Monday, December 15, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Africa Pics
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's been three months since my last post. And my promise to share my Africa photos is probably long forgotten by most of my formerly devoted readers.
But for those of you still faithfully checking this site for occasional updates (that's you, Grandpa Bill), I offer the following slide show* as a token, begging your forgiveness for my long cyber silence:
*A huge thank you goes out to our good friend Martha, who spent several hours with me last Saturday afternoon lending her superb photographic eye to view and rank all 2,500+ of my trip photos, narrowing it down to a respectable 141 she thinks best showcase Ru's and my travels. It's safe to say that, without Martha's help, it would probably be 2012 before I made a slide show of the Africa trip ... and it would probably still contain at least 1,200 photos. :) So, visit her site and buy lots of stuff, she's awesome!
Asante sana also goes to Ru, Lina, Mariam, Omilias, Da'Cici, David, Abdul, Moses, Tito, Faridah, Deo, Alex, Dula, Saba, Francesco, Daniele, the kids from St. Barnabas Nursery School (and everyone else I'm forgetting) for making our trip such a wonderful adventure. I feel blessed to have met so many new dadas and kakas, and I wish you all the best of luck wherever life leads you next. Hope to see you soon, this time with G and Embry (or whatever we're calling him/her then) in tow!
But for those of you still faithfully checking this site for occasional updates (that's you, Grandpa Bill), I offer the following slide show* as a token, begging your forgiveness for my long cyber silence:
*A huge thank you goes out to our good friend Martha, who spent several hours with me last Saturday afternoon lending her superb photographic eye to view and rank all 2,500+ of my trip photos, narrowing it down to a respectable 141 she thinks best showcase Ru's and my travels. It's safe to say that, without Martha's help, it would probably be 2012 before I made a slide show of the Africa trip ... and it would probably still contain at least 1,200 photos. :) So, visit her site and buy lots of stuff, she's awesome!
Asante sana also goes to Ru, Lina, Mariam, Omilias, Da'Cici, David, Abdul, Moses, Tito, Faridah, Deo, Alex, Dula, Saba, Francesco, Daniele, the kids from St. Barnabas Nursery School (and everyone else I'm forgetting) for making our trip such a wonderful adventure. I feel blessed to have met so many new dadas and kakas, and I wish you all the best of luck wherever life leads you next. Hope to see you soon, this time with G and Embry (or whatever we're calling him/her then) in tow!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Baadae, Tanzania ...
That means see you later, more or less. Despite the fact that there are approximtely 400 ways to greet each other here, nobody ever really says goodbye ... just see you later. I can't think of a more perfect way to sum up this experience. When I started planning this trip, it was one of those, "if I don't do it now, I'll never do it," once in a lifetime kinds of experiences. Now that I'm preparing to fly home in a few hours, though, I know with complete certainty that I'll be back someday, and so I don't even feel that sad to leave.
Ru and I have had an amazing time here. Kilimanjaro was a hundred times harder than we thought it would be, and waaaaaay colder. We hiked 4-17 hours per day for 6 days, averaging about 8 hours per day. I haven't calculated the exact altitudes or mileages for each day, but we climbed up ~15,0000 feet ... and back down again, of course! We passed through several different microclimates and landscapes, from rainforest jungle to the most desolate moon-rock imagineable.
The summit day started at midnight, in the freezing, biting cold (-20C) with only our headlamps (and the moon, for a few hours) to light the way. Ru made it all the way to the tippy top, Uhuru Peak (5895 meters) around 7:30am, just after the most gorgeous sunrise imaginable. I made it to Stella Point (5760 meters), which is the second tallest peak, before turning back around 8am. Part of me wishes I'd been able to keep going, but with 4+ hours left to climb down, and then another 5+ hours to climb later in the day, our excellent guides, Deo and Alex, suggested I turn back at Stella, and I agreed. The view from the top was stunning, and Ru and I can both say unequivicoally that we would not have made it without their help. And as difficult as it was, we can also say it was totally worth it. The scenery, the tremendous sense of accomplishment, and the camaraderie with our team of 8 guides and porters made for an incredible experience all around. There's no mechanism to add pictures from here, but when I get home I definitely will.
After the hike, we met up with Lina in Moshi, and headed out on safari the next day. The 1st day was a dificult transition for us, as we had just spent 6 intense, intimate days with a bunch of Tanzanians speaking Kiswahili and Chaga and climbing a mountain, and suddenly we were stuck in a crowded dala dala with a bunch of other wuzungo (white people) driving around speaking English. We adjusted eventually and had a wonderful time, but there was definitely some culture shock there. Seeing giant animals, including Tembo (elephant), Twiga (giraffe), Simba (lion), wildebeast, buffalo, zebra, hippo, rhino, cheetah, warthog and a gazillion different kind of birds, helped a lot. I can't really explain how beautiful it was to see animals roaming around free, but as Ru pointed out, it was neat that WE were the ones in a cage for once. Between Lake Mayara, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire parks, I took about 1,000 pictures of animals. It was awesome!
