Dear Mom, Merry Christmas,

I am so glad that Christmas is over, I have never been so glad to be done with Christmas. Maybe I was faking it all this year. I faked caring about the tree and the lights and the food, but I was just worried about the guys, all of them. I am sorry for being such a faker, such a fraud. I don't think it did any good either, I don't know if they noticed or cared and frankly, it just made me more unhappy. So, whatever, it is done. Now I know that just saying "Merry Christmas" does not make it so. I will know for next year. Nothing really takes the sting out of missing you and dreading missing Sheldon when he is gone.

I feel a bit lost,

V

A day of rest.

The day after Christmas is always the best part. All the anxiety is gone, house guests are either leaving or already moved in and comfortable on your recliner, they know where the towels are already, the fridge is fair game to all and no one needs to be catered to anymore.

This year was pretty low key, just Dad and my brothers, Daniel and Daryll, over with Sheldon and I, the turkey was small but still as good as we hoped for. I'd like to say it was quiet but we pulled out the Rock Band. It was 78 degrees (I can't find the symbol for "degrees") in my house with the oven on, so all the windows were open, I am sure my neighbors loved our rendition of Mississippi Queen, we sucked. At least we got to practice the same songs over and over again until we nearly beat Daryll to death with the drum sticks. Drum solos are not our thing.

As if we didn't get worked up enough with Rockin' Out, we rounded out our Christmas night with a hockey game. And then our team lost. If it wasn't Christmas Day there is no telling what kind of beat down could have happened... to Daryll.

So it was not our normal Christmas, I don't know if we could have handled a normal Christmas, this worked out just fine anyway.

Hope yours was fun too!
~V

A wish list, since you asked

Dear Santa,

We have been very good this year. Even if we haven't been great, please grant us a bit of lenience, it has been a rough year, after all. So much has happened (and not happened) and yet we know how blessed we truly are. We have our families and our health, our house and our pets. We have each other. For now.

Next year we anticipate to be even more challenging with Sheldon moving to Texas and then deploying to Iraq. I will be holding down our small Fort in Alabama by myself. So we are not asking for much this Christmas except for some peace and harmony. We don't have much need for material things though the commercials have been telling us otherwise. Maybe some Delta Sky Miles in our stockings for the back and forth trips to El Paso would come in handy, that is about all we could ask for.

We wish there was a way that you could bring our family the one thing we really want this year but how would you wrap it? Where would you put the bow? Maybe we have wasted all our wishes on that anyway. So don't worry if our order is too steep, we understand. Really.

Be careful of the ceramic pieces on the mantle this year, you already broke the Joseph in our nativity scene and we are at a loss as to how to replace him. (insert sacrilegious jokes as to why we needed him in the first place here______ ) Just kidding, sheesh, lighten up! God knows that I know that Joseph had to lead the donkey. Anyway, just be careful with the breakable stuff. Please.

I'll try to be better,

V

Turkey Birthdays and other stuff

Guess what.
HapBerfDay Guys! You are so old now. Ha!(Daniel) and Ha!(Dar)

Well, if Sheldon ever gets home from work we might just get to leave for Florida for Thanksgiving. I am kind pissed that my Dad and Brothers and B-side cousins are not coming too but life does seem to get in the way sometimes. Turkey just won't be the same without them though... sigh! At least I'll be at the beach... oh wait, I don't like the beach.

Story Time:
Five years ago at Thanksgiving, Sheldon was packed and ready to go to Iraq. We had just gotten married and I was still in Denver, but he had just moved to Tennessee. I decided to take a last minute flight to see him before he left but the cheapest ticket I could find and afford was to Atlanta. My father picked me up from my midnight flight, with a cooler lovingly packed with turkey and fixings packed by Mom, to drive through the night to Sheldon's tiny apartment near the Tenn-Kentucky border where he was newly stationed. Dad and Sheldon and I spent the day of Thanksgiving cooking and watching football (guess who was cooking and guess who was watching football) in the apartment, it went by in a blur. While Dad crashed out on the couch post-turkey, we sat up all night talking. At 3 AM an alarm went off and Sheldon got up and loaded his gear into the car. I woke up dad and we loaded up the cooler full of leftovers into his car and said goodbye to Sheldon. Deployment Goodbyes are impossible. I think I cried all the way to the Georgia State Line and then finally, mercifully, fell asleep the rest of the way to Snellville. When we got back to the house Mom was waiting for us, she knew I was sad so she tried to keep it light. Dad helped Mom back up the porch steps, her early signs of ALS had already started begun to baffle us and she was walking with a cane. As he opened the front door to usher us in he said to Mom, "That was the first Thanksgiving we have ever spent apart." I will never forget that sentence as long as I live.
Sadness washed over me. At that time they had been married for 32 years.

This year, I am just thankful for that memory. Even though it is a sad story it is one of my favorite to remember because I know that my life has been filled with richness beyond measure. I hope that if you are reading this you have a great Thanksgiving and are surrounded by love and kindness.

