I'll be brief for now until I can update the blog once I get back home and have recovered some from the trip...
Here's the scoop:
-I climbed Mount Fuji to 10,200+ feet (out of roughly 12,000)
-I only made it to the Original 8th Station (there are about 10 stations) before I had to stop for the night and sleep a few hours cuz I was so sick
-I threw up 4 times (thanks to altitude sickness) at Station 7, in-between 7 & 8, Station 8, and between 8 and "original" 8.
I am not so happy that I didn't make it to the summit, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Sunrise was beautiful either way and the weather was pretty darn nice also. Of the 10 of us who climbed Fuji, 3 of us didn't make it to the top. I am proud of my accomplishment and will likely never try doing Mt. Fuji ever again...man that was tough!!!
All in all, it was lots of fun and a great experience!! More details to come later.
I'm en route to home tomorrow (Monday) - can't wait to see my family!!
Love you all!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Meetings? Done. Fuji? Next.
Thursday and Friday went by in a blur. We finished our meetings successfully and I am now ready to move on to bigger things. REAL big - like 12000 feet high things. Let me give you the brief on Thurs/Fri before I continue:
Thursday: Work. Dinner at a great little restaurant - again, we sat on the floor. This time the food was hot meats and veggies on little skewers. Delish!! It was pouring rain out - torrentially. Thunder, lightning, the works. Bedtime.
Friday: Work. Shopping for last minute Fuji items, buying tickets for the trains and the bus ride to Narita airport on Monday. Check. Had dinner at a shabu-shabu restaurant in the basement of our hotel (it's like a little mall down there). It's where you cook your food at your table in a big pot of boiling water. It was also good - though extremely warm down there. Yikes! I drank too much before dinner, so I left dinner early and went to bed.
Saturday, so far: Woke up at 5am. Had a nice warm bath, felt better. Packing my things right now for checking out later this morning. Moving to Steve's apartment for the weekend (read: Sunday night stay before the aeropuerta) since it's free :)
This will be my last post until I come home from successfully climbing Mount Fuji tonight!! Yippee! For those who don't know, a group of us will be taking a 1.5 hr train to a 2.5 hr bus ride to climb overnight 8 hours to the top of Mount Fuji!...then it'll be 4 more hours to the bottom and then 2.5 hr bus ride to a 1.5 hr train ride home. No sleep, super hike, probably rain, wind and sludge.
Wish us luck!
ps: Charlie is at a Toadies concert with our friends tonight (Friday night) and he's also preparing for Hurricane Gustav which may or may not hit our house. I get to come home to that gem on Monday. Yippee! Later!
Thursday: Work. Dinner at a great little restaurant - again, we sat on the floor. This time the food was hot meats and veggies on little skewers. Delish!! It was pouring rain out - torrentially. Thunder, lightning, the works. Bedtime.
Friday: Work. Shopping for last minute Fuji items, buying tickets for the trains and the bus ride to Narita airport on Monday. Check. Had dinner at a shabu-shabu restaurant in the basement of our hotel (it's like a little mall down there). It's where you cook your food at your table in a big pot of boiling water. It was also good - though extremely warm down there. Yikes! I drank too much before dinner, so I left dinner early and went to bed.
Saturday, so far: Woke up at 5am. Had a nice warm bath, felt better. Packing my things right now for checking out later this morning. Moving to Steve's apartment for the weekend (read: Sunday night stay before the aeropuerta) since it's free :)
This will be my last post until I come home from successfully climbing Mount Fuji tonight!! Yippee! For those who don't know, a group of us will be taking a 1.5 hr train to a 2.5 hr bus ride to climb overnight 8 hours to the top of Mount Fuji!...then it'll be 4 more hours to the bottom and then 2.5 hr bus ride to a 1.5 hr train ride home. No sleep, super hike, probably rain, wind and sludge.
Wish us luck!
ps: Charlie is at a Toadies concert with our friends tonight (Friday night) and he's also preparing for Hurricane Gustav which may or may not hit our house. I get to come home to that gem on Monday. Yippee! Later!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Campai!
Yes indeedy.
