A Strong Marshmallow Goes Abroad

Christmas and Then Straight Through to the New Year!

2009-01-07T18:51:00.012+02:00

We had a great Christmas in South Africa. I guess it took me a while to get used to the idea of Christmas without snow (I mean really, can that be so, Christmas without snow...), but we had a lovely lunch with Graham's family at our apartment. It didn't hurt that the weather was stunning and Graham's family humored me and my Christmas games. Here we are having a good lunch:

Graham carving the turkey.

Between Christmas and New Years we paid a visit to one of my favorite places...the Cape Vineyards:

Ah yes, the Cape Vineyards...

P.S. Rickety Bridge in Franschhoek has a tapas plate to die for...really fantastic. The Cape Malay. I could go back there right now...

On the way back to Graham's parents' house from Franschhoek, we saw 5 Eland by the side of the road. I've never even seen one Eland in the wild before, so 5 was amazing.

Cool. You know it.
Later we connected with Graham's old running friend, Juliet Prowse, for a tube down the Palmiet River. It was great and we got to dress really sexy...

Sadly, I was the first person to fall out of my tube and lose my water bottle. I did consider stealing some of those awesome booties as a consolation.

We arrived back at Graham's folks place just in time to watch the snail races...

and enjoy a blackout.

A few days later they forced me to hike the Platteklip Gorge to the top of Table Mountain with Juliet (a former international distance running star) and her friend John (who had already run 20k that morning and barely broke a sweat on the hike):

It wouldn't have been so bad with people at my own disgraceful fitness level, but I had a distinct feeling that I was slowing the whole group down...

This was a lovely view...so it was worth it.

Um...this was how slow I was...the girl you can see in this picture with the white t-shirt hiked up the entire gorge with ridiculously tight jeans, ballet flats and carrying an ENORMOUS Prada bag. If you look closely at this picture, you can see it. Seriously, I almost got beat on an hour & a half hike up a gorge by a chubby girl carrying a purse!!! I have started running 5 times a week again.

I managed to beat her up, but just barely. Nice view from the top, huh?

Then on New Year's eve day, Graham and Sarah and I hiked the opposite peak (a lot shorter and less steps) Lion's Head for the view:

And to end a perfect festive season, we enjoyed New Year's with our new Cape Town friends!
A lovely dinner followed by a champagne toast:

Happy 2009!

Sean's First Thanksgiving Weekend!

2008-12-09T20:31:00.001+02:00

My nephew Sean was born last year right after Thanksgiving, so technically this was his first Thanksgiving weekend in Woodstock with the family. And...he put on quite the show.
Showing us his new tricks!
Loves to put things in his mouth to free up his hands.
I love this picture because it looks like he's eating his dinner with a giant spoon.

It was very nice to have my friend Heather and her husband Marcus stop by for a visit.
With my brother Kevin & Sean. It doesn't look like he was as thrilled as we were to have another picture taken!

Thanksgiving in Vermont

2008-12-09T18:32:00.003+02:00

It's been a lovely break in Vermont for Thanksgiving. Graham teaches his UNC MBA course on the weekends that surround the T-day weekend, so I decided to come to the U.S. for 3 weeks while he was doing that and traveling for work.

Turkey Day was great, if not a little quiet. Graham and I were the only children home. Ryan and Rory had to stay for work and Kevin & Rachel did T-day with her family and then came up the Friday after. So here are some photos of our relaxing meal with the Matz Family and Peggy.

Can you tell we are father/daugher?? Graham said smile and we both immediately posed with whatever was in our hands (Dad has a potato and I have the knife). We were in charge of the fruit salad and peeling the potatoes for mashing.

Digging in at the Matz's house.
The T-day gang, minus Dave.

That's all of us. Sadly that was the best picture of me - the one with my eyes closed!

Guinea fowls in our parking lot

2008-11-22T20:07:00.003+02:00

I love guinea fowls with their spots and little blue heads. Here's an entire clan complete with chicks that were hanging out in front of our apartment building:

Graham - these are for you...

2008-11-22T19:48:00.002+02:00

Thought you'd find this nice since you missed them!

Running out of clothes to take off!

