ocean or something. But tomorrow we go back to the US. We leave from 인천국제공항--that is Incheon Int'l Airport, get to LA the same time we left Korea (traveling across the int'l date line screws with my head sometimes...) From there we get to go to Denver, and then DC and then into North Dakota. So I finally have the opportunity to drive on large open roads and such. And don't worry, gas won't phase us, we're paying $4.19/gal here on base. However, its like $1.80/liter [$6.80/gal] on the Korean economy, so, I'm still not complaining...much. Well, it will be good to be back in the US. I wonder how much has changed since the last time I was there? (Sept '07 for a friends wedding). We shall see. But, please pray for Cara and I to have a safe trip!
7.07.2008
Picasa!
I tried out Google's photo organizing program yesterday, called Picasa, and I must say it is the coolest one I have seen - and totally free. There is a program to download which makes it super easy to see and organize all the photos already on my computer, and I can select the ones I want to make a web album, then on the website it's really quick to organize and caption them. I made 4 albums during Lizzie's nap yesterday! Check them out, http://picasaweb.google.com/wills.carebear. There is a collection of Lizzie photos, our spring trip to the Garden of Morning Calm, and our vacations to Thailand and Vietnam.
6.24.2008
Diaper Changing
I just finished changing one of Lizzie's diapers, and it was quite hilarious. I heard her poop while she was in her bassinet, and Cara checked and commented that I get to take care of Lizzie before she fed her. Well, as I was getting ready to change the diaper, I heard her poop again. Good thing I waited. So I waited a little bit longer to make sure she was done, and continued to change her diaper. As I removed her diaper and grabbed the cleaning cloths, what happens? She poops again! But, without the diaper covering her bottom. Oh man, I never knew babies could spray things besides water that well. As I'm trying to clean the poop up, I notice that she starts to pee. Good thing she's not a boy, otherwise I would've gotten it in the face. Goodness gracious!
It's hit me...
Before Lizzie was born, I had talked to a lot of people about the whole birth process, and what their feelings were after their first child was born. One person told me, there is no cooler feeling that holding your first born child. Another told me that her husband balled everytime he called someone to tell them it was a boy. Even funnier was the amount of people who told me I was going to cry when I held my newborn girl. I've found that I'm more emotional than not, so I was prepared to let my emotions run free.
As Cara was 'evicting' Lizzie out of the womb (she was 2 weeks past due!), I was able to watch the whole process. When I could see Lizzie's head, it was totally cool! When Lizzie came out, I was just so awestruck with the whole delivery process, I don't think I thought too much about the fact that it was our daughter that I watched this time versus some person who volunteered to let them selves be filmed during labor. I walked over to the warmers where Lizzie was being warmed, and played with her a little bit. And then I realized that Cara was still in the stirrups by herself. So, I ran back, and made sure she was okay...and then ran back to Lizzie. She was sooo adorable, little hands, little face, tiny eyes... awww. But it still hadn't hit yet.
Cara and I were moved to the postpartum room and things got a little more hectic. Nurses were in and out, people came by, sleep was never at the same time, and Lizzie would cry. I think it began to sit in when Cara and the nurse woke me up to change Lizzie's diaper. I was half asleep and hear: "Dad...Dad...time to change the diaper...." Poof, there goes my sleep. I get up, start changing a diaper best I know how and in a non-medicated/tired state. The nurse helps me out here and there, and I do catch a few things it seems, cause the next time I change the diaper, she comments "Wow, fast learner." That's right... I love my daughter... :-P.
One day (wait.. this was all in the period of 36 hours..), Lizzie, Cara,.and I were sleeping soundly. We should have bee ordering our food, but hadn't had a chance to put our orders onto paper yet. Well, the food guy came by, and was kind of annoying, and basically wasn't leaving until we ordered our food. So after I finally get our orders to the food guy and he leaves, the is a knock on the door again. I think he's forgot something, so I open the door only to find its one of the nurses. To make things worse, its one of the more verbose nurses. So after she finally finishes telling what she was supposed to (it was good information) I shut the door and sit down in my uncomfortable chair and attempt to sleep. Cara check's Lizzie's Diaper and says: "Daddy... Lizzie needs a diaper change." Gargh! Not what I wanted to hear! I'm rather grumpy at this point, and so I start changing her diaper. "Lizzie... stop moving your legs. Lizzie, if you wouldn't move so much, this wouldn't be so bad." Then I think it started to hit. She's a baby... My baby... I have to be gentle no matter how tired/annoyed I am. She hasn't done anything to me. So I changed the diaper, and gave the baby to Mom, and passed out in my chair.
It really began to sink in when we were at the US embassy here in Seoul, and I had to get visa passport pages added to my passport. The lady told me to give them the passport book and to come back in like two hours. I told her that I was getting a passport for my daughter... whoa! Daughter?!?! Holy Cow! It just about sank in.
It was all complete when my dad wrote me an e-mail with just one line. "So, has it hit you yet?" Man, my dad and I are like genetically linked! Hilarious. Anyrate, just so everyone knows, its hit.
6.20.2008
Labor Story
Hello all! In case you're interested, this is how Lizzie decided to enter the world :-) Sorry for any TMI moments!
I was heading to the end of 41wks pregnant, and the hospital doesn't generally let anyone go past 42wks. Because it appeared nothing was going to happen soon naturally (I wasn't dilated at all or having even mild contractions), they had started trying to 'encourage' labor to begin. I got 3 gel treatments (Prepidil I think) to try to soften my cervix, on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. When the checked on Tuesday, my cervix was softer, but that's it, so we decided I would be induced starting Wednesday evening, and plan to start labor on Thursday morning.
However, the 3rd gel treatment must have done something. It was administered around 2pm, and at 5:30pm I was on the computer in the library when I started noticing slight contractions. I thought they would go away when I got up to walk, but they didn't. I ran (walked?) the rest of my errands and got back to the Stork's Nest. Will was driving up after work to trade a few things for a radio I had picked up at the PX, and he arrived around 9pm. By then, my contractions were happening more often, but still weren't regular or painful. He left at midnight, and I went to sleep. A few hours later, I woke up because they were stronger and I couldn't sleep anymore. I walked back and forth in my room (it was raining outside), and rested some more. At 4am, I went to the bathroom, and then decided to see if the contractions were regular or not, so I could decide if I needed to call Will and tell him to drive back up. He planned on working Wednesday and coming up with the van on Wed pm for when my induction started. I came back from the bathroom, and wrote down a few times, but not enough to tell anything. Then, I thought I had to go to the bathroom again, so I went back. It seemed like, since I hadn't drank anything for awhile, I shouldn't be peeing that much, and thought I should start so see if maybe my water had broken. I laid down for 20min or so, then stood up, and sure enough more liquid came out. At that point, I put on a pad, and called Will (who hadn't gone to bed yet!!)to say he should probably come back soon (after a nap). Then I called the WICU (women/infant care unit) at the hospital to find out what they wanted me to do. Since I was by myself, they had me call the ambulance. I did, then went back to my room to get some of my things together. I also quickly ate a few servings of applesauce, because I figured they wouldn't let me eat at the hospital (I was right). The ambulance came, thank goodness without sirens, and I walked through the rain to the street. I sat on the stretcher, because it was the only place to sit, and we rode to the hospital. When I got there, they strapped me in and unloaded me, on the stretcher! I felt so silly, because I wasn't hurt, and could walk fine. But, they said I was already strapped in, so I may as well stay on for a ride. We arrived at the WICU, and they brought me into the evaluation room, but as soon as they saw that I was clearly losing liquid, they moved me immediately to the Labor and Delivery room. Dr Kim checked me, and I was dilated a fingertip. Because my water was broken, I wasn't going to be leaving the hospital without a baby. This was around 5:30am. I waited until 6, then called Will to tell him I had been checked in and he should head back up to Seoul.