Yesterday was another long day of meetings and information sessions at JAXA - but it was absolutely wonderfully nice outside (meaning no rain and considerably less clouds and...get this...sunshine!). The capper to all of it was the "social" event we would have at the end of the night. Woohoo, good fun!
After work I ended up coming home, changing and starting to watch my first fall semester class (awesome). After 15 minutes of that gem, I got a phone call from my friend Kieth, asking if he could use my bottle opener for a frosty beverage he had. I said "Sure, c'mon up!" I left the door to my room ajar roughly halfway and continued to "watch" class at my desk here. My room doorbell rang (a sweet, polite little melody) and I said "C'mon in!" No one came in. So I finally turned around and noticed no one was in the doorway. Weird. I got out of my chair, went to the door. What should I notice, but an empty flower vase sitting in the hallway, in front of my door! No sooner had I entered the hallway-doorway interchange, when I saw a beautiful bouquet of flowers propped up against the opposite hallway wall on the floor! Hmmmm...what the *bleep*?
I looked down the hallway to my left and what do I see?? Kieth and Todd poking their heads around the corner with huge grins on their faces (like the VonTrapp family "cuckoo clock" scene in The Sound of Music). I think I said "Super Gey"...at least those two jokers say I did, I can't remember everything...and then they came down the hallway to explain the scene. Charlie contacted Todd who worked with Kieth to get me some flowers (and later, a fruity girl drink) for our anniversary!! Awwwwwwww, so sweet!! They were gorgeous and made even more special because my friends (Kieth especially) worked his buns off trying to find, negotiate and buy both the flowers and the vase (such a great story). Those guys are the coolest - and my husband is the bomb for doing the coordination :) I love the flowers and love my dude (Sir Charles, as I call him today)!!
After that bright, sunny (MUCHLY needed, thank you very much) kick-in-the-pants to my day, I stopped pretending to watch school and went to Tito's for a quick drink (gross Scotch on the rocks - whaaaaat?!) and then our group boarded a small bus for the social event of the evening.
There were about 40 of us at this thing, 1/2 japanese, 1/2 American (1 canadian). We got to eat at another typical sit-down-on-the-floor restaurant with a huge spread of food (I mean HUGE) including everything from mini-corndogs (Mama liiiiiiiiike) to raw fish of many kinds to teriyaki chicken. It was good. Reeeeeeeeeeeeal good. The beer, sake and sho-chu were flowing freely and the group of us ate, drank, "Campai!"-ed and mingled a lot. It was quite fun!
Once we left the restaurant, we headed to a local Karaoke joint and whooped it up - mind you, our group reduced in half by now. I sang an impromptu duet with one of the JAXA flight controllers (Ito-san?) and now the name of the song eludes me. We were great though. Absolutely wonderful. Like beautiful songbirds singing sweet, natural melodies. *Bliss!*
Most everyone got to sing something and it was tons of fun. People were jumping around banging tambourines all over the place, walking on tables, shouting SO loudly into the microphones and dancing around like goofballs. It was a blast!! Sooner rather than later (midnight), they said our time had ended and we had to leave the karaoke behind. A quick stop at a sho-chu bar (myself, Tito, Rosie, Parrish) later, and we were all headed home for the night. Rosie rode home on his awesome bicycle and Todd and I hoofed it back to the hotel in the rain.
What a great way to end the day!!
Sho-Chu! Sho-Chu! Hai-Hai-Hai!
Yesterday was another long day of meetings and information sessions at JAXA - but it was absolutely wonderfully nice outside (meaning no rain and considerably less clouds and...get this...sunshine!). The capper to all of it was the "social" event we would have at the end of the night. Woohoo, good fun!
After work I ended up coming home, changing and starting to watch my first fall semester class (awesome). After 15 minutes of that gem, I got a phone call from my friend Kieth, asking if he could use my bottle opener for a frosty beverage he had. I said "Sure, c'mon up!" I left the door to my room ajar roughly halfway and continued to "watch" class at my desk here. My room doorbell rang (a sweet, polite little melody) and I said "C'mon in!" No one came in. So I finally turned around and noticed no one was in the doorway. Weird. I got out of my chair, went to the door. What should I notice, but an empty flower vase sitting in the hallway, in front of my door! No sooner had I entered the hallway-doorway interchange, when I saw a beautiful bouquet of flowers propped up against the opposite hallway wall on the floor! Hmmmm...what the *bleep*?