2008-11-20T22:07:00.002+02:00

Yikes, racy title, I know, but it's HOT here today. And this apparently isn't even summer yet. I cannot believe how intense the sun can be and I've discovered why they sell so much linen clothing in SA. I'm going to have to go shopping, no really Graham, it's absolutely necessary this time - no need for me to overheat already.

I plan on living in the pool, at the air conditioned gym and with gin&tonic extra ice in hand. Oh, but I suppose I'll eventually have to get a job...details.

There's a bad moon on the rise!

2008-11-18T20:41:00.004+02:00

Sing it with me!

Just kidding, but there was definitely a COOL moon on the rise on Saturday night over Cape Town. My new friend Cherie (somewhat of a relative-in-law as well, she's Graham's dad's cousin's granddaughter - yeah, I know) and I had adjourned from a lovely meal at the V&A Waterfront to my balcony for a nightcap, when we witnessed the most beautiful moon rising over the mountains. Luckily Cherie is a photography major in Stellenbosch and she was able to capture this photo with our camera:

Nice, huh? Wish you were there to enjoy it with us!

The invasion begins!

2008-11-17T13:43:00.005+02:00

So I was going about my business on Friday afternoon. I had gone to yoga, done some work, had lunch with a new friend and generally was feeling pretty good about starting the weekend. So when, walking into my living room with the new John Le Carre book in hand headed for the sun drenched balcony, I discovered that my apartment was under attack one can reasonably understand my distress, yes?

To my horror, the left corner of my living room was a swarming black mass of ants. I'm not talking 20 or 30 ants; I'm talking hundreds, nay, thousands of ants covering the floor, the wall, the lamp, and even the suede footstool in the corner. Never in my life have I seen so many ants.

I immediately phoned my mother-in-law under the assumption that not only does she know how to handle all of these situations, but she no doubt has had her fair share of ant invasions as well. I was correct and instructed to purchase something called DOOM (sounded like it was just what I needed) and spray not only the live ants, but all the door frames, etc. where they were crawling in. However, I just couldn't bring myself to leave the house to go get this product. Beyond the fear of driving (which I'm slowly, at 60 kph, conquering) was the fear that if I left the little bastards for more than 5 minutes unsupervised, they would take over the whole apartment. Although I do doubt that in these economic times they could cover the rent without sending the queen to work, but that's neither here nor there.

So thinking about what I had on hand that was already poisonous, I selected Windex for its high ammonia content and went to work. Ammonia does it. As they started to feverishly drown in puddles of blue, I realized that for posterity's sake and to prove to Graham that I'm not just looking for excuses to panic, I needed to take some photographs. So behold! This is the picture of the invasion AFTER I wiped up 6 paper towels worth of ants and sprayed again...

Gross, believe me I know. But I sprayed them and cleaned it up and everything appeared back to normal. I looked under the couch and everywhere to see if I could find something that was attracting them or where they were coming from to no avail. I watched for signs of return while I read from the couch and placed the Windex bottle in front of the balcony doors as a warning, but not another stray ant appeared.

So triumphantly, I went to bed. And that, ladies & gentlemen, is where I made my mistake. I should have known better than to celebrate early with these little pests. I awoke the next morning to find them back with a vengeance. This time I wasted no energy with the Windex or the camera, and just threw on my running clothes and jogged up to the local supermarket with money tucked into my sports bra to purchase a can of the aforementioned DOOM.

Arriving back, I went to work and indeed DOOM it spelled for the ants. Unlike the Windex, this stuff drove more and more ants out from hiding to stagger around drunkenly high then collapse in small convulsions and ultimate death. Yes, the carnage was major. This went on for at least an hour before the flow of ants started to cease.

**SIDE NOTE: For those that think this sounds cruel and gruesome, I appeal to you to understand that I hate to kill things. In fact, I often step around ants on the pavement to avoid killing them. They have as much right to be on this planet as I do. HOWEVER, once they cross the threshold of my home as an uninvited guest, it's like any other invasion and I have to fight back. If you don't buy that, please refer to the picture above. Seriously, gross.

I am currently battling a much smaller volume and hoping the apartment maintenance team shows up soon with a better solution. Oh, and I'm off to the store to purchase more DOOM.

Fun!