Will got there around 7:30 or so. Everything was still pretty easy, nothing too painful. The nurses and midwife said I could walk around as long as I came back to be monitored every 30min, so I took a few laps of the WICU. Around 9:30, Dr Han came in and asked if I'd be willing to start Pitocen to make my contractions stronger. Because my water had broken and we weren't sure how long my body would take to dilate naturally, she was worried I was at risk for an infection. Plus, it could possibly take several days. As I was planning to start Pitocen the next day anyway, I figured it was a good idea. They let me take one more set of laps, which Will joined me for (he had been napping on the recliner in the Labor and Delivery room), then hooked me up to all the monitors and started the Pitocen. I'd guess this was around 10am.
Contractions started getting harder and closer right away. Every 20min the nurses would come in, see how I was doing, and turn up the dosage. By the 3rd or 4th time, I wasn't very happy about it! Lizzie's heart rate dropped a few times with the first strong contractions, so they put me on oxygen for a bit. She started looking OK pretty soon, though, and I didn't need the oxygen anymore. At first I was fine with my ipod, then I couldn't concentrate on the audiobook anymore and one of the nurses helped a bit. Will got up when he saw what he could do to help (I didn't know what to ask for either, so I'm glad the nurse was there to show us!), and he was great, doing everything I asked him to do. He put pressure and heat on my back, and let me lean on him in awkward positions, and helped me relax. The midwife came in often as well, to see how I was doing, and help out. She gave Will some ideas too. When it started getting more painful, I got out of bed and sat on the exercise ball I had brought, which was much better than sitting in bed. It was frustrating, though, because the monitors were sensitive and in certain positions (most often the ones I wanted to be in), one or both of the monitors (baby heartbeat and contraction sensor) would quit working, so I had to hold them in position. I changed positions whenever I thought something else would feel better, and they let me get unhooked in order to go to the bathroom, so that was a nice change as well. Focused breathing helped quite a bit, though I never did the 'hee hee hoo' stuff you see on tv. Long 'whooshes' and moaning helped me, because I could concentrate on the sound I was making instead of the pain. Contractions came close and hard, and when the midwife checked me at 3pm, I thought I would be decently far along. I was 3cm, which wasn't bad, but not where I wished I was! I started thinking about an epidural at this point, because although we were getting through the contractions fine, I didn't know if I wanted to keep doing it through 7 more centimeters.
Ginny Lee, the midwife:
An hour later or so, Dr Han came back, and said she wanted me to stop moving around so much, and that I couldn't get off the monitors anymore to go to the bathroom. Because the baby hadn't dropped hardly at all, there was a possibility that the cord could drop below the baby, forcing a c-section. Since I was going to be stuck in bed anyway, I started leaning stronger towards an epidural. Dr Han asked if I wanted one, saying it was only going to get worse, and I talked to Will about it. He made sure I wouldn't be mad at him afterwards for letting me get one, but once I pointed out that the contractions were fake (because they were from Pitocen), and that in a normal natural birth I wouldn't even be at the hospital yet, and that since I was going to be tied to the bed anyway (one of the reasons I didn't want an epidural originally), he agreed it was probably best. I got the epidural at 5:30pm, 12hrs after I got to the hospital.
Because I had the epidural, the nurses could turn up the Pitocen so it was stronger than I could have tolerated without the pain relief. The contractions were long and strong even through the epidural. Dr Han came in to check me 2hrs later, and I was at 5cm, and Lizzie had moved down further. Until this time, I had still been doubting that my body would respond properly, and I was worried about a c-section. On my mother's side, most births seem to be from c-sections because of big babies/small birth canals, including my mom and grandmother. So, I was expecting a continuation of that. But, because I was progressing, it was a great sign, and we were all really excited. Dr Han said she would be back in 2hrs.
I could still feel the contractions through the epidural, though they were almost painless. My left leg didn't go as numb as my right leg, and I could feel some pain there, but I lay on my side for awhile and the medicine evened out a bit more. About an hour after Dr Han left, though, I started feeling more pressure and pain, and it felt like Lizzie was moving down. At this point, Lizzie's heart rate dropped a bit again, so they put me back on the oxygen. Her head felt like it was pressing against my bottom with every contraction, and it was very uncomfortable. Will came over to hold my hand. I watched the clock closely for when Dr Han was supposed to come back, and felt like I was very close to feeling the 'urge to push'. I almost asked for her to be called earlier, but kept waiting. When she arrived at 9:30pm, she was surprised, and said I was 100% - ready to push! 2hrs to go from 5cm to pushing, pretty crazy.
The nurse came in at that point to help us start pushing, and set up a mirror at the end of the bed for me to watch (at my request). She took one leg and told Will to take the other, and we started pushing! It was hard at first to focus on the muscles that needed to do the work, but the mirror helped a lot with that and when she told me to relax my legs and not push into them, I started doing better. Will counted to 10 several times during each contraction while I tried to push Lizzie along. Will said he could see the bulge of Lizzie's head move down inside my belly, and at one point could see her hair. Then she rotated to move through the tight spaces, and we had to wait awhile to see her again.
An hour into pushing, Dr Han came in to check out my progress. She felt all around Lizzie's head (not fun for me!), and said she was in a good position to come out. I got scared for a minute though, because it had hurt to have her hands in there, and her hands weren't nearly as big as a baby! For a few minutes, the room was a flurry of activity as the end of the bed was taken off, the stirrups set up, a light came down from the ceiling, and Dr Han got all her equipment ready. Pretty soon we were ready for the real thing! Dr Han sat at the end of the bed, and Will had my leg. They still had the mirror set up, but it was hard for me to see because everyone was in the way. Dr Han kept checking Lizzie's progress, and told me when I wasn't pushing enough, and at some point was able to hold her head to keep her from going backwards in between contractions. Her heart rate was still going down with every contraction, but would go back to normal in between. Dr Han thought she might have the cord around her neck. I kept pushing, and her head was almost out. It was stuck on a piece of skin that Dr Han was going to cut, but on the next push it tore itself so she didn't have to. Later, I pushed Lizzie to the point where her head was halfway out, and the contraction stopped so I couldn't push effectively anymore. It hurt pretty bad to have it just sitting there stretching me! But, I had to wait for the next contraction. When it came, I pushed, and then Dr Han said to stop pushing. I felt her unwrap the cord, and thought I would have to push again to finish getting her out, but there she was! Born at 11:05pm.
Dr Han with Lizzie:
They put her on my stomach to clean her, while Will cut the cord, but because she had the cord on her neck she was a bit blue and they had to take her over to the warmer. She cried right away though, while she was on me, so I wasn't too worried. Will went wither her, and watched them do tests, give her the standard medications, etc., while Dr Han stitched me up in two places (nothing too bad, she said). I had to wait a bit to get Lizzie back, but they finally brought her over and I got to hold her and start to feed her while the epidural wore off. We moved into the postpartum room around 5am.
In the Labor and Delivery room:
I was heading to the end of 41wks pregnant, and the hospital doesn't generally let anyone go past 42wks. Because it appeared nothing was going to happen soon naturally (I wasn't dilated at all or having even mild contractions), they had started trying to 'encourage' labor to begin. I got 3 gel treatments (Prepidil I think) to try to soften my cervix, on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. When the checked on Tuesday, my cervix was softer, but that's it, so we decided I would be induced starting Wednesday evening, and plan to start labor on Thursday morning.