Dibbs on the mushrooms,
V

Looking for Plan B... the good kind of Plan B

So, it was negative. No baby. Let it sink in. And breathe...

We are fine, obviously we knew that in the world of IVF there are no guarantees. The hardest part of revealing the outcome is having to console all of you guys who have been so emotionally invested in our journey. Don't get me wrong, I know we brought it on ourselves by inviting cyberspace to the Czech Republic with us. Well, we really are fine, I know I am. Statistically, I know a second, or even third, try is the way to go. And that is still an option for us. But we have a few obstacles to maneuver, one being the Great Divide.

In February, Sheldon will be moving to Texas without me, his next deployment takes him to Iraq in the spring. My consolation prize is that I get to stay in this house with all of the pets where we are all comfortable. Ah! The life of an Army Wife!

For now we are just getting ready for the holidays, time to haul out the decorations and be festive. I guess we could dwell on all that seems dismal or we could just enjoy the time we have together and truly be Merry and in love. We have so much to be thankful for and we are taking the dogs to the beach for Thanksgiving, they deserve a vacation too!

Love, V

Feels good to be home.

The walk was great. The weather was beautiful. Our friends were there. The spirit posters were a hit. In general, it was a hit, as usual. Of course something was missing, but we knew that going into it. Thank you all for coming and being supportive and loving and for all the money raised for such a great cause. I have vowed to support the ALS Association of Georgia indefinitely, for a debt that can never be repaid. Thank you for joining our family in the walk. It really meant a lot. We were a bit low key this year but we'll pick up the pace next year and make more noise. Promise.

We convoyed back to Columbus Saturday night and enjoyed the best night of sleep in a month. We did nothing constructive until noon and loved every minute of it. Then we took the dogs to the dog park and had Taco Night and watched The Big Bang Theory on DVD. Back to the boring life we know and love.

There is still no news. You know what I am talking about. No news yet. No news is good news for a while. Stop asking, you'll know when you know. We love you, but stop asking.

~V

When do journeys end?

We are home. (Well, Sheldon is at home. I am still in limbo, in Norcross, really.)

The dogs and cats are fine, all a bit clingy, but fine. My half of the travel laundry is done, of course I made him take the fore mentioned red suitcase, the giant one stuffed with all of the dirty-stinky-euro-laundry! I am just hanging out until the walk tomorrow. I am trying to avoid being the one that has to do all of the spirit posters, just because I am the only one not gainfully employed at the moment. Well, I am not the only one, but we who are not gainfully employed, or are convalescing (Dad and Dar and I) don't feel like it.

The Walk.... I am missing Mom a lot lately, I think everyone is. I think once all the traveling dust settled it really caught up with me cause she is not around to show my awesome pictures to. Boo! I sometimes feel like if I could just get her back for a minute, I'd just tell her something really funny that Sheldon did or said and we'd laugh... but I'll always want one more minute. It never ends.

So, I hope that if you can make it, that you will be joining us in Atlanta for the walk. If you are not able to make it, I hope that you will be with us in spirit... whether we have posters or not.

Tomatoes and uphill battles

Why tomatoes and uphill battles? Both have me seeing red.

Mom bought the most beautiful red luggage for me years ago, it is huge. So, of course the biggest luggage I had is the one I packed for the trip. How was I supposed to know that I was not going to be able to lift anything over five pounds at the end of the trip? My research just did not take me that far. So tonight before dinner Sheldon got to pull the fifty pounder about a half a mile up a steep cobble stone road to the parking garage where the rental car is stored. I got to carry his jacket for moral support, I think I did a great job, with all of his huffing and puffing he forgot to thank me. I guess that is pay back for the daily shots that I endure every day that bruise my belly. I swear it looks like Tinkerbell beats me up every night, I have at least 7 bruises in various shades, ranging in sizes from dimes to silver dollars, scattered around my belly button. These are the painful post-procedure shots, different from the original ones that did not hurt very much. I get really anxious everyday when the time comes for it, like even now, it is nearly 8pm and I am already thinking of tomorrow's shot before we get on the plane. Ouch.

But at least we are on our way home, we have decided that this trip was about three days too long. In hindsight, we have done so much, we have had so much fun and accomplished our end of the deal. My only failure so far has been the tomato pledge from the first day. Most days I did great, one per meal was the goal. But a couple of days I was only able to have tomatoes twice. But the worst day by far was today. I have only had one tomato today. Boo! But at least I had it for breakfast. My first breakfast.

Speaking of Red, Happy voting today, btw. I cast my vote via absentee ballot a few weeks ago. It is very interesting to get the international news about the election. By the time we get home it will all be decided... tomorrow is a whole new scary day.