I looked down the hallway to my left and what do I see?? Kieth and Todd poking their heads around the corner with huge grins on their faces (like the VonTrapp family "cuckoo clock" scene in The Sound of Music). I think I said "Super Gey"...at least those two jokers say I did, I can't remember everything...and then they came down the hallway to explain the scene. Charlie contacted Todd who worked with Kieth to get me some flowers (and later, a fruity girl drink) for our anniversary!! Awwwwwwww, so sweet!! They were gorgeous and made even more special because my friends (Kieth especially) worked his buns off trying to find, negotiate and buy both the flowers and the vase (such a great story). Those guys are the coolest - and my husband is the bomb for doing the coordination :) I love the flowers and love my dude (Sir Charles, as I call him today)!!
After that bright, sunny (MUCHLY needed, thank you very much) kick-in-the-pants to my day, I stopped pretending to watch school and went to Tito's for a quick drink (gross Scotch on the rocks - whaaaaat?!) and then our group boarded a small bus for the social event of the evening.
There were about 40 of us at this thing, 1/2 japanese, 1/2 American (1 canadian). We got to eat at another typical sit-down-on-the-floor restaurant with a huge spread of food (I mean HUGE) including everything from mini-corndogs (Mama liiiiiiiiike) to raw fish of many kinds to teriyaki chicken. It was good. Reeeeeeeeeeeeal good. The beer, sake and sho-chu were flowing freely and the group of us ate, drank, "Campai!"-ed and mingled a lot. It was quite fun!
Once we left the restaurant, we headed to a local Karaoke joint and whooped it up - mind you, our group reduced in half by now. I sang an impromptu duet with one of the JAXA flight controllers (Ito-san?) and now the name of the song eludes me. We were great though. Absolutely wonderful. Like beautiful songbirds singing sweet, natural melodies. *Bliss!*
Most everyone got to sing something and it was tons of fun. People were jumping around banging tambourines all over the place, walking on tables, shouting SO loudly into the microphones and dancing around like goofballs. It was a blast!! Sooner rather than later (midnight), they said our time had ended and we had to leave the karaoke behind. A quick stop at a sho-chu bar (myself, Tito, Rosie, Parrish) later, and we were all headed home for the night. Rosie rode home on his awesome bicycle and Todd and I hoofed it back to the hotel in the rain.
What a great way to end the day!!
Sho-Chu! Sho-Chu! Hai-Hai-Hai!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Club Wed
My today, Wednesday, is my 3 year wedding anniversary with Charlie.
Happy Anniversary baby!
Stinks that I can't be with you to celebrate, but Japan calls. Soon I'll be home for cuddles.
I love you!
Happy Anniversary baby!
Stinks that I can't be with you to celebrate, but Japan calls. Soon I'll be home for cuddles.
I love you!
Tsukuba Indian Food
Tuesday was a very busy, informative and exhausting day at work. Afterward I went home, tried for a few minutes to do more work (failed miserably) and then went with Todd, Kieth and Steve to a wonderful Indian restaurant nearby in Tsukuba. We had Chicken Korma (my favorite of the night), Butter Chicken, Saag Paneer and Mutton Masala - not to mention the naan. Mmmmmmm naan. It was deeeeeelicious! A few Lassy Sho-Chus later, I was ready to head home. We hung out in Tito's (aka: Todd) freezing room for a bit and at about 11:30 I went to bed.
Wednesday is another day!
Wednesday is another day!
Monday, August 25, 2008
SSIPC - To Work!
Monday was the first day at work at the JAXA Space Center. I got some really good 8.5-9 hrs of sleep the night before (after a fizz-bomb bath and 2-page book read), had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then our group hopped in taxis to get to the center.
Once our quick badging process was complete, we got a quick tour of the facility including their version of Mission Control Center and then had meetings the rest of the day. We did have lunch at their cafeteria and I had a beef and salad thing, with some soup and a fishstick - it was good and cheap! I'm glad to see that I'll be able to eat lunch each day and enjoy it :) After work, we walked home, stopped by the grocery store on the way & bought some crummy wine (I didn't know!). By the way, I will be walking 30 minutes to and from work each day, in the rain. I could take a taxi, but the walk is nice and it's not usually raining all that hard.