However, the 3rd gel treatment must have done something. It was administered around 2pm, and at 5:30pm I was on the computer in the library when I started noticing slight contractions. I thought they would go away when I got up to walk, but they didn't. I ran (walked?) the rest of my errands and got back to the Stork's Nest. Will was driving up after work to trade a few things for a radio I had picked up at the PX, and he arrived around 9pm. By then, my contractions were happening more often, but still weren't regular or painful. He left at midnight, and I went to sleep. A few hours later, I woke up because they were stronger and I couldn't sleep anymore. I walked back and forth in my room (it was raining outside), and rested some more. At 4am, I went to the bathroom, and then decided to see if the contractions were regular or not, so I could decide if I needed to call Will and tell him to drive back up. He planned on working Wednesday and coming up with the van on Wed pm for when my induction started. I came back from the bathroom, and wrote down a few times, but not enough to tell anything. Then, I thought I had to go to the bathroom again, so I went back. It seemed like, since I hadn't drank anything for awhile, I shouldn't be peeing that much, and thought I should start so see if maybe my water had broken. I laid down for 20min or so, then stood up, and sure enough more liquid came out. At that point, I put on a pad, and called Will (who hadn't gone to bed yet!!)to say he should probably come back soon (after a nap). Then I called the WICU (women/infant care unit) at the hospital to find out what they wanted me to do. Since I was by myself, they had me call the ambulance. I did, then went back to my room to get some of my things together. I also quickly ate a few servings of applesauce, because I figured they wouldn't let me eat at the hospital (I was right). The ambulance came, thank goodness without sirens, and I walked through the rain to the street. I sat on the stretcher, because it was the only place to sit, and we rode to the hospital. When I got there, they strapped me in and unloaded me, on the stretcher! I felt so silly, because I wasn't hurt, and could walk fine. But, they said I was already strapped in, so I may as well stay on for a ride. We arrived at the WICU, and they brought me into the evaluation room, but as soon as they saw that I was clearly losing liquid, they moved me immediately to the Labor and Delivery room. Dr Kim checked me, and I was dilated a fingertip. Because my water was broken, I wasn't going to be leaving the hospital without a baby. This was around 5:30am. I waited until 6, then called Will to tell him I had been checked in and he should head back up to Seoul.
Will got there around 7:30 or so. Everything was still pretty easy, nothing too painful. The nurses and midwife said I could walk around as long as I came back to be monitored every 30min, so I took a few laps of the WICU. Around 9:30, Dr Han came in and asked if I'd be willing to start Pitocen to make my contractions stronger. Because my water had broken and we weren't sure how long my body would take to dilate naturally, she was worried I was at risk for an infection. Plus, it could possibly take several days. As I was planning to start Pitocen the next day anyway, I figured it was a good idea. They let me take one more set of laps, which Will joined me for (he had been napping on the recliner in the Labor and Delivery room), then hooked me up to all the monitors and started the Pitocen. I'd guess this was around 10am.
Contractions started getting harder and closer right away. Every 20min the nurses would come in, see how I was doing, and turn up the dosage. By the 3rd or 4th time, I wasn't very happy about it! Lizzie's heart rate dropped a few times with the first strong contractions, so they put me on oxygen for a bit. She started looking OK pretty soon, though, and I didn't need the oxygen anymore. At first I was fine with my ipod, then I couldn't concentrate on the audiobook anymore and one of the nurses helped a bit. Will got up when he saw what he could do to help (I didn't know what to ask for either, so I'm glad the nurse was there to show us!), and he was great, doing everything I asked him to do. He put pressure and heat on my back, and let me lean on him in awkward positions, and helped me relax. The midwife came in often as well, to see how I was doing, and help out. She gave Will some ideas too. When it started getting more painful, I got out of bed and sat on the exercise ball I had brought, which was much better than sitting in bed. It was frustrating, though, because the monitors were sensitive and in certain positions (most often the ones I wanted to be in), one or both of the monitors (baby heartbeat and contraction sensor) would quit working, so I had to hold them in position. I changed positions whenever I thought something else would feel better, and they let me get unhooked in order to go to the bathroom, so that was a nice change as well. Focused breathing helped quite a bit, though I never did the 'hee hee hoo' stuff you see on tv. Long 'whooshes' and moaning helped me, because I could concentrate on the sound I was making instead of the pain. Contractions came close and hard, and when the midwife checked me at 3pm, I thought I would be decently far along. I was 3cm, which wasn't bad, but not where I wished I was! I started thinking about an epidural at this point, because although we were getting through the contractions fine, I didn't know if I wanted to keep doing it through 7 more centimeters.
Ginny Lee, the midwife:
An hour later or so, Dr Han came back, and said she wanted me to stop moving around so much, and that I couldn't get off the monitors anymore to go to the bathroom. Because the baby hadn't dropped hardly at all, there was a possibility that the cord could drop below the baby, forcing a c-section. Since I was going to be stuck in bed anyway, I started leaning stronger towards an epidural. Dr Han asked if I wanted one, saying it was only going to get worse, and I talked to Will about it. He made sure I wouldn't be mad at him afterwards for letting me get one, but once I pointed out that the contractions were fake (because they were from Pitocen), and that in a normal natural birth I wouldn't even be at the hospital yet, and that since I was going to be tied to the bed anyway (one of the reasons I didn't want an epidural originally), he agreed it was probably best. I got the epidural at 5:30pm, 12hrs after I got to the hospital.
Because I had the epidural, the nurses could turn up the Pitocen so it was stronger than I could have tolerated without the pain relief. The contractions were long and strong even through the epidural. Dr Han came in to check me 2hrs later, and I was at 5cm, and Lizzie had moved down further. Until this time, I had still been doubting that my body would respond properly, and I was worried about a c-section. On my mother's side, most births seem to be from c-sections because of big babies/small birth canals, including my mom and grandmother. So, I was expecting a continuation of that. But, because I was progressing, it was a great sign, and we were all really excited. Dr Han said she would be back in 2hrs.
I could still feel the contractions through the epidural, though they were almost painless. My left leg didn't go as numb as my right leg, and I could feel some pain there, but I lay on my side for awhile and the medicine evened out a bit more. About an hour after Dr Han left, though, I started feeling more pressure and pain, and it felt like Lizzie was moving down. At this point, Lizzie's heart rate dropped a bit again, so they put me back on the oxygen. Her head felt like it was pressing against my bottom with every contraction, and it was very uncomfortable. Will came over to hold my hand. I watched the clock closely for when Dr Han was supposed to come back, and felt like I was very close to feeling the 'urge to push'. I almost asked for her to be called earlier, but kept waiting. When she arrived at 9:30pm, she was surprised, and said I was 100% - ready to push! 2hrs to go from 5cm to pushing, pretty crazy.
The nurse came in at that point to help us start pushing, and set up a mirror at the end of the bed for me to watch (at my request). She took one leg and told Will to take the other, and we started pushing! It was hard at first to focus on the muscles that needed to do the work, but the mirror helped a lot with that and when she told me to relax my legs and not push into them, I started doing better. Will counted to 10 several times during each contraction while I tried to push Lizzie along. Will said he could see the bulge of Lizzie's head move down inside my belly, and at one point could see her hair. Then she rotated to move through the tight spaces, and we had to wait awhile to see her again.
