Happy New Year and Good-bye!

Just kidding about the good-bye but tonight concludes the blogging challenge- to match Ryan's goal of a daily entry until the end of the year. I think I made it because the couple of times I missed a day I wrote an extra blog on another day. And unlike Ryan, I experienced no technical difficulties. The challenge wasn't as stressful as I thought it might be although I did receive some teasing about some of my less interesting topics (road construction anyone?!) and I did manage to get the kids to do a few days. But overall, I enjoyed the experience and I think that now that I'm in the habit, I'll continue blogging several times per week.

Tonight we had our usual New Year's Eve tradition fiasco. Our goal is to eat in a restaurant we have never been to before. In the US this is generally not a problem. The second year in Greece we drove around for nearly two hours looking first, for a restaurant that was open (most don't open until 9 or later) and second, one we hadn't been to before (difficult in the country area we lived in). We ended up doing pizza take-out.
This year we thought, hey, no problem. We live in a European capital, the biggest city in Poland. Just in case, this afternoon Tim had one of his Polish co-workers call a steak house to confirm that if we came in early enough that we could get a reservation. The co-worker laughed at our naivete but dialed the restaurant. Turns out that the few Polish restaurants remaining open on New Year's Eve have limited reservations, limited menus, and jacked up holiday prices. Determined to stick to tradition, we set out at 4:30 thinking surely this was early enough to beat any dinner and party crowds. Wrong. We drove around for an hour but every restaurant was closed. We found one pizza place that was open but closed to walk-ins. They were willing to throw two pizzas into the oven for us to take home.
Turns out the pizza was great. We had Breyers mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert and now we are listening to all the fireworks go off around the city. Tim and I have some lovely prosecco to drink and at midnight we'll look out the skylight above the stairs to watch the big fireworks display downtown.

We wish everyone a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you in 2009!

Come With Us to Pay the Phone Bill

Stepping out our front gate we are in the midst of road construction. As you can see, the paving stones are laid down manually.

Walking down our street you can see that there is an eclectic mix of construction from old and new (see below) to quirky (see above).

This is the Wilanow post office where we pay our Polish bills.

Across the parking lot from the post office is this lovely church. Right after I took this picture, a funeral, led by the casket, emerged from the main doors. The kids were not happy with me!

Next to the church is this tomb for a Polish king. Kyle is standing in front.

Michael and Kyle are standing in front of Wilanow Palace which was the summer palace for Polish kings. The palace is next to the tomb and church. There are also several restaurants and shops selling amber and pottery. This area is a ten minute stroll from our house.

Behind the church.

Another neighborhood resident.
On the way home the kids wanted to play the trust game that requires them to walk with their eyes closed as they hold my arm (they don't trust each other enough to guide them safely!).

Ron Howard Video for Barack Obama

Ron Howard's Call To Action by Ron Howard

I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight and Ron Howard was the guest. Although he was on to promote his new Nixon-Frost movie, they did briefly discuss this video that Howard had created as his personal endorsement for Obama. I enjoyed it
and wanted to post it.

Poor Tim

Poor Tim is always cold at home.

The living room is the coldest room in the house so when he's watching TV, he's wearing an undershirt, sweater, fleece pullover, blanket, and gloves. On his feet he wears LL Bean's thickest slippers. During the day he continuously stomps over to the heating thermostat, mutters under his breath, and angrily pushes buttons. We are certainly doing our part to conserve energy but he's not very happy about it!

Movie Reviews cont

Finished Kung Fu Panda- hmmm. I should admit that I don't care for Jack Black so I was worried that might color my opinion but it was no problem. I didn't have to look at him and his voice wasn't distracting for me.

I agree with Ryan's post- the animation was terrific, especially the action sequences. Overall though, the story was no different from many other animated movies. While technically/visually excellent, this Dreamworks story just didn't have the heart and originality of a Pixar film (Wall-E, The Incredibles, Toy Story, etc). Remember, I'm the parent who always managed to wriggle out of taking the kids to animated movies by labeling it "time with Dad" but when it's a Pixar movie, I'm there in the theater with them and watching it again at home on DVD.

While I don't regret having watched Kung Fu Panda, I won't be watching it again.