Left with mushy bananas

2008-11-12T21:45:00.004+02:00

This afternoon to stay busy in the crazy Cape weather, I accomplished the following:

1. 3 banana bread loaves
2. 24 banana muffins
3. Laughing myself to tears over the latest Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
4. Watched a dog blow across the street sideways (he was fine)
5. Watched a bird blow by upside down

Really, that's the crazy weather. I had a morning meeting downtown and almost got blown into the water. Seriously, had I not grabbed the railing at the last minute, I would have gone in suit and all. Now that would have been fun to explain to the people I was meeting!

Here's me this afternoon recovering from my morning in the storm:

VOTE. Please. It makes a difference.

2008-11-03T22:06:00.003+02:00

I voted before I left the U.S. and it was the 4th election I've voted in since 18. Funny enough, I've always voted absentee b/c in 1996 I was in NC, but voted in VT. In 2000, I was in PA but wanted to vote VT. In 2004 I was visiting South Africa and now I'm living there.

Regardless, please vote. It's such an honor and a privilege to be able to vote. So many people in this world don't have the luxury and we do, so it's a travesty to me if you don't vote. Know the issues, understand how you feel and vote your conscience. It's so easy and so worth it.

Get out there and do it!

Cruising on the wrong side of the road.

2008-11-03T21:59:00.002+02:00

Today was a big day for me. I drove myself 3 minutes down the road to the gym and then 2 minutes to the shopping center and then another 3 minutes home - ALL by myself. Graham wasn't even in the car. Very stressful. I only tapped one curb and there was no permanent damage. Success!

One thing I've found really interesting abroad is that some of the U.S. etiquette rules just do not apply. Here are a few things that in South Africa (and Geneva) were not taught from an early age:

1. It's rude to stare. Don't be shocked in SA if people stare. Apparently, they never were told by their mothers that it was impolite. I began to wonder if I was THAT funny looking or had toilet paper on my shoe or was that hot, but clearly, staring is the norm.

2. Do not talk politics or religion. WRONG. Both are fair game outside of the U.S. I've been asked who I voted for every day this week!

3. Use your right hand to eat with your fork. NOT at all true anywhere else in the world.

My mother has a lot of teaching to do in the rest of the world!

BEST Apartment Notice EVER!!!

2008-10-31T15:15:00.003+02:00

I just got the following notice taped to my apartment door [Editors notes are in brackets]:

SNAKE ACTION!!!!! [Yikes!]
There have been a number of snakes seen in the complex recently and we should remember that we are in their habitat on the slopes of a mountain [love the nature awareness].
THIS IS NOT MEANT TO ALARM YOU, BUT TO MAKE YOU AWARE [so that's why there are only 5 exclamation points - got it].
The action that you should take in the event of coming across a snake depends very much on how close to you are to the snake [very practical - but as an American, I am utterly unsure of a "safe distance" - don't give it to me in meters - that doesn't help].
The general rule, if you are in close proximity to a snake (within possible striking distance) [again? possible striking distance - what, a mile? a foot?] is DO NOT MAKE ANY QUICK MOVEMENTS this would very probably cause the snake to strike. FREEZE, try hard to stand dead still for about 30 seconds [precise - I like it] (this is totally against your human reaction to flee, and will probably be the longest 30 seconds of your life) [seriously, it says that verbatim. I love the complex manager - that is one of the best sentences EVER] but is essential. THEN MOVE VERY SLOWLY AWAY FROM THE SNAKE.

Call for help by contacting the security guards at the guardhouse (use your phone or shout for someone to call them) - they will call a snake catcher [a job I will never take] to capture and remove the snake. While doing this keep an eye on the snake to be able to point out the location to the catcher - this is very important.

DO NOT TRY TO CATCH IT YOURSELF [no problem] OR CHASE IT WISH [sic] A STICK ETC.

[A few other paragraphs about what to if you get bitten and then it ends with...]

A BABY SNAKE'S VENOM IS JUST AS POISONOUS AS THE ADULT BUT IT INJECTS A SMALLER AMOUNT DURING A BIT - so treat them with the same respect as a big snake!! [basically you're screwed no matter what - little or big, young or old snake]

--------------------------end----------------------------------------------

Um...Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

Quite the View!

2008-10-31T14:22:00.003+02:00

This is our new apartment in Cape Town. We love the views and it is very much our style. Lots of light. Very airy. Really nice. Much improvement over the last place!
The view from our balcony. That's the ocean there on the left.