The fall of Larson Barracks

Dear Tammy, Mike, Jason, Brian, Dustin, Sam, Randy, Dave, Ian, Jamie, Robin, Bobby, Marilyn, Shannon, and Tim,

I am so very sad to report that Larson Barracks is now a ghost town. Prison-like fences now surround what used to be where I once called "home." The town of Kitzingen, once a quiet German country town whose only disruption was a few clusters of Army Barracks, is now an industrial wasteland of factories and traffic nightmares. It was so depressing to stand behind a steel gate at what used to be the main gate and see weeds over running the once beautiful cobble stone entry way. Out of sight to the right would have been the "green machine" and farther in would have been the theater where the guys all cried over Macauly Culkin's demise from bee stings in My Girl. Who knows what the motor pools look like? The golf course on the Back-40 still exists and you could see the ADA buildings and good ole Bldg 64 from the pro-shop. Maybe I saw the corner of the NCO Club. The building across the neighboring hill top that lights up at night and we frequented often, you know, The House of Lights, is still there, but who goes there? Harvey Barracks is no more, all of Wurzberg is closed, even the Army Hospital. All gated off and as good as gone, they all stand in ruin.

I was almost sorry we went, but not really. I was very quiet after that, my excitement dashed, I wished with all of my might to be young again, but alas, I left our ghosts there.

Definitely homesick now,

V

Where is everyone?

So, the last week has been... great. We have been amazed at how much we have bonded with our group of new friends, but don't worry we have not replaced you guys, we really are coming home soon. That and the remainders of the BMG are going home today. Two of them split from us yesterday at the Prague train station and then later at dinner Sheldon tried to make the four of us sit at a table for six. They have really added to the experience of our travels and emotional well being on this journey. Gosh, I am really going to miss them! Yesterday was funny because the six of us were taking the train with luggage for six but only four of us were allowed to lift the luggage... I got to supervise. It was a good time. But we made it to our hotel with no issues and had another pleasant stay in Prague, however short it was. I will post pictures soon, or I'll get Sheldon to do it. We are off to Germany and may not have access to internet til Tuesday night...

Take care, please make sure when I get off the plane I have instant access to my dogs, I really miss them too.

You know who I am talking to, you.

~V

Uh Oh in Brno by Sheldon

One of the Baby Making Gang (BMG) almost found themselves in trouble with the Czech Law today. When exiting the taxi at the train station, this individual opened the taxi door and it immediately came into contact with a passing vehicle's passenger mirror. Worried that this might make us late for the train, our helpful contact's husband worked out the issues between the 2 drivers. Thanks to him one of our crew did not have to serve time in a Czech Prison.

Morale of the story is "Czech before opening the car door!"

The begining of the end... of the trip

Today is my last chance to enjoy the wonderful breakfast provided here at the lovely Voronez 2 Hotel. In truth, there is not much to complain about a hotel that costs $23 a night. Everyday the room is cleaned and beds are made, the staff is nice enough (thought their English, in general, SUCKS) the lunch and dinner in the downstairs restaurant is decent and convenient when you don't feel like walking to dinner or your husband won't go with you... the room is small and the beds are hard and there is only two English speaking channels and we have seen Mr and Mrs Smith 8 times (well 3 times were in Czech just to compare and use our own translated commentary, Sheldon is Brad Pitt and I play Angelina) but Sheldon can literally watch Soccer 24/7 and that is available here.

But anyway, back to breakfast... it is included in the $23 fee and I am not kidding when I say that it is worth it! I have taken to the European way of starting the day my morning feast includes coffee (duh), cold cuts with cheese on buttered rye bread, topped with tomatoes. I know what you are thinking, 'that is a sandwich!' Well, yes, but the sight of that buffet of meats and cheeses every morning delights me. Yesterday it dawned on me that all this time I could have been eating an early breakfast at 6:30 when they open and a late breakfast at 9:45 when I finally drag Sheldon down with me. I am up early thinking about everything anyway. I hate enlightenment that comes a bit late...

The BMG's are all packing it up here in Brno, the other 2/3rds of our group had their transfer yesterday and we will travel by train this morning to Prague where we will part ways with two of them as they travel (safely) to Paris. The other two we will share a hotel suite with tonight and escort them to the airport on Monday morning, they have husbands and kids anxiously awaiting their return! From the airport we are renting a car and braving the Autobahn to Germany. I don't care what we do as long as we get to visit the little town of Kitzingen, my first duty station. I had a swirly dream about it last night. I have recently been in contact with my friends from that time and place and I would love to take pictures there to share with them. We are renting a tiny car, I have recently been preoccupied with small cars, I mean really small ones, like Smart Cars and Mini's. I can hardly wait to see what we get!

Well, coffee's cold, I have to finish up my sandwich, and then head upstairs to shower and get ready for breakfast #2!

I am totally serious,

V

Homesick

We have been gone for so long now that I have almost forgotten what most of you guys look like. I went back and read some of the older posted blogs and can't remember what it was like to be on the other side of the egg retrieval, how it felt to NOT give myself a shot everyday, or all the stress and work it took to get us here to this point. This spot. This moment. I can't feel those emotions right now. My first waking thought was, 'how fragile it all is'... We are all so fragile... sigh! Ha! Snap out of it! That is what synthetic hormones get ya! Suckers! You totally fell for that one!