An hour into pushing, Dr Han came in to check out my progress. She felt all around Lizzie's head (not fun for me!), and said she was in a good position to come out. I got scared for a minute though, because it had hurt to have her hands in there, and her hands weren't nearly as big as a baby! For a few minutes, the room was a flurry of activity as the end of the bed was taken off, the stirrups set up, a light came down from the ceiling, and Dr Han got all her equipment ready. Pretty soon we were ready for the real thing! Dr Han sat at the end of the bed, and Will had my leg. They still had the mirror set up, but it was hard for me to see because everyone was in the way. Dr Han kept checking Lizzie's progress, and told me when I wasn't pushing enough, and at some point was able to hold her head to keep her from going backwards in between contractions. Her heart rate was still going down with every contraction, but would go back to normal in between. Dr Han thought she might have the cord around her neck. I kept pushing, and her head was almost out. It was stuck on a piece of skin that Dr Han was going to cut, but on the next push it tore itself so she didn't have to. Later, I pushed Lizzie to the point where her head was halfway out, and the contraction stopped so I couldn't push effectively anymore. It hurt pretty bad to have it just sitting there stretching me! But, I had to wait for the next contraction. When it came, I pushed, and then Dr Han said to stop pushing. I felt her unwrap the cord, and thought I would have to push again to finish getting her out, but there she was! Born at 11:05pm.
Dr Han with Lizzie:
They put her on my stomach to clean her, while Will cut the cord, but because she had the cord on her neck she was a bit blue and they had to take her over to the warmer. She cried right away though, while she was on me, so I wasn't too worried. Will went wither her, and watched them do tests, give her the standard medications, etc., while Dr Han stitched me up in two places (nothing too bad, she said). I had to wait a bit to get Lizzie back, but they finally brought her over and I got to hold her and start to feed her while the epidural wore off. We moved into the postpartum room around 5am.
In the Labor and Delivery room:
Lizzie is Here!
Well everyone, it is a pleasure to introduce to you all Elizabeth (Lizzie) Ruth Jones. Baby Lizzie came into the world @ 1105 PM on June 18th, 2008. She weighed 7lbs 11oz, and Cara was able to deliver her without getting a Cesarean! She is a very pretty baby, with a lot of hair, and likes to look around. We have some pictures here for you all to look at. Please enjoy!
6.10.2008
The Kitchen is alive!
So, Cara has been at the stork's nest for the past week and a half, and I've gone up there quite often to visit her. When I'm not at the stork's nest, I'm back here at the apartment pretending its 2006 and Cara and I are separated again. The only difference is that Cara cooks a lot of food and there are leftovers.
Well, this past week, I looked at the kitchen, but never ate much in it, or cleaned much for that matter, and just went about business as usual. We had a few warm & humid days this weekend as well, and to keep the house safe, the windows were closed. Today, however, I was determined to eat into the stockpiles of good leftovers in the fridge (the leftovers in the fridge aren't the problem, so don't worry about those). Cara made some shrimp(s) with some olive oil and spices, and suggested that I pour them over noodles for a good dinner dish. So, I figured I'd give that a shot.
Around 9:30ish PM I turned the water on to the sink, and noticed that gnats started flying around. Great, must be mold in the sink trap. I open it up, and voila, mold. Ick. Followed by more gnats. Ug. So I promptly take the sink trap to our food trash, open it up and get surprised by some more gnats. At this point, I hold my breath, tie the food trash shut, and take it outside. Boy, that was nasty.
I start to fill up a pan to make noodles, when I notice the gnats migrated over our kitchen table. As I ponder what could be over there, I soon find our banana bread bananas have begun to mold as well. I throw those away, while attacking the gnats with table cleaner. Now, I have set myself to clean this kitchen. Its attacking me!
Well, this past week, I looked at the kitchen, but never ate much in it, or cleaned much for that matter, and just went about business as usual. We had a few warm & humid days this weekend as well, and to keep the house safe, the windows were closed. Today, however, I was determined to eat into the stockpiles of good leftovers in the fridge (the leftovers in the fridge aren't the problem, so don't worry about those). Cara made some shrimp(s) with some olive oil and spices, and suggested that I pour them over noodles for a good dinner dish. So, I figured I'd give that a shot.
Around 9:30ish PM I turned the water on to the sink, and noticed that gnats started flying around. Great, must be mold in the sink trap. I open it up, and voila, mold. Ick. Followed by more gnats. Ug. So I promptly take the sink trap to our food trash, open it up and get surprised by some more gnats. At this point, I hold my breath, tie the food trash shut, and take it outside. Boy, that was nasty.
I start to fill up a pan to make noodles, when I notice the gnats migrated over our kitchen table. As I ponder what could be over there, I soon find our banana bread bananas have begun to mold as well. I throw those away, while attacking the gnats with table cleaner. Now, I have set myself to clean this kitchen. Its attacking me!
So while I'm boiling the noodles, I fill up the sink and start to soak some of the dishes and open an old salad bowl. Mold. Ugh. But its salad? Oh, that's right, there was feta cheese in it. Realizing that the salad bowl was pretty nasty, I remember the container sitting next to it.
*****
Earlier last week, I had dropped off Cara at the stork's nest, and she told me I had to try the potato salad, cause it wasn't too mayonaisey, and it tasted pretty good. So one night, I was looking for regular green salad, and took out the potato salad to get to the green salad. I polished it off and threw the empty container on the countertop. The next day I set myself to try the potato salad. So I pour a glass of Kool-aid to wash it down, open the fridge, and look for the container of potato salad. The only problem is, I can't find it. So I look a little harder through the fridge, and then I realize what I did. I look on top of the fridge, and find the container of potato salad that had been left out for a day or so. Annoyed at myself, I throw it on the sink counter telling myself that it is 'off limits' for food. But I never moved it or emptied the contents after that...
****
Anyway, as I sat there next to the kitchen sink trying to convince myself to open the 1.5 week old potato salad left out in the heat & humidity. It takes me a while, and then I hold my breath and open the container. I jump a little. Wow... it was a total colony. So, I did what any man would do. Ignore it. I washed just about everything else except that.
I even contemplated throwing the whole container away. I took the potato salad outside with a garbage bag, but then I realize that's just a tad wasteful. At about this time, I realize I need more dish soap. So I run to the shoppette real quick and get some soap and juice.
So after telling myself that it is only mold, and I can wash my hands, I grab a food
trash bag, go outside and dump most of the potato salad without looking at it. I figure I should actually see what it looks like, so I take a look, and get semi-amazed about how much mold grew, and the different types that grew. So, what do you do with something that looks cool? That's right, you take a picture of it! So I did. (still freaks me out kinda). So I take the tupperware container back inside, make fresh sink water and let that sucker soak for a while. I do some more cleaning to rid the kitchen of more mold, but as far as I can tell, it'll be a while before the gnats retreat.
trash bag, go outside and dump most of the potato salad without looking at it. I figure I should actually see what it looks like, so I take a look, and get semi-amazed about how much mold grew, and the different types that grew. So, what do you do with something that looks cool? That's right, you take a picture of it! So I did. (still freaks me out kinda). So I take the tupperware container back inside, make fresh sink water and let that sucker soak for a while. I do some more cleaning to rid the kitchen of more mold, but as far as I can tell, it'll be a while before the gnats retreat.6.09.2008
Bragging...
Hello! No Lizzie yet, still waiting. And getting impatient, and running out of ideas of what to do each day, but that will end soon enough, I'm sure!
Re: the below post, I thought I'd publish the file of Will's recent creation. He created/played/sang/recorded all the parts, which is pretty cool.
Enjoy!
Majestic
Re: the below post, I thought I'd publish the file of Will's recent creation. He created/played/sang/recorded all the parts, which is pretty cool.
Enjoy!
Majestic
6.05.2008
My Music Studio
Well, borrowed at least. Its real fun too. I can mix my own music, and harmonize myself. Its not easy.
