We are celebrating Labor Day this weekend, but our car is in the shop so we didn't travel. We took a newcomer to IKEA today to get some stuff and just to check it out. The problem is that it was an uncharacteristically sort of rainy day. And vacation month (August) is over. This is two MAJOR strikes against the mall. The third is that it is Saturday.
So we joined everyone else in Madrid at the San Sebastian de los Reyes IKEA. We chose the small yellow dolly rather than a full size cart so it would be easier to negotiate the crowds. So did everyone else!
A crowd challenge you face here, and I'm afraid I'm developing this habit, is that people just stop where they are and have discussions. Doesn't matter that their bodies and baby stroller and or cart are blocking the entire aisle and that there is no way for you to pass around. You get to wait until their conversation is finished. So that makes it interesting.
I got bumped a lot by people's carts or yellow dollys and I know I bumped a few people as the load got wider than the mini-dolly. But one lady took the cake. She pushed so close and so abruptly close to me that a large box protruding from her dolly drew blood on the back of my neck! It's a good thing I wasn't facing her or it might have been my jugular. I'm being facetious somewhat but, man, I've never had a shopping injury before.
06 September 2008
10 August 2008
Huh?
A couple weeks ago I was going down our front stairs toward our gate and the neighbor's dog went zooming past. Luna is a chocolate lab and every night they let her out of the yard and she shoots like a bullet down the street and out into the wilderness behind our homes. Dogs are always so delighted with things in life and I wanted to express this to my neighbor who was following Luna at a more leisurely pace.
So I open my gate and say, "Oh dogs, they have so much..." here I want to use the word joy and I know this word because we seem to use it most weeks at church but there's a glitch in my mental chip as I search for the word.... "they have so much jewelry!" The buy gets a really odd look on his face and I say, "no, not jewelry, what's the word?" Awkward pause as I do my usual sounding out a syllable I can't find in my head. That's it, maybe. "They have so much Goya." The guy smiles. I think he gets what I"m saying and we go our separate ways on our separate walks.
About a half block later, I realize I've said the name of a famous Spanish artist - Goya. Nice. Dogs have so much Goya. What art? Paintings?
What I meant to say...was gozo -- joy! Sigh. I just keep sowing seeds of the strange American neighbors but I keep trying.
So I open my gate and say, "Oh dogs, they have so much..." here I want to use the word joy and I know this word because we seem to use it most weeks at church but there's a glitch in my mental chip as I search for the word.... "they have so much jewelry!" The buy gets a really odd look on his face and I say, "no, not jewelry, what's the word?" Awkward pause as I do my usual sounding out a syllable I can't find in my head. That's it, maybe. "They have so much Goya." The guy smiles. I think he gets what I"m saying and we go our separate ways on our separate walks.
About a half block later, I realize I've said the name of a famous Spanish artist - Goya. Nice. Dogs have so much Goya. What art? Paintings?
What I meant to say...was gozo -- joy! Sigh. I just keep sowing seeds of the strange American neighbors but I keep trying.
09 July 2008
You've got a friend request
So the epidemic has begun. Everyone is jumping off the bridge, Dust. And yes, we are following. I succumbed to facebook in February I think. I actually didn't. A coworker here thought it was the right thing to do. He actually sat at my desk with his laptop while I was working (for real) on my computer. He asked me questions and set up the page on facebook. He even chose the photo off the work network. I let him do it because it was easier than saying no. He was stalking everyone to do it.
I resisted because I thought it was something high schoolers did or college age anyway. I didn't think I knew a lot of people on there. Plus it would be one more thing to maintain and feel bad if I didn't do it. For a several months, it stayed pretty static. Granted I didn't try either. I'm so glad it emails when I need to do something or it might be dead by now.
Today I have a plethora of "friends" on my facebook links. I've learned to change my photo and follow links to others pages. I'm certainly not a pro. It's not an intuitive operation but I'm getting the hang of it. I still don't do any cute video posts or music or anything. I can't keep up with the real things I have to do in life much less the fun bits of a facebook page.
So I'm curious now that many of you have joined facebook - Is it going to replace the blogs? If it does, are we are microcosm of the internet at large? Is everyone migrating to a social networking page? Will blogs go by the wayside? I certainly have no answers and can't cast stones since I don't post regularly.
