No Turnin' Back Now

I'm officially registered for my first 5K on June 16th! There's no turnin' back now, just going to have to run through it! Honestly, I'm pretty nervous, but I'm getting really excited, too. Only 16 more days!! 5K here I come!! :-)

Say My Name, Say My Name

Okay, so our last name is Veitengruber pronounced: V-eye-ten-groo-ber --not that hard, right? WRONG! Here are some of the comments/questions/remarks we frequently hear when people see it or hear it for the first time:

1. (Silence...nervous laugh) Uhhh...you're going to have to spell that for me. This is pretty tricky when several of the letters sound the same: v, e, t, g, b
2. Oh, is that German? Or, that's very German! Yes, it is German.
3. Do you speak German?? No, I don't speak German, I just married into it! 
4. Wow, that's a long name.Yes, it is very long. (Usually I just smile and nod)
5. Wow! That's a mouthful! Yes, it is a mouthful. (Just smile and nod, don't make a smart-ass comment)
6. You married into that? What was your maiden name? Oh man, what a difference/change! Yes, it's double the length and difficulty of my maiden name, thanks for noticing because I didn't...
7. Is that hyphenated? No, let's not make it more difficult.
8. Teacher: Go see Mrs. V. Student: Who? Teacher: Mrs. (makes V sound).... and that's when I jump in and say Veitengruber. I love that every student knows my full name. :-)
9. You're going to have to give your kids an easy first name since they have such a difficult last name. Several people have also asked my husband: Did you have a hard time learning how to spell that when you were little? He replies, "No, I wasn't stupid." 
10. EVERYONE mispronounces it and spells it wrong, especially telemarketers or anyone over the phone
11. G-R-U-B-E-R does not spell/say 'burger'
12. I've noticed that children are much better at saying my name that teachers/adults, although I've got several different versions I'd love to share with you:

• Veetengruber (the most common mistake because people pronounce the "e" instead of the "i". 
• Veeten-burger
• Vertaminburger
• Vei-da-dooder - this is what one of my students started out as
• Vei-da-gooder - this is what he now calls me
• Vei-ta-mover - this is what my other student calls me everyday
• Vei-ta-gruder
• Vintengrober (written)
• Vintergruber (written)
• Most recently: Vipen-grouper
• And definitely my favorite: Ahhhhhh-burger!

There are many more I'm sure, but that's all I can think of right now. :-) I've had people make up their own versions at work too, to mock it such as: Viagra-burger. 

Yes, my last name is difficult and people freak out when they see the 'ei' combination. I'd be lying if I didn't do a triple take at it when I first saw it as Tim's last name (and I probably made some of the dumb comments above, too!), but I wouldn't trade it for anything. You don't marry a person for their name, you marry them because you love them. And I so happen to LOVE being a Veitengruber. 

Ketchup

We finally have internet again at home! Yay!
I know, I know it's ridiculous to be this excited about having internet again, but I really have missed reading everyone's blogs and keeping up with everyone...pretty much I missed being a "stalker" as my husband calls me. So here's everything that's been going on in the past few weeks:

• I've been stepping up my exercising/running. I can't believe it but my first 5K is about 3 1/2 weeks away! I'm not ready yet, but I'm getting closer. I've been following a 'training schedule for beginners' for the past two and a half weeks and I really hope I'm able to complete the 5K without having to walk. 
• Tim celebrated his 26th birthday! Happy birthday, old man! You're now closer to 30 than 20...but I still love you. :)
• I've been trying to apply for teaching jobs like crazy. I say 'trying' because it's really hard to do without home internet so I've been lugging my laptop around town using free wireless when/where I could. I'm excited to finally be able to do that while I'm doing my treatments everyday again because it sure is time-consuming. If you know of any elementary teaching openings, please let me know because I'm applying everywhere. 
• We've had some pretty fun days at school over the past week. Last Friday, the staff played a softball game against our high school baseball and softball players as an incentive for students who read a certain amount over the past couple months. The weather was perfect and the kids had a really great time. I played on the team and didn't do too bad myself -- caught two fly balls to end two innings and was 1 for 2 at bat. There was plenty of music and dancing as entertainment, too which was lots of fun. I love the school I work at and wish that I could teach there, but there just aren't any openings.
• Today we had field day at our school where we literally play games all day outside. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day as far as the weather goes. It was a long day for our 28 five and six year olds, but they did great. Only a few tears were shed and about 10 Band-Aids and many trips to the bathroom later, the kids said they had lots of fun. We also had a station where the kids participated in RIF (reading is fun) where they each got to choose a book to keep forever. How cool is that?! :-)
• We only have about 10 days of school left until summer break and I don't know what I'm going to do with myself this summer! I will be an assistant during our summer school, but that's only for about 5 weeks and only half days. I'll also be tutoring two sisters, but only for two hours a week. I think I'll be spending a lot of time on the hammock with a book this summer. We have one wedding to go to in July, but other than that, we don't have much planned for the summer....just saving our money, I guess. 
• I've been feeling great lately! Since I kicked that nasty cold I had, I have been feeling wonderful. I've been keeping active and trying to make sure I'm getting enough rest. My next CF clinic appointment is a month away and I really hope my PFT numbers are up!

I'm Still Here!

Wow, I have been feeling so disconnected from the blogging world the past two weeks! Tim and I decided to cancel our TV and internet service because it was getting way too expensive, so we switched providers for TV but have yet to get internet....I never realized how much I followed peoples blogs and liked to write my own!
Things have been okay lately. Unfortunately I'm on my second round of Cipro (oral antibiotic) for the year because I got this nasty chest cold last week. I've been on it for almost a week now and I'm starting to feel better. I haven't been running in about a week and a half because I was feeling so crappy, but as soon as I get home tonight (using the internet at the library) I am forcing myself to go running! I need to get back out there because my 5K is going to be here before I know it...only about 5 or 6 more weeks, yikes! Gotta get my butt back in shape.
I've also been spending my time applying for teaching jobs like crazy! I am so determined to get a teaching job this year, even if it's out of state. I really enjoy what I'm doing now being a teaching assistant, but it just kills me that I still don't have my own classroom yet, so I really hope some luck comes my way this summer. I really don't want to live very far away from our families or my CF clinic, but I'm to the point where I really need to get some teaching experience under my belt and I'm looking everywhere for it. If all else fails, I'll be an assistant next year again, but I'm really hoping for better.

Oh, finally -- May is National Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month (even though I like to spread awareness year round) and on the OWN network tomorrow (Thursday) May 3rd at 9/8c there will be a documentary called 65_Red Roses about a 23 year old woman named Eva with CF going through the transplant process. Here's the link to the trailer. I am planning on tuning in to learn about another CFer's battle with this disease and I really hope you do, too.