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.