Anyway, I totally forgot to tell you what we dressed up as for Halloween. Duh! I dressed as a tall white boy with a baseball cap and Sheldon chopped himself off at the knees and Wahla! He was a filipino chick... He is gonna look so funny pregnant! Anyone else do anything fun?

I am kinda homesick though, believe that!

V

Embryo Transfer Complete

That is the three embryos right before the transfer and us right after the transfer.

We would like to thank all of you who have followed along with our journey. We won't have any more news for a few weeks unless it is bad news, so please understand the emotional delicacy that we are enduring. Your prayers are joyfully accepted but your questions may be politely dodged. The outcome will reveal itself in time.

We are done here in Brno. I plan on taking it easy and packing on Saturday, maybe stroll around Sheldon's new favorite park with the zip line... here is a peek!



On Sunday we travel by train to Prague with other members of the Baby Making Gang, we will spend one night in Prague and then part ways, Sheldon and I are renting a car and exploring as much of Germany as we can until we fly home Wednesday. The blog will continue throughout our last few days of fun and adventure!

Thanks for sticking with us,
The Jones'

The day we've all been waiting for...

By the time you jokers wake up tomorrow the transfer will be complete. That is all for now. ~V

More Vienna pics

News from the front by Sheldon

Tomorrow is the big day. Veronica's appointment is tomorrow at 1200. That's when the fertilized egg transfer takes place. Things are looking well so far. We are so excited with the news.

Well, because we won't have anymore doctor's appointments while we are here we are going to leave Brno early. We are going to head back to Prague with the BMG (Baby Making Gang) on Sunday. We are going to go to Germany for Monday and Tuesday. Our flight back home is Wednesday from Prague.

Our trip to Vienna was exciting and I am looking forward to seeing what Germany ha to offer.

Hope you guys like the pictures...blog only allows 5 to be posted at a time.

Vienna or Wien as it is known in Austria

Passionate Kisses from Vienna

Hell Yeah! Can I get a Whooo Hooo? Let's go again! We powered into Vienna via train and commandoed our way from sight to sight. When we first got there some guy at the train station (bahnhof... yeah, I got to speak a little German)info booth told us to take the Tram, the light rail system, to the city center and we totally would have done it too, if it had not been for the sprawling gardens of the Belvedere Palace right in front of our noses. We got over loaded on Art and History at our first stop, Monet, Renoir, Schiele, Klimt... I got my nose inches from The Kiss! The Kiss! I accidentally touched the glass with my finger nail and got yelled at! Ha! I just didn't realize I was that close, I think I went cross-eyed looking at it. The majority of Gustav Klimt's work was there as well, save for the few pieces sold to dirty Americans a few years ago. Ah! The highlight of my day happened at 11 AM, but the rest of the day was not bad either!

The weather held up very well and we able to walk to each major sight with no problem. If we had been able to spend more than one day there we might have invested in more knowledge and tram passes but the way we did it got us to many of the sights we wanted to see and photograph. The city itself is overwhelming and requires more than an eight hour stay. But we got to see Stephansplatz Cathedral, the Hofburg Imperial Palace, the Natural History Museum Palace, the pedestrian walking mall (it had a huge Lois Vuitton store... I took a picture for you Brandee and Breanna) and countless other things that I am sure we did not realize we saw.

It was a good day. Our traveling companions (the Baby Making Gang) all decided to put Sheldon in charge of the map and he lead a good fight. It was a little quick paced but we did it and made it back to the train with no problems.

I would go back today... alas, I cannot. But maybe Salzberg next week?

~V

p.s. Our USB cord is MIA and we have no way to share pictures, maybe I remedy that later today... wait for it.

Support The Walk to D'Feet ALS

Daryll Hates Vienna Saugages

On Monday night we met up with another couple, their surrogate and her sister-in-law/ traveling companion. The couple (I am not sure if they care to be mentioned in my blog so for now shall remain anonymous)is originally from Cuba and now hails from Providence, RI. The surrogate and company are both married (and mothers) and are from Cedar Rapids, IA (yet another shout out to my peeps out there!) Anyway, we have had dinner with all of these people for the past two nights, we are quite the motley crew with very little in common other than we, Joneses, are merely a day behind them in the quest for baby. It is very hard to explain my instant love for these folks, as we all wandered the streets last night after dinner, we all six kept pairing off to talk to each other and get to know each other better and connect with each individual, and then we'd switch. So, we all decided to go to Vienna together! I am also very excited to report that we will be taking the train there, we tried to buy bus tickets but Thank God they were sold out! I would have been disappointed if we did not get to take the train somewhere, I love train travel. Austria has long been one of my favorite countries (Salzburg is amazing) and I hope to have a perfect day despite the weather looking a bit gloomy.