What's funny and Dash touched on it, is the "friendships" established with people I didn't really have more than a brief or nonexistent acquaintance with at some point in the past. I got invited to join an Evangel Alum group. I even put a photo up and as soon as I hit post I realized how stupid it was. All the people who have ended up connected to this site were not in my social sphere THEN. So NOW what are we going to have in common? It's absurd really but an interesting phenomena of the internet.
I resisted because I thought it was something high schoolers did or college age anyway. I didn't think I knew a lot of people on there. Plus it would be one more thing to maintain and feel bad if I didn't do it. For a several months, it stayed pretty static. Granted I didn't try either. I'm so glad it emails when I need to do something or it might be dead by now.
Today I have a plethora of "friends" on my facebook links. I've learned to change my photo and follow links to others pages. I'm certainly not a pro. It's not an intuitive operation but I'm getting the hang of it. I still don't do any cute video posts or music or anything. I can't keep up with the real things I have to do in life much less the fun bits of a facebook page.
So I'm curious now that many of you have joined facebook - Is it going to replace the blogs? If it does, are we are microcosm of the internet at large? Is everyone migrating to a social networking page? Will blogs go by the wayside? I certainly have no answers and can't cast stones since I don't post regularly.
What's funny and Dash touched on it, is the "friendships" established with people I didn't really have more than a brief or nonexistent acquaintance with at some point in the past. I got invited to join an Evangel Alum group. I even put a photo up and as soon as I hit post I realized how stupid it was. All the people who have ended up connected to this site were not in my social sphere THEN. So NOW what are we going to have in common? It's absurd really but an interesting phenomena of the internet.
08 June 2008
Italy part 2
Pizza; pasta; pastries; gelato. Repeat. Beautiful scenery. Ahhh. If I go into daily detail like BB, I'd get way too long. See how much I wrote in just a couple days?! One observation - when there are a bunch of tourists who don't know what language each other speak, they all just give one another strange smiles rather than speak to say hello or excuse me. Lots and lots of Brits and Aussies in the area. What fun. Glad we indulged ourselves - now back to the routine. It was a long week.
hmmm pizza
Sorrento
So the staff does nothing? This sign was at Pompei bathrooms.
Dar at Pompei.
A courtyard at Pompei.
seafood pasta
Capri main port
On the boat headed to the Blue Grotto
up high on Capri
We took almost this exact same photo on our honeymoon in Florida!
The view from our Positano hotel!
prosciutto, provolone, and tomatoes, yum.
We were in shadow so we used the flash and this picture looks fake but I promise it's totally real.
Dar loves this picture he took of me in Ravello - 1,000 feet over the sea.
Lots of views like this in Ravello.
hmmm pizza
Sorrento
So the staff does nothing? This sign was at Pompei bathrooms.
Dar at Pompei.
A courtyard at Pompei.
seafood pasta
Capri main port
On the boat headed to the Blue Grotto
up high on Capri
We took almost this exact same photo on our honeymoon in Florida!
The view from our Positano hotel!
prosciutto, provolone, and tomatoes, yum.
We were in shadow so we used the flash and this picture looks fake but I promise it's totally real.
Dar loves this picture he took of me in Ravello - 1,000 feet over the sea.
Lots of views like this in Ravello.
24 May 2008
Italy part 1 - Sorrento e Pompei
Day 1 - 4:30 am our ride has not arrived. 20 minutes later our collegue drives like a banshee to the airport. We make the flight and sleep through it. The bus drives through Naples garbage piles and gardens. The garbage strike is a year old and the rich lava soil is good for gardens. We leave the city for the tiny continuous villages clinging to cliffs along the coast. The bus feels like it hangs out over the cliff on the turns. The driver sounds his horn on the sharp curves to warn on coming drivers. Scooters squeeze into a microscopic slice of asphalt between the bus and the sidewalks in towns. Breath taking views of the mediterranean coast fill up that vacation spot inside our heads.
We arrive in Sorrento and drag our luggage through hords of British tourists, a few American students, and lots of shops. Our hotel, Hotel Mignon, is quaint and just off the main drag of Corso Italia. Sorrento is a tourist town with shops selling the special lemon liquor and lemon table cloths and all things kitsch. I love it. The old city with the shops is charming. Tiny alleys with cheery balconies and curvacous street lights.
We see a lemon grove and go to an incredible pizzeria with a wood oven. They serve on the cooking sheet. We eat too much happily after only granola bars on the airplane. After a self guided walking tour of town and views of the sea from the high cliffs we have a nap. Oh yeah!