Quick Report From the Burke Theater

We have been working our way through our new movies that we got for Christmas. Ironman was the first one we watched yesterday. The whole audience, ages 10 to 48, loved it. Great action, use of current events (I like the mix of comic hero and real world), and sarcastic, atypical hero Robert Downy Jr (who I easily find annoying but I loved him in this).
Next on the marquee was Wall-E. Usually I let Tim take the kids to see the animated movies but I had heard such great reviews that I was happy to watch the DVD. It was wonderful- touching and sweet. I completely forgot that I was watching animated, non-speaking machines fall in love.
This morning we watched Get Smart. Same audience- all five of us- and we were laughing out loud throughout the movie. Steve Carell's Max Smart was endearing and funny and who could ever get tired of looking at the luminosity that is Anne Hathaway (and I'm a straight girl!).
Tonight we started Kung Fu Panda but ran out of time so we'll finish it tomorrow. The first three films were so great that this one is coming up against a lot of competition so we'll see what I think tomorrow.
A very brief movie review I know but it's 1:30 am so I'm going to bed.

Merry Christmas

Here are all our kids waiting on the stairs Christmas morning- Kyle and Michael in the back, Katy, Lisa, and Ryan in the front. Ryan and Lisa stayed up until 1:45am in order to watch us open our presents Christmas morning; true dedication for which I am grateful and appreciative. As is our custom, the kids are allowed to open their stockings whenever they wake up but then they have to be quiet until they can begin to see daylight. When Tim and I get up, we go downstairs first to turn on the Christmas lights and ready the cameras. We always take a picture of the kids just before entering the living room. Then while we open presents we enjoy cocoa and homemade doughnuts.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Time to make the doughnuts! Michael was up early enough to help me mix the dough. Once it was chilling in the fridge, we woke up Katy and Kyle so that they could decorate their gingerbread houses.

Michael and Tim enjoy some doughnut holes.

Tim and Katy tried to do some last minute shopping but every store in Poland is closed on the 24th. Today is Wigilia when Poles have a 20-dish dinner (including Carp) and presents are opened when the first star is sighted.

Home Construction Surges in Warsaw

Time again for the traditional building of the gingerbread house. Years ago, when the kids were toddlers, we started with prefabricated kits. Later we progressed to creating a single, large house from scratch. This year, the kids designed and built their own buildings.

Katy tends to the mixer and Michael carefully cuts around his pattern pieces.

It's still a two-day process so look for the finished product tomorrow.

Kyle Visits A Children's Hospital

Hello! Kyle here. Today some friends and I brought a load of self-wrapped toys/books/board games to a children's hospital where they mostly cared for children with cancer. To bring some Christmas cheer to these kids, we dressed up as Santa's little helpers (well, we put on hats) and gave out toys. One of the guy's mother was the driving force behind the whole idea, to whom I owe a lot of thanks.

I didn't take very many photos, the reason being it would be awkward if I held up a camera to an enfeebled child with a present and asked them to say Cheese. I apologize for the blurry pictures. I lack practice with the family camera (though I doubt that's entirely the problem. Get a better camera Mom!).

Tristan's dad in a Santa costume

Tristan in an over-sized Santa hat

The Christmas tree they had in the lobby of the hospital. This ought to make up for everything I've done this year, right, Santa?

"Together" at Christmas

Thanks to Skype, the Burkes and Marchands were together on the winter solstice. Notice how Florida is bright and sunny and everyone is wearing short sleeves while we have all the lights on and are wearing sweaters. We walked the webcam around the house so we could give a tour and we received a lot of sympathy for our tiny kitchen. The world is a very small place.

Road Work, Part Deux

As you can see, the work on our street continues. The pallets are stacked with the gray, curvy bricks that will be laid to form the new road surface, like a modern cobblestone. The pave stones have reached just beyond the dump truck which is two houses down from us so hopefully we'll have a road again by the new year.
You can see our house now that the leaves have fallen from the trees.
A few hours after I took these pictures it started to rain and then to snow so now everything is a big, sloppy mess.

Polish Protestors

The Polish Sejm and Senat (their House and Senate) are located near the American Embassy so I often see protestors coming and going as I drive. The pictures aren't great and I missed the larger crowds because I was struggling to drive while I fumbled in my purse for the camera. They are always very peaceful unlike what's going on in Greece right now.

Michael's Elementary School Band Concert

Michael is in the red shirt
Fifth grade band at the school offers wind instruments and percussion so Michael chose the xylophone. He still has his violin and will be resuming practice this month. The boy sharing the xylophone with Michael lived in the town next to us in Virginia last year- small world!

The xylophones keep perfect time but you can hear the other instruments falling apart. I think this is because the music teacher had to be at the piano to the side and not in front conducting.

