Urban Life

The Bups and I went for a walk around the block today (like we do most days, to help her have a nice long nap) and I was feeling a little sorry for her for growing up in a city. Although we live in a fairly suburban part of Dublin, with gardens and trees and everything, from her view she mostly just sees the sidewalk, stone walls, and maybe iron gates. The thing that made me sad was that she can identify dog poo, litter, and cigarette butts (she says 'bleh', becuase we tell her they are yucky and she shouldn't touch them). But I suppose if we lived someplace else I would be telling her not to touch worms or poison ivy or something, and maybe we couldn't even go out for a walk without a nice, fairly dry sidewalk to walk on. And there are plenty of urban places that are a lot more yucky and dangerous than our neighborhood. She'll just grow up with the sound of car alarms sending her off to sleep instead of lovely crickets. But Dublin is worth it.

In Olympic news, there's no baby, which is not a surprise. What is mildly surprising is that the Irish channels aren't showing any Olympic coverage at all! But I suppose if there are no Irish athletes in it, RTE figures there's no point.

Because Bupsy has an Irish passport, I guess she would have a pretty good chance of making the Irish Olympic team. I'm going to take her out ice skating tomorrow! Except there are no ice rinks here (only at Christmas). Why do you think they're not in the Olympics?

Olympic Mama

As I briefly mentioned in my first entry, I love the Olympics. And they are starting again this week! I have to admit I do prefer the Summer Olympics, but the Winter ones are good, too. I like how you get to see weird, obscure sports and the people who dedicate their lives to them (for example, curling or biathalon). I like all the human interest stories and pictures of parents and girlfriends and little babies all waving flags and cheering for someone. I like hearing the national anthems of other countries. When I saw the Olympics in 1992 (I was 14) I decided to set a goal for myslef to learn all the national anthems by the next Olympics. That still hasn't happened.

Being an American watching the Olympics outside America is interesting, becuase you hear a lot more about various countries. I suppose that's because Ireland and the UK (we get the BBC channels as well as RTE, the Irish ones) don't have as many competitors, so to fill air time they feature other countries' athletes as well. Ireland doesn't have a single person (I think) in the Olympics this year. That's probably becuase it never snows! Irish people would correct me, saying once or twice a year we might get what I call 'flurries', but it doesn't really snow.

Bupsy was born two days before the Summer Olympics in 2004. Since I have another 12 weeks to go, I'm really hoping baby no. 2 doesn't come this week! As I was lying in the hospital ward watching synchronized diving (so cool) after Bupsy's birth, I thought about having 'Maternity Hospital' Olympics. In my ward of 6 people we had Ireland, America, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone represented, and there were at least 5 wards on my wing, 2 wings a floor, 5 floors in the hospital. Here are some events I thought probably wouldn't be included in the Maternity Hospital Olympics:

Speed cycling or Mountain biking (can you imagine?!!)
Gymnastics -- when they throw themselves on the balance beam, or on their chests on the floor
Weightlifting anything heavier than an 8 lb. infant
Equestrian. Oooh, no.
Trampolining (no nursing bra could take that amount of bouncing!)
Anything to do with running
Anything to do with standing
Anything other than lying in a bed eating

All this is just reminding me that I have to go through labor again in a very short while. I can recall thinking as I watched those Olympics in 2004 "I bet a marathon isn't really that tough. Not compared to childbirth!"

Not me

They announced the nominations for General last night. I wasn't on the list. Maybe all my supporters read this blog and realized it wasn't the right time.

In other news, I was woken up this morning by one child singing and the other dancing. Cute. I can't wait until they can sing and dance together.

General Jane

Because the General of The Salvation Army is retiring in April, all the important people (the ones who are in charge of the SA for whole countries or even continents) are having what's called a 'High Council' to decide who the next General will be. Here's the exciting thing: although you have to have a high rank and be important to be on the High Council, the next General can be anyone who is an officer (ordained minister) in The Salvation Army. That means Marcus, or me! You only need 3 votes to be on the list of nominations (out of 88? that's not many!), and if you're not already at the HC (in London) then they fly you there. So over the next couple days, we are making sure we answer the phone if it rings and have a suitcase packed, just in case.

The thing is, they probably don't know I'm pregnant. So while I can see how they would want to change things up a bit, and have a young, female (there have been women generals before), low-ranking person as General, I think they'll understand when I have to turn them down. It's just not the right time, I'll say. With Bupsy so young and a baby on the way (and the new General starts in April, just when the baby's due), at the moment I think it's important I focus on my family. Call me the next time around. But, it's an honor just to be nominated.