After the safari, we headed back to Zanzibar by way of a small coastal town called Bagamoyo. It had a lot of colonial history, and is said to be a really beautiful place, but we were so tired of traveling at that point that we didn't get as much out of it as we could have. We made it back to Dar es Salaam just in time to catch the ferry back to ZNZ, which was a huge relief. Getting back to Lina's mom's house made everything seem manageable again. It's just such a relaxing, beautiful, peaceful place and everyone is very friendly and helpful.
Since getting back here on Monday evening, we've gone to visit a nursery school run by Mariam's church, attended a traditional "singo," (read: bachelorette party in which the older women basically teach the bride how to have sex), gone to a Muslim wedding, spent the day at some of the southern beaches, gone on a Spice Tour in which we learned that ginger is a natural viagara for men, toured around Stone Town bargaining for better deals on Zawadi (gifts), learned tons more Kiswahili and helped Cecilia with the cooking. Today Ru and Omi and I made tacos for dinnner to thank the 10 or so family members who have been at the house during our stay.
I had planned to blog more on this trip, but sitting around on the Internet has been the last thing I wanted to do. Not only have I not checked my work email (yay!) I haven't even checked my yahoo mail since the last time I blogged on the 7th. I have, however, taken nearly 2,500 photos, so I'll be sure to post them and write a bit about some of them when I get back. I'm sure going through the photos will remind me of some of the interesting reflections I've had about Tanzania, as well as jogging my memory about some of the fun stories I'd like to share. For now, though, I need to go pack and then get ready to go out dancing for our last night on the town.
Love to all and see you soon!
Baadae, Tanzania!
Ru and I have had an amazing time here. Kilimanjaro was a hundred times harder than we thought it would be, and waaaaaay colder. We hiked 4-17 hours per day for 6 days, averaging about 8 hours per day. I haven't calculated the exact altitudes or mileages for each day, but we climbed up ~15,0000 feet ... and back down again, of course! We passed through several different microclimates and landscapes, from rainforest jungle to the most desolate moon-rock imagineable.
The summit day started at midnight, in the freezing, biting cold (-20C) with only our headlamps (and the moon, for a few hours) to light the way. Ru made it all the way to the tippy top, Uhuru Peak (5895 meters) around 7:30am, just after the most gorgeous sunrise imaginable. I made it to Stella Point (5760 meters), which is the second tallest peak, before turning back around 8am. Part of me wishes I'd been able to keep going, but with 4+ hours left to climb down, and then another 5+ hours to climb later in the day, our excellent guides, Deo and Alex, suggested I turn back at Stella, and I agreed. The view from the top was stunning, and Ru and I can both say unequivicoally that we would not have made it without their help. And as difficult as it was, we can also say it was totally worth it. The scenery, the tremendous sense of accomplishment, and the camaraderie with our team of 8 guides and porters made for an incredible experience all around. There's no mechanism to add pictures from here, but when I get home I definitely will.
After the hike, we met up with Lina in Moshi, and headed out on safari the next day. The 1st day was a dificult transition for us, as we had just spent 6 intense, intimate days with a bunch of Tanzanians speaking Kiswahili and Chaga and climbing a mountain, and suddenly we were stuck in a crowded dala dala with a bunch of other wuzungo (white people) driving around speaking English. We adjusted eventually and had a wonderful time, but there was definitely some culture shock there. Seeing giant animals, including Tembo (elephant), Twiga (giraffe), Simba (lion), wildebeast, buffalo, zebra, hippo, rhino, cheetah, warthog and a gazillion different kind of birds, helped a lot. I can't really explain how beautiful it was to see animals roaming around free, but as Ru pointed out, it was neat that WE were the ones in a cage for once. Between Lake Mayara, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire parks, I took about 1,000 pictures of animals. It was awesome!
After the safari, we headed back to Zanzibar by way of a small coastal town called Bagamoyo. It had a lot of colonial history, and is said to be a really beautiful place, but we were so tired of traveling at that point that we didn't get as much out of it as we could have. We made it back to Dar es Salaam just in time to catch the ferry back to ZNZ, which was a huge relief. Getting back to Lina's mom's house made everything seem manageable again. It's just such a relaxing, beautiful, peaceful place and everyone is very friendly and helpful.
