Brother Birthday Blogging

An oldie but a goodie. It's Kevin's birthday today, so I wanted to take the opportunity to post up an embarrassing picture of him. Taken almost 15 years to the day. I'm on the left, cutting a dashing pose in my tie-die. In the middle is arne, my first ever German exchange student. And on the right is my scrawny-looking little brother. Possibly drunk on German beer. Happy birthday!

For Kevin

I promised my brother a gross picture of my scar - here you go. Of particular note is the big hole in the top right of the photo. That's where the drainage shunt came out of the wound. When they pulled that sucker out it hurt.

In other wrist news, I had my first physio appointment today. Where I got to hear the words:
"Ok, I'm just going to massage your scar now"
Surprisingly, it felt pretty good.

Old and New Bears

The big white bear here was a gift from Kate for my 33rd birthday this year. He doesn't really have a name yet, but is an integral part of our lives here in Berlin.

The slightly beat up guy in front is Old Poo*, my most beloved stuffed animal as a kid. I knew that my mom had saved him away somewhere, but I haven't seen this guy in over 25(?) years.

I got a care package from home today, discovered him hiding in there, and promptly burst into tears. Couldn't really say why. But now that I think about it (and I'm trying very hard to not be all Hallmark Cardy here) maybe it's always a shock to be reminded that you were a kid once.

*and yes, I recognize the inherent irony that someone as gastro-intestinally challenged as myself should have a stuffed animal named "poo".

My new wrist

The last week has been less than fun. Last Sunday, the tiniest of slips while playing ping pong resulted in me heading off to the hospital for 5 days. Woo hoo! While there I met many a random German, had my first experience with hospital gowns, and was fed a lot of really gross food. Oh, and I got a big titanium plate stuck in my arm. Check it out:





























Next week: physiotherapy! Typing with one hand sucks, so I'm stopping now.

The grill works

With the exception of the toast, all of this food was cooked on our fantastic new grill (Thanks kevin and gaby!). It's not a burger (duh), but it was delicious. Next time we will optimize the coal placement, purchase some proper fracking lighter fluid, and manage a nice medium rare roast. Until then, we're just going to wait for some bird poo to land on our window.

Respect

A bird shat on our window in epic fashion last week. First, take note of the impressive splatter effect. Second, be aware that our window is recessed in about 1.5 feet from the roof. It was either very windy or some bird executed a textbook dive bombing maneuver.

From this perspective it looks like the poo spatter is a giant monster eating a nearby building (the slightly famous Berliner Verlag tower).

The shit stain has remained on our window for about three weeks now. We're thinking about holding a vigil until Mom or Mum comes back to Berlin.

Know the enemy

Which in this case is pollen.


The word for it in German is Heuschnupfen. And it ain't fun. Jeff was crippled in March. And now Kate is sneezing like a mini snot tornado. Where are the gut parasites when you need them?