End of Hurricane Season

The last day of November officially marks the end of the hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. Although we had one of the busiest storms seasons in history, the USA were very lucky this year to not have been hit along its shorelines. Only Tropical Storm Bonnie made a small landfall in South Florida, but that was really nothing to be concerned about.

Thank you Hurricane Season 2010! May the next one treat us just as nice!

Now it's up to some cooler temperatures in SoFla. We might get down to 8-10 C in the next couple of nights. During the day time they still expect more than 20 C though, so all is good. Looking at a lot of snow pictures on Facebook from friends in the UK and Germany, I really wonder if we'll get such a winter as the last one as well down here. Let's see! At least my winter clothes will fit again by then or actually be a little loose, since I'll be smaller than pre-pregnancy :).

Now off to work! Wishing you all a great December!!!


Der letzte Tag im November beschreitet das Ende der Hurrikan Saison im Atlantik. Obwohl wir eine der stuermischten Saisons in der Geschichte hatten, waren die USA dieses Jahr sehr gut dran und ihre Kuesten wurden komplett verschont. Nur der tropische Sturm Bonnie traf hier in Sued-Florida im Sommer mal kurz auf Land, aber das war nicht wirklich erwaehnenswert.

Vielen Dank Hurrikan Saison 2010. Moege die naechste genauso nett zu uns sein!

Nun sind wieder ein paar kuehlere Temperaturen dran hier in SoFla. Es kann in den kommenden Naechten bis auf 8-10 C abkuehlen. Tagsueber werden aber immer noch Temperaturen um die 20 C erwartet, also ist alles gut. Nachdem ich mir etliche Schneebilder von Freunden aus den UK und Deutschland auf Facebook angeschaut habe, frage ich mich echt, was wir wohl dieses Jahr fuer einen Winter bekommen und ob er so kalt wird wie der letzte. Wir werden sehen! Zumindest passen mir bis dahin meine Wintersachen wieder oder sie werden sogar ein wenig zu gross sein, da ich "kleiner" aus der Schwangerschaft kommen werde, als ich vorher war :).

Nun wieder auf zur Arbeit! Wuensche euch allein einen schoenen Dezember!!!

Bump Pics & Celebration

I never had the desire to show off my belly to the world, but pregnancy changes everything, so ya'll just have to look at it or GET OFF MY BLOG!!! :)

This is the bump at 36 weeks + 1 day. Still quite "tiny", but measuring spot on.

Today I'm also "celebrating" 21 months in the States by the way. On 21. February 2009 this journey began. It's been an interesting time, I took the roller coaster once again and I know what I want to change in the next year. So it will definitely stay interesting. One thing I can say for sure: Can't wait for 2011. 2010 was absolutely not my best year, but what doesn't kill you...... ;)

Maternity.... WHAT!???

"Maternity Leave??? Paid??? How long??? Government-paid child benefit??? Parenting benefit??? Now why again did you move over here!?"

Yes, I know... it's been a while again... almost a month, to be exact, that I've been quiet, but as you can imagine things are different over in the USA and so I'm not sitting on the couch with my feet up, enjoying my last couple of weeks of pregnancy, but still working full-time and listening to the above questions almost daily.

Yes, in Germany, by law, as an employee you must be given maternity leave with 34 weeks, 6 weeks prior to your due date and you will be paid during this time off and also for another 8 weeks postpartum. Yes, after the child is born, the government will pay you a monthly child benefit up until the child finishes some form of education that will get him into a profession and yes, there's also the option to stay home longer and get paid a parenting benefit of I believe now 67% of your last salary (with minimums and maximums) for a maximum of 14 months after giving birth.

Here in the States that's all significantly different. First of, every state has it's own laws in regards to maternity leave and I guess with Florida, I chose to be in one of the States with the least "benefits" in this regard. Want a child? Have a child! But do it yourself!

So while in Germany, I would be relaxing right now, getting ready for Baby E, here I'm still on my feet working full time at 37 weeks and 1 day. My due date is 20 days away. With all the (physical) working, I don't know if I'll make it that far and I'd be quite happy for her to come out now as she is considered full term, but I sure know that I better not go overdue! Really, who wants to still be working past their due date??????? Since I haven't been with my employer for at least 12 months, I don't get any form of maternity leave. Not paid, not unpaid, not under "short-term disability" like my pregnant manager who's one week ahead of me, not under the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act)... All I can take is up to 4 weeks of personal leave through my employee benefits. Sounds great, doesn't it!? Dropping my 4 week old baby off somewhere, so I can go back to work is not really something I want to think about, but that is the reality over here for my situation and I do understand why people ask me why I moved over here or why I didn't move back to Germany, where I would have had way better prospects. Well, one answer to the latter is: I have a Greencard. If my baby is born in Germany, my baby will not have a Greencard and things will be rather complicated to get her legal resident status for the USA. Plus, I would have to start over again. Indeed, I'll have to start over here again soon as well, but it's less of a new start than it would be in Germany. At least I have a car, some furniture, a job...