Since getting back here on Monday evening, we've gone to visit a nursery school run by Mariam's church, attended a traditional "singo," (read: bachelorette party in which the older women basically teach the bride how to have sex), gone to a Muslim wedding, spent the day at some of the southern beaches, gone on a Spice Tour in which we learned that ginger is a natural viagara for men, toured around Stone Town bargaining for better deals on Zawadi (gifts), learned tons more Kiswahili and helped Cecilia with the cooking. Today Ru and Omi and I made tacos for dinnner to thank the 10 or so family members who have been at the house during our stay.
I had planned to blog more on this trip, but sitting around on the Internet has been the last thing I wanted to do. Not only have I not checked my work email (yay!) I haven't even checked my yahoo mail since the last time I blogged on the 7th. I have, however, taken nearly 2,500 photos, so I'll be sure to post them and write a bit about some of them when I get back. I'm sure going through the photos will remind me of some of the interesting reflections I've had about Tanzania, as well as jogging my memory about some of the fun stories I'd like to share. For now, though, I need to go pack and then get ready to go out dancing for our last night on the town.
Love to all and see you soon!
Baadae, Tanzania!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Mambo!
Poa!
That's just one of the many "street" greetings that Ru and I have learned since arriving in Tanzania last Sunday afternoon. The trip is going very well so far. Dubai (DXB) was totally surreal--we had a female cab driver who had painted the roof of her minivan pink, wore a pink hat over her headscarf and spent the entire ride extolling the virtues of being divorced, and then we went to a mall with an indoor ski slope and saw women with full burkas shopping at dolce gabbana, if that give you an idea of the bizarre juxtapositions.
We only saw the airport in Nairobi (NBO), and it did not make us want to go back. Our flight was over an hour late arriving, meaning we missed our connection to Dar es Salaam (DAR), as well as the ferry to Zanzibar (ZNZ). After much walking back and forth to different desks, waiting in line and talking to different Kenya Airways agents who contradicted whatever the previous staff person had just told us, our persistence paid off, though, and we were able to transfer our ticket to fly directly into Zanzibar (ZNZ). That shaved a good 8 hours off the trip, which was awesome, considering how long it had been since we had slept horizontally at that point!
The only downside to flying straight to ZNZ was that Lina was already in DAR waiting for us. Thus came the first of many experiences in which one of Lina's many family members saved our butts. :) She arranged for her brother Omi to pick us up. Lina's mom's home is ~15 minutes from the airport, and after saying a quick hello to her mom, Mariam, and meeting their housekeeper, Cecilia (Cici), we settled in for a six-or-so-hour nap. I vaguely remember Lina coming in to set up the mosquito net for us when she got back to ZNZ, but otherwise we were dead to the world. We got up around 10:30 to have some of Cici's amazingly good food and Mariam's yummy banana bread, before heading back to bed for another 10 or so hours.
It took a good two days to feel semi-normal again, but ZNZ is a great place to chill and relax. It's the island way. Pole pole, slowly. Omi and Lina did a great job showing us around Stone Town, which is the historic section of Zanzibar, full of gorgeous old, Arabic-influenced buildings. Yesterday, we took the ferry to DAR, where we were met by her cousin, Tito, and later joined by her cousin Moses. They helped us find a hotel and took us out for dinner. Dar is a big, dirty, noisy city, and I hope to spend as little time there as possible.
Then today, we hopped a bus to Moshi. On our own for the first time since we arrived, Ru and I have spent a good deal of time today reflecting on how kind and generous and helpful everyone has been. We miss Lina and Omi!
Anyhow, the cafe is closing now, so I have to sign off. We leave for our hike up the Machame route of Kilimanjaro tomorrow morning!!!! Then Lina will meet us for a safari, then back to ZNZ.
Love to all. Happy birthday to Jalen, Bon, Susan, Graham and Susan, and happy wedding to Melissa and Kate!
That's just one of the many "street" greetings that Ru and I have learned since arriving in Tanzania last Sunday afternoon. The trip is going very well so far. Dubai (DXB) was totally surreal--we had a female cab driver who had painted the roof of her minivan pink, wore a pink hat over her headscarf and spent the entire ride extolling the virtues of being divorced, and then we went to a mall with an indoor ski slope and saw women with full burkas shopping at dolce gabbana, if that give you an idea of the bizarre juxtapositions.
We only saw the airport in Nairobi (NBO), and it did not make us want to go back. Our flight was over an hour late arriving, meaning we missed our connection to Dar es Salaam (DAR), as well as the ferry to Zanzibar (ZNZ). After much walking back and forth to different desks, waiting in line and talking to different Kenya Airways agents who contradicted whatever the previous staff person had just told us, our persistence paid off, though, and we were able to transfer our ticket to fly directly into Zanzibar (ZNZ). That shaved a good 8 hours off the trip, which was awesome, considering how long it had been since we had slept horizontally at that point!