The Christmas Tree

Late afternoon I was typing my story and then mom comes over to where I am. All of a sudden the Christmas tree just fell over PLOP! All the Christmas presents were wet because mom just watered the tree and I didn't see if any of the lights were broken. Mom was expecting a lady over to get some papers so we wiped up as fast as we could. Finally after struggling to get the tree up we just threw it outside for the night. After the tree mess was cleaned up dad got home and we tried to see how long it would take for him to notice the tree was gone.

by Michael Burke

PS from Debbie- Luckily only the lights had been hung on the tree so no ornaments were broken. This afternoon Kyle and I will try again to set the tree in an upright position but we'll leave it on the back patio, in case it topples over again (don't need all that water on the floor again).

New England made the Polish news

http://www.tvn24.pl/-1,1577415,0,1,tydzien-bez-pradu-w-usa,wiadomosc.html

Choinki!

Choinki are Christmas trees. Santa is leaning because the wind was blowing (we were freezing). We didn't know where to buy a tree so we first stopped at the nursery closest to our house. The prices were clearly posted on a sign but we didn't know the words for the types of evergreens. Since the tallest, most expensive tree was within our budget, we weren't worried about which one we picked. Tim held up the first tree we saw and it was perfect. Less than 60 seconds to choose and it was only $50- the cheapest tree we have bought in many, many years!

On the way home we stopped at Wedel for hot chocolate. Wedel has been a beloved manufacturer of chocolate in Poland since the 1850's. The menu has pages and pages of varieties of hot chocolate.

MUSE in Twilight

Ambassador's Holiday Party

Beginning at 1pm, the employees of the American embassy attended the annual Christmas Open House at the residence. ODC was in the first shift so we had first dibs on the food and Santa. Kyle quickly learned to keep a full plate in his hands because any time the ambassador saw Kyle empty-handed, he would give him more spice cake! We chatted with friends and then Tim practiced his Polish with our language instructors who were also there with their families.

After the party, we bought gas for the car, returned Kyle's electric violin (it was a cheap model), bought some Spanish prosecco, and stopped at a Polish pottery store to finish Christmas shopping. Now we are home for a few hours and then off to a neighbor's Christmas party.

Disgustingly Funny!

I know I already posted today but I laughed outloud when I read the following response to the question of bad holiday gifts. I truly cannot think of anything worse!
Posted by Michael C 1 hour 34 minutes ago
When my grandmother's dog died, she had the fur sewed into teddy bears for all the grandkids. Ew! i still cringe when i look at it!!

'Carpe' Diem

Carp is as traditional to the Polish Christmas meal as turkey is to the American Thanksgiving. When Katy and I were at the grocery store yesterday, we saw these Poles carefully considering which live carp they wanted. Although the sign advertises the carp as alive, the gasping, suffering fish we observed in the tank looked pitiful. But who am I to complain- I've stood by and let many a lobster get tossed live into a pot of boiling water!

Remind You of Anyone?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/ap_on_fe_st/odd_cat_reattached_face

Does anyone from my family of origin find this story reminiscent of Kinki? Hers was a full body "scraping" and I don't know if Mom fainted but the story made me smile.

Tour of Weaving Factory

Actually, the factory is an old greenhouse in Warsaw's largest park, Lazienki Park. The weaving company once worked for Polish kings and now weaves traditional Polish patterns for movies, museums, and personal purchase. Although the Germans burned all but one loom in WWII, they still have the largest number of pattern cards in all of Europe. I bought a lovely throw that now hangs over a chair in the living room.

Favorite Holiday Movies

Which movies do you need to see for the Christmas season to be complete? These, in no particular order, are our favorites-

A Christmas Story
Miracle on 34th Street (original)
It's a Wonderful Life
Love Actually
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
A Christmas Carol (1938 version)

Kyle Rocks!

This is the band Kyle performed with during the high school production of Cyrano de Bergerac. The group consisted of two guitars, bass, sax, drums, and Kyle's electric violin. They wrote all the music by creating some basic melodies and then improvising like a jazz group. Kyle had a blast although he is becoming more interested in the guitar (his guitar teacher is the player on the left) because the violin is not quite as cool. In the picture, Kyle is plucking his violin in that particular song.

Welcome to the War Zone

This is our street. Starting about two weeks ago, work crews first scraped away the pavement and then last week large diggers hauled away 18+ inches of dirt and replaced giant concrete pipes. The minivan is trapped in the driveway indefinitely and the Accord is parked on the sidewalk around the corner. Everyday we tiptoe through the mud and climb up to the gate of our house (on the right just past where you see Michael). No water delivery, no trash pick up, and lugging the groceries is a pain in the a@@!

I took this picture at 2:30 pm today- notice how the sun is already setting behind the houses on the right and barely shining on the left!