Although the news from the job and the last month make me want to move on once again: management is not really considerate. Past 34 weeks pregnancy (while I would already be off work in Germany), I had to work a 17 (!!!) hour shift and several 12+ hour shifts. Only this week it looks like I'll be able to "relax" a little more.

I also had another "nice" incident at work. While fellow greencard-winners bicycles in Miami were stolen, I was stolen from at work... by a coworker! I had helped out another coworker and for the first time in this business & the 1 3/4 years, put my server book out of my hand. It only took 2 minutes to realize I had left it at one of the computer stations in the back of the house (10 feet away from a manager expediting food), but when I came back, it was already gone... and with it $400.-, as of course Murphy's Law has always been my "friend" and on the one day, that I put my server book down, all but one table had paid in cash (usually everybody pays with credit cards) and a thief is around. Needless to say, pregnancy hormones took over and I was in quite a state and cried for an hour while management tried to find evidence and pinpoint suspects. At the end of the night, after sorting out all the paperwork with a manager for 1 1/2 hours, it was clear that $300.- of that money were my employers and I would have to pay that back over time. AWESOME!!!!!!!! Management "knows" you took it (and so does everybody else), but unfortunately the ultimate proof was missing, so that person is still working with me. Talking about uncomfortable... try working with someone that you believe stole from you, knowing your story of being pregnant and single and all... It's definitely not a great feeling!

Besides work, I really haven't done anything. Still lots of stuff to prepare for when Baby gets here, but unfortunately my days don't have 48 hours in them and I'm not having the energy to solely work on my "To-Do-List" on my days off.

I am however very excited now and can't wait for my baby to get here... one reason might also be that I'll finally get to stay home for a little longer than one day at a time... :)

Wish me luck with everything!!! :)

Small request :)

Ooooh, before I forget - you know baby brain moments are quite common with ladies like me...

I've noticed several new followers and new cities showing up in my blog visitors feed and since I'm a very curious person by nature, it would be great to know who some of you are and what your story is. Okay, okay, no need to tell me your whole life story, but maybe why you came across my blog, if you follow a US dream or other dream etc... oh, and if you know any single tall guys that could like me....... haha, just kidding! :D

Please comment or write to my blog address:

happyinusa.... AT.... hotmail.com

Would be great to put a story to a nickname, picture or city! Thanks :)

Deserted....

Where did the last month go???

I came back from Sweet Home Alabama on 19. September and since then it feels like I wasn't "here". I mean, I was here, as I was working and sleeping, but it seems like nothing else was accomplished. Weird!

Anyways, HELLO WORLD!!!

I still exist, I have not had my baby yet (7 weeks to go) and I'm still working full time with double shifts and all that stuff. I was very proud to have made my final payment to the birth center on 6.October! In my opinion it's quite an accomplishment to pay over $4.000.- all by myself in less than 5 months on top of all other bills, so that's why I'm proud :). I'm just glad that through the course of my live-in relationship and marriage in Germany I mastered in budgeting. I track every incoming and outgoing cent and although it is sometimes a pain and I'd love to just spend money without having to think so much about it, it definitely helps. I didn't have to budget during my first year over here in the States, but it's good to see that once you learned the "How to" you'll always be able to adjust.

Florida weather has turned beautiful once again. It's mainly sunny and warm now and not so hot. I don't really want to do a forecast for the winter, but two weeks ago it was already a lot cooler at night than last year, so we may have a similar one than '09/'10. Or maybe it's just me!!! I didn't want to believe my buddy Chris (the illegal German that got deported last year), when he told me I would run around in sweaters come fall and not go to the beach and swimming anymore, when I've been here 2-3 years, but he may be right. I was last swimming on 30. September and the water felt quite cold... it was definitely a lot, lot warmer than the Baltic Sea where I grew up though. Just another adjusting thing I guess....

Pregnancy wise all has been lovely. With all the working and running around I have to do, I guess God decided to spare me of a huge bump and just gave me a small one. Although I get jealous of big baby bumps from time to time, I'm quite content with the way it is, as I know if I'd be bigger, I wouldn't be able to work the way I work right now and would probably already have the receptionist position at the front desk at my work - which would cut my income in half.
However, it can get a little annoying as well, to be so "small". We have a new general manager taking over as the old one will be opening up the new store in Orlando. He's been with us for a month now and there's been a lot of times I waddled past him (in the beginning of the shift I usually don't waddle, it's more at the end) or rubbed my belly in front of him. Today I worked at a Barmitzvah and the GM was in charge. He came into the party area before the party started and asked me to please tug in my shirt. I was like ???????? and said "I'd love to Sir, but I'm wearing maternity pants (the once that cover the belly), so it's impossible." Then he looked at me like ?????? to which I responded "Well Sir, I'm 8 months pregnant!" He thought I must be crazy! My co-workers had to confirm that it is really so and that I'm only one week behind in pregnancy as one of my managers. Needless to say that manager has gained 50 lbs already and has a big-big baby bump to which compared I apparently must look just a little chubby.

