More Portugal

Vilamoura marina- Tim and I walked along the beach and around the marina. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the water where I had a yummy beef and Guinness pie served by a lovely British ex-pat. Many Brits retire to Portugal . There were hardly any tourists because this was the week before Christmas.
Me on the beach in Vilamoura- great waves and a handful of surfers.

Tim had taught Michael a code just before we left for Portugal. Michael became obsessed and kept a trip journal written solely in code.

Kyle continued to whip out his iphone every time I asked him to pause for a photo.

Katy enjoying Lisbon harbor. To the left is a tall statue of Jesus similar to the one in Rio and to the right is a bridge that looks like the Golden Gate.

I dare you not to smile

Portugal

As soon as school was out on Friday, we dashed for the airport and flew to Lisbon, Portugal. We spent one day exploring Lisbon before driving south to Vilamoura on the Algarve coast. We stayed there for six days before returning to Lisbon to fly home on Christmas Day. The weather was in the low 60's with not a snow flake in sight. After sleeping 10 hours every night, we drove to different beaches and cliffs along the coast, ate out, swam at the indoor pool (too cold to swim outside), and saw Harry Potter 7 again.

Michael atop an ornate, free-standing elevator designed by a student of Eiffel. Great views of Lisbon.

Another shot from the viewing deck at the top of the elevator. Kyle decided to take pictures of me everytime I took pictures of him. Katy does not like high places! St. George Castle can be seen on the hill behind them.

On the grounds of Lisbon's St. George Castle.

Katy, Tim, and Michael at the beach in Vilamoura (Algarve coast in the south of Portugal). We stayed in a near-by resort and most days Tim and Michael came to the beach to check the tides, collect shells and broken pottery (Michael thinks he found ancient Roman pottery), and play in the waves.

Standing on the most western point of Portugal. This was the "end of the world" for Europeans until the beginning of naval exploration around Africa and to the Indies.

Some last-minute Christmas shopping at the mall in Faro.

Christmas 2010

Back at our favorite nursery to choose this year's tree. While we are on vacation the week prior to Christmas, we'll hide the tree (keeping it safe from a curious cat) in the computer room and have the cat sitter keep it watered. Then when we return on the 25th, we'll move it to the living room for decorating.

This is the last EVER of the annaul hideous pile of boxes to be mailed to the US! No more Christmases overseas with mail delays, late packages, miles of bubble wrap, and those blasted customs labels.

Katy and Michael during the intermission of the school Christmas concert. Katy plays flute in the high school band and Michael sings in the middle school honor choir.

When we returned from Portugal, this was what remained of our Christmas tree. Evidently the cat sitter had been pouring the water into the part of the base that is open to the floor. The result is a dead tree, swollen parquet tiles, and a trail of needles out the front door after Tim dragged out the "corpse."

2010 Christmas Card

Simply Memories Christmas 5x7 folded card

Visit Shutterfly.com for classic photo Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

This is NOT shameless self-promotion! But I get a $25 coupon at Shutterfly if I post the card link here. Those of you who normally receive a Christmas card from us will receive this card in the mail in about a week so you can ignore this or, you can take a sneak peek.

Marine Ball 2010

Our third and final Marine Ball- here we are at the head table with Alon Redlich of Sikorsky Aircraft and the guest speaker, Marine Col John O'Hey. Ambassador Feinstein and his wife Elaine were on the other side of Tim.

The marines who guard every American embassy around the world, host a ball in November. This year we were at the Sheraton Hotel and enjoyed many hours of good food and conversation. The music was not as good as in previous years.

Official ball photo. Just like on a cruise, there's a photographer taking pictures which are ready for you to buy before you leave.

Other than the attache ball in February, this could be the last time Tim wears his mess dress as an active duty officer!

The Atlanta House

This is where I spent two weeks this summer scrubbing walls, woodwork, appliances, windows, and floors. Early morning hours were spent outside pruning, edging, weeding, and mowing (there's a steep hill in the backyard) before the summer Georgia temps rose above 90. A new tenant moved in soon after so the work was worth it.

It's a cute house in a peaceful neighborhood but Atlanta would not be my first choice for full-time living- too many hot, humid months. Some day the real estate market will recover and we'll sell it but until then, we'll continue to navigate the scary world of rental property ownership.

First Day of School 2010

Doesn't everyone look excited?! Kyle is almost smiling, perhaps because he realizes this is his last first-day-of-school photo? My observation is that either Tim is shrinking or the kids are growing.

And no, we don't live in a prison. The bars on the windows are remnants of earlier years when Warsaw wasn't so safe for Americans.

Polish Independence Day 10K

Our third, and final, running of the annual Polish Independence Day 10K. This year the weather was perfect- 40's and cloudy. And instead of, "Shit, the race is next week, we had better do some running," we were still coming off the marathon training and in good shape.

Waiting for the tram in Plac Konstitucji. We like this area because it's very representative of Warsaw under communist rule. I am freezing.