We weren't real hungery and Dar got spagetti in a snack bar that was good and I had an incredible salad with fresh spring greens, fresh mozzarella and prosciutto. Yummy!
We joined the Italians and tourists on their evening passagiata - a stroll around main street. They roll out pots of flowers to close the main intersection in Piazzo Tasso and make it a pedestrian boulevard each evening. We had gelato that was incredible- chocolate and lemon. I love lemon drinks and the lemon I got was like a sorbet but the chocolate was exquisite (Davide Gelateria)I could taste the darkness of the cocoa.
Day two was Pompei. A train ride and lots of jockeying with tourist groups. I slurped a lemon granita - a frozen ice thing on our way in. Tangy and a little sour, loved it. Pompei is huge. 20,000 people lived there at one time and it's just frozen in time. I was surprised at the paintings that had survived on the walls °frescoes.°
We just snacked on nuts and fruit and went for the expected two course meal for dinner. Pasta first course, I got veggies and fusilli, Dar got gnocchi and tomatoes. Second course, squid fixed in local style with tomatoes and swordfish with organo, tomatoes and garlic. Both good but we may have got ripped off a bit on tourist prices. We were too full for gelato which was disappointing and decided we will go places where we don't feel we have to eat two courses; it's just too much.
We joined the passagata before going to bed. This morning we are lounging on the roof of the hotel reading our books and indulging in relaxation. Dar decided he doesnà t want to do the archelogical museum in Naples after all so we will stroll, shop, and eat this afternoon. Gelato, pasta, pizza, seafood...oh yeah!
We arrive in Sorrento and drag our luggage through hords of British tourists, a few American students, and lots of shops. Our hotel, Hotel Mignon, is quaint and just off the main drag of Corso Italia. Sorrento is a tourist town with shops selling the special lemon liquor and lemon table cloths and all things kitsch. I love it. The old city with the shops is charming. Tiny alleys with cheery balconies and curvacous street lights.
We see a lemon grove and go to an incredible pizzeria with a wood oven. They serve on the cooking sheet. We eat too much happily after only granola bars on the airplane. After a self guided walking tour of town and views of the sea from the high cliffs we have a nap. Oh yeah!
We weren't real hungery and Dar got spagetti in a snack bar that was good and I had an incredible salad with fresh spring greens, fresh mozzarella and prosciutto. Yummy!
We joined the Italians and tourists on their evening passagiata - a stroll around main street. They roll out pots of flowers to close the main intersection in Piazzo Tasso and make it a pedestrian boulevard each evening. We had gelato that was incredible- chocolate and lemon. I love lemon drinks and the lemon I got was like a sorbet but the chocolate was exquisite (Davide Gelateria)I could taste the darkness of the cocoa.
Day two was Pompei. A train ride and lots of jockeying with tourist groups. I slurped a lemon granita - a frozen ice thing on our way in. Tangy and a little sour, loved it. Pompei is huge. 20,000 people lived there at one time and it's just frozen in time. I was surprised at the paintings that had survived on the walls °frescoes.°
We just snacked on nuts and fruit and went for the expected two course meal for dinner. Pasta first course, I got veggies and fusilli, Dar got gnocchi and tomatoes. Second course, squid fixed in local style with tomatoes and swordfish with organo, tomatoes and garlic. Both good but we may have got ripped off a bit on tourist prices. We were too full for gelato which was disappointing and decided we will go places where we don't feel we have to eat two courses; it's just too much.
We joined the passagata before going to bed. This morning we are lounging on the roof of the hotel reading our books and indulging in relaxation. Dar decided he doesnà t want to do the archelogical museum in Naples after all so we will stroll, shop, and eat this afternoon. Gelato, pasta, pizza, seafood...oh yeah!
15 May 2008
20 years
Yesterday we celebrated 20 years of marriage - zoink! How is that possible? Now I have been married half my life! We have a big trip planned that we leave for next week. We tried to go this week but the office didn't want us to be gone before the dedication of the new building which is next Tuesday.
So on our anniversary - we went to work where they prayed over us since it was our anniversary. We came home and took our traditional photos on our day - we do that every year and have 20 now - except for the 13th year when the lab lost our film. It was quite chilly here yesterday. In fact this may be the first anniversary that I wore slacks for our photos usually I dress up more.
