Minne-cation

It's been two weeks since we posted last - golly sakes alive! (It might just be me, but saying "two weeks" always reminds me of that scene in Total Recall when Quaid gets to Mars in his drag outfit and the robotic head he is sporting starts saying "Two weeks. Twooooo weeeeeeks..." like a crazy person....Anyone else? No?...hmm.)

Anyhoo, since the last post we went sailing on our friend's sailboat to Kemah and watched fireworks one Friday night - was absolutely lovely!! I got to see the Red Bull "Art of Can" exhibit at the Galleria Mall with Beth and her 7-yr old daughter Syd the Kid - pretty neat exhibit! ...aaaaand, I found out that I am going to be sent to Japan for work at the end of August. Yippee!!

For Japan, I'll be visiting the Japanese Control Center in Tsukuba, about 50 miles (?) or so northeast of Tokyo. If I'm lucky, I'll get to climb Mount Fuji at the very end of the climbing season before I head home on Labor Day (apparently it is only "safe" to climb Mt. Fuji during July and August due to inclement weather) It's not a technical climb, so it shouldn't be too hard - as long as I don't get altitude sickness at the 12,000+ feet height. The climb will be about 7-8 hours overnight, reaching the over-crowded summit just in time to watch sunrise from the top. I have heard it is amazing!! A few hours climb down and then back to Tsukuba and then home to see Mar the following day. I'll keep you all posted in case this climb actually goes down.

In the more immediate future, Mar and I will be making the 1200-mile drive home to MN for two back-to-back weddings, on Wednesday after work (we're bringing Sammie and some friends are watching The Kirbster while we're away). Charlie's friend from high school, Greg, is getting married this Saturday and he's a Groomsman. The following weekend my friend Melissa is getting hitched on Friday and I am a Bridesmaid. In the middle of all that wedding fun (rehearsals, appointments, etc) we will be doing homework, watching class (yay!) and traveling to and fro from my parent's house to Charlie's parent's house.

Here is the day-by-day itinerary (just because):
Weds: Leave TX, drive as long as we can without crashing the VW into a tree (Sammie drools on the backseat and leaves her fur everywhere)
Thurs: Arrive MN, if we're lucky we'll get to go to the first wedding rehearsal & dinner (Sammie experiences Minnesota beauty for the first time)
Fri: Homework, helping Faithie with her fabulous Faith Turner Photography debut booth prep, Charlie has poker with his Iraq dudes (Sammie plays with some family dog friends)
Sat: Faithie booth support, Greg wedding and partay! (Sammie chills with my parents and barks at deer and other creatures - especially the moles!)
Sun: Dinner with Grandma and my family, homework. (Sammie gets cuddles from Charlie's mom)
Mon: Pay a visit to see Charlie's Dad (and tell him how great his Oak tree is doing in the backyard :), see Aunt Jeanne & Uncle Gene. (Sammie gets her first dip in a lake, a REAL lake!)
Tues: Charlie gets his peepers checked from the doctor who did his eye surgery in twenty aught one (i think), homework. (Sammie wonders what "peepers" are)
Weds: Second wedding rehearsal & dinner (Sammie wants to be in the wedding too)
Thurs: Mani/Pedi for Jaime, dinner with Charlie's whole family (siblings, kids and Mom) (Sammie meets the Marshik family, look out kiddies!)
Fri: Melissa wedding and partay! (Sammie 'ills with Tank the dog, no biting please)
Sat: We start the 1200-mile trek back home. (Sammie drools on the backseat and leaves her fur everywhere)

It will be great to see the family, for sure, and some friends along the way. But as you can see, another one of our "vacations" is jam-packed with responsibility. Somewhere in there Charlie is going to rewire his mom's basement (he's amazing, isn't he?) and I'm going to spend some time with my family (including nephew Bubs!).

Mmmmmm Sausage

Charlie and I had a good 4th of July weekend hanging out with friends and spending time together (imagine that!), even though it rained almost every day. We even got to visit a local farm/grocery store out in Alvin, TX...I think. It is called Froberg Market and we got some cheap, delicious, locally-grown vegetables including a firm, deep purple eggplant, some hot peppers, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, tomatoes (the non-killer kind) and green onions.

Yesterday Charlie made some delicious stir fry with our leftover freezer meat (circa 2007, time to GO!), some of the fresh veggies and some quinoa. It was tasty-riffic. However, it was not as tasty as the homemade smokehouse sausages we got at the Froberg Market. There is a little snack shack next to the market building where they're smoking up fresh venison/pork sausages - we had the jalapeno-cheddar kind. Oh my goodness, it was muy delicioso!!

We'll definitely be headed back for some more fresh, local produce and some nummy snausages.

Back to School!

...and it sure is fun! This summer we are in a class together. Here is a screen capture from our first lecture:

Should be fun!