In the picture you can see what it looks like. One of the guys I play with in our praise band used to be in a bunch of very good bands back in the day. Knowing this, I asked, in an e-mail, for some advice on getting a sound board to help me mix music to my computer. His reply was a tutorial on sound boards different kinds of sound, etc. He mentioned that he also had some recording equipment that was collecting dust in his house that he could let me borrow. So, like anyone who finds something cool... I jump on it! He let me borrow a digital mixer board, a Roland SC-55 Synthesizer (which I had to fix to use...), a PCI interface board, a SWEEET microphone, cables, and so forth.
Its all in the picture below.
Oh, and if you want to hear a song I worked on, let me know. I'll e-mail it to ya.
In the picture you can see what it looks like. One of the guys I play with in our praise band used to be in a bunch of very good bands back in the day. Knowing this, I asked, in an e-mail, for some advice on getting a sound board to help me mix music to my computer. His reply was a tutorial on sound boards different kinds of sound, etc. He mentioned that he also had some recording equipment that was collecting dust in his house that he could let me borrow. So, like anyone who finds something cool... I jump on it! He let me borrow a digital mixer board, a Roland SC-55 Synthesizer (which I had to fix to use...), a PCI interface board, a SWEEET microphone, cables, and so forth.
Its all in the picture below.
Oh, and if you want to hear a song I worked on, let me know. I'll e-mail it to ya.
Update on The New Guy
He's doing okay, and is taking it well. He's actually pretty jokeful about it too. Today we went to the boss's office first instead of our main office. When we walk up, our boss says hello and he says: "I've told everyone not to ask you how your trip was...There's a pun in there somewhere..." I think my boss thought about that all day long. But I could be wrong. Anyway, we get things taken care of, and head over to the shop. I drive in this time vs parking away from the main building. Jokingly he comments, "Why didn't we do this yesterday?" Oh, I wonder the same thing. When we got to the office, he introduced him self as 'Trip' At that point, I figured he wasn't embarrassed much anymore. But just letting everyone know, the new guy is indeed OK. :-D
Oh even funnier are some of the jokes about the situation I've heard.
New Guy (to me): Okay, so I've come up with the story that I'm going to tell everyone. You and I were talking about politics, I'm a die hard Clinton supporter, and you're a Obama supporter. While we were walking, I said something bad about Obama and somehow I'm on the ground....
(He's joking, I assure you!)
******
Sergeant: Hey dude, don't trip me!
Me: Ha ha, sorry, I'll try not too.
Sergeant: Hey, did SF come out to the scene?
Me: No...
Sergeant: (jokingly..I hope...) Man I'm surprised they didn't come out, see the guy on the ground and report "There's a white male down with a black guy over him!" and then come out with the Humvees and 60 cal guns!
*******
I didn't even think about that fact (black guy/white guy) when it happened... but it goes to show you, that racism is still in a lot of peoples minds, whether we talk about it, or not.
Oh even funnier are some of the jokes about the situation I've heard.
New Guy (to me): Okay, so I've come up with the story that I'm going to tell everyone. You and I were talking about politics, I'm a die hard Clinton supporter, and you're a Obama supporter. While we were walking, I said something bad about Obama and somehow I'm on the ground....
(He's joking, I assure you!)
******
Sergeant: Hey dude, don't trip me!
Me: Ha ha, sorry, I'll try not too.
Sergeant: Hey, did SF come out to the scene?
Me: No...
Sergeant: (jokingly..I hope...) Man I'm surprised they didn't come out, see the guy on the ground and report "There's a white male down with a black guy over him!" and then come out with the Humvees and 60 cal guns!
*******
I didn't even think about that fact (black guy/white guy) when it happened... but it goes to show you, that racism is still in a lot of peoples minds, whether we talk about it, or not.
6.04.2008
"Funny story about the new guy..."
That was what I told my co-worker this afternoon when he asked about the arrival of the new guy to our office. What is that story? I'm glad you asked.
Well, I was asked to pick up our new guy from his hotel and bring him by our office. So, I got up kinda early (for me at least) and headed on over to the hotel. I let him know I'm there and introduce myself when he comes down to the lobby. I then drive him on base and give him a mini tour of the main street (BX, Hospital, Family Housing, etc...) and then head toward and park as close as we can to our office. As we're walking into our office compound, we're talking back and forth. I'm not sure why, but I looked behind me just in time to see his head, in what felt like slow motion, hit the curb and bounce a little. It seemed so slow when he was falling because I could process the fact that he was falling, I could tell where his head was probably going to hit, and focused on that spot. When his head hit, I looked at the spot to make sure it wasn't hurt to badly. I felt like I was (Warning: Geek reference ahead!) Piccard in the movie "Star Trek: Insurrection." (Told ya...)
"Ahh! Dude, you okay?!" I ask as I help him up. I looked at the spot where he hit, and it looked like is was only scraped, so I figured that everything should be okay. Then I noticed the blood dripping from his nose. Not good. So I suggest that we go to the hospital, and he agrees. He had a handkerchief in his pocket and so he's already applying pressure and all that good first aid stuff. He even gives himself a self diagnosis: "I think I broke my nose... " along with some other choice words. So we do 180 right back to the car. I drive pretty quick to the Emergency room and drop him off. I park, walk in and don't see him anywhere. Turns out he walked in, and they took him right away. Thank the Lord. So I sit down and watch whats on the TV. After an hour of waiting, I figured I should tell someone at the office that we're being somewhat held up . I didn't want to tell everyone the new guys business, because word around the office spreads like the wildfires in SoCal. (I lived there during a few of them. I can say it. :-P)
An hour and a half later, the new guy finally comes out and doesn't look too happy. That and he's got scabs on his hands, face, and surgical tape on his nose. He sighs and asks that I take him back to the hotel. So I call our boss and tell him that the new guy broke his nose, and wants to return to his room. When our boss asks what happened, I try to gloss over exactly what happened to save the new guy some face, but he tells me to tell the whole story. So I tell the entire story to our boss, and he doesn't mind letting the new guy go back to his room to rest.
Well, at this point, past experience tells me that whoever was at office now knew what happened.
So, as I'm walking back to our office, I enter the compound and a random Sergent walks out towards me and is like "Don't trip me man!" I chuckle. Apparently one of the Sergent's shop mates saw the new guy fall.
When I walk into our office, what's the first thing I'm asked? "Will, why'd you trip the new guy?" I chuckle again, cause I expected it. So I explain to the two guys there what happened, and while I'm explaining it, a coworker exlaims "Dang, you couldn't write that, that sucks!" So true.
I go to lunch and come back, and another coworker was present. I explain the story again. He chuckles, but agrees it sucks. 5 mins later, he chuckles randomly. "Sorry, I'm gonna be chuckling all day about that," he says. "Yeah, just not tomorrow though," I reply.
I tinker around on the internet, and then walk to our secure office, and another coworker shows up.
***** POP QUIZ TIME! *******
Question: How many people are currently at my office? No Peeking!
a. 3
b. 4
c. 5
d. I don't care just finish the story!!!
Acceptable answers are:
C (Me, ****, ****, **** & ****) or
D for those who don't care. Kidding.
*** END OF POP QUIZ ****
Anyway, CW4 (coworker 4) shows up and asks me a question.
"Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a new guy coming in today?" He asked.
"Funny story about the new guy..." I replied.
"Oh, I like funny stories, lets hear it."
So I explain what happened, and he can't believe it at first. It just seems so crazy. It was like he got all the way to Korea, just to trip right before getting to his job. In essence it was: Welcome to Korea! *WHACK*.
So, CW5 walked in the room, and CW4 says to him: "Hey, Will took out the new guy and broke his nose!" Now, don't worry, I expected that comment as well. Oddly enough, I think I was looking forward to it.