After I got changed for sushi dinner ops that night, Kieth, Todd and I had a little pre-drinky before dinner. It was pretty funny - predrinking for dinner while trying to watch Superbad on Todd's computer. Good times all around :) About 14 of us (all but 1 from our group) went to dinner at one of those places where you sit on the floor on a cushion and had some sushi. We had sake, wine and another "hooch" drink called sho-chu (along with the supplemental water) and each ate our mysterious sushi. Todd thinks I ate a beef one (gross), but I didn't know about that...so I'll pretend I didn't. Kieth the the exoskeleton and heads off of some deep-friend, whole prawns (some antennae and all) which was disgusting, but hilarious.
After dinner some went to Karaoke, I went home to bed. Good first day :)
Once our quick badging process was complete, we got a quick tour of the facility including their version of Mission Control Center and then had meetings the rest of the day. We did have lunch at their cafeteria and I had a beef and salad thing, with some soup and a fishstick - it was good and cheap! I'm glad to see that I'll be able to eat lunch each day and enjoy it :) After work, we walked home, stopped by the grocery store on the way & bought some crummy wine (I didn't know!). By the way, I will be walking 30 minutes to and from work each day, in the rain. I could take a taxi, but the walk is nice and it's not usually raining all that hard.
After I got changed for sushi dinner ops that night, Kieth, Todd and I had a little pre-drinky before dinner. It was pretty funny - predrinking for dinner while trying to watch Superbad on Todd's computer. Good times all around :) About 14 of us (all but 1 from our group) went to dinner at one of those places where you sit on the floor on a cushion and had some sushi. We had sake, wine and another "hooch" drink called sho-chu (along with the supplemental water) and each ate our mysterious sushi. Todd thinks I ate a beef one (gross), but I didn't know about that...so I'll pretend I didn't. Kieth the the exoskeleton and heads off of some deep-friend, whole prawns (some antennae and all) which was disgusting, but hilarious.
After dinner some went to Karaoke, I went home to bed. Good first day :)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Day Two - Tokyo
Sunday was a good day, spent in Tokyo for the majority. Let me first say that it has rained here every day since our arrival. Thank you to my raincoat and my travel umbrella for always being there for me. Much props.
Todd, Holly, Steve Rosenbaum and I went together as a little pack. We didn't really have an agenda, so it made the day pretty relaxing overall. We saw two shrines/temples and basically just walked around all day. The cool thing is that there was a festival going on in Tokyo as well and there were droves of dancers dancing in their specific troupes to special music down a main street of Tokyo. They all ended up at Harajuku park where there was a big stage where they each performed for the crowds. Each of them were really giving their performance all of their effort - it was spectacular to watch. Most of the dancers were exhausted, one girl was crumpled on the ground weeping she was so spent...it was neat to watch. Their precision and syncronization was amazing. Rosenbaum and I did our own version of street dancing too, including the robot and other various dances. We were rock stars!
We did a small amount of shopping, had some ice cream - mine was purple sweet potato (DELISH!!), ate dinner-snack of okonomayaki (sp?) which is an omelette-style food with a cooked egg cracked on top, then headed home. We were wet, tired and also spent from travels and tourism, but it was worth it. Yay Tokyo!
Todd, Holly, Steve Rosenbaum and I went together as a little pack. We didn't really have an agenda, so it made the day pretty relaxing overall. We saw two shrines/temples and basically just walked around all day. The cool thing is that there was a festival going on in Tokyo as well and there were droves of dancers dancing in their specific troupes to special music down a main street of Tokyo. They all ended up at Harajuku park where there was a big stage where they each performed for the crowds. Each of them were really giving their performance all of their effort - it was spectacular to watch. Most of the dancers were exhausted, one girl was crumpled on the ground weeping she was so spent...it was neat to watch. Their precision and syncronization was amazing. Rosenbaum and I did our own version of street dancing too, including the robot and other various dances. We were rock stars!
