Yesterday Dr. Mick cut off my soft cast/wrap (gross) and replaced it with this boot called the Ligastrap Immo. I'm supposed to wear it all the time for a few months. What, a few months? Yes a few months. What can I say, my joints are shot from this neuromuscular disease so injuries like these do not heal easily or quickly. He is just hoping for best case scenario where it heals back to what it used to be before injury and I don't have to keep wearing a brace :-/ At least I can shower now without wearing a vegetable bag over my foot.
My sister-in-law Nancy went to the hospital last night to "smoke out" this overdue baby of theirs. Not sure what technique the doctor will use, rubber tube attached to car exhaust pipe or one of those smoker pots you use for bees, but whatever the case, I am confident Ryan will make his appearance in the next 24 hrs. Nancy's mom is sending me updates from her Blackberry, but last update (midnight EDT) said they (Nancy's parents) got sent home so Nancy could get some sleep, as this is a long process. 
Now a short tribute to my brother Jeff who is about to become a father. When I started kindergarten, Jeff wanted to be just like me, what a twerp! He started practicing for the kindergarten entrance exams and got early admission (I kid you not). Growing up, Jeff was a smart, shy boy at school, but at home, he was a fierce fighter, with excellent biting skills. As long as I can remember, he wanted to be a doctor and a father too (with 5 kids to cause unending chaos). Dan says we do too much scheming when we get together and need to be monitored by a third party. But I say being a good schemer has got Jeff where he is today. He knows how to follow his dreams, no matter how silly they seem to other people. What's so silly about a Christmas tree farm?!
And a tribute to Nancy, although I've known you many years less than Jeff and am unsure of your fighting or biting skills. Nancy has a fabulous sense of humor and always makes me laugh. She likes summer cocktails and can drink me under the table. Since I met her, she has gone from not cooking at all to making elaborate Indian meals that I wouldn't even attempt. Ryan is going to be eating some good food! She is always willing to listen, giving me advice when I'm in some kind of emotional crisis or have a friend that's ready to throw in the towel. Her caring and compassionate personality will make her a wonderful mother. I can't wait to take our kids to the beach together and drink some margaritas! 
Yesterday at 3:15 I went for an MRI of my ankle. By 4:15, I was out the door with films and a report in hand! Now that's German efficiency. They didn't mess around with paperwork or make me sit in the waiting room, they whisked me right in and onto the table. The MRI itself took 30 minutes, then they decided to MRI other areas of my leg, just for comparison, I guess. It was a pleasant 45 minute nap. Dr. Mick took a look at the films this morning and told me there is tenosynovitis, or inflammation of the tendon sheaths around my ankle (see red arrow in photo). So, no major injury, but he wants this to go away to avoid further damage to the joint. They wrapped it up all nice and tight to keep it immobilized. This time he told me "don't take it off". Oops, didn't know I wasn't supposed to remove the other one. I go back on Saturday for them to take a look at it and re-wrap it. In the meantime, he told me "don't walk so much, OK?" Hahaha, OK Dr. Mick, but only because you are so nice!
Wednesday: overturned ankle while participating in the extreme sport of doing laundry. Pain excruciating when walking.
These little guys were photographed by a fellow blogger at the consulate. At first I wondered, did someone set their pet hedgehogs free or are hedgehogs endemic to Germany? Well today at the park, I spotted a hedgehog with my own eyes. He was scurrying through the grass like a small groundhog. We caught up with him, running parallel as he made a quick break for the woods. I could see his spines and snout nose; it was definitely a hedgehog. Very cool. I have never seen one on the wild before. Frankfurt also has red squirrels. They are very quick compared to the gray squirrel back in the US and much more elusive, hence the lack of photos. 
This is international week at summer camp and today was Vietnam/rest of Asia day. I gave the teacher one of Gianna's Vietnamese song books with CD and provided lychee and mango puddings for snacks. Gianna wore her traditional Vietnamese dress, the áo dài, and traditional Vietnamese hat, the non la. I sent along another more elaborate áo dài for the kids to see. Gianna was so proud to be wearing her dress. Once we got to school, my ordinarily shy child was showing it off everybody that would listen. One of her Indonesian teachers made fried noodles and each of the kids constructed a non la from paper and painted it with water colors.
The candles put this cake's size into perspective. Our freezer is the size of a shoebox, so we have to plan accordingly.
Just made my wish, blew out the candles, now time to cut the cake!
Made this cake myself. It's light bourbon vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries in the middle. The bottom layer is lady fingers soaked in a wild berry sauce. Yum! 
Dan and Gianna got me this beautiful dragonfly pendant, a symbol of Vietnam, with three diamonds, representing Bố, Mẹ and Gianna.
For some strange reason, Germany does not celebrate the United States' Independence from Britain! But looking around, I could see plenty of people wearing either red, white, or blue ;-) After mostly recovering from a fast but furious illness that struck at 4am on Friday, I was able to go out to the store to get some traditional American BBQ foods. We found Plochman's mustard (almost as good as French's), white bread hotdog and hamburger buns with a picture of the American flag on the bag (and a serving suggestion to eat your hotdog with cucumbers), Heinz baked beans from Britain, and some really tasty watermelon. Donnell brought over McCain french fries and Coke Zero to complete the feast. So, although there are no fireworks tonight, it's almost 10:30 pm and they are jackhammering at a construction site on the other side of the block. There's lots of loud noise and light, but not really what I would like to finish off my 4th of July. I guess the tasty watermelon will have to do. Enjoy your weekend America!
It's European hot this week: temperatures around 30°C (86°F), humid, still air, and no AC or ceiling fans on the entire continent! That's an exaggeration. The grocery stores have AC and so do many of the department stores, so I guess you should just go shopping if you are too hot. We have high ceilings with windows that open top and bottom, but no screens. So when Gianna is home, i have to keep the lower ones closed to keep her from climbing out onto the third story ledge and plummeting onto the street below :-O If you think Europeans wear pants no matter how hot it is, think again. Although I still see some superstitious Germans wearing neck scarves in this weather (they think neck draft causes illness), women wear dresses/skirts/capris/shorts and men wear shorts or manpris. At any rate, my small shoebox freezer can't make ice fast enough to keep up with my iced coffee cravings. Gianna is going swimming at summer camp today and I'm jealous!