We went to a restaurant with a wood oven and a charcoal type grill. We arrived at the very Spanish time of 8:30pm. It was VERY Spanish but good quality of what we are used to here. We ordered artichokes with ham (more like prosciutto) roasted together, a salad, and cod stuffed red peppers to share. This was the appetizer and veggie courses and then Dar got lamb chops and I got a steak both grilled. We shared a sort of cheese cake with carmel sauce. We were stuffed.
Here's what we look like after 20 years. I'm too lazy to go upstairs and scan our one year anniversary picture for you to compare. So next week we are going to indulge ourselves in Italy. Spaghetti anyone?
So on our anniversary - we went to work where they prayed over us since it was our anniversary. We came home and took our traditional photos on our day - we do that every year and have 20 now - except for the 13th year when the lab lost our film. It was quite chilly here yesterday. In fact this may be the first anniversary that I wore slacks for our photos usually I dress up more.
We went to a restaurant with a wood oven and a charcoal type grill. We arrived at the very Spanish time of 8:30pm. It was VERY Spanish but good quality of what we are used to here. We ordered artichokes with ham (more like prosciutto) roasted together, a salad, and cod stuffed red peppers to share. This was the appetizer and veggie courses and then Dar got lamb chops and I got a steak both grilled. We shared a sort of cheese cake with carmel sauce. We were stuffed.
Here's what we look like after 20 years. I'm too lazy to go upstairs and scan our one year anniversary picture for you to compare. So next week we are going to indulge ourselves in Italy. Spaghetti anyone?
29 April 2008
Success - sort of
Here are some photos from our gold panning expedition. It is one of the really beautiful parts of the country that looks like Ireland. We found a few flakes which for us was very exciting. The president of the gold panning association who took us around said the water was high and we wouldn't really find anything. I don't know what he finds normally but we were happy with anything. Luckily the sun came out or I don't think I would have found anything without the sparkle. I don't have a picture of the tiny bits - not sure it would really show up in a photo. It was fun though. I think my dad and Dar are instinctive treasure hunters.
16 April 2008
Bateador de Oro
I learned a new phrase this week. You see, my dad arrives Friday for a visit and he came up with an interesting idea. He wants to explore a gold-panning area. Apparently in the north the Romans did a lot of gold mining and people still pan there. So I learned bateador de oro which I'm not totally clear on but I think it means a gold panner.
This is something so completely unusual and off the beaten tourist track that it will be interesting. Dar pointed out that the Spanish came to the new world looking for gold and now my dad is coming back to raid the Old World for their gold. Something funny in that.
It will only be for the weekend, then we'll tourist around here more with Dad and be in the office. He's going to try to finish some work the church started when they were here last fall. So I'll be playing tourist and hostess next week...and gold panner. (Is that even a word/phrase??)
This is something so completely unusual and off the beaten tourist track that it will be interesting. Dar pointed out that the Spanish came to the new world looking for gold and now my dad is coming back to raid the Old World for their gold. Something funny in that.
It will only be for the weekend, then we'll tourist around here more with Dad and be in the office. He's going to try to finish some work the church started when they were here last fall. So I'll be playing tourist and hostess next week...and gold panner. (Is that even a word/phrase??)
11 April 2008
Cooking
I wondered recently about how much we affect (or is effect?) ourselves by the way we think about things. I know for myself that in any given situation I can be prone to see the negative, but I'm training myself little by little to see the positive things that are going on too - even if they are small. This helps me have a better perspective. So can I convince myself that things are positive that I have thought of as negative?
I use as an example cooking. I'm a decent cook and I'm often called on in our life here especially to fix meals for people or bring a dish to something. Sometimes Dar steps to the plate and will fix something or help chop or get something going for the church dinner. (Hopefully tomorrow he'll help chop things for the crock pot.) He doesn't really like to cook but will do a recipe now and then.
The thing is I don't really like to cook. I can. I do. I like to eat and I like us to live cheaply...so I cook. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a certain food and then I get into making it. And I'm even beginning to have moments where I become my mother and I realize I like the way I make "whatever" better than the restaurant I'm in. How can that be happening already??
But could I convince myself that I like to cook? Is it just perspective? I think maybe it's not so bad but I tire of constantly thinking: what can we have? do we have the ingredients for X? We need to get X for the potluck? etc. What if I only cooked things I really, really wanted to eat? (Part of brain is saying - yeah but the time!) It's the quantity of time that gets me along with wanting something good which takes time to make. Ahh. Plus it's a never ending cycle. I suppose this is why I love leftovers. Food with no financial guilt and no cooking hassles.