The reaction of the GM amazed me though as I figured staff issues like "this" would be discussed at the manager meetings they're having 2-3 times a week and all the other managers know about it. I know these kind of "staff issues" were definitely discussed at the last company I worked at in Germany... Maybe it's due to the fact that I haven't asked for special treatment yet. A girl that just found out that she's 8 weeks pregnant already asked for a transfer in job positions which was granted from one day to the other, but I'm still working as usual, so it's not that obvious. I just hope they all remember that I do have a due date!!! As "party season" is approaching, we as waitstaff are not allowed to request time off between 1.November and 15.January, meaning they count on every head to be there and work, work, work. Well, one of these days it is out of the question that I will have to leave very, very quickly or won't come in at all. :) There better not be a manager that day that will be like ??????? ;)

Last but not least for tonight (gotta go to bed, early work tomorrow): Here's a bump picture I took Tuesday at 32 weeks and 3 days :) Where's the baby hiding!? :)

SoFlo Time-Out!

After 6 months (well, 5 months and 29 days) of working 5-6 days a week despite being pregnant and all the other circumstances and not taking any time off, I think I more than deserve a little time out. :) And it is finally here! I'm leaving the two furballs alone at home for a couple of days and will jump on an airplane in the morning! I already miss my two babies and I don't know how I will cope without them, but I know Tanja, my German friend, will be taking good care of them, so I shouldn't be worried.

I'm not going anywhere exotic this time (I wish!), but to my regular inside-USA time-out spot ;). You guys can't believe how ready I am to leave South Florida and all that comes with it behind for some days.

I'm all ready for this feeling......

BYE BYE!!!

What Jenny does at 3 AM...

... Normal people sleep!

I assemble baby strollers. :)

FedEx had left a note on my door about the attempted delivery of a package two days ago. However that note didn't really say anything aside from the doortag number and so I was sitting here all day Friday waiting on the second delivery attempt, which never occurred. After coming home from work that night and not finding another note, I went online to check out the number and come to find out, the package had already been "delivered" the day before... just not to my door. Luckily I know the names of the ladies working for the apartment association, so I was able to tell that one of them signed for it. I went down to the office to get it today. That FedEx guy was one lazy prick! He never attempted to deliver it to my apartment, but dropped it off at the office right away. So pregnant me ended up hauling the heavy package out to my car, somehow shoved it into my small car and tonight after work, hauled it up to my 3rd floor apartment.

Of course I'm way too excited about the first baby things, so I started assembling right away and it turned out not to be too tricky! Voila, the stroller is ready to roll!!! Since it's a travel system I also got the car seat and car seat base with it, so baby can at least ride safely in a car now and I can take her places. Who knows if we'll go on a XMas roadtrip together, if she's on time! :)

Was Jenny so um 3 Uhr morgens treibt...

...Normale Leute schlafen da!

Ich baue Kinderwagen zusammen. :)

FedEx hatte vor 2 Tagen eine Nachricht ueber den Zustellversuch eines Paketes an meiner Tuer hinterlassen. Allerdings verriet diese Nachricht nichts, ausser der Nummer des Zustellversuch-Aufklebers und so sass ich am Freitag den ganzen Tag da und wartete auf einen zweiten Zustellversuch, der aber nicht stattfand. Als ich nachts von der Arbeit heimkam und weiterhin keine Nachricht an der Tuer hing, ging ich online und tippte die Nummer des Aufklebers ein. Wie sich herausstellte, wurde das Paket bereits am Tag zuvor "zugestellt"... allerdings nicht an meine Wohnung. Gluecklicherweise kenne ich die Namen der Damen, die fuer die Wohnungsgesellschaft arbeiten und konnte somit sagen, dass eine von denen fuer das Paket unterschrieben hatte. Ich ging also heute zum Clubhaus, wo sich das Vermietungsbuero befindet. Der FedEx Typ war echt mal eine faule Socke! Da stellte sich doch heraus, dass der das Paket nicht zu meiner Wohnung brachte, sonders es gleich auf Anhieb im Buero abgegeben hatte. Das Ende vom Lied war also, dass schwangere Ich das Paket aus dem Buero zu meinem Auto hieven musste, es irgendwie ins kleine Auto stopfte und dann heute nach der Arbeit zu meiner Wohnung im 3. Stock hinauf schleppte.

Natuerlich bin ich ueber die ersten Baby Sachen momentan sehr erfreut und so musste ich sofort mit dem Aufbau des Kinderwagens beginnen. Zum Glueck stellte es sich als nicht allzu schwierig heraus. Voila, der Wagen ist fertig zum losduesen!!! Da es ein Reise-System ist, gehoeren dazu auch Autokindersitz und die Basis fuer den Autositz, so dass Baby nun zumindest schon einmal sicher im Auto reisen kann und ich sie auf Ausfluege mitnehmen kann. Wer weiss, vielleicht gehts ja Weihnachten auf den 1. Roadtrip... wenn sie denn puenktlich ist! :)