siebenunddreißig

German lesson: siebenunddreißig-literally, seven and thirty, or as we would say, thirty-seven. Why siebenunddreißig? Because that's how old I am today! WHAT? Yep, I am officially in my late 30's.  Man, my parents are OLD.  They have a child in her late 30's.  ;)


Yesterday I had a funny, but very uplifting conversation with one of gate guards on post.  He looked at my id card and noticed that my birthday was the next day (remember this was yesterday).

Guard:  Ihr Geburtstag ist morgen.-(Your birthday is tomorrow)
Me:  Ja.-Yes. 
Guard: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag-(Happy Birthday!)
Me: Danke-Thanks  
Guard:  Wie viele Jahre haben Sie?- (How old will you be?) {literally:  how many years do you have?}
Me:  Siebenunddreißig-thirty-seven
Guard:  Ich denke du meinst siebenundzwanzig-(I think you mean twenty-seven)
Me:  Nein, nein siebenunddreißig-(No, no.  Thirty-seven.)
Guard [switching to English]:  Siebenunddreißig means thirty-seven.
Me [also in English]  I know.  That's how old I'll be:  thirty-seven.  [pulling my ID back out and showing him the year I was born]
Guard:  Oh, well.  You look great.  Happy Birthday.
Me:  Thanks!  {float home feeling much better about my age}


This morning Mr. HH took the dogs out for me (I usually take them in the mornings) and let me sleep in.  Around 9am, he and Indy brought me breakfast in bed (apple pancakes-my favorite-turkey bacon and hot tea), then we walked over to the flea market, but it was a bit of a bust today because it was raining on and off.  Tonight, the Contessa is watching Indy while Mr. HH takes me out somewhere.  He won't tell me where, just that we have reservations and I should dress nice.  Ooooooh.  Curious!


So, there is is.  My birthday.  Happy birthday to me!

Letters to a soldier: I'm featured!

Hello everyone! Today I'm featured on LettersToASoldier.com!  I'm cool like that.  :)  It's nothing fancy or anything (though I'm featured, so it must be awesome), but how exciting for me. I'd really, really, really appreciate it if you could click the little button to vote for me, so I can move up in the site list.

Mom in High Heels

Place your vote for Mom in High Heels and find more Support Our Troops at LetterToASoldier.com.

Now, I'm going to work on my quest for blog domination and work on getting a Colbert Bump.  Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's my favorite day of the year! MY BIRTHDAY! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! BTW, did you know your Wii Fit will wish you a happy birthday? I didn't. When I turned it on this morning, the little Wii board had a party had on, wished me a happy birthday and threw some virtual confetti all over the screen. It was kind of neat and started my day off on a chipper note. Oh, I let Indy do a few ski jumps (that's a big treat, because he usually only gets to play it on the weekend) and it even reminded him that it was my birthday. Smart, Nintendo. Very smart.

Anyway, enough free advertising for Nintendo. Today is all about me. Me, me, ME! Not that I'm narsisitic or anything, but it's my birthday, so yeah, me.

Let's have a look back at the last 36 years shall we?

Here's my mom with me in tow. Isn't she cute? She was 20! Holy cow! She turned 21 a month and a half after I was born. This photo was taken in Jan of 73. She and my dad had been married a little over a year and a half.


Say it with me: Awwwwwwww! This is my first portrait. I was 4 days old. I don't look happy to be having my picture taken, do I?


And one year later. Look at those chubby cheeks and arms!


Here I am at 2. This would have been my Easter dress. I'm pretty sure my mom made it. I seem to be getting progressively happier.


Check this out! I was 4 in this photo, so it would have been 1977. Look at those clothes! And what's up with my hair?



This is first grade. My mom loved to put my hair in the double pig tails. My grandmother used to call me "Buffy" not after the vampire slayer, but after the little girl called Buffy in a 70's sitcom. I think it was called Family Affair, but I'm not sure and I don't feel like Googling it. It's my birthday and I don't have to do anything I don't want. Ha!



We'll just skip all those awkward middle school years. They were not kind to me. I had really bad asthma and took tons of medications containing steroids. They made me....let's say "puffy." It was not a good time for me. We'll move right into the teen years. This is me (far left, looking down), my mom (hotness!) and my crazy older cousin (older by about 11 years) in 1987. I would have been 14. Also, this is probably the last time I ever went to a beach. Unlike my mom, I do not tan. I'm more like my red headed dad and burn. A lot. As you can see, the steroids are long gone and the weight just fell off. What I wouldn't give to have those thighs again.



This was my Senior prom. I was 18. My prom was in the Sears Tower in Chicago. Awesome. Get a good look at that layered dress. I'm sinking in the grass here, but rest assured I was wearing heels. Oh, and check out my date's "Hammer Pants." They were the height of early 90's fashion.



Here's my HS graduation a few weeks later. Yes, I went to an all girl school. Surprisingly, I loved it and still keep in touch with many of the girls I graduated with (even before Facebook).


All of my college photos are glued down to a scrapbook and I'm too lazy to scan them. You've seen my wedding photos, which was at the end of college, so you know what I looked like.

Here is me today. Well, not TODAY, today, but about a week ago. You know, when I was still 35. Not too bad, I think.

Little old young me

I've been told there aren't enough pictures of me on my blog. Well, that's because I'm usually the one taking them. I love to take pictures. I don't so much like being photographed. Okay, that's not true. I love being photographed (cause I'm crazy vain), but when I look at the pics I always think I look terrible. So, without further ado, here are a few random shots of me:


Well, this isn't just me, but it's one of the few shots I actually have with me in it. This is when we went to Tombstone, AZ right before we moved to Germany. We took a tour of a silver mine. Fascinating stuff that. More work than I'd ever want to do. Ever. I have to say, my girls are looking pretty good in this photo. ;)


A friend took these and messed around with the color. I look much better in b&w I think.


Okay, this is more about my hair than my face, but hey, I've got fab hair.

Seriously, these are the only photos I have of me on my computer. I should really be in more, I think. What happens if I turn up missing one day? They're going to have to use my senior portrait to show on the news. That would be humiliating.