It is 3AM Wednesday morning for me, I am on my sleep break, so I need to get back to my last two hours in the sack. We are on the early train and have a coffee date with our baby making gang before that. Later in the morning, we will find out how many eggs from yesterday's 10 were fertilized and which day the transfer will take place. So Vienna (the one without the canals, Dar) is the perfect distraction.

I am so breathlessly hopeful,
V

Eggs-xactly the news we needed by Sheldon

This morning was the retrieval. Happy to report 10 eggs were retrieved. Veronica was only out of the room for about 10 minutes and came back acting drunk...waking up from the anesthesia. She was making me laugh. She stated that she had so much fun that she wanted to do it again. Of course she doesn't remember telling me that.

Looks like we are planning a trip to Vienna, Austria (throw another shrimp on the barbie)with the 4 people we met that just arrived for the procedure. We are excited to see the sites in Vienna. We have gotten a little bored here in Brno. I guess we got spoiled in Prague with all the amazing sites there. Time to be tourists again. I'll break out the sandals with black socks, the khaki shorts, the white t-shirt with black suspenders, and the camera around the neck for our trip. Boy, will I be cold.

We love reading your comments so keep them coming.

Non-Stop Parking and other oddities

I have seen it a few times, the sign that says NON-STOP PARKING. Can someone please help me with this? I can see one from my hotel window and it is driving me crazy. We have fallen into a routine here in Brno. Sleep, shower, breakfast, ten mile hike, shop along the way, hold hands, eat lunch, see a castle, drag ass the ten miles back to the hotel, internet time, find a restaurant for dinner, play sirius radio on the computer, play cards, more internet, to bed. Sometimes we switch it up a bit, like tomorrow, the Egg Hunt has to be squeezed in there. Also, they will be surgically removing Sheldon's sperm through his nasal cavity (I made that up to make it seem more fair)... Just another day in paradise!
Still loving it here, still excited about the mission, still missing our pets and our peeps, finding it hard to believe life is going on without us over there,
V

Our dogs by Sheldon

We have been missing our dogs a lot lately. We bought new leashes today for them. Saturday we actually saw a dog that resembled Zoe. In our hotel there is a picture of a Chocolate Lab that looks like a young Gage. We actually say hi and goodnight to him as we pass by. Can't wait to see them.

Skypers

Just a quick note,
Some of you have already fallen victim to our new obsession: SKYPE. Google it. We are loving it. Nadeen told me to bring my headset with microphone with me (the one I got to talk to Karen with about two years ago and used twice because the time difference to Bangkok really messed me up) and so I did. And can I just say, we really needed some outside contact. Despite being sooooooo in love... we have kinda been getting on each other's nerves. Like right now. So having family and friends to talk to has been nice today. We might just make it home alive, together and alive. Sooooo, if you feel like downloading Skype, we could talk for free, our account is: sheldonandveronica I know that is a tough one but we figured we are the only sheldonandveronica out there.

Call us!

Happy Birthday Yvette

Today is another day without a plan. Not much to do on Sundays anyway. I did just find out that an hour massage is 450Kc about $25. So guess what I might be doing later.... I forced myself to sleep in today and the sleep itself was only broken up by one hour in the middle of the night, not so bad. Last night we watched "Made of Honor" on line for free, that was kinda cool. At some point in the middle of the movie there was a fight out on the street below our window. Four grown people, like in their 40's and 50's, pushing each other down and screaming like banshees, it was quite a spectacle. We had no idea what it was about but were astonished that no one else seemed to mind them carrying on in public for a very long time. We just paused the movie and watched the drama unfold on the street while munching on our huge stash of gummies and sipping Coca-Cola Blak.

Today is a big day in baby-making, I get to take a total of three shots! Yippie! But it sets me up for Tuesday's big procedure, the Egg Hunt. And then we wait. And that means that you get to wait with us. If I am feeling well enough on Wednesday I hope to be on a train to Vienna, otherwise that should happen on Thursday. Also today I get to meet a lady coming from Cedar Rapids, IA to be a surrogate for another couple. A small shout out to my favorite fertile people from Iowa: Send some spare baby dust my way!(I can't stop thinking about you guys!)

Thanks for all the comments! We'll keep coming back if you do. ~V

The sleep issue, thanks ma!