Our living room, dining room & kitchen (no we didn't decorate that fast, it's a furnished place).
Another view of downtown Cape Town from our balcony.
The view of Table Mountain, complete with a tablecloth, that you can see from my kitchen window. Yup, that's the view I get to see when doing the dishes - makes it a lot easier.

The pool at our complex. Very nice.

Fast Forward

2008-10-31T14:15:00.002+02:00

Okay, I'm going to have to skip the whole Brazil trip and New England Fall Foliage tour.

We've moved to Cape Town and we're renting an apartment in the city for 6 months while we test out living in South Africa. I'm on the job hunt - fun - so we'll see how it all goes. Right now there is one MASSIVE drawback and that is that all my friends and family are in the States. Boo. I guess this is the kind of thing that grown-ups do - move away and try to start a life of our own, but quite frankly, I don't like it. As the author Bill Bryson has said, "I can respect that, but I don't have to like it." Or something to that effect (p.s. he was talking about the Swiss...go figure).

Anyway, lots of fun stories already, so here we go...

On our way and arriving in Rio

2008-09-01T03:55:00.004+02:00

Graham and I flew out of JFK early in the morning on Friday, August 1st on TAM Airlines to Rio. I have never, in all my travels, seen so much luggage. I have no idea why this particular flight was like this, but EVERYONE in line with the exception of us had at least 3 very large pieces of checked luggage. It was insane. I was a bit nervous that the plane wasn't going to be able to take off.

Here's Graham not looking too thrilled about the line at the airline counter & the amount of luggage of our fellow passengers:

We arrived in Rio after 18 hours of travel and only one video on the plane in English (3 of them were in French - how does that make sense on a flight from New York to Rio??). We arrived at our hotel, Caesar Park Ipanema, at 1 a.m. Poor Graham's birthday was the entire day that we traveled and we never really got to celebrate. So we knew we were staying at 5 star hotel when we arrived in our room at 1 a.m. to find this waiting for us...candle and all:

Nice touch. Amazing since Graham just mentioned in passing to the woman he booked the room with on the phone a few weeks earlier that we would be checking in on his birthday.

Good way to start a vacation!

Back in the saddle...

2008-08-27T15:16:00.003+02:00

So I was going to go back to the beginning of April when my lovely parents came to visit us in Geneva and try to catch up with my entries from there, but then I realized that I didn't feel like going through that much work, so I'll figure out a faster way to catch everyone up.

In the meantime, I'm going to start with our recent (and fabulous) trip to Brazil. We were there for 2 weeks in the beginning of August for the wedding of some friends and it was a great time. I'm busy working on the first entry from Rio with photos and all, but I just have to sneak this in before that...

I mean really, how sweet is that little face!

Wow, August! I have been slackin!

2008-08-19T18:56:00.002+02:00

Sorry, I guess I've been distracted or lazy...whichever you prefer. We had a hectic last few months. We were in the U.S. in June and then back to Geneva to pack up and move out. After the month of July in Geneva, I went to the U.S. for a few weeks and then met Graham for our vacation trip to Brazil. Graham in the meantime just flitted over to Singapore and Malaysia for business.

We have now arrived back in the U.S. and are getting organized at my parents house in Vermont for an extended trip to South Africa for the remainder of 2008.

I'll be back with more updates soon!

Can you spell awkward??

2008-06-05T12:28:00.004+02:00

Okay, so it's been awhile and I'm truly actually busy these days with some real work projects. Just in time for us to leave Geneva (yes, if you didn't already know, we're outta here at the end of July - no word on where yet...).

So, I'm diligently working through the blog postings & pictures of my parents' visit and my in-laws' visit to Switzerland. There’s a lot to be said and shown, but I wanted to share these immediately.

1. Funny Story about a cat, an older Swiss lady and the SPA (the Swiss SPCA)

So there's this stray black cat that lives on the roof top right outside my window. If you've stayed with us before, you know him/her from the midnight caterwauling and the early morning wake-up yelps. Let's call him/her Creepy. I'll explain in a moment.

Creepy only used to come around ever few days when we were first here and the old Swiss lady upstairs would throw Creepy some tuna fish. Ask me how that smell goes over on a hot day through my kitchen window!