The only downside to flying straight to ZNZ was that Lina was already in DAR waiting for us. Thus came the first of many experiences in which one of Lina's many family members saved our butts. :) She arranged for her brother Omi to pick us up. Lina's mom's home is ~15 minutes from the airport, and after saying a quick hello to her mom, Mariam, and meeting their housekeeper, Cecilia (Cici), we settled in for a six-or-so-hour nap. I vaguely remember Lina coming in to set up the mosquito net for us when she got back to ZNZ, but otherwise we were dead to the world. We got up around 10:30 to have some of Cici's amazingly good food and Mariam's yummy banana bread, before heading back to bed for another 10 or so hours.
It took a good two days to feel semi-normal again, but ZNZ is a great place to chill and relax. It's the island way. Pole pole, slowly. Omi and Lina did a great job showing us around Stone Town, which is the historic section of Zanzibar, full of gorgeous old, Arabic-influenced buildings. Yesterday, we took the ferry to DAR, where we were met by her cousin, Tito, and later joined by her cousin Moses. They helped us find a hotel and took us out for dinner. Dar is a big, dirty, noisy city, and I hope to spend as little time there as possible.
Then today, we hopped a bus to Moshi. On our own for the first time since we arrived, Ru and I have spent a good deal of time today reflecting on how kind and generous and helpful everyone has been. We miss Lina and Omi!
Anyhow, the cafe is closing now, so I have to sign off. We leave for our hike up the Machame route of Kilimanjaro tomorrow morning!!!! Then Lina will meet us for a safari, then back to ZNZ.
Love to all. Happy birthday to Jalen, Bon, Susan, Graham and Susan, and happy wedding to Melissa and Kate!
Friday, August 1, 2008
246,000 # of gasoline
So, we're a little delayed in taking off because they got a late start fueling the aircraft, and apparently it takes kind of a long time to add that much gasoline to an airplane this size ...
Oh, and it turns out the flight is 13 hours and 24 minutes, btw. Oh how I wish at least one of us had an aisle seat ...
Since I still have access to the Interweb, I'd like to add a quick birthday shout-out to my step-brother Corey, who turned 30 years old today.
Oh, and one more interesting tidbit, and then I'll finally say goodbye to my iPhone for the next 24 days (sniff sniff!): I finally found a Kiswahili phrase guide (at ATL of all places) this evening and learned how to say "bila nyama," which means "vegetarian." After "hello," "thank you," and "where is the bathroom?" that's pretty much the most important thing to me in any language!
Okay, signing off from the USA ... for real this time. :)
Oh, and it turns out the flight is 13 hours and 24 minutes, btw. Oh how I wish at least one of us had an aisle seat ...
Since I still have access to the Interweb, I'd like to add a quick birthday shout-out to my step-brother Corey, who turned 30 years old today.
Oh, and one more interesting tidbit, and then I'll finally say goodbye to my iPhone for the next 24 days (sniff sniff!): I finally found a Kiswahili phrase guide (at ATL of all places) this evening and learned how to say "bila nyama," which means "vegetarian." After "hello," "thank you," and "where is the bathroom?" that's pretty much the most important thing to me in any language!
Okay, signing off from the USA ... for real this time. :)
shoe entrapment?
So, Ru and I made it safely to ATL. The drive to ORD was totally smooth, and we got to the gate a full two hours early. Plenty of time to get my last egg and cheese sandwich on an everything bagel for a few weeks ... And to stretch our legs, of course. Funniest moment of the trip so far is the PA system here at ATL: as you're walking along the escalators and moving walkways they announce "beware of soft shoes and sandals, as they can cause shoe entrapment." I'm pretty sure they just mean "be careful you don't get your feet caught and trip," but we found the word choice amusing.
Anyhow, we're about to start boarding for DXB. That's Dubai, UAE for those of you not as obsessed with airport codes. We haven't figured out exactly how long the flight is yet, but we arrive at 7pm local time tomorrow. Our flight to NBO doesn't leave until 3 am, so we're hoping to ditch our luggage and explore DXB (the town, not the airport) for a bit. Las Vegas on steroids, here we come!
Okay, time to go call my husband to remind him that I miss him. Next post, Zanzibar!
Anyhow, we're about to start boarding for DXB. That's Dubai, UAE for those of you not as obsessed with airport codes. We haven't figured out exactly how long the flight is yet, but we arrive at 7pm local time tomorrow. Our flight to NBO doesn't leave until 3 am, so we're hoping to ditch our luggage and explore DXB (the town, not the airport) for a bit. Las Vegas on steroids, here we come!
Okay, time to go call my husband to remind him that I miss him. Next post, Zanzibar!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Back from the dead, at least temporarily ...
