WTF?!

Our bedroom or the Zugspitz in Germany?

No, I'm not swearing! "What The Freeze" is what I mean because it's -9 degrees this morning. It was 57 in our bedroom when we woke up because the automatic thermostat won't let me adjust the minimum night-time temp. During the day the heat runs constantly but the coldest rooms (living and dining ) still reach only 65. Uninsulated cement is no way to build a cozy house so thank goodness for space heaters, polartec fleece, and a snuggly cat.

Tim's Anniversary

Today is the 19th anniversary of Tim's F-4 ejection, on the third day of Operation Desert Storm. I googled him and found the following two references.

www.scribd.com/doc/11607905/Modern-Fighter-Aircraft-Technology-and-Tactics p.66

www.dstorm.eu/pages/cz/other/losses.html scroll down, looking for F-4G on left side

And now here he is- poland.usembassy.gov/poland/burke2.html

Haiti

If you want to do something but aren't quite sure how to help, I can recommend Doctors Without Borders http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ . My friend Libby worked with them in Haiti last year laboring tirelessly to set up their medical supplies in a new hospital. All that work is now shattered in rubble. On the news I saw that the organization is currently treating patients in open parking lots. You can go to their website and in a few quick clicks, you can donate any amount of money. Even just $10 would help. All of us who are comfortably enjoying life as we surf the internet, have a nice meal, flush a toilet, and sleep in a comfy bed, should share a tiny bit with those who now have nothing.

The Life-cycle of a Christmas Tree

After many unexpected delays (early vacation trip to Vienna, extreme cold snap, dead car battery), we were finally off to the nursery to buy a Christmas tree. The temperature was so low, that we could barely tolerate being outside for more than a few minutes so we made our selection quickly. Can you tell by the above expressions who did not like the tree we chose?

The nursery staff tied the tree to the roof rack. We had to leave the engine running the whole time, in an attempt to recharge the jump-started battery.

On the back patio, Kyle prepares the drill in order to make a hole in the trunk so that the tree will be positioned properly in the stand. I stand in the warm house, supervising.

Christmas eve, after the elves have placed the gifts. For the first time, we had to add a fourth string of lights and the layers of branches were so widely spaced that we had room for many more ornaments (hard to see the detail in this photo).

And now so sad- presents and decorations gone, and lower branches removed (less needle mess when it's dragged through the doorway). All the branches are being used to make a fort in the backyard.

Christmas 2009

Here we are at Chopin Airport greeting Ryan and Lisa when they arrived. Don't they look great despite many, many hours of travel from Denver to Warsaw?!

A second shot, after I hand off the camera to Tim.
I'll continue to add more holiday photos in future posts but right now, I need to make dinner.

Ryan and Lisa and the quilt

Lucky for me there's the etiquette rule that allows up to one year after the wedding to give a gift to the bride and groom. This means that giving Ryan and Lisa their wedding quilt in December, four and a half months after the ceremony, does not make me a bad mother/mother-in-law! So, after 12 months and hundreds of hand-quilting hours, I was done and the quilt went home to Denver.

Please, Kyle, Katy, and Michael, don't get married for a long time!

And pretty please, don't anyone tell Lisa about the Debbie-wedding-quilt-curse.

I am now knitting a sweater, which is a much quicker project.

What's wrong with this picture?

hint: This is at the Vienna Zoo and it's 12 degrees outside.