However, in the last few months Creepy has made the rooftop next to my window his/her home. Everyday, the old Swiss woman has now taken to lowering down food & water in a rope/tray contraption she has fashioned for Creepy. She has long conversations with the cat about where it's been and how it's feeling. To put it mildly, she's attached.

Now, I like cats. We've always had them at home and I'm a bit partial to them. But Creepy...well, there is just something creepy about her/him (I told you we'd get there). Creepy likes to come right up outside my living room window and stare in at me. It's a long-haired (which often floats in my window in balls - as if I need more hair floating around. B/w Creepy and I, we could knit a sweater. A very disgusting sweater, but we could do it. Double check your Christmas presents this year) black cat with yellow eyes. As Creepy sits outside the window watching me type, all I can see are its black ears and yellow eyes above the sill. Creepy, right? Then I always catch it staring at me when I'm changing in the bedroom. Creepy will come right to the window and stare at me, as long as I have my top off. As soon as the top goes on, it walks away (this single fact is why I'm inclined to believe that Creepy is a male - no need to explain).

Basically, Creepy now lives with us. Wakes us up. Freaks us out.

So, the other day I got a knock on the door. I open it up to find a middle-aged woman with a dog. She proceeds to explain that I am the only person in the building with access to the roof and she would like to come back that afternoon and get the cat. I thought she said she wanted to get the cat for a friend of hers. My French isn't always great, so she could have said something entirely different. However, she never once mentioned the SPA - I can be sure of that (Societe Protectionale des Animaux). Well, what do you do? I said fine, she could come back later that day and get the cat, but she never came.

She DID come back the next morning. I was working with Graham and panicked because I had this vision:

I let strange woman into my apartment that I'm subletting. Strange woman captures Creepy. Creepy is very unhappy. Old Swiss woman from upstairs is screaming obscenities out window at strange woman. Strange woman runs away with Creepy. Old Swiss woman comes down to scream obscenities at me for letting strange woman kidnap precious Creepy. Old Swiss woman calls landlord. Landlord discovers from my pathetic French that I am, in fact, not Anne-Claude whose name is on the lease. Kerry & Graham are on street and Anne-Claude is evicted.

Yes, I'm a bit dramatic. So what did I do? Yup, the only mature thing that a woman of 30 can do - I hid. I sent Graham to the door b/c he doesn't speak French and I hid. After some cell phone conversations with her English speaking boss, the strange lady only speaking French to Graham, Graham demanding to see some SPA I.D., no I.D. available, they agreed to leave a number for me to call later.

So I waited a bit and made a plan. I called the SPA woman back and explained that she could get the cat on one condition. That she go upstairs first and explain what she is doing to the Old Swiss woman so there is no hysteria and that I'm not blamed for the disappearance of Creepy. But...as it turns out, Old Swiss woman was the one who called the SPA. She actually has a cat of her own upstairs (should have guessed that) and she was worried once Creepy was coming around all the time that he would get hurt or something since it clearly is a stray.

Whew! Problem solved! Creepy will find a nice home (or be quietly sent to his/her maker - whatever the SPA does with strays - I prefer to think that they all get sent to a nice French farm to roam free and happy until old age...) and everyone will be happy. Kerry and Graham will not be homeless and life will be good.

Yet, after all that, here we sit - the SPA never came back. Creepy is currently sitting outside performing a stunningly spine tingling caterwaul and will surely be checking out my boobs as I get out of the shower in 20 minutes. Ah...Geneva...

2. Advice Needed on Awkward Social Situation

The first time this happened, I thought, "You know, I'll just ignore it and play along. No harm, no foul." But now that it's happened again, I don't know what to do.

So, a few years ago, a friend of mine got married. We gave her & her new husband a lovely gift from their registry. Shortly after the wedding, I received a thank you note from my friend thanking me for the gift. The only problem was, the gift she was thanking me for, was not the gift I had given. I didn't have any idea what to do. I talked it over with Graham. Clearly our gift had cost at least twice as much as the gift mentioned in the card. But, I didn't want to embarrass anyone and who cares if she thought we only spent $75 when we spent closer to $150. We love her and were happy to give it and she doesn't need to know that the cards probably got mixed up at the reception.