So, it's been more than four months since I wrote anything on this blog, and forever since I published with any kind of regularity. It's not that I haven't done tons of cool, blog-worthy stuff in that time, but more that I haven't had the creative energy (and interest) to write about any of it.
I still don't, to be completely honest, but I also know that my upcoming trip to Tanzania is one of those "if you don't write about this you'll hate yourself forever" kinds of situations ... so, I'm going to do it anyways.
Here's the scoop:
Ru and I will be traveling together August 1-25, 2008. My friend Lina, who lives in Seattle but is originally from Zanzibar, will join us for many of our adventures, which is great, because a) she's awesome and 2) she speaks Kiswahili and can tell us when we're being dumb Americans. We will stay at Lina's mom's house while we're on Zanzibar. Mariam works with several schools in the area, so hopefully we'll also be able to volunteer while we're there and, you know, make ourselves useful.
In addition to hanging out at Lina's home, volunteering and exploring the island gorgeousness that is Zanzibar, we also plan to hike the Machame route up Mt. Kilimanjaro and watch big animals run around their natural habitats (i.e. not in a zoo). Click here for a map of Tanzania.
Here's our tentative travel plan:
July 30 SKBK SEA-->ORD
July 31 SKBK visit w/fam in ORD and MSN
Aug 1 SKBK & Ru MSN-->ORD-->ATL-->DXB
Aug 2 Arrive in Dubai and, hopefully, get UAE passport stamp!)
Aug 3 DXB-->NBO-->DAR-->ferry to Zanzibar (recover from five flights)
Aug 4 Zanzibar (relax)
Aug 5 Zanzibar-->Dar es Salaam (ferry)-->Arusha/Moshi (bus)
Aug 6 Arusha/Moshi (acclimatize, explore);
Aug 7 Arusha/Moshi-->Kilimanjaro (begin hike)
Aug 8 Kilimanjaro (hike)
Aug 9 Kilimanjaro (hike)
Aug 10 Kilimanjaro (hike)
Aug 11 Kilimanjaro (hike)
Aug 12 (End hike) Kilimanjaro-->Arusha/Moshi
Aug 13 Arusha/Moshi (rest)
Aug 14 Arusha/Moshi (rest & explore?)
Aug 15 Arusha/Moshi-->Ngorongoro Crater/Olduvai Gorge (begin safari)
Aug 16 Ngorongoro-->Lake Manyara-->Tarangire
Aug 17 Tarangire-->Arusha/Moshi (end safari)
Aug 18 Arusha/Moshi-->Bagamoyo (bus)
Aug 19 Bagamoyo-->Dar (bus)-->Zanzibar (ferry)
Aug 20 Zanzibar (relax and/or volunteer)
Aug 21 Zanzibar (relax and/or volunteer)
Aug 22 Zanzibar (relax and/or volunteer)
Aug 23 Zanzibar (relax and/or volunteer)
Aug 24 Zanzibar-->Dar (ferry)-->DAR-->NBO-->DXB-->ATL
Aug 25 ATL-->ORD-->SEA (Sarah)
Check back soon for more updates!
I still don't, to be completely honest, but I also know that my upcoming trip to Tanzania is one of those "if you don't write about this you'll hate yourself forever" kinds of situations ... so, I'm going to do it anyways.
Here's the scoop:
Ru and I will be traveling together August 1-25, 2008. My friend Lina, who lives in Seattle but is originally from Zanzibar, will join us for many of our adventures, which is great, because a) she's awesome and 2) she speaks Kiswahili and can tell us when we're being dumb Americans. We will stay at Lina's mom's house while we're on Zanzibar. Mariam works with several schools in the area, so hopefully we'll also be able to volunteer while we're there and, you know, make ourselves useful.
In addition to hanging out at Lina's home, volunteering and exploring the island gorgeousness that is Zanzibar, we also plan to hike the Machame route up Mt. Kilimanjaro and watch big animals run around their natural habitats (i.e. not in a zoo). Click here for a map of Tanzania.
Here's our tentative travel plan:
July 30 SKBK SEA-->ORD
July 31 SKBK visit w/fam in ORD and MSN
Aug 1 SKBK & Ru MSN-->ORD-->ATL-->DXB
Aug 2 Arrive in Dubai and, hopefully, get UAE passport stamp!)
Aug 3 DXB-->NBO-->DAR-->ferry to Zanzibar (recover from five flights)
Aug 4 Zanzibar (relax)
Aug 5 Zanzibar-->Dar es Salaam (ferry)-->Arusha/Moshi (bus)
Aug 6 Arusha/Moshi (acclimatize, explore);
Aug 7 Arusha/Moshi-->Kilimanjaro (begin hike)
Aug 8 Kilimanjaro (hike)
Aug 9 Kilimanjaro (hike)
Aug 10 Kilimanjaro (hike)
Aug 11 Kilimanjaro (hike)
Aug 12 (End hike) Kilimanjaro-->Arusha/Moshi
Aug 13 Arusha/Moshi (rest)
Aug 14 Arusha/Moshi (rest & explore?)