I use as an example cooking. I'm a decent cook and I'm often called on in our life here especially to fix meals for people or bring a dish to something. Sometimes Dar steps to the plate and will fix something or help chop or get something going for the church dinner. (Hopefully tomorrow he'll help chop things for the crock pot.) He doesn't really like to cook but will do a recipe now and then.
The thing is I don't really like to cook. I can. I do. I like to eat and I like us to live cheaply...so I cook. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a certain food and then I get into making it. And I'm even beginning to have moments where I become my mother and I realize I like the way I make "whatever" better than the restaurant I'm in. How can that be happening already??
But could I convince myself that I like to cook? Is it just perspective? I think maybe it's not so bad but I tire of constantly thinking: what can we have? do we have the ingredients for X? We need to get X for the potluck? etc. What if I only cooked things I really, really wanted to eat? (Part of brain is saying - yeah but the time!) It's the quantity of time that gets me along with wanting something good which takes time to make. Ahh. Plus it's a never ending cycle. I suppose this is why I love leftovers. Food with no financial guilt and no cooking hassles.
04 April 2008
Rest and Rejuvenation
What do you do to rest? Not just sleep but deep down relaxation that involves more than just sleep. I've felt for a few weeks that I'm bone tired. Nothing to do I'm sure with two projects that involved 12-13 hour days. Other than daylight savings time which was last weekend, I'm resting well at night. I've even gone to bed early a couple times. So physically I'm alright.
It's my brain that's tired. I took a day last week and tried to just meditate and evaluate what is important in my life and schedule, and of course for prayer. That day has helped a lot. I've felt closer to my old self since then even though I wasn't really able to resolve - what should my priorities be right now etc.
I had seen/heard several things in a week about lingering before God, or being still and waiting before God, those kind of themes. I realized that this is hard for me and my personality. It's almost a discipline for me to try to sit quietly and just concentrate on God and hearing him. I can talk to him...yeah I can talk a lot. It's the listening that is a challenge. When I'm too busy my brain can't stop and listen.
Of course times get busy but other times aren't as hectic and those are the times that I need to discipline myself to be still before God. The little bit I was able to do was refreshing. It's too easy in busyness to lose track of God and the important things in life. In crazy busyness, which we all have at times, it's all you can do just to survive and you can't rejuvenate.
I also need to restore my creativity. It feels a little sapped and not because I've been so terribly creative. It's just a part of me that needs more energy again. How do you nourish that part of you? Maybe I need to exercise my creativity with something different than video projects.
So what do you do that rejuvenates you? I know laughter always helps me - anyone seen a funny movie lately? I've been in the mood to go to the movies but haven't got organized to figure out where and what and when. Reading blogs and reconnecting with everyone feels good too - it reminds me that life is bigger than the current conundrum. (Do I get some kind of weird blog points for using that word??)
It's my brain that's tired. I took a day last week and tried to just meditate and evaluate what is important in my life and schedule, and of course for prayer. That day has helped a lot. I've felt closer to my old self since then even though I wasn't really able to resolve - what should my priorities be right now etc.
I had seen/heard several things in a week about lingering before God, or being still and waiting before God, those kind of themes. I realized that this is hard for me and my personality. It's almost a discipline for me to try to sit quietly and just concentrate on God and hearing him. I can talk to him...yeah I can talk a lot. It's the listening that is a challenge. When I'm too busy my brain can't stop and listen.
Of course times get busy but other times aren't as hectic and those are the times that I need to discipline myself to be still before God. The little bit I was able to do was refreshing. It's too easy in busyness to lose track of God and the important things in life. In crazy busyness, which we all have at times, it's all you can do just to survive and you can't rejuvenate.
I also need to restore my creativity. It feels a little sapped and not because I've been so terribly creative. It's just a part of me that needs more energy again. How do you nourish that part of you? Maybe I need to exercise my creativity with something different than video projects.
So what do you do that rejuvenates you? I know laughter always helps me - anyone seen a funny movie lately? I've been in the mood to go to the movies but haven't got organized to figure out where and what and when. Reading blogs and reconnecting with everyone feels good too - it reminds me that life is bigger than the current conundrum. (Do I get some kind of weird blog points for using that word??)
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