Problem is, she's a good friend. And every time we go to her house for a party, she pulls out the gift that she thought came from us and comments on how much she loves it. Again, I think, "What a sweet thing for her to do, she's trying to make us feel appreciated. Or at least she's trying to make us feel better for not spending more money on her wedding gift." But then I have to lie. Well, not really lie, but just give a big, fake smile and say, "I'm so glad" while Graham squeezes my arm.

Now, I know what you're thinking, why didn't I just say something in the first place if she's that good of a friend.

And you'd be right.

I should of said something, but I'm too worried about hurting other people's feelings (plus, another one of her friends is thinking "Score! She thinks we gave her the pricey item!" as clearly they did not tell her either), and now we're WAY past an appropriate timeframe for exposing this mix-up. Plus, I don't even remember what we really gave them, so I keep up the ruse.

SO...here's my issue: It's somewhat happened again. Although this time at a birthday party. The party was thrown for a friend of Graham's, a guy, and he really wanted a big fancy gift. So his girlfriend asked everyone to contribute towards it if they didn't feel like getting him something else (his awesome girlfriend got him an even better gift on her own, which was way cool). So that's what we did. A big wad of cash in card towards the gift he wanted. They thanked us for that. BUT...they also have both been thanking me for another gift. Now the first time, I thought it was just Graham's friend being sarcastic, since that's how he is and he was referring to something else. But, now the girlfriend has thanked me for it and commented on how beautiful it is.

So, here's the advice request: I'm not making the same mistake twice and clearly, I want the real gift giver to get credit. So...how do I tell someone that there has been a mix-up and I didn't really give a gift?

Now, of course, when I see them next I'm going to have to bring a really cool gift because it will make-up for the fact that I didn't do it the first time. Graham doesn't follow that logic, but it makes perfect sense!

And now, time for some candid shots...

2008-05-04T00:17:00.006+02:00

Me - studying for the GMAT...volume of a cylinder anyone?
Graham's Easter bunny of Swiss chocolate...given to him Easter Sunday.
Graham's Easter bunny on Monday.
Our friends Fatima & Pablo - I missed the posing instruction!
Graham ready for a ride in the country. He met an unfortunate dog who tried to play with his tire...don't worry - the dog was fine, Graham was not.
Kerry with the giant meringues in Paris.
Baby Sean's Easter photo. So adorable I can hardly stand it!
Me on my way to an 80's party. Everything but the belt was already in my closet!
Like father, like son.
So cute with that lost expression!
He's such a big boy already!! He was born Dec. 8th and now he's 19 pounds - at almost 5 months. Rachel must have killer biceps at this point. I cannot wait to see him in June!!

Freedom!

2008-05-04T00:08:00.003+02:00

Okay, now that I have computer back, our biggest news is, as I mentioned...

Graham has officially resigned from the United Nations - can I get an Amen??

I cannot tell you how happy, relieved, thrilled, ecstatic, over-the-moon, (are we clear about how I'm feeling yet?) and pleased I am to have this be OVER.

Originally, I wrote a really long posting that aired all the shameful things that Graham's bosses at the UN did & said, plus aired all my grievances, but then I realized that it just wasn't the right thing to do. They know what they did and have to live with it. I want to follow Graham and go the classy route. If I did anything else, I would be sinking to their level.

We're thrilled that it's over. Graham has already moved on and is working one several other projects here in Geneva and we couldn't be happier. We're enjoying our last few months in Switzerland and are excited for all the opportunities that have already come our way! I'm interested to see what the next adventure might be - hopefully, it's a lot more rewarding.

Geneva Car Show

2008-05-03T23:31:00.003+02:00

Graham and I spent some time a few weeks back at the Geneva Car Show. Apparently, it's a really big deal. I wasn't too into it, but Graham was recently celebrating his resignation from the UN, which put me in high spirits, so I went along. He loves cars and (personally I believe he knows WAY too much about them) so it was fun to see them with him. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Here are a few shots:

That Tata Nano thing that everyone is talking about...looks small & cheap to me, but I guess that's the point.
Graham's dream car - the Alfa Romeo 8C, if memory (and a quick web search) serves.
Me - very unhappy in the new Mini Cooper convertible. I DID NOT want to have my picture taken in this car or at all. I get so sick of being told that because I'm short, I would be perfect for a Mini!!
Some stupid car that goes underwater. Ridiculous. You actually have to put on a diving mask if you want to take it underwater - I mean it's so impractical that it just cannot be cool. Who creates an underwater car that's a convertible?! Spend that much time, money & energy on something worthwhile like climate change or feeding malnourished children...
Ah...here we are in the one car I would gladly have my picture taken in and would happily call my own - the Audi A3 convertible. Love it!