Aug 15 Arusha/Moshi-->Ngorongoro Crater/Olduvai Gorge (begin safari)
Aug 16 Ngorongoro-->Lake Manyara-->Tarangire
Aug 17 Tarangire-->Arusha/Moshi (end safari)
Aug 18 Arusha/Moshi-->Bagamoyo (bus)
Aug 19 Bagamoyo-->Dar (bus)-->Zanzibar (ferry)
Aug 20 Zanzibar (relax and/or volunteer)
Aug 21 Zanzibar (relax and/or volunteer)
Aug 22 Zanzibar (relax and/or volunteer)
Aug 23 Zanzibar (relax and/or volunteer)
Aug 24 Zanzibar-->Dar (ferry)-->DAR-->NBO-->DXB-->ATL
Aug 25 ATL-->ORD-->SEA (Sarah)
Check back soon for more updates!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Not so little anymore ...
My niece Maya turned three years old today. This photo shows her on her last day of two-hood, wearing the t-shirt her grandma and grandpa bought her on their last visit to Seattle in 2006.¡Feliz cumpleaños, Maya Papaya!
Abrazos,
Tía Sarah
My sister was on the Today Show!
That makes me famous, right?! Three guesses which one is Elissa ...
Have you bought your copy yet?
West High School classmate Ben Skinner recently published a book called A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern Day Slavery. Twenty-five percent of US royalties got to an organization called Free the Slaves. I bought my copy yesterday. Click here to listen to his interview on NPR.
Friday, February 29, 2008
I feel like a rock star
TAMPA – My 8th birthday is now officially over. But, as Graham just reminded me, it's still February 29th in Seattle ... so plenty of time to thank all of you for making my birthday feel so totally special.
I've had a great day. Graham and I slept in, spent the day in true 8-year-old style at Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) and finished off the evening at Pete & Emily's lovely rehearsal dinner on the waterfront of Tampa's swanky Harbour Island.
Best of all, though, was the love I felt from all of you today. Many thanks for the:
I've had a great day. Graham and I slept in, spent the day in true 8-year-old style at Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) and finished off the evening at Pete & Emily's lovely rehearsal dinner on the waterfront of Tampa's swanky Harbour Island.
Best of all, though, was the love I felt from all of you today. Many thanks for the:
- 16 text messages
- Three Facebook Wall posts
- 14 emails
- One e-card
- One blog post and
- 21 phone calls (many of which were simultaneous, thank you, DC folks!)
Friday, February 1, 2008
TGIF
That stands for "Thank God It's February," not Friday.
I wouldn't say this January was the worst start to a year I've ever had. There have definitely been some bright spots:
But it certainly hasn't been the best ever start to a year for me, either. Graham was sick for most of the month, and I've been doing my best to cope with a mixture of anxiety and depression that kinda blind-sided me. But mostly, this year has just flown by, without us really noticing. And I hate that.
Anyhow, what follows is a photo gallery of sorts, full of pics emblematic of our January 2008--the good, the bad and the messy!
(Esther & Graham go gangsta in the Redhook store. Yes, this photo was taken after touring the brewery.)
(Nicole, Emily & Esther enjoy dog-inspired drinks at the BNL.)
(Graham and I were really excited to do this puzzle ... until we realized that almost all the pieces were green!)
(Some insight into where my head has been lately ...)
( I guess that's the last time we ever leave a biodegradable compost bag on the porch overnight Who knew Squirrels liked avocados?)
(Mmmm, Flying Fish Chocolate Volcano ...)
OKay, well, Happy Groundhog Day, everybody. Here's hoping Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, and that the rest of the year--or at least February--is a little more in focus.
I wouldn't say this January was the worst start to a year I've ever had. There have definitely been some bright spots:
- The visit of my niece Nicole and her girlfriend Esther (and our ensuing trips to Chateau Ste. Michelle, Redhook Brewery, The Bottleneck Lounge and the Wild Rose)
- The return of my beloved American Gladiators to TV (Yes, really.)
- Oliver's first six-word sentence ("Oliver have Dadda's Costco Card please?")
- Graham's and my new puzzle addiction (See photo below.)
- Finally buying some more yarn and starting to knit again after a year-plus hiatus (A baby blanket for bullet #9 is project #1.)
- Attending a very timely workshop about Secondary Trauma (and buying the trainer's book, I highly recommend Trauma Stewardship: Caring for Self While Caring for Others, by Laura Van dernoot Lipsky.)
