Cinco de mayo fun

Back in Texas

We made it safely to the land of great Tex-Mex! We've already been to our favorite restaurant, Alamo Cafe for tortillas and margaritas! My godson, Jack, a 20-month old is a fun handful; we've made fast friends again. I promise to post pictures soon....

Goodbye, Mississippi!

And we're off....after saying goodbyes to good friends. Ryan had his separation ceremony and going-away lunch yesterday. Fleet's Eats was his choice for lunch, it's in this guy's house (I'm not kidding!) complete with mismatched plates and good ole southern food in crock pots. Here are a few of the unique range of going-away gifts he received: a pitch fork (to shovel shit), a caricature by local artist and co-worker Eugene Poole, a picture of a former Lt. who everyone got him mixed up with, and a Dora the Explorer lunch box with his favorite items: crunchy peanut butter, granola bars, and a juice box! And I am the proud owner of 4 dolphin prints by Gene (he has the coolest name--I never just call him Gene, always Gene Poole!). It has not fully sunk in that the Air Force years are behind us yet. Maybe it will as we see Columbus in the rear view mirror?!

Our last night was enjoyed with a few people from Ryan's work at Woody's on the Water at the marina. What an awesome last sunset! Definitely the prettiest part of Columbus.

And now we're off to New Orleans for the night. My last chance for beignets and po-boys!

Movie recommendation

Now that the fast pace of moving is over and most of my goodbyes have been said, I'm using my extra time to watch movies related to our upcoming Europe trip. So far I've rented Diary of Anne Frank and An American in Paris. Last night I watched Antonia's Line and highly recommend it. It's a Dutch film so if subtitles are not for you, ignore this post. Otherwise, you're in for a treat as this movie won the best foreign language film at the Toronto film festival in 1996. It's about 4 generations of strong-willed women in a small village in the verdant Dutch countryside. It seems Gabriel Garcia Marquez-ish in this way, even with a touch of magical realism. Let me know what you think.....

Gypsy Lifestyle

I feel so free!! We are now out of our house and living on lodging at the base. Our new adventure as gypsies has begun!!

But first, here's a quick rundown of our last 48 hours, so chaotic that I haven't had a chance to write. What we thought would be a 2 day process of moving (Mon & Tues) turned into just 1 (Mon) as extra movers were sent our way. The day before was a mad dash to pack everything we'd need for the summer and beyond all into our CR-V. And just how did we manage to do all this? With very little sleep and a whole lot of I don't care where this goes towards the end.

Here are some of the highlights:

• 3 suitcases each into the car (1 carry-on for Europe, 1 for summer, and 1 for Seattle and beyond) plus a myriad of other bags with snacks, etc.
• packers arrived early--we were still unloading the dishwasher & eating breakfast
• movers requested chicken & okra for lunch (both fried, of course!)
• you would not believe the number of people foraging through our piles of trash spilling out of the cans
• neighbors cleaned out our fridge--just can't throw good food away
• house is empty and cleaner than it's ever been

This moving process (as well as packing only 1 carry-on bag for a month in Europe as suggested by travel guru Rick Steves) has been freeing as I've realized we have way too much stuff for 2 people. Strange time in our lives to be downsizing, huh? We've had to be more organized with this move than any other as our furniture and all other items we don't really need (or won't fit in our car) will be in storage in Columbus until we find a place to live in Seattle. Plus, we have to factor in getting to know the neighborhoods as well as traffic patterns and commute times. The most distinguishing factor of this move is we'll be choosing where to live without regards to how long we'll be there. This is a foreign concept for me!!

Moving Blues

Moving is the pits. And this is just the preparation. The movers get to do the real work. Only 5 more fun-filled days of going through every closet and drawer in my house and wondering how I could be so wasteful as to warrant WAY too many trash bags full of junk! Have to admit it is fun to go through old cards and pictures that I haven't seen since my last move from Guam 3 years ago!! Let this be an exercise to start afresh and purge my junky ways in C@L.....

January 4, 2006

Longhorns are college football national champions!! Ryan and I at the game of games for a Longhorn (or Vince Young) fan.

Many changes

What a change a week can make! Last week at this time, it was my birthday and graduation day and I was hosting a party cinco de mayo style. Now I have a flexible schedule with no school and no work. One more week to go before the packers come and move our stuff. Seattle, here I come!! In the meantime, there's quite a lot of traveling to be had. It begins with a week in San Antonio for my brother-in-law's graduation then we're off on a whirlwind tour of Europe! Our itinerary goes like this:

Paris
Nice (French Riviera)
Murren, Switzerland (high in the Alps, close to Jungfrau)
Prague
Copenhagen
Stockholm
Oslo
Balestrand, Norway (a fjord town)
Bergen, Norway
Amsterdam (staying in the nearby town of Haarlem)
Bruges

Back in the States, we'll be relaxing at the Jersey shore with family for a week.
We'll round out our visit to TX by seeing family in San Antonio for a few days before visiting friends in Houston and Austin. We're then off to Papillion, NE (suburb of Omaha) to visit family for a week.

This brings us to the fourth week in July. Here our itinerary is very tentative. The plan is to spend 2 weeks in the national parks on our drive northwest to Seattle. The stops: Mt. Rushmore, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Park.

After all of this nonstop fun, we're planning to live in a furnished apartment until we buy (?) a house/condo in Seattle. The plan is to eventually arrive in Seattle August 5th.