I should still be sleeping. My mother had terrible sleep issues and I am totally pissed that I have them too, I am lucky to string together three hours at a time. For the most part the anxiety about the trip and treatment is all but gone. So why am I not sleeping? It is Saturday morning for us, still Friday night for you all. The girls at Hunter's Pub are still sitting around smoking and joking, but mostly smoking. I can't wait to come home and have a steak. My stomach just growled thinking about it. Someone (KT) tell Tiff that I want to work the Thursday I get back November 6th. I miss my girls.
And, by the way, people, lets please not forget about the walk on November 8th in Centennial Park in Atlanta. We are merely simmering here (is it cause I am out of the country?) We need to bring this cause to a boil. This is our first Memorial walk for my Mom, gather up the team, put on the rally caps, GET YOUR GAME FACE ON. Thanks if you have already joined or donated. Oh, here is that link to get you there: https://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=271428&lis=1&kntae271428=8C77F465B2564F68B6C96D9D161B16BB&supId=0&team=2770034&cj=Y

In other news, we have no other news. Today will be our first day without a plan. As long as we make it to the free breakfast buffet we are good to go(breakfast is not in the budget because it is included in the hotel rate... plus the coffee is GREAT!) We did a lot of walking again yesterday and I wore the wrong shoes so my feet are a little mad at me. I did sleep for 3 whole hours though so maybe I will wander around again later this afternoon. I want to find a train schedule to plan our adventure to Vienna. I'd love to go to Salzburg as well and then possibly Germany in our last few days. Maybe that is why I am losing sleep! I know you guys don't feel sorry for me, I am on vacation after all! Anyway, we love hearing from everyone, my fabulouso Mom-in-law and rock-star Sis-in-law comment everyday and we love it. Let us know you are still out there, but we feel the love either way. ~V

Superstitions by Sheldon

To follow up on Veronica's story...

We got to the hotel and were starving. After checking in a the front desk, we went up to our room 212A. As we are going down the hall, we do not notice any letters on the doors. 208, 209, 210, 211, 212...so we try our room key card like 20 times and nothing but a flashing red light. She stays upstairs while I go back to the front desk. I found out that it is 212A and not 212. Because of the language barrier I did not ask any further questions and went back upstairs. The next one down from 212 is 212A. After investigating, we realize that there are no rooms with the number 13. Weird huh? I guess it's like some buildings not having a 13th floor.

Tonight was my first time eating Indian(the dot not the feather)food. Sorry, Veronica wanted me to put that. It was real good despite that Veronica forced me to go.

small negative, big positives

Let me get it out of the way. Yesterday sucked. Eva, our coordinator rode the bus to Prague to pick us up at the hotel by taxi, to ride the bus back to Brno with us. Fine. I get very car sick... buses, for me, are worse. But I tried to be a trooper about it, until the two hour bus trip turned into a five hour crawl down the autobahn (or whatever they call the highway here) because of wrecks involving fiery explosions and emergency vehicles and euro-sirens like in the movies. And then some psycho behind me sprayed perfume to cover up the smell of B.O. I would have rather been shot and then stuffed in the bathroom (which was so far beyond nasty...) The whole thing basically took up the whole day. We were starved and looking crazy in the end, Eva had to get home to her kids, poor thing, she is very sweet and felt bad about the whole ordeal. For her sake, I had to try my hardest not to be a total lunatic. She dropped us off at the hotel, which is quite nice and had no problems with the rate issue, and we settled for a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant.

The good news is that we finally got the right adapter for the plug so we can use the laptop (I plan on recycling this to Nadeen and Mark) so we are well connected, not that you all noticed that we were on borrowed Internet equipment before today. Also, the exchange rate continues to be in our favor, that is nice. Oh, and we went to the Clinic today, WARNING! : avert your attention if you are not interested in the medical stuff... just kidding! But all is well in that area. I am now taking two shots a day for the final few days. Fun. And we got to explore Brno today, it is not touristy like Prague, just a regular town on what seems like another planet. The first round of post cards have been sent, the second round... are waiting for your addresses, duh!

We miss our dogs, and can't seem to sleep without our cats. Two weeks to go. We miss our people too. Big Smooch!

More pics from Prague

Torture Chamber
Being sent to the torture chamber
One of beautiful sites inside The Cathedral
On our lunch cruise
The famous "Botel" not hotel or motel

That's What I Get!!!

Well, when you brag about the weather...what happens? I wore 2 jackets and my fleece cap. Veronica wore both of the scarves that she brought and her knit cap. It was windy, overcast, and about 40-50 degrees. Later that night while we were walking back it even started to drizzle a little. A little more like I expected.

All in all, it was a good day. We got to see a lot of things we would not have normally seen. The key is getting away from the touristy areas, even if by accident. It always seems like we are the only Americans around. Even if we hear someone speaking English, it always turns out to be with a British accent. Surprisingly a lot of the people who work here can speak enough English to communicate with us.

No television in the room means that I have read a book already. Blindness, which is the one the movie was made about, was very interesting. Movie probably does not even come close.

AND WE'RE OUT...Off to Brno...

Shin splints

Yesterday was a work-out. Did I mention that all of Prague is up-hill?

In the morning we went to the Prague Castle and Cathedral. Man! Talk about wonderland! It was amazing. I was a little disappointed that we did not get to see any of the Residence but what we did see was very impressive, I mean, it is a Castle afterall. I have pictures but this computer I am on does not have an SD port, and I have to see which pictures came out because we were not allowed to use flash in the Cathedral, the best part.