We did a small amount of shopping, had some ice cream - mine was purple sweet potato (DELISH!!), ate dinner-snack of okonomayaki (sp?) which is an omelette-style food with a cooked egg cracked on top, then headed home. We were wet, tired and also spent from travels and tourism, but it was worth it. Yay Tokyo!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Tsukuba Arrival
Hello everyone: My group made it to Japan on time and safely, with no missing luggage. Yippee! Yesterday (my yesterday, remember, I am 14 hours ahead of CT in the USA) after a 14 hour flight, 2 hour wait and then 2 hour bus ride, I stepped foot onto Tsukuba soil.
It's more the "bustling little town" than I expected! Right now there is also the Tsukuba Summer Festival going on, so we stepped off our bus in the Tsukuba Center at 6:30pm (our 10-story hotel is right in the center of the town) to a street parade with lanterns, lots of people, drums and inflatable floats, plus the smell of delicious food booths! Mmmmmm...
After getting settled into the hotel (read: took a nice warm shower and got only two things unpacked), we all met downstairs and went out into the rain to watch the festival. It was on-and-off-again raining with less than a downpour, more than a sprinkle. There is a Houston Support Group contingent staying here in Tsukuba for months at a time for NASA and so we met them on the parade route and stood above the sea of umbrellas on a bunch of bleachers they rented. The sound of the drums were mesmerizing and the floats were pretty neat...although I think the parade route was only like 5 blocks long and we kept seeing the same things go by multiple times. It was neat none-the-less.
Half the group split off and the other half of us went to a Chinese restaurant (yes...Chinese) for some dinner. I was not hungry due to eating everything on the plane that they offered, and then my body being out of whack with the travel and time zone change. I did, however, eat a tiny bowl of egg-drop soup and had a few gyoza. The rest of the crowd each got a dish to share, which looked (and apparently tasted) absolutley delish. It was a nice meal. Also to note, the chef there was a contestant on the original "Iron Chef", so you can imagine how good the food was. That was neat too...and no, I don't know the name of the restaurant OR if the chef beat Iron Chef...doubtful :)
We tried to hit a local bar after dinner (it was Saturday night after all), but they were "full", so we couldn't go in. Strange. It was probably better that we just ended up going home to relax and sleep anyway.
That was day one. Not much to note, really, but it was a good couple days!
Today is Sunday morning (5am actually and I'm awake after getting only 6 hrs of sleep) and I think we might try to head to Tokyo to check it all out.
More to come!
It's more the "bustling little town" than I expected! Right now there is also the Tsukuba Summer Festival going on, so we stepped off our bus in the Tsukuba Center at 6:30pm (our 10-story hotel is right in the center of the town) to a street parade with lanterns, lots of people, drums and inflatable floats, plus the smell of delicious food booths! Mmmmmm...
After getting settled into the hotel (read: took a nice warm shower and got only two things unpacked), we all met downstairs and went out into the rain to watch the festival. It was on-and-off-again raining with less than a downpour, more than a sprinkle. There is a Houston Support Group contingent staying here in Tsukuba for months at a time for NASA and so we met them on the parade route and stood above the sea of umbrellas on a bunch of bleachers they rented. The sound of the drums were mesmerizing and the floats were pretty neat...although I think the parade route was only like 5 blocks long and we kept seeing the same things go by multiple times. It was neat none-the-less.
Half the group split off and the other half of us went to a Chinese restaurant (yes...Chinese) for some dinner. I was not hungry due to eating everything on the plane that they offered, and then my body being out of whack with the travel and time zone change. I did, however, eat a tiny bowl of egg-drop soup and had a few gyoza. The rest of the crowd each got a dish to share, which looked (and apparently tasted) absolutley delish. It was a nice meal. Also to note, the chef there was a contestant on the original "Iron Chef", so you can imagine how good the food was. That was neat too...and no, I don't know the name of the restaurant OR if the chef beat Iron Chef...doubtful :)
We tried to hit a local bar after dinner (it was Saturday night after all), but they were "full", so we couldn't go in. Strange. It was probably better that we just ended up going home to relax and sleep anyway.
That was day one. Not much to note, really, but it was a good couple days!
Today is Sunday morning (5am actually and I'm awake after getting only 6 hrs of sleep) and I think we might try to head to Tokyo to check it all out.
More to come!
