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!).
Traditional Slovakian costumes and instrument.
Before
After
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.
In honor of Pi Day, I present one of my world-renown apple pies- yum, yum. Unfortunately, mother nature also decided to celebrate with 3.14 cm of snow!
Update: 3.14cm turned into 12" overnight
Poor Kyle is a 16 year old American boy trapped in a country with a driving age of 18. Feeling badly for him, we took him to the embassy on a Sunday afternoon and let him drive around the empty parking lot. We thought that if embassy grounds are a piece of American soil then the American minimum driving age must apply! He circled the lot four times and then was relieved to relinquish the wheel. And, unlike Ryan's first drivers ed experience, Kyle did not get pulled over by the police for stopping too far before a STOP sign!
Wearing his Christmas present from Annette, Kyle prepares to blow. University of Virginia and Virginia Tech are his initial college wish-list.
We hid one of Kyle's treasure hunt presents and clue on the cat. He was amazingly tolerant.
Four layers and all chocolate. For the first time in our history, no Burke was able to finish a piece of cake (and remember, I have passed on the Mallinson gene which results in an huge capacity for dessert).