But, just to make sure, I tell the story again of what happened. CW5 is also in disbelief. They also wonder if the guy is clumsy or something. I try, as best I can, to erase that thought from their minds (Jedi Mind trick... no, not really). Okay, so tried to convince them that it was just terrible 'luck'.
Well, after that everyone who wasn't off that day or on vacation knew what happened. I just felt bad for the new guy since he could already have a 'klutz' stigma against him!
*** DISCLAIMER ****
While this story is funny to some, It's not funny to the new guy. I realize that. Its less funny to me than the coworkers, since I watched it happen. I feel sorry for the guy that this happened before Day 1.
*** END DISCLAIMER ***
Oh, and I have curbophobia at the moment.
Oh, and I didn't use any names, so It may be a bit confusing. Apologies in advance.
Well, I was asked to pick up our new guy from his hotel and bring him by our office. So, I got up kinda early (for me at least) and headed on over to the hotel. I let him know I'm there and introduce myself when he comes down to the lobby. I then drive him on base and give him a mini tour of the main street (BX, Hospital, Family Housing, etc...) and then head toward and park as close as we can to our office. As we're walking into our office compound, we're talking back and forth. I'm not sure why, but I looked behind me just in time to see his head, in what felt like slow motion, hit the curb and bounce a little. It seemed so slow when he was falling because I could process the fact that he was falling, I could tell where his head was probably going to hit, and focused on that spot. When his head hit, I looked at the spot to make sure it wasn't hurt to badly. I felt like I was (Warning: Geek reference ahead!) Piccard in the movie "Star Trek: Insurrection." (Told ya...)
"Ahh! Dude, you okay?!" I ask as I help him up. I looked at the spot where he hit, and it looked like is was only scraped, so I figured that everything should be okay. Then I noticed the blood dripping from his nose. Not good. So I suggest that we go to the hospital, and he agrees. He had a handkerchief in his pocket and so he's already applying pressure and all that good first aid stuff. He even gives himself a self diagnosis: "I think I broke my nose... " along with some other choice words. So we do 180 right back to the car. I drive pretty quick to the Emergency room and drop him off. I park, walk in and don't see him anywhere. Turns out he walked in, and they took him right away. Thank the Lord. So I sit down and watch whats on the TV. After an hour of waiting, I figured I should tell someone at the office that we're being somewhat held up . I didn't want to tell everyone the new guys business, because word around the office spreads like the wildfires in SoCal. (I lived there during a few of them. I can say it. :-P)
An hour and a half later, the new guy finally comes out and doesn't look too happy. That and he's got scabs on his hands, face, and surgical tape on his nose. He sighs and asks that I take him back to the hotel. So I call our boss and tell him that the new guy broke his nose, and wants to return to his room. When our boss asks what happened, I try to gloss over exactly what happened to save the new guy some face, but he tells me to tell the whole story. So I tell the entire story to our boss, and he doesn't mind letting the new guy go back to his room to rest.
Well, at this point, past experience tells me that whoever was at office now knew what happened.
So, as I'm walking back to our office, I enter the compound and a random Sergent walks out towards me and is like "Don't trip me man!" I chuckle. Apparently one of the Sergent's shop mates saw the new guy fall.
When I walk into our office, what's the first thing I'm asked? "Will, why'd you trip the new guy?" I chuckle again, cause I expected it. So I explain to the two guys there what happened, and while I'm explaining it, a coworker exlaims "Dang, you couldn't write that, that sucks!" So true.
I go to lunch and come back, and another coworker was present. I explain the story again. He chuckles, but agrees it sucks. 5 mins later, he chuckles randomly. "Sorry, I'm gonna be chuckling all day about that," he says. "Yeah, just not tomorrow though," I reply.
I tinker around on the internet, and then walk to our secure office, and another coworker shows up.
***** POP QUIZ TIME! *******
Question: How many people are currently at my office? No Peeking!
a. 3
b. 4
c. 5
d. I don't care just finish the story!!!
Acceptable answers are:
C (Me, ****, ****, **** & ****) or
D for those who don't care. Kidding.
*** END OF POP QUIZ ****
Anyway, CW4 (coworker 4) shows up and asks me a question.
"Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a new guy coming in today?" He asked.
"Funny story about the new guy..." I replied.
"Oh, I like funny stories, lets hear it."
So I explain what happened, and he can't believe it at first. It just seems so crazy. It was like he got all the way to Korea, just to trip right before getting to his job. In essence it was: Welcome to Korea! *WHACK*.
So, CW5 walked in the room, and CW4 says to him: "Hey, Will took out the new guy and broke his nose!" Now, don't worry, I expected that comment as well. Oddly enough, I think I was looking forward to it.
But, just to make sure, I tell the story again of what happened. CW5 is also in disbelief. They also wonder if the guy is clumsy or something. I try, as best I can, to erase that thought from their minds (Jedi Mind trick... no, not really). Okay, so tried to convince them that it was just terrible 'luck'.
Well, after that everyone who wasn't off that day or on vacation knew what happened. I just felt bad for the new guy since he could already have a 'klutz' stigma against him!
*** DISCLAIMER ****
While this story is funny to some, It's not funny to the new guy. I realize that. Its less funny to me than the coworkers, since I watched it happen. I feel sorry for the guy that this happened before Day 1.
*** END DISCLAIMER ***
Oh, and I have curbophobia at the moment.
Oh, and I didn't use any names, so It may be a bit confusing. Apologies in advance.
5.30.2008
Incognito Concert!
When I was at the USAFA Prep School, I began listening to what would become one of my favorite bands. Incognito. I'd never got to see them in concert in the US cause they never tour there, but, Since I'm in Korea, there was a lot bigger chance. And on 24 May, I got to go see them Live! Woohoo!
After hearing an ad on the radio about them coming to the Seoul Jazz Fest, Cara and I bought tickets right away. One of my friends who I introduced to Incognito (Jeff) is also here on Peninsula , and I told him about it as well. He was super excited. And the best part was, Cara, Jeff and I all had seats right next to each other. How awesome is that??
Well there were two shows that night, a French band called "Nouvelle Vague" (New Wave?). They were definitely different. They sang a song called Human Fly (spelled F-L-Y... buzzz buzzz buzzzz)... And they tried to get the whole audience in on it. But they were really wierd... their whole jazz moving and scatting and such just looked like... well... me trying to do it. Not a good sight. let me tell you. The funnier thing was, one of the ladies had long black hair, and Cara was like "Oh they have a Korean Singer with them!" The woman spoke a few times, and it was obvious that singer wasn't korean. It was definitely a Euro Accent of some sort. Which turned out to be French. I also was a little peeved when kept trying to get the audience to yell a certain word dealing with carnal knowledge. But I suppose they came up with it so, whatever. Thankfully Nouvelle Vague's two encores ended (Yay!) and intermission came and went... and then.. Incognito! Yeahhh!!!!!!!!!! *Ahem*
That was such a totally awesome concert. It was awesome to actually hear Bluey (Jean-Paul Maunick, band leader) talk and explain the meanings behind the songs. It was cool seeing how the brass section worked. They put on a good show, and had the audience out of their seats and jammin' on the ground floor. So many of the song's they played were some of the songs that got me through the Academy (Still a friend of Mine, Pieces of a dream, Who Needs Love, Morning Sun, Always there, a cover of Don't you worry 'bout a Thing, Nights over Egypt) and new songs from their new CD, which I have now :-). Towards the end, Cara mentioned to Jeff and I (die hard lovers of incognito) if we would really want to pay for bottom floor seats for this. This was after we got to watch everyone shake the hands of all the band members. Without hesitation, both of us answered "Yes!" She cracked up. Apparently Jeff and I were quite into the whole concert, excited for all the songs that knew and loved that were played live. Completely awesome experience.