- Participating in our friend and neighbor's potluck and "Salsa 1/2" class (Thanks, Destiny. Graham was actually counting his steps out of the blue yesterday, and seems much less intimidated ...)
- Eating dinner (for free) at at Flying Fish, one of Seattle's fanciest and most expensive restaurants (Thank you, GlaxoSmithKline!)
- An unusually high number of semi-sunny days (mixed in with the more season-appropriate gloomy rain and cuts-right-through-to-your-core chill, of course) and
- The birth of Aidan Michael Carr (Jacob & Julie's son/Ru's nephew)
But it certainly hasn't been the best ever start to a year for me, either. Graham was sick for most of the month, and I've been doing my best to cope with a mixture of anxiety and depression that kinda blind-sided me. But mostly, this year has just flown by, without us really noticing. And I hate that.
Anyhow, what follows is a photo gallery of sorts, full of pics emblematic of our January 2008--the good, the bad and the messy!
(Esther & Graham go gangsta in the Redhook store. Yes, this photo was taken after touring the brewery.)
(Nicole, Emily & Esther enjoy dog-inspired drinks at the BNL.)
(Graham and I were really excited to do this puzzle ... until we realized that almost all the pieces were green!)
(Some insight into where my head has been lately ...)
( I guess that's the last time we ever leave a biodegradable compost bag on the porch overnight Who knew Squirrels liked avocados?)
(Mmmm, Flying Fish Chocolate Volcano ...)
OKay, well, Happy Groundhog Day, everybody. Here's hoping Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, and that the rest of the year--or at least February--is a little more in focus.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
2007 Draws to a Close, Finally
SKBK hasn't found much time for blogging in the past month, and there is much to catch you all up on ...
With our beautiful Christmas tree as a backdrop, Graham and I hosted the most fun Game Night ever on December 21st. Our friends Kate and Melissa were back from Boulder for the holidays, reuniting our original Game Night Six ... and almost all of the more recent additions to the clan came, too. We ate yummy appetizers, drank Hot Buttered Rum (thank you for the recipe, Kristen), played Catch Phrase and laughed harder (and louder) than I have in a very long time. Most memorable moments: Kelly realizing we knew less about the US Constitution than his middle school students, and me trying to get my team to say the words "Sex Change" without mentioning our transgendered friend sitting a couple of seats away on the couch.
On the 23rd, G and I started our long holiday journey to the Midwest. Due to bad
weather in Chicago (duh), our plane was so late leaving Seattle that, when we finally got to O'Hare, all the flights to madison--as well as all the Van Galder buses--had left for the night. It was probably too much to hope for that there'd be any rental cars available at America's busiest airport in the wee hours of Christmas Eve morning, but we tried in desperation anyways, before retiring to a nearby hotel for a deep dish pizza and a few hours sleep. So, for the second year in a row, Graham and I spent the night in a Chicago hotel eating pizza. (We missed you, Emily.)
ANYHOW, we finally made it to Madison (on the bus, since we couldn't get a confirme
d spot on a flight until 3pm) around 10:30am. We went right to Mom's house for the annual Christmas Cookie decorating party with all the grandkids (and SJB). Later that night, we filled an entire pew with all Mom's kids and (almost) all the grandkids at FUMC for the candlelight service. Then G and I headed out to Middleton for appetizers and desserts with my other parents and siblings. It was so fun watching Maya explore her new rice table on Christmas morning!
On the 26th, we drove down to Wilmette to join my mom in visiting Grandma Lucile (94), Grandpa Bob (97) and Aunt Jan. We had a lovely time talking
politics (!) before heading to our hotel, where we discovered that I had been named "Guest of the Day." In addition to having my name prominently displayed in the hotel lobby, this also meant we received a free room upgrade, free drinks (if the bar had been open) free dinner (if the restaurant had been open) and free breakfast (if we hadn't slept through it). We shared cucumber sandwiches with my grandparents for lunch on the 27th, and then drove back to Madison in time for pizza from Roman Candle with Pete, Susanne, my niece Cassie and my 4-month-old Great Nephew Jalen.
The rest of the week was a whirlwind of trips back and forth between various family members' houses and notable Madison establishments. We spent lots of time holding Baby J
alen (whose hair is a "fro-hawk," according to his doting "Grandpappy" Pete), playing games (Killer Bunnies, Wise & Otherwise, Wii Tennis and Rayman's Raving Rabbids 2), doing communal puzzles and hanging out in Dad & Susan's hot tub (you haven't lived until you've relaxed in an outdoor hot tub in 20-degree weather surrounded by snow).