Wow - sorry, I'm still alive...

2008-04-25T21:17:00.002+02:00

Some big things happening on this end. I'm working on new posts with pictures and all, but here is the most recent top 10 events at a glance:

1. Computer died and had to give it away for 10+ days to get fixed. That's why there have been no posts and then my parents were here...

2. GRAHAM QUIT THE U.N. - Amen!! I could not be happier.

3. We're trying to figure out what comes next...we're in Geneva through June/July.

4. We've had a few adventures and seen some people arrested (no one we know of course...but you know how I love to see people arrested).

5. My parents came to visit!! It was fantastic! I miss them already.

6. My best friend Dara got engaged.

7. One of my other good friends from Woodstock had a baby.

8. Graham's parents are coming next week!

9. We saw JaJa at a restaurant (who?? you may be wondering...I'll explain).

10. I recorded my first every radio advertisement...don't worry, it doesn't mean the start of a new career!

Stay tuned - I'm working on it now that the Apple is back where it belongs!

Seriously - 5 a.m.?? Again?

2008-03-26T12:32:00.006+02:00

Only in the bush!

Although it did remind me a bit of my friend Vanessa's wedding. Graham and I had the stupid idea to go to her wedding and then get up the next morning at 5 a.m. to do a triathlon. I guess that stupidity made being driven around in a Land Rover with blankets & hot tea, a little easier to handle!
This is a shot of the camp from our drive. The big building is the main lodge and the smaller ones are the guest huts.
Then WHAM! First thing in the morning, 2 male lions with a zebra kill. I'll spare you the carcass pictures. Too bad we missed the actual kill the night before - that would have been fantastic. Unless of course it had been me in my bridesmaid dress - not so cool.
Here he is dragging what's left of the zebra.
Nice kitty.
As if that wasn't enough of a treat on our final day - check this out:

YES, those are all elephants. In all my SA trips, I have never seen an entire herd of elephants, so this was amazing!
Here they are stopping for refreshments. There were babies, adult males & females, juveniles - truly an entire family.

If you closely at the picture above, you can see a baby right next to the mother's back right leg. The baby was so tiny, well, tiny for an elephant. It's all relative.

We thought we had seen the biggest bull elephant of the herd, but after being at the watering hole a few minutes, they were joined by this guy:

Not so big right?? I mean from this shot he seems normal sized for an elephant.

Gulp!
I was glad he just passed us by and didn't seem to care much about us at all. Sadly though, this herd of elephants was our last big sighting on this game drive and we had to go back to the lodge to back up our things.

I had been begging Graham to take some vacation (since he spent most of this week in SA working) so that we could stay another week, but alas he felt compelled to keep pushing hard because he was seeing a lot of traction with his project from the signatories. So we had to leave the beautiful SA summer and head back to dreary, rainy Geneva.

But some elephants came to visit us as we were packing up and this was our view from our room. I guess I'd rather have 3 days of this than nothing, so I decided to keep my complaining to a minimal, hourly whine.
Here I am, wild hair and all (probably because Graham finally managed to wrestle the camera away from me), enjoying my last bit of sunshiny freedom!

A Perfect Saturday for a Wedding

2008-03-24T15:27:00.015+02:00

On Saturday morning, we received a very punctual (and difficult) wake-up call from Piet at 5 a.m. Let me tell you - I love my sleep. If you know me well, you know that I love to sleep in and I am not a pretty person in the morning. However, there is one thing that will get me up with fangs & claws peacefully retracted and that is – WILDLIFE! I will get up before the sun to see any type of game or even have the chance to spend time in nature – game or not (a nice hot cup of tea always helps ease me in to it).

What an amazing morning drive:

Sunrise - yes, we set out while it was still dark!
Our first big sighting of the day was this big boy...

Having his breakfast...

Nice zebra shot!