Later in the day we got lost. We actually got lost on both sides of the river and ended up at the foot of Saint "Good King" Wenceslas, not where we wanted to be, though it was cool. We were looking for the Astronomical Clock. I wanted to be there by 5 pm but we finally got there at 5:20 ish, that is only annoying to me because I really wanted o see it in full daylight and when the damn thing did it's "thing" which is on the hour. So after walking all over Prague looking for it the last thing I was going to suggest was that we stand in front of it for 40+ minutes, I still don't know what it does. So we decided to head back, are you thinking "why so early?" Well we really had been walking for MILES, and even Sheldon was tired of walking and that is what he does for a living. But then get this... we got lost again. We ended up walking the long route all the way back, I could have cried. But the cool thing about getting lost was that we wandered off the beaten and over-priced tourist path. We ended up finding a quiet coffee shop, a farmer's market, the patron saint of Bohemia and in the end, a wonderful cafe to have a very moderately priced dinner. And with all that walking... we actually got some sleep.

On with the show! Our ride to Brno arrives in about an hour and a half. I am starting to get excited to start treatment. The daily shots are not so bad, I am getting used to them and Sheldon is getting used to the emotional out-bursts that follow. Tonight our coordinator is taking us out to dinner, I guess that is all for now. Ciao!

Goals are good.

My newest goal while here in the Czech Rep is to eat tomatoes with every meal. Cause they are there, might as well eat 'em. Sheldon hates tomatoes so he won't play this game with me but I thought I'd let you all in on my new mission. And I am also still keeping my eyes on the prize with the original mission.

Today we are planning on making up our own tour of the Prague Castle. I like making up stories in my head about all this old stuff, I used to do it all the time when I lived in Germany, at least now I can try to convince my husband that some of it might be true. He tends to believe a lot of what I say... when he is listening. Then tomorrow our coordinator is picking us up to take us to Brno which is about two hours away. I am hoping the hotel does not give us a hard time with our room, but whatever, I don't care if they put us in a broom closet for $24 a night. I am just not paying the full price. I can stress about that tomorrow though. Today I am focused on the Castle stories and Post cards. Want one?

We are not sleeping well. Afternoon naps are needed because we are not sleeping at night but we are not sleeping at night because we keep taking afternoon naps. And then add into the mix that it is 73 steps from the street to our apartment.... and for some reason every route we seem to take to get somewhere is UP cobble stone streets there and back. Our butts are going to be looking cute when we get back. Right?

Ok, the next person that sees Daryll give him a good smack from me, he knows why, and tell him he isn't that funny. I am funny, he is not.

Are you so loving that Sheldon is writing too? Be sure to leave us a comment, ok? We love knowing that you are with us in spirit!

Where's the cold?

70 degrees with a relaxing breeze...that's not the weather report that I had seen before we left the U.S. I guess I don't mind. It made for a very relaxing 2 hour boat tour that also included a lunch buffet. We didn't want to get off the boat. I am surprised that Veronica did not post the "Botel" picture. I have seen a Hotel, a Motel, and now I have seen a Botel (hotel and boat combined). We should have stayed there but then again someone might have ended up getting sea sick or actually river sick.

They must have some big political event coming up. Last night while wandering around town we encountered a protest (looks like some anti-war or anti-bombing protest according to the pictures on their signs) and watched part of a political concert in the middle of a beautiful square.

Brandee, someone has stole my ideas about the play on words. They are selling a t-shirt that says "Prague, Czech Me Out". I didn't even think of that one. My ideas were "Do they accept Czechs?", "Czech please", and "I'll have to Czech on that."

Later for now.

BTW, this is Sheldon (but Veronica spell-checked Brandee's name)

feast your eyes on me posting photos!

Our Taxi driver waiting when we got there.
Our first beer
On a lunch cruise on the river
It is supposed to help with digestion...


More later! Keep coming!

Are your ears ringing?

My ears hurt. I have been wearing earrings, I never wear earrings. These are special earrings though, the ones I gave to mom for Christmas in 2002, when everyone in my family came to Colorado to meet Sheldon for the first time. So my ears lobes hurt a bit, not a bad kind of hurt and nothing is draining or anything gross, it the kind of hurt that almost feels good, like when you make an x with your fingernail on top of a mosquito bite, or the kind of hurt you get from spraying a scraped knee with that crazy anti-germ stuff in a can that foams up and stings a little, that kind of hurt. Anyway, I love the earrings and maybe the hurt goes away a little at a time.

So Sheldon wrote a blog, did you see it? I hope he keeps writing, it is nice to have a different spin on this trip than my own. I have been living this whole thing in my mind by myself for so long and it is just nice to share the real deal with him and everyone that reads this silly thing with no pictures (yet!) The weather here is very nice, not at all freezing like I thought it would be, but sunny and breezy... like us... the Joneses. hehe.

ps... I had tomatoes for breakfast! Isn't that weird? Thought I'd share.