Among our other stops were the Children's Museum (where Allison, Maya, Lucy, Jalen, Graham & I were joined by my college friend Angie and her kids Lexie & Brendan), Rocky's, Michael's, Big Mike's (not Milio's), The Great Dane, Paisan's (finally!), Kohl's (mom's traditio
nal Christmas gift to Graham), Bahn Thai (for our traditional Thai Food Christmas Celebration w/ my brothers & families) and Sophia's (for brunch with Ru & Sara). Hanging out with family always makes me smile, but as Madison had a record snowfall in December, it's safe to say I was grinning from ear to ear for the entire week!
We flew back to Seattle (completely uneventfully this time) on New Year's Eve and rang in 2008 by lounging on the couch and watching television. As per usual, Graham had to wake me up at midnight to share a glass of champagne. :)
A 2008-to-date review is coming soon, but for now you can amuse yourselves by clicking on any of the pics above to see more photos from our trip. (You'll need a Snapfish account--and I haven't done any editing or labels yet--but they're there.)
With our beautiful Christmas tree as a backdrop, Graham and I hosted the most fun Game Night ever on December 21st. Our friends Kate and Melissa were back from Boulder for the holidays, reuniting our original Game Night Six ... and almost all of the more recent additions to the clan came, too. We ate yummy appetizers, drank Hot Buttered Rum (thank you for the recipe, Kristen), played Catch Phrase and laughed harder (and louder) than I have in a very long time. Most memorable moments: Kelly realizing we knew less about the US Constitution than his middle school students, and me trying to get my team to say the words "Sex Change" without mentioning our transgendered friend sitting a couple of seats away on the couch.
On the 23rd, G and I started our long holiday journey to the Midwest. Due to bad
weather in Chicago (duh), our plane was so late leaving Seattle that, when we finally got to O'Hare, all the flights to madison--as well as all the Van Galder buses--had left for the night. It was probably too much to hope for that there'd be any rental cars available at America's busiest airport in the wee hours of Christmas Eve morning, but we tried in desperation anyways, before retiring to a nearby hotel for a deep dish pizza and a few hours sleep. So, for the second year in a row, Graham and I spent the night in a Chicago hotel eating pizza. (We missed you, Emily.)ANYHOW, we finally made it to Madison (on the bus, since we couldn't get a confirme
d spot on a flight until 3pm) around 10:30am. We went right to Mom's house for the annual Christmas Cookie decorating party with all the grandkids (and SJB). Later that night, we filled an entire pew with all Mom's kids and (almost) all the grandkids at FUMC for the candlelight service. Then G and I headed out to Middleton for appetizers and desserts with my other parents and siblings. It was so fun watching Maya explore her new rice table on Christmas morning!On the 26th, we drove down to Wilmette to join my mom in visiting Grandma Lucile (94), Grandpa Bob (97) and Aunt Jan. We had a lovely time talking
politics (!) before heading to our hotel, where we discovered that I had been named "Guest of the Day." In addition to having my name prominently displayed in the hotel lobby, this also meant we received a free room upgrade, free drinks (if the bar had been open) free dinner (if the restaurant had been open) and free breakfast (if we hadn't slept through it). We shared cucumber sandwiches with my grandparents for lunch on the 27th, and then drove back to Madison in time for pizza from Roman Candle with Pete, Susanne, my niece Cassie and my 4-month-old Great Nephew Jalen.The rest of the week was a whirlwind of trips back and forth between various family members' houses and notable Madison establishments. We spent lots of time holding Baby J
alen (whose hair is a "fro-hawk," according to his doting "Grandpappy" Pete), playing games (Killer Bunnies, Wise & Otherwise, Wii Tennis and Rayman's Raving Rabbids 2), doing communal puzzles and hanging out in Dad & Susan's hot tub (you haven't lived until you've relaxed in an outdoor hot tub in 20-degree weather surrounded by snow).Among our other stops were the Children's Museum (where Allison, Maya, Lucy, Jalen, Graham & I were joined by my college friend Angie and her kids Lexie & Brendan), Rocky's, Michael's, Big Mike's (not Milio's), The Great Dane, Paisan's (finally!), Kohl's (mom's traditio
nal Christmas gift to Graham), Bahn Thai (for our traditional Thai Food Christmas Celebration w/ my brothers & families) and Sophia's (for brunch with Ru & Sara). Hanging out with family always makes me smile, but as Madison had a record snowfall in December, it's safe to say I was grinning from ear to ear for the entire week!We flew back to Seattle (completely uneventfully this time) on New Year's Eve and rang in 2008 by lounging on the couch and watching television. As per usual, Graham had to wake me up at midnight to share a glass of champagne. :)
A 2008-to-date review is coming soon, but for now you can amuse yourselves by clicking on any of the pics above to see more photos from our trip. (You'll need a Snapfish account--and I haven't done any editing or labels yet--but they're there.)
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