Well, after all was said and done, we left and bought some memoirs from the concert, and then headed back to the Metro station (we took the metro to avoid traffic and having to pay for parking.) As we're walking toward the metro, we realize that we don't have enough cash to get to back to Osan AB. So we pray that there'll be an ATM in the metro station, and there is. Its a good thing too, cause according to the schedule, the last train departs from our station very shortly. And with most metro systems, if you get on the metro, you're guaranteed to make it to your final destination. So we get our cash from the ATM, head to the ticket guy and ask for a ticket to Songtan. He looks at us strange and says something in Korean. My korean is minimal to non-existent so I had no clue what he was saying. A Bi-lingual Korean came by and explained that we can't get to Songtan, because its too late.
Too late?? Wait? What?!?! Oh boy, our evening just got interesting. We decide to see how far south we can go, and then take a taxi the rest of the way. Well, we got nowhere really. The trains don't go out of Seoul that late at night. As we're headed towards Guro, I realized we're gonna have to get a hotel room, cause we're not making it back to Songtan. Cara and I start discussing various Hotel Options. Immediately we think about Yongsan's Lodging. (Dragon Hill Lodge -- 5 star Army Resort. Truly nice).But it is Memorial Day Weekend, so that will probably be full (which it was), and then the other various Hotels off base. We get to Guro, and its almost a Ghost Town. The southbound trains go a little further south than Guro, but not much. So we walk to the northbound side of the platform to see if there is a train coming that will take us back into the city, cause to be honest, our best options are in and around the base. As we walk around the Northbound platform, there aren't too many people and it looks discouraging. So we figure there is no train coming. I glance up at one of the Train signs, and notice its advertising something about Seoul Station. But I figure its nothing. As we're walking back up the stairs semi-defeated, I get to thinking (dangerous I know...).
On the way there, we determined that if we can get a room for less then a Taxi ride to Songtan, we would get it. We guesstimated the taxi fare to Osan AB would be $150-160. We got there and the price for the room was about $150. Okay, on to the next hotel. When we left, we got the next taxi we saw. It was actually a nice cab. It had a credit card machine, GPS, and everything. Hooked up. We ask him to take us to Itaewon hotel. He goes. well... starts to. Unfortunately, GIs here in Korea have a thing called Curfew. (Yeah, doesn't stop even when you leave the house...) and it being a Saturday night, a lot of people were out drinking and now were walking back or looking for taxis. The people who were walking back, were walking anywhere they wasn't a car. Even if it meant in the middle of the street. Then people were yelling at each other across the street and such. So, all of us being such refined and dignified officers (well... I'm part of the contractor mafia... nevermind...) were taken a back by all the behavior of the lower class enl--- I'm so totally kidding! But it was still ridiculous. The cabbie driver even mutters a few things in Korean under his breath, and I figure he's thinking the same thing he is. We get to an intersection that is pretty crazy and well, the cab driver is a little frustrated we figure cause when he finally gets a chance to go through it, other cabs are trying to cut him off. He had none of that. He just kept going across the street, and squeaked through a small opening. Awesome cab driver.
We get to the Itaewon Hotel, and Cara and Jeff hide out in the car cause technically, they're subject to Curfew as well. I look more like a tourist and such than Jeff (he has a military hair cut) so I do all the leg work. Fine by me, I just wanna get a hotel room. I walk inside the Itaewon hotel and yup, you guessed it. Full. I walk back out, and hear my name being called, so I look to the left and I see our cab driver out of the cab waving his hands. Wow, very awesome driver. We get back in the cab and he asking where to next in Korean. It takes me a second to realize that though. (from Cara: Will says, 'Pyongtaek-shi?', on a whim, to see if the cabbie will take us back to Osan AB. The driver just laughed. Guess not!) I'm not sure what to say so I ask if there is a Hotel down the road somewhere as I point straight ahead. When I asked that I think he took it as "Is there a Hotel on the GPS??" cause he looked up Hotels and Motels on the GPS device. Well, he found an hotel called "Ben Hur Hotel." I go in and ask for room prices. $65 a room! Sweet! Inexpensive! I run out and tell Jeff and Cara that we're good. As I'm walking out, I wonder why its so cheap. We check in and get our room keys, and then the people hand us our back of room goodies I suppose. I take a look, and I see disposable toothbrushes, tissue, something else, and four condoms. ...what?!? Condoms?? What in the world? I hear Jeff say: "Oh goodness Will, Where have you taken us?" Which was the same thing I was thinking. But, we needed to sleep, so sleep we will.
As we're going to our room, we try to unlock it, but the key doesn't work. I look at the Key and it says room 502. the key block says room 403. Go figure. We walk to room 502 go in, and like 30 seconds later, the phone rings. I pick it up, and they start talking to me about a Key. Seeing as how they called right when we walked into the room, I figured they were telling us we're in the wrong room. So we go back down stairs and they take us to our room and show us that the room door wasn't locked. So it didn't matter if the key matched or not. Strange. The guy tries to get the TV working, but at this point I don't care. My ADD medicine is quickly leaving my system, and I need to sleep before I get grumpy. We tell him its okay, and then pass out on the rock hard bed. All we have to do the next day is get to the metro, get home and then go to church. All before 0800. Did I mention that we finally get to bed around 0130? yeah.
At 0515 my phone alarm goes off and we ready to go around 550. We get Jeff and we head out. We try and figure out where the nearest metro station would be, and we're in luck! Its right next to the Hotel. So as we're walking, we realize that we are *again* without any cash for the train (from Cara: we were only W100 short, which is 10 cents!). We used a lot of it for cabbies across town. I pray again for an ATM in the subway, and there is! Oh but wait... it doesn't take foreign cards! Grr... so we leave and start walking down the hill to convenience stores looking for ATMs. We pass another metro station, and the same thing there: No foreign Cards. We're getting a little frazzled and then, we find a 24 hour store, and it has an ATM that accepts foreign cards! I pull out W50000 just to be safe, and Jeff also pulls out like W3-50000 just so we don't get in the same situation again. We go to a bakery, get some food, then we get tickets to Songtan, and head back home. We get home in time to drop off Jeff at his hotel, then grab my Medication from home, and then get to church for Sunday School. Oh man.... what an adventure!
After hearing an ad on the radio about them coming to the Seoul Jazz Fest, Cara and I bought tickets right away. One of my friends who I introduced to Incognito (Jeff) is also here on Peninsula , and I told him about it as well. He was super excited. And the best part was, Cara, Jeff and I all had seats right next to each other. How awesome is that??
Well there were two shows that night, a French band called "Nouvelle Vague" (New Wave?). They were definitely different. They sang a song called Human Fly (spelled F-L-Y... buzzz buzzz buzzzz)... And they tried to get the whole audience in on it. But they were really wierd... their whole jazz moving and scatting and such just looked like... well... me trying to do it. Not a good sight. let me tell you. The funnier thing was, one of the ladies had long black hair, and Cara was like "Oh they have a Korean Singer with them!" The woman spoke a few times, and it was obvious that singer wasn't korean. It was definitely a Euro Accent of some sort. Which turned out to be French. I also was a little peeved when kept trying to get the audience to yell a certain word dealing with carnal knowledge. But I suppose they came up with it so, whatever. Thankfully Nouvelle Vague's two encores ended (Yay!) and intermission came and went... and then.. Incognito! Yeahhh!!!!!!!!!! *Ahem*
That was such a totally awesome concert. It was awesome to actually hear Bluey (Jean-Paul Maunick, band leader) talk and explain the meanings behind the songs. It was cool seeing how the brass section worked. They put on a good show, and had the audience out of their seats and jammin' on the ground floor. So many of the song's they played were some of the songs that got me through the Academy (Still a friend of Mine, Pieces of a dream, Who Needs Love, Morning Sun, Always there, a cover of Don't you worry 'bout a Thing, Nights over Egypt) and new songs from their new CD, which I have now :-). Towards the end, Cara mentioned to Jeff and I (die hard lovers of incognito) if we would really want to pay for bottom floor seats for this. This was after we got to watch everyone shake the hands of all the band members. Without hesitation, both of us answered "Yes!" She cracked up. Apparently Jeff and I were quite into the whole concert, excited for all the songs that knew and loved that were played live. Completely awesome experience.