Have Mercy!

Too busy today to do more than throw down a couple of words- work, Polish class, grocery shopping (commissary at embassy), Christmas shopping, unload the car at home, back out for more grocery shopping (Polish store), put away all groceries, clean kitchen, and make two batches of gingerbread dough for the two parties tomorrow. Whine, whine and now I'm off to bed.

PS- If you want thoughtful analysis and commentary, read Ryan!

Teaching in the Local Preschool

For two weeks I have been substituting as the aide in a Kindergarten room in an international preschool. The class has eleven students- ten Polish, one Korean, one American- and the teacher is a Polish woman who was the aide in previous years. The school has a 2-3 year old room, a 4-5 year old room, and the Kindergarten class and all instruction is done in English (the parents want their children to be bilingual). Ideally, the school would prefer native English speakers but right now they have only native Polish teachers that speak English, except for the aide for whom I am substituting.

The school day lasts from 8:30 to 2:30 with extended care until 5:00. The teachers rotate responsibility for the extended care. A British woman provides music activities twice each week and a hot lunch is available for an extra fee.

The first two days I tried to observe, to get a sense of the kids, the teacher, and the schedule. The teacher didn't really tell me anything so I kept asking what she wanted me to do. I tried to help wherever I could but our teaching styles are quite different so I felt awkward. The children do a lot of worksheets which bothers my method of child-centered, authentic learning but it's not my classroom so I bit my tongue and tried to support her efforts. I brought in some of my story books today because the teacher was going to be gone, leaving me in charge, and I needed some back-up activities. The kids were quick to remind me if I did something out of order but I had a lot of fun. I let them color snowflakes with sparkle crayons (their teacher wants them to color things only as they exist in real life) and I read to them a lot. As much as I may disagree with some of the classroom practices, I had to honor and support the established routines and methods.

Tomorrow will be my last day and then I have to clean and cook for the Army-Navy game party on Saturday. THEN I'll finally get to my Christmas preparations!

Getting Ready for Christmas?

How are the holiday preparations coming along? Three weeks until Christmas so time is running out. I have a Christmas newsletter about 25% complete, a shopping list with a lot of question marks, and one gift ready for mailing. Not a lot of progress for December 4.

There seems to be some resignation about Christmas this year- people concerned about their finances who realize they need to cut back. My worry each year is that I waste money if I buy a gift that the recipient doesn't like. Ideally, I'd prefer to find the "perfect" gift on my own and not have to rely on a wish list but at least a list ensures the gift is appreciated. I like gift cards because then the person can get exactly what they want but then I feel guilty, like I gave up without really trying. I'm overwhelmed by all the choices on the internet and this year I'm not ready to do the Polish gift thing. My solution at the moment is to procrastinate.

We haven't done any decorating yet. Maybe we'll get a tree this weekend; there are lots of tree lots around town but I have no idea what kind of evergreens they offer. Our traditional gingerbread house will have to wait until school vacation begins on the 19th. We'll make doughnuts (Ryan!) then, too, and cookies.

The ODC party is next Friday evening and will be a joint venture with one of the other embassy offices. A caterer will be providing the main dishes while families will bring desserts and side dishes. The ambassador will have an open house at the residence sometime this month and the language school that teaches the Polish classes at the embassy is having a party on Saturday. The days of sitting in Santa's lap are long gone!

I hope everyone is a little more prepared than I am and looking forward to a relaxing holiday, especially the moms, who usually shoulder the burden of planning, decorating, shopping, wrapping, cooking, and cleaning.

Annual Advent Calendars

They are here! They are here! The Christmas season doesn't officially begin for the kids until Aunt Jane sends the advent calendars. With all her grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, I wonder how many she buys every year! Tim was barely in the door from work with the mail before they were all over him to see if a package had arrived. He's making a face because he didn't get one, too! Every morning, the first thing they do is open the next window and pop that bite of chocolate into their mouths.

Construction in Front By, Michael

I thought our street was fine but the road workers think not. The road workers already finished one other street and it was very smooth. When the road workers were done destroying the road. HOLD ON, mom just said that the road workers were replacing the pipes! Now that's a whole other story. Well anyway the road workers are in front of the house.
Katy, me, and Kyle now have to go to the end of the street to get on the bus. Maybe mom and dad can't get out the drive way!

Last Snow in the Yard by, Michael

This is my snowman and it is the last snow in our yard. It took maybe 30 minutes to make it. But it is getting warmer and that is making the snowman melt. It was at least 3 feet high of solid snow but now it is just a few inches of snow. It took about 9 days to get to this stage of meltation. I'm not sure if meltation is even a word even though it sounds cool. I was the last kid inside and that's when I had my chance to make the big snowman. It still continues to get a bit warmer.

