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!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
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!
Monday, July 21, 2008
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!).
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!).
Monday, July 7, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
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!
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