Grateful

Yesterday was Mothers' Day in Ireland. I got a nice bunch of flowers, chocolates and a card, a chance to have a nice bath and dinner from Burritos and Blues. It was a really nice day.

I did have to work, so didn't get to do the whole sleeping in and breakfast in bed thing. We actually got up earlier than usual on a Sunday morning (and the day the clocks changed, too!). We took a group of teenage girls to the local children's hospital to give away muffins, tea and coffee to the parents and staff spending Mothers' Day in the hospital. We couldn't go to the wards (there was an outbreak of a vomiting virus they were trying to control) but we did see a couple kids who were obviously pretty sick. And of course, it made me so gratful for the good health the Bups has enjoyed -- two weeks ago was the first fever she ever had (and it wasn't too bad) and she's really only been sick twice.

But there's so much more I'm grateful for, and it would be impossible to try and list everything. So here's just a few things I thought of this Mothers' Day:
Bupsy sleeps really well, and pretty much always has.
I didn't spend Mothers' Day being stressed out because we had to lead a church service, instead we got to do hands-on ministry with people who really appreciated it.
Watching Marcus walk up and down the hospital corridors with the Bups, I am grateful again with how involved he is, what a relaxed and confident dad he is, and the way I can count on him.
Not only has Bupsy been very healthy, I've had two uneventful pregnancies. Morning sickness, a bit of heartburn, a bit of a sore back, but nothing serious.
I was rocking the Bups the other night and singing our goodnight song when she suddenly sat up with an 'I've got an idea!' face and said 'Eeensy weensy?' ( she loves that song). I'm so grateful for my funny girl.

There's so, so much, but I will summarize: great ministry (great job doing ministry!), really great husband, great cute and funny daughter, healthy baby on the way, get to live in Ireland, great family, great friends... and most of all, a great God who has given me all these wonderful things. Thank you!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I have realized that I don't spend enough time talking about why it's great to live in Dublin. So in honor of aul' Paddy, here is my top 10 of being a mom in Dublin (in no particular order, becuase ranking them would take extra thought!):

1. The weather -- not too cold in the winter, not too hot in the summer, and while it rains often, it isn't every day, and it never pours down with rain, thunder and lightning.
2. The (very) green grass year-round -- because of the rain!
3. The Wicklow Mountains which we can see as we drive to the grocery store.
4. Watching cartoons like Dora or Elmo on the Irish language channel and trying to guess what they're saying.
5. Not many convenience foods means we cook fresh food a lot more, which is better for us.
6. Free maternity care, including pre-natal appointments, hospital delivery and stay, and free appointments for the baby and me for 6 weeks.
7. They don't weigh me at the pre-natal apointments! I have had no idea of my weight since I got pregnant with Bupsy more than two years ago.
8. The laid-back Irish attitude. It can be annoying if you're waiting in line at a store or for your dining room ceiling to be fixed, but it's nice that people stop and chat, and nobody gets too stressed. Everything is good 'craic' (which is pronounced like crack, but just means good fun).
9. Having the day off for St. Patrick's Day!
10. And most of all, the kids, teenagers, and adults we've met while we've been living and doing ministry here. They really make Dublin the great place that it is for us.

So there's my list. Except I just thought of number 11 -- the Bups is Irish (the new baby will be too) since she was born here, and she has the coolest passport in English and Gailge. I love being a 3 citizenship family!

Back to Normal?

Well, it has been a while since I posted. We were away (in England) for two weeks, then Bupsy has been off form the past few days. But today seems to be better, and I'm not so tired, so here I am!

We went to England to go to a Salvation Army conference and then to visit some friends and relatives. It was nice seeing everyone, nice to go swimming in some really great pools, really nice to be given a spare crib (they call them cots here) for the baby so Bupsy can stay in hers. But it was tiring. She didn't have too many afternoon naps, she didn't sleep well at night (she loves to wake up in the morning, pop her head over the side of the travel crib, and see us there. 'Mama! Daddy!') and we had to chase her around the conference center, other people's houses, the mall, the musuem where she banged her head and got a massive lump and bruise.

After driving all day to get a ferry back to Dublin (and then coming home to a really cold house) we thought we would settle back into our routine, but the Bups has been a mess. She had 2 huge teeth coming in, which may have accounted for a certain... unpleasantness to her dirty diapers/nappies. One of these nappies was not up to the job and it leaked all over the place...bad enough, but she was in OUR BED at the time! She was miserable, clingy, tired, wanting to be carried all the time, and must frustrating of all, not eating anything. Then suddenly this morning she had two bowls of cereal and a banana for breakfast, a good lunch, and a huge dinner (plus snacks in between). The nappies have been more normal, and she seemed a lot happier today (still clingy, but in a nicer, cuddlier way).

Meanwhile, I am exhausted and my back hurts from carrying her up and down the stairs, not to mention baby #2 (who we refer to us 'the little one', but the nurse has assured me is 'nice and big!'). But tomorrow is my birthday and I told Marcus what I'd really like is for him to get up and give Bupsy breakfast while I sleep in a little bit. I can hardly wait! Now watch me blow it by staying up too late tonight...

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...