Oops

Sorry, the blog streak is over. Usually I update between 9 and 10 pm after I have tucked in Katy and Michael but yesterday I had been feeling sicker and sicker so I crawled into bed around dinner time and never got up again. When I woke up this morning, I realized I had forgotten the blog.

Luckily it's Saturday so I can hole up in bed with some books and my laptop.

Yesterday was another one of those great days when the kids have school but Tim has a day off. He enjoyed a sleep-in and then we went for a run. After lunch he worked a half day (the Poles and business industry were working as usual) and went to a reception, listing to the left under the weight of all his uniform ribbons, in the evening.

Today Kyle will be at school all day. He plays violin in a band that is accompanying the school musical Cyrano de Bergerac and they have an eight-hour dress rehearsal today. Katy will actively avoid homework and Michael will bounce from activity to activity (computer, TV, messing around with Katy, Rock Band, etc.).

Ugh. I'm too full to think or move

Nancy, Katy, Kyle, me, Richard, Michael, Andrew, (Tim- behind the camera)

What Are Your Thanksgiving Day Plans?

First, and most importantly, will be to prepare the stuffing and put the turkey in the oven. Then I like to do my traditional personal Turkey Trot run of at least four miles. Tim's sore foot may prevent him from joining me so I'll just take Muse (my most favorite band right now). Tim's office has been challenged by the Marines to a football game so he'll be gone for that for several hours. The kids will be doing homework because ASW is in session both Thursday and Friday (one of the drawbacks of attending an international school). I'm letting them stay home on Thursday but they have work due on Friday.

Early afternoon my friend Nancy will arrive bearing cherry pie, mashed potatoes, and whipped cream. Her husband is in Baghdad for a year so she and her son (when he gets out of class) will be joining us. We also invited all the Poles from the office but those RSVPs have been in flux so I'm not sure how many we'll have at the table.

Later, we'll call Ryan who is spending the holiday at Lisa's parents' home north of Atlanta and we'll try to set up a video call to the Mallinsons at Lisa's house.

And somewhere in there will be lots of cooking, eating, and cleaning!


The kids will be waiting for the last dish to be washed because my year-long ban on the humming and singing of Christmas carols ends then. I have this thing about hearing Christmas songs out of season because, for me anyway, hearing them during the year makes hearing them during Christmas a little less special. Perhaps it's silly but it's not the worst of my flaws!


Okay, this post sounds completely stupid but I need something to continue the blog streak. Please feel free to ignore me today.

Astronaut George Zamka

George Zamka is a NASA astronaut of Polish descent and space shuttle pilot who was in Warsaw to celebrate NASA's 50th anniversary and to hand out awards to Polish students who had won an essay contest. This was the reception to meet George and present the students with their prizes. In the photo, l-r, are Tim, me, Ambassador Ashe, Andy Schilling (Chief of Public Affairs at the embassy), and George Zamka. I apologize for the darkness of the picture and will try to lighten it later but I'm beat (subbing full-time right now and prepping for Thanksgiving company) so I'm going to bed.

Houston Quilt Festival 2008

We have many traditions for our yearly quilt excursion one of which is to have our picture taken with our teacher at the end of each class (holding whatever we managed to accomplish). Above is Debbie McCaffrey who teaches the Undercover in Houston class. We are given vague instructions about what fabric to bring (1/2 yd light, 2 yd medium, 1 yard dark, etc) and then we follow the instructions one step at a time resulting in a mystery quilt that often stretches our color comfort zone. Cheri was cringing everytime she looked at her orange fabric and I kept telling her it was terra cotta, not orange (sometimes semantics are everything!). Notice Cheri has two large strips at the end of the day while I'm only holding a pile of small blocks.

Below is Charlotte Angotti who teaches our favorite, must-have class, Let Me Surprise You! We show up in class with only small scissors and thread. She provides fabric that has already been cut into pieces and we just sew like mad, again working with instructions that are doled out one step at a time. Another mystery quilt like with Debbie McCaffrey but this time we don't even choose the fabric. Every year we hold our breath as the fabric packs are passed out, anxious if we'll like the colors and patterns. For us, this is living dangerously!

The big news at this year's show was that Cheri had a quilt accepted for competition- a VERY big deal! She worked steadily for 4 1/2 years to hand applique and hand quilt this masterpiece for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary. I don't understand why she didn't win a prize but we had fun watching show visitors oggle and photograph her quilt.