Friday, August 22, 2008
To Japan!
This is going to be quick:
I leave for Japan this morning, in about 3.5 hrs. I luckily have a direct flight into Narita, 13.5 hr flight. Schew! Last time I flew to Japan (both times, actually) I didn't have a direct flight, so I'm pretty excited about the one-stop-shop for this trip.
I will be greasy and gross and stinky when I get there, but I'll get there and hopefully my luggage will too (knock on wood). After we land (there's a group of us traveling at the same time), there's a 2 hour bus ride to get to Tsukuba and then I'll check in, have dinner and crash...probably.
Note to all readers: I will have access to my email in the hotel and likely at the control center too, so feel free to drop a line if you want. Remember that we will be 14 hrs ahead of central time, though - so just swap the a.m. and the p.m. and you'll roughly know what time it is where I am.
Ciao!
I leave for Japan this morning, in about 3.5 hrs. I luckily have a direct flight into Narita, 13.5 hr flight. Schew! Last time I flew to Japan (both times, actually) I didn't have a direct flight, so I'm pretty excited about the one-stop-shop for this trip.
I will be greasy and gross and stinky when I get there, but I'll get there and hopefully my luggage will too (knock on wood). After we land (there's a group of us traveling at the same time), there's a 2 hour bus ride to get to Tsukuba and then I'll check in, have dinner and crash...probably.
Note to all readers: I will have access to my email in the hotel and likely at the control center too, so feel free to drop a line if you want. Remember that we will be 14 hrs ahead of central time, though - so just swap the a.m. and the p.m. and you'll roughly know what time it is where I am.
Ciao!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Weekend Past
What a great weekend! It was my first weekend without having any school obligations and nothing to do but enjoy myself. Very nice stuff. We had dinner with the Sholls on Friday night-delicious shrimp pasta ala Erin and watched some Olympics. Saturday we slept in (yay) and ran errands all day. We looked at some cars (Honda CRV, Element, Toyota Rav-4) and were less-than-satisfied with the customer service we received, but I was pleasantly surprised about the vehicles we looked at. Of the three vehicles we looked at, I really liked the CRV, then the Rav-4, then the Element. Charlie likes the Element, and the toss up is the CRV/Rav-4...at least I think so.
Anyhoo, we did the whole car shopping thing and then met at Luna's Mexican Restaurant with the Sholls and Wilkes for dinner. We had some terrible service (why does this always happen when we bring folks to that place?), the worst yet from Luna's, which made me sad, but some really good Coconut Margaritas. Beth's Shirley Temple was hilariously loaded with cherries, with jokes-a-flyin' all around all night about that. We went back to our place after the meal, had some drinks and the girls talked crafts while the guys played cribbage. Apparently cribbage is NOT a common game. Cory and John had both never heard of the game and as I am at work right now, no one here has heard of it either. What the heck?? Very strange.
Sunday morning we had the Sholls over for breakfast with Charlie's nummy pancackes with walnuts and bananas and some eggs to go with them. Then we headed off to the dog park with Sammie and Cosmo in tow. It was another successful dog park adventure, minus the fact that Sammie barked a TON at other dogs, trying (we could only assume) to get them to play with her. It was kinda weird, so next time I'll see if we can curb that habit a little better. Then last night we went to Mamacita's for Budde & April's farewell dinner. There were about 12 of us there to wish them well as their time in Texas closes and their fun begins in D.C. I know we'll miss them terribly, but they will have such a great experience there! After another round of coconut margaritas, we went home, watched Olympics and went to bed.
The end.
Anyhoo, we did the whole car shopping thing and then met at Luna's Mexican Restaurant with the Sholls and Wilkes for dinner. We had some terrible service (why does this always happen when we bring folks to that place?), the worst yet from Luna's, which made me sad, but some really good Coconut Margaritas. Beth's Shirley Temple was hilariously loaded with cherries, with jokes-a-flyin' all around all night about that. We went back to our place after the meal, had some drinks and the girls talked crafts while the guys played cribbage. Apparently cribbage is NOT a common game. Cory and John had both never heard of the game and as I am at work right now, no one here has heard of it either. What the heck?? Very strange.