Waiting for the race to start. All the runners are issued either red or white shirts to wear during the race. Then we line up with red on one side of the street and white on the other. As the race moves, we look like a long ribbon of Polish flag. Very pretty and you can kind of see the effect on the monitor in the picture above.

Before

During (I'm blurry because my camera man is also in motion and not because I'm so fast)

After. We are actually very happy because we set a personal record. Also, nice to have lived somewhere long enough that we were able to run the same race three years in a row.

Tim swears he is giving up running because he hates it but two days later, when I was headed out the door for a Saturday run, he ran upstairs to throw on some shorts and join me. His competitive nature probably won't let him stop!

Tim's 50th Birthday

All during the month of October, I surprised Tim with small gifts and cards as we worked up to the big day on the 22nd. Little did he know what I had in store for him!

The ODC staff threw him a surprise party on the afternoon before his birthday (they knew he was taking leave on the 22nd).

An Aston Martin was not his surprise gift (unlike our friend John Kregar who did get a car for his 50th). BUT- Tim did get a trip to London for the weekend and was able to gaze through a window at an Aston Martin.

I decided to recreate his 40th birthday which had taken place in San Antonio, Texas. We had seen Les Miserables for the first time and then had eaten dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House ( an expensive splurge for us then). For this birthday, I added some panache and did the re-creation in London. We stayed at Claridge's (saw Whoopie Goldberg), ate dinner at Scott's Bar and Restaurant (haunt of James Bond), and saw Les Miserables in its original theater. And all the remaining free time was spent doing fun "Tim" things like the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, seeing the Rosetta Stone, and eating, eating, eating (and no running, running, running).

Riding the London Eye, new since our last visit.

Viewing the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.

The old man is tired and had to rest while I framed a shot.

In front of Buckingham Palace.

At the Greenwich Observatory.

Lots of cool astronomical history and we straddled the eastern and western hemispheres.

Another "masculine" shot for my collection. I have a global series of Tim and his "cannon."

And finally, a cake at home with the kids.

Running in Scotland

For me, this is perfection- a quiet path, beautiful scenery, and cool weather for running. This is my new "happy place."

All these photos were taken with Tim's Blackberry as we were running on the outskirts of Inverness, Scotland.

I kept stopping and saying, "Quick, take a picture of this!"

I want to live in that house, with that view, surrounded by fields and forests for running.

9/11 in Warsaw

Polish custom is that people remember the dead by laying wreaths at a grave or other memorial site. The United States, represented by Tim and someone from the Public Affairs office (so sorry, I don't remember her name), had been invited to attend the Warsaw 9/11 memorial ceremony. Several other officials also layed wreaths, followed by a speech, fire engine sirens, and a trumpeter.
There were six Poles who were killed in the attacks and it is their names on the memorial. A woman and small girl lit a remembrance candle after the ceremony. This is done in cemeteries and at memorial sites by friends and family members.

The Polish fire deparment uniform eerily reminds me of the book burners in Farenheit 451.

I found these candles and flowers in front of the US Embassy later that day.

Reception at Slovakian Embassy

Traditional Slovakian costumes and instrument.

Some of my attache spouse friends from Brazil, South Korea, Croatia, Spain, Denmark, Lithuania, and Romania. We get together monthly for coffee, attend dinners at each other's homes, meet at receptions and national celebrations, and I teach their English class. They are wonderfully friendly and smart women.

Warsaw Marathon

Before

(Smiling and excited only because we had no idea what was to come)
After
(Smiling only because we were grateful to be motionless)

What a horrible race (us, not the course)! This was the absolute worst I have ever felt (including birthing four children)- my leg muscles seized, I was nauseated, both hands were tingling, and my head was woozy. By mile 18 I forced Tim to go ahead without me so that I could take walk breaks without slowing him down. We had originally planned to keep the 4:15 pace balloons in sight but had to let them go after around mile 15. When the 4:30 pacers passed me around mile 22 I wanted to cry. Tim kept moving and finished at 4:28:? I hobbled and limped across the finish line at 4:36:? which is not my worst time but certainly wasn't the 4:15 for which I was hoping. Don't know what happened; sometimes it just doesn't come together.

I consoled myself with Advil, a pint of Ben and Jerry's, and many episodes of Big Bang Theory (season 3 just arrived from Amazon). Tim ate his pint, watched a couple of episodes, and then went to work (on a Sunday, after a depleting race!).

Has it really been six months??

Dad and Eileen came to Warsaw for a visit early this month. Here we are at a reception at the Chinese Embassy.

We had all read "The Zoo Keeper's Wife" so we went to the zoo to find the "villa" the author lived in with her family.

Outside the walls of Old Town on our way to dinner at Pod Samsonem (duck- yum!).

Dad and I spent a day in Krakow. This is waiting for the return train to Warsaw.

We enjoyed one of the free Sunday Chopin in the Park concerts.

(Not a very wordy entry- sorry)