Jet Lag--by Sheldon

First, for those of you that get "Road Rage", just be glad that you aren't driving over here. Just on the ride from the airport, our taxi driver had cut off multiple people and forced his way in several times. Tail-gaiting is a must if you are going to drive here.

The first day was spent sleeping for a few hours, after our walk around our area. We both found ourselves getting grumpy during the walk. Darryl was right, you do have to pay to use a public "Water Closet" (toilet in case you didn't know). Do to this fact, I had a delightful race back to the room that includes a whole lotta steps. Sorry no elevator. The place is beautiful. Prague, or as it is written here Praha, is a tourist town and we have noticed that we have to watch out for price gouging. In Brno, which is a college town, I expect things to be a little cheaper. We just have to look at the cost on the menu before we go inside. <- Not a fun story and I don't think Veronica wants me to tell it. I'll have to wait to tell that one.

Today we plan to go on a tour of the city and will update you after. Having fun in Praha!

We made it!!!

The flight was... long. Sheldon did a little chant before getting on the plane about "no screaming babies" and I thought that was an odd thing to say given our mission but whatever, I just let him mumble a bit. His little mantra worked though cause there were no screaming babies in our section. There was however a Mrs Potato behind him that grabbed his seat every ten minutes throughout the entire flight and shook it for whatever reason. Europeans are very... different. Yvette, I was waiting in line to get my money exchanged and a lady came up behind me and tried to push me out of the way a few times and when that did not work she just crowded me... how well do you think that went over? I almost knocked her down with my backpack. Sheldon got a chuckle out of that. When we got our bags (with no problem) and got our passport stamped (for the first time ever!) we walked out of baggage claim and saw a dude holding a sign that said "Veronica Jones" so we went with him and he zipped (and I mean zipped) us through the streets of Praha to our hotel. So now we are showered but hungry. Tomorrow we are going on tours of the city to see castles and crystal and bridges and beer breweries. Ta-ta for now!

The morning of the day of our amazing trip.

I am up early. We are staying at my fabulous cousin Brandee's in Norcross because she allows dogs to spend the night here. The truth is, we allow her dogs to visit (sometimes as long as two months at a time) so she has to let our dogs visit. Even if our dogs are bigger than her kitchen. Sheldon is next to me on the couch, both of her dogs on him, asleep, and our dogs on the floor at his feet, jealous. Anyway, I came up to Atlanta on Friday with the dogs, I had to get out of our house, the excitement about the IVF trip was driving me crazy so I decided to make it start early. Sheldon came up from Columbus last night and on his way into town he picked Dar and Jonesy from the airport. Their international travels were bringing them back from three weeks in Italy. His travel blog is gonna make mine look so stupid but here it is: http://meandthemajor.wordpress.com/

For those of you who don't already know, Daryll is one of my brothers (who are twins) and he is simply the most amazing person. He took care of Mom while she was sick. That is no small statement but I can't really get into why Daryll is one of my most favorite people on the planet, he just is. He could be your favorite too, I don't mind sharing. I just really needed to see him before we left. So, last night, I set up camp at our uncle's house and lured select family members with some filipino food. It worked, we sat for a while and enjoyed Dar's homecoming with a little bit of wine. He shared his some stories of his Papal encounters in Rome and his Harley riding friend in Sorrento (that let him ride HER bike) and stories of Tom Cruise. Sheldon and Brandee made a lot of stupid jokes and we had a good time. I have a great loving family and their support is so important right now. Last night was just what I needed.

I may write again more later today, before our flight to Prague. Right now I have to get ready for church with Dad in Snellville. Our flight leaves at 7:30 PM and we fly through the night to get there. I need to re-pack everything because one of our suitcases is a little too heavy and I am not paying extra for it! Other than that we are ready. Really ready. Finding out if any of this was successful is more than a month away. But I am ready to do this. I am beyond the flurry of the initial excitement, the anxiety of planning and packing, the worry about the money, worry about the pets, worry about passports and medications. I have put so much work into this. I am ready to go.

One last note: My last big hurdle was yesterday when I had to give myself my first shot- EVER - it was not graceful or cute. Brandee got to witness what a mess I was, just a horrible babbling idiot! But I did it. Good thing I get to keep doing that every morning for the next few months. Yay!

Five days til lift off

I have been blogging for years... in my mind. I am just too lazy to actually DO IT. Welcome to my life.

Where to start? I live in Phenix City, Alabama... that is a glamorous opener. I am married to the funnest, funniest, most hilarious Drill Sergeant (DS) the Army has ever seen, just don't tell him that. And he is really cute. We have been married for five years, and only separated a total of six months due to deployment, any Army Wife (AW... I love acronyms) will tell you how lucky we are, especially considering he is an infantryman. We have two cats and two dogs and our lives tend to revolve around our pets because we have no kids. Which brings me to the topic of kids. We want them, can't seem to have them, which makes me want them even more. We are on a quest to make our dreams come true. You'll never believe where our adventures will take us! Please come back, I promise details about our journey. Right now I have to get some sleep.