Sunday morning we had the Sholls over for breakfast with Charlie's nummy pancackes with walnuts and bananas and some eggs to go with them. Then we headed off to the dog park with Sammie and Cosmo in tow. It was another successful dog park adventure, minus the fact that Sammie barked a TON at other dogs, trying (we could only assume) to get them to play with her. It was kinda weird, so next time I'll see if we can curb that habit a little better. Then last night we went to Mamacita's for Budde & April's farewell dinner. There were about 12 of us there to wish them well as their time in Texas closes and their fun begins in D.C. I know we'll miss them terribly, but they will have such a great experience there! After another round of coconut margaritas, we went home, watched Olympics and went to bed.
The end.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Finals - Summer '08
Charlie and I had our Summer final exam on Monday. 15 weeks of content packed into 6 weeks of classes and homeworks, capped off with a 3-hr midterm/final exam combo.
It would be silly of me to say anything other than: It was a brutal, grueling process for me.
The good news is now it's over and I get to wait for my hopefully "B" grade.
...I think that might be asking too much this time around, but we'll just see how it all shapes up :)
Yay for 2 week school break!!
It would be silly of me to say anything other than: It was a brutal, grueling process for me.
The good news is now it's over and I get to wait for my hopefully "B" grade.
...I think that might be asking too much this time around, but we'll just see how it all shapes up :)
Yay for 2 week school break!!
Friday, August 8, 2008
OLYMPICS!!!
Today signaled the start of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
As most of you are aware, I am highly interested in the sport of Trampoline (duh), so I encourage you to become engaged in my sport as well.
WHERE TO WATCH:
NBC
WHAT & WHEN TO WATCH (check local listings):
Trampoline - Men's & Women's Qualification Round
Airs: Saturday, 8/16 - 1:30-4pm ET (12:30-3p CT)
Trampoline - Women's Final
Airs: Monday, 8/18 - 8pm-12am ET (7p-11p CT)
Trampoline - Men's Final
Airs: Tuesday, 8/19 - 11:30am-1pm ET (10:30a-12p CT)
I hope you enjoy it!!
As most of you are aware, I am highly interested in the sport of Trampoline (duh), so I encourage you to become engaged in my sport as well.
WHERE TO WATCH:
NBC
WHAT & WHEN TO WATCH (check local listings):
Trampoline - Men's & Women's Qualification Round
Airs: Saturday, 8/16 - 1:30-4pm ET (12:30-3p CT)
Trampoline - Women's Final
Airs: Monday, 8/18 - 8pm-12am ET (7p-11p CT)
Trampoline - Men's Final
Airs: Tuesday, 8/19 - 11:30am-1pm ET (10:30a-12p CT)
I hope you enjoy it!!
Vacation Complete! - Part Deux
...to be filled in soon by mister charles raymond marshik.
Sneak peek from Melissa and Dan's wedding on 08/01/2008.
Photos courtesy My Own Self...(and some Charles Raymond)
Sneak peek from Melissa and Dan's wedding on 08/01/2008.
Photos courtesy My Own Self...(and some Charles Raymond)
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Vacation Complete!...Part One
Whew.
Two weddings, a photography booth, a giant fish, 20+ relatives, three homework assignments and 45 hours of driving later, Charlie and I finally made it home Sunday afternoon after 10 days in Minnesota.
First let me say that despite the crazy-busyness of it all, it was a great trip! I got to see my nephew Noah, who is cute as a button (and trying to crawl with his baby corn-chompers sticking out of his gummy mouth) - a true luxury for me since I live so far away. He's grown so much since I saw him about 5 months ago...but you know what? Let me start from the beginning.
We left TX Wednesday after work and drove for 21 hours almost straight. Okay, we took a 30 minute nap at a rest stop once, but the rest we did straight. Sammie was a champ the entire ride and slept for 20 out of 21 hours. Yay Sammie!...wish we could have had the same experience. The upside of driving straight through was that we arrived on Thursday in time to get to Greg & Kim's wedding rehearsal and groom's dinner. That worked out wonderfully! After a rehearsal in the park and then groom's dinner at Axel's Bonfire in Plymouth (nummo butternut squash), we crashed at my parent's house in Victoria.
