A Recurring Revelation...and then some

I love root beer!

That's just all there is to it. No matter how long I go without it I savor every drop when I'm reunited with its fizzy sweetness. I also was recently reminded how much I love store bought eggnog, but that's for different reasons and another post. For now I'd like to share my pure joy when any amount of a root beer-y beverage fills my mouth.

Here are my currently on-hand brands, thanks to a trip to an American military base last month. The IBC is a special treat but the Barqs is definitely my all time fav.
I have to ration them since our only chance to get them is on such military base visits, which are few and far between. I know, I know, life is rough here in anti-root beer Germany-!

But what I'm really excited for is ordering a root beer with my meal when we go out to eat while we're back in North America over the holidays. It will be such a special treat! I tell ya, being away from some things really gives one a new found appreciation. You should try it sometime!

In other news, it's pretty much confirmed (by me) that indeed the baby's kicks are feelable now! Talk about an interesting experience! At first they were so light and sparse that I wasn't sure, but the frequency and intensity have been slowly and steadily increasing to the point that now I can almost say with complete certainty that it is the living child within and not other miscellaneous sensations. Considering that the baby is about the size of half a Subway sandwich and that my belly really hasn't grown much (yet) at all, I'd say it's about time that I'm feeling something--I mean, how does something that big (that moves around ALOT according to past ultrasounds, stretching legs and arms out, etc) fit in there without me being extremely uncomfortable all the time? Another miracle of this whole process I guess!

And on one last but totally unrelated note, we live on the top floor of our building and thus live directly under the roof causing the outer facing walls to slant with the angle of the roof. This creates more of a roomy feel, which we like and is part of the reason we chose this apartment above others, but at the same time it has recently become quite the hassle for our general well-being. Who knows why, but until the last couple weeks our ceiling-eye-head/hand/back coordination was working out just fine, with no actual injuries, just a couple of close calls. But lately, I can't count how many times I've bent down to get something from under the shorter part and stood up before backing out far enough or Grady has innocently raised his hand too high and a seriously uncomfortable collision occurs. The kicker is that the ceiling isn't just painted flat wall, it's practically popcorn stucco that draws blood upon any momentum-carrying contact. No kidding! Grady was actually bleeding last week after skimming his forehead. So as you can imagine, this has been quite a blow to not only our head or hands, but also to our general emotional confidence in being able to correctly judge and accurately adapt to our surroundings which can really cause one to doubt one's personal growth and progression after awhile. Anyway, it's been interesting and the only thing I can come up with is that the sun is starting to set around 3pm these days and maybe the change of light is throwing our coordination skills through a loop. But as for now I'll just keep the bandaids stocked up.

Root beer, baby and popcorn stucco. Hope one of those topics interested you at least a bit!