I'll let you know how they take it.

In other news, Friday night was fun. We went to dinner, then to one of the 3 Starbucks in Dublin -- make that the country! And it just opened up a couple weeks ago. It wasn't that great. I guess the best thing about Starbucks is the coffee, and since I'm not drinking that right now, it was just another expensive place to get a hot chocolate.

Today I visited the nurse for my ante-natal appontment. The Bups cried the whole time. I don't know if she recognized the nurse from giving her vaccinations (although she hasn't had one for a while), or she didn't like the fact the nurse was poking me. Or maybe she was jealous that the baby was getting attention instead of her.

Now I had better go in case I'm called up to London! Or, it could be Marcus. But let's be realistic...

Big Night Out

Yesterday was Marcus's birthday, so tonight we're going out for dinner. This is a major event! It will be the first time we've EVER had a babysitter who isn't a grandparent. And when you think that both sets of grandparents don't live in the same country as us (if you didn't know, Marcus is English) that means we've been out about half a dozen times since the Bups was born. So we're pretty excited.

The problem is, even though there's usually lots of movies advertised that we say 'we'll get that when it comes out on DVD", at the moment there's nothing we want to see. Well, I want to see March of the Penguins but he doesn't. Did I ever mention that I'm allergic to penguins? We went to a penguin sanctuary place in Australia, where they have little nests and it's out in the open and stuff, and I started sneezing all over the place. Maybe you're allergic to penguins, too, and if you went to this penguin sanctuary you'd find out. Anyway, that's not why Marcus doesn't want to go, he just thinks it looks boring.

So we're going out to dinner, and then we thought maybe we'd just go to a bookstore and browse, which we just to love to do at Borders in Amercia (and in London too, actually). But we called around to some of the bookstores near where we're going -- in the centre of this capital city of Dublin, mind -- and they all close at either 6 or 7. The babysitter's coming at 6:30, so I guess we won't make it. Just part of the fun in Dublin. Or not so much fun, if it's after 7 pm.

It's like reading someone's journal

I've been thinking about whether or not I should start a blog for a long time. I thought I would like to, because I enjoy reading other people's blogs and I also enjoy telling people about quirky/interesting things that I have heard or thought about. But on the other hand, I wonder if maybe it's a bit self-centered to think other people would want to read what I'm thinking about. And how do you tell someone to read your blog? Well, I guess I must have plucked up the nerve to do it if you're reading this...

So anyway, here are some more detail about my life, just so you know what I might be posting about in the future:

--I am a Dublin Mom, as in an American mother living in Dublin Ireland (as opposed to a Dublin Mum or Mam, like people say here). I really like living in Ireland, there's a lot that's great about it, but some frustrations too, like the way the whole country seems to be out of salsa at the same time (did I mention I'm pregnant?)

--Apologies now to all the perfectly lovely nieces and nephews and children of friends out there, but I really do have the most absolutley gorgeous little daughter. The way she tilits her head up and toddles over to kiss me is the most precious thing in the world. And today she said apple (okay, bapa, but she meant apple). She is shortly to be joined by another baby in only a few months (at which time this blog may cease to exist).

--My husband Marcus and I are Christian ministers in The Salvation Army, which will mean different things to you depending on your experience with the SA. No, we do not run a thrift store (or 'charity shop'). Please don't call us and ask us to pick up furniture. We also do not have a band that marches down the street. Although we have uniforms, we don't wear them that often, and I certainly won't be wearing a bonnet at any time! We do community ministries in the area where we live, like kids and teens and elderly groups, and we have times when people can get together to talk about spiritual things (on Sundays we have Brunch Church at our house, and we host Bible studies or spirtual discussion groups). We're looking at doing church in different ways.

--And I'll probably write about other random things too, like how I love the Olympics, love reading novels but not the books about the emerging church Marcus is trying to get me to read, feel alternately proud of the home-cooked food I give the Bups and guilty about how much juice and biscuits she eats, (wait till you hear my true feeling about cloth nappies!), sometimes use British words (like 'nappies' instead of 'diapers'), don't miss teaching music, and how I nearly cried when I saw someone on TV at a Cold Stone Creamery (because we don't have anything like that here. And because, as I mentioned before, I'm pregnant).

So, now that I've started I don't know where to start, but I will probably think of something else to write here soon. Until then, then...