Friday I (along with Dad, Shawn and Mom) helped Faithie prepare for her Cologne Glad Days (Glad = Gladiola) booth, which would be her first debut for her new business (Faith Turner Photography). It was a lot of work, but on Saturday morning at the crack o' dawn we were cookin' with gas at the setup site and voila!! She did a great job and even got an inquiry for her wedding photography services - yay Faifer! I am so proud of her, you have no idea. Very exciting stuff! After the show, I dropped Charlie off at the host wedding hotel to get ready with his fellow groomsmen for the wedding. They took off and took pictures for the wedding, I got ready and then I headed to the wedding site (Noerenberg Gardens in Navarre). It was a beautiful day for a Minnesota wedding , Greg & Kim's ceremony was great and the reception was even better! We had such a good time :)
Oh my gosh, I almost forgot: Sammie swam in Lake Minnetonka, her first ever lake swim! It was very brief, before the Saturday wedding, but it was there! Sunday we recovered from the wedding and had dinner with my Grandma Ellen at Macaroni Grill. Grandma is doing well and has been off of oxygen for 4 months and is doing fantastically. I'm so excited to hear she's doing well. We stayed with Charlie's mom Sunday night.
Monday we drove up to Lake Mille Lacs and visited Aunt Jeanne & Uncle Gene. I love those guys! Jeanne made us lunch, they told us stories of the family history, showed us their wealth of collections and Sammie got pushed off a dock (ahem, Charles Raymond) into the lake for her second lake swim. It was hilarious and I will let Charlie continue this saga (since it's late and I'm lamely tired)...to be continued!
Two weddings, a photography booth, a giant fish, 20+ relatives, three homework assignments and 45 hours of driving later, Charlie and I finally made it home Sunday afternoon after 10 days in Minnesota.
First let me say that despite the crazy-busyness of it all, it was a great trip! I got to see my nephew Noah, who is cute as a button (and trying to crawl with his baby corn-chompers sticking out of his gummy mouth) - a true luxury for me since I live so far away. He's grown so much since I saw him about 5 months ago...but you know what? Let me start from the beginning.
We left TX Wednesday after work and drove for 21 hours almost straight. Okay, we took a 30 minute nap at a rest stop once, but the rest we did straight. Sammie was a champ the entire ride and slept for 20 out of 21 hours. Yay Sammie!...wish we could have had the same experience. The upside of driving straight through was that we arrived on Thursday in time to get to Greg & Kim's wedding rehearsal and groom's dinner. That worked out wonderfully! After a rehearsal in the park and then groom's dinner at Axel's Bonfire in Plymouth (nummo butternut squash), we crashed at my parent's house in Victoria.
Friday I (along with Dad, Shawn and Mom) helped Faithie prepare for her Cologne Glad Days (Glad = Gladiola) booth, which would be her first debut for her new business (Faith Turner Photography). It was a lot of work, but on Saturday morning at the crack o' dawn we were cookin' with gas at the setup site and voila!! She did a great job and even got an inquiry for her wedding photography services - yay Faifer! I am so proud of her, you have no idea. Very exciting stuff! After the show, I dropped Charlie off at the host wedding hotel to get ready with his fellow groomsmen for the wedding. They took off and took pictures for the wedding, I got ready and then I headed to the wedding site (Noerenberg Gardens in Navarre). It was a beautiful day for a Minnesota wedding , Greg & Kim's ceremony was great and the reception was even better! We had such a good time :)
Oh my gosh, I almost forgot: Sammie swam in Lake Minnetonka, her first ever lake swim! It was very brief, before the Saturday wedding, but it was there! Sunday we recovered from the wedding and had dinner with my Grandma Ellen at Macaroni Grill. Grandma is doing well and has been off of oxygen for 4 months and is doing fantastically. I'm so excited to hear she's doing well. We stayed with Charlie's mom Sunday night.
Monday we drove up to Lake Mille Lacs and visited Aunt Jeanne & Uncle Gene. I love those guys! Jeanne made us lunch, they told us stories of the family history, showed us their wealth of collections and Sammie got pushed off a dock (ahem, Charles Raymond) into the lake for her second lake swim. It was hilarious and I will let Charlie continue this saga (since it's late and I'm lamely tired)...to be continued!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)