Well, after all was said and done, we left and bought some memoirs from the concert, and then headed back to the Metro station (we took the metro to avoid traffic and having to pay for parking.) As we're walking toward the metro, we realize that we don't have enough cash to get to back to Osan AB. So we pray that there'll be an ATM in the metro station, and there is. Its a good thing too, cause according to the schedule, the last train departs from our station very shortly. And with most metro systems, if you get on the metro, you're guaranteed to make it to your final destination. So we get our cash from the ATM, head to the ticket guy and ask for a ticket to Songtan. He looks at us strange and says something in Korean. My korean is minimal to non-existent so I had no clue what he was saying. A Bi-lingual Korean came by and explained that we can't get to Songtan, because its too late.
Too late?? Wait? What?!?! Oh boy, our evening just got interesting. We decide to see how far south we can go, and then take a taxi the rest of the way. Well, we got nowhere really. The trains don't go out of Seoul that late at night. As we're headed towards Guro, I realized we're gonna have to get a hotel room, cause we're not making it back to Songtan. Cara and I start discussing various Hotel Options. Immediately we think about Yongsan's Lodging. (Dragon Hill Lodge -- 5 star Army Resort. Truly nice).But it is Memorial Day Weekend, so that will probably be full (which it was), and then the other various Hotels off base. We get to Guro, and its almost a Ghost Town. The southbound trains go a little further south than Guro, but not much. So we walk to the northbound side of the platform to see if there is a train coming that will take us back into the city, cause to be honest, our best options are in and around the base. As we walk around the Northbound platform, there aren't too many people and it looks discouraging. So we figure there is no train coming. I glance up at one of the Train signs, and notice its advertising something about Seoul Station. But I figure its nothing. As we're walking back up the stairs semi-defeated, I get to thinking (dangerous I know...).
- There were people there still... If there were no more trains, The train station managers would come through and clear everyone out.
- The train sign mentioned Seoul Station, and those signs always advertise the next train's final location.
- So there's at least 1 more train... isn't there?
On the way there, we determined that if we can get a room for less then a Taxi ride to Songtan, we would get it. We guesstimated the taxi fare to Osan AB would be $150-160. We got there and the price for the room was about $150. Okay, on to the next hotel. When we left, we got the next taxi we saw. It was actually a nice cab. It had a credit card machine, GPS, and everything. Hooked up. We ask him to take us to Itaewon hotel. He goes. well... starts to. Unfortunately, GIs here in Korea have a thing called Curfew. (Yeah, doesn't stop even when you leave the house...) and it being a Saturday night, a lot of people were out drinking and now were walking back or looking for taxis. The people who were walking back, were walking anywhere they wasn't a car. Even if it meant in the middle of the street. Then people were yelling at each other across the street and such. So, all of us being such refined and dignified officers (well... I'm part of the contractor mafia... nevermind...) were taken a back by all the behavior of the lower class enl--- I'm so totally kidding! But it was still ridiculous. The cabbie driver even mutters a few things in Korean under his breath, and I figure he's thinking the same thing he is. We get to an intersection that is pretty crazy and well, the cab driver is a little frustrated we figure cause when he finally gets a chance to go through it, other cabs are trying to cut him off. He had none of that. He just kept going across the street, and squeaked through a small opening. Awesome cab driver.
We get to the Itaewon Hotel, and Cara and Jeff hide out in the car cause technically, they're subject to Curfew as well. I look more like a tourist and such than Jeff (he has a military hair cut) so I do all the leg work. Fine by me, I just wanna get a hotel room. I walk inside the Itaewon hotel and yup, you guessed it. Full. I walk back out, and hear my name being called, so I look to the left and I see our cab driver out of the cab waving his hands. Wow, very awesome driver. We get back in the cab and he asking where to next in Korean. It takes me a second to realize that though. (from Cara: Will says, 'Pyongtaek-shi?', on a whim, to see if the cabbie will take us back to Osan AB. The driver just laughed. Guess not!) I'm not sure what to say so I ask if there is a Hotel down the road somewhere as I point straight ahead. When I asked that I think he took it as "Is there a Hotel on the GPS??" cause he looked up Hotels and Motels on the GPS device. Well, he found an hotel called "Ben Hur Hotel." I go in and ask for room prices. $65 a room! Sweet! Inexpensive! I run out and tell Jeff and Cara that we're good. As I'm walking out, I wonder why its so cheap. We check in and get our room keys, and then the people hand us our back of room goodies I suppose. I take a look, and I see disposable toothbrushes, tissue, something else, and four condoms. ...what?!? Condoms?? What in the world? I hear Jeff say: "Oh goodness Will, Where have you taken us?" Which was the same thing I was thinking. But, we needed to sleep, so sleep we will.
As we're going to our room, we try to unlock it, but the key doesn't work. I look at the Key and it says room 502. the key block says room 403. Go figure. We walk to room 502 go in, and like 30 seconds later, the phone rings. I pick it up, and they start talking to me about a Key. Seeing as how they called right when we walked into the room, I figured they were telling us we're in the wrong room. So we go back down stairs and they take us to our room and show us that the room door wasn't locked. So it didn't matter if the key matched or not. Strange. The guy tries to get the TV working, but at this point I don't care. My ADD medicine is quickly leaving my system, and I need to sleep before I get grumpy. We tell him its okay, and then pass out on the rock hard bed. All we have to do the next day is get to the metro, get home and then go to church. All before 0800. Did I mention that we finally get to bed around 0130? yeah.
At 0515 my phone alarm goes off and we ready to go around 550. We get Jeff and we head out. We try and figure out where the nearest metro station would be, and we're in luck! Its right next to the Hotel. So as we're walking, we realize that we are *again* without any cash for the train (from Cara: we were only W100 short, which is 10 cents!). We used a lot of it for cabbies across town. I pray again for an ATM in the subway, and there is! Oh but wait... it doesn't take foreign cards! Grr... so we leave and start walking down the hill to convenience stores looking for ATMs. We pass another metro station, and the same thing there: No foreign Cards. We're getting a little frazzled and then, we find a 24 hour store, and it has an ATM that accepts foreign cards! I pull out W50000 just to be safe, and Jeff also pulls out like W3-50000 just so we don't get in the same situation again. We go to a bakery, get some food, then we get tickets to Songtan, and head back home. We get home in time to drop off Jeff at his hotel, then grab my Medication from home, and then get to church for Sunday School. Oh man.... what an adventure!
5.26.2008
Baby Bumps, by request :-)
36wks, my crazy stretch marks.
37wks
38wks, last day of work :-)
What I usually wear at work, because there's no A/C
38wks, after the Incognito concert in Seoul (I'm sure Will is planning to post about that soon!)
37wks
38wks, last day of work :-)
What I usually wear at work, because there's no A/C
38wks, after the Incognito concert in Seoul (I'm sure Will is planning to post about that soon!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