This is why I love my new camera! What an amazingly beautiful bird.
Giraffes - about 4 of them or more.
Another lioness. This one had 5 cubs with her (now they were technically cubs, but wait 'til you see the size of them).
She's headed to them now.
There they are - not what you'd call small!
Another great giraffe shot - I love the colors.
Returning to the lodge and being greeted with cold towels to wipe our faces.
This is the pool back at the lodge - not a bad place to relax.
More shots of the inside of the main lodge.

When we arrived back for breakfast (good strategy to feed us afterwards), I learned that Jen, the bride-to-be that afternoon, had been up all night with a stomach bug that had kept her father out of commission for several days. As if having your wedding planner quit wasn’t enough. She was absolutely wiped out with no sleep and still very nauseous. Plus, the wedding issues just kept popping up with guests who cancelled last minute (after she & Wayne had already paid for their Saturday night stay) to a multitude of other issues that just added to an already stressful day.

However, as Jen always does, she found a solution & made it to the ceremony calm, cool, and totally in charge. Oh, and beautiful too. She looked stunning. Here, see for yourself:

Game vehicles ready to take the guests out to the ceremony site.

Everyone else rolls out...
A little game viewing on the way...
A very important vehicle - it has the groom!
Getting ready to go.
As you can see, it was hot. The guests were able to keep themselves shaded as they waited for the bride.
The groom looking relaxed!
A fabulous African dance troupe waiting for the bride's arrival.
Here we are - finally! We were a bit late.
The bride's sister & the groom's sister.
Me! Sad how the top strip of cream on my dress is actually tanner than I am!
Jen coming down the aisle with her father. An African dancer traditionally sweeping the aisle ahead of them.
The bride singing - she's amazing. She sang at my wedding and brought the house down!
Lovely bridesmaids. That's Jen's daughter, Katherine, on the right.
Can you tell it was my husband behind the lens!
Wayne & Jen, now husband & wife, brushing off the lavender we threw on them.
This is me with my good friend Christelle & Christelle's friend who came for the wedding.
I love this picture of Jen with the light. I think she looks so pretty, I just wish we would have caught Wayne with his eyes open more. Darn - we've gotta work on this photography since we can no longer blame the camera.
The groom - he's taking the top off the first bottle of champagne with a machete. I guess this is how you do it in the bush when you forget the wine opener!
See - he took it clean off. Nice party trick. We'll have to check Jen's house for machetes next time we go for dinner.

Good sunset shot.

I know she's out of focus, but I kind of like that about the picture. It really captures the beauty of a sunset wedding ceremony in the bush. The light is spectacular.

It was such a great ceremony despite the heat (our bridesmaid dresses were a bit hot because what you cannot see in the pictures are the layers of crinoline underneath to make the A-line stay in place) and a few other issues boiling up (missing bouquets). Jen sang, which is always a highlight and the sunset was to die for – BUT the most amazing part was that a lioness stalked the wedding!

So you know the pictures of the lioness and her 5 cubs from that morning. Well, they were only about 100 meters from the ceremony site. So as the sun started to set, the lioness set out to look for dinner. The wedding party was taking pictures in the lovely orange light of sunset and was a bit to the side of the cars. We had a ranger with us that had the prerequisite rifle, but about halfway through the pictures, another ranger casually strode up to the one with the rifle and said, “I think I might see her.”

Just about the last words you want to hear from a ranger when the “her” is referring to a hungry lioness with 5 BIG cubs to feed and you’re in high heels. The 2 rangers moved closer to the low shrubs on our left and the last thing I heard from them was, “Yup, that’s her and she’s headed this way” before they darted off into the bush with gun drawn. Luckily, no shots where fired and they returned after just scaring her off with some strategically thrown rocks. However, after that they were eager to get us in the Jeeps, as the sun was almost completely gone.

When we arrived back at the lodge, the bride & groom were taking a few minutes to collect themselves after the ceremony and the guests were congregating on the observation deck to enjoy some cocktails and watch two large bull elephants in the watering hole (nice touch).

The reception was gorgeous in the boma and totally Jen. If you know Jen at all, you’ll know what I mean. The menu was spectacular traditional South African dishes and there wasn’t a touch that was missed from silver elephant place card holders to the African dance troupe performance to the stunning flowers.

Here's the boma reception. It was a bit hard to take photos because it was so dark and anything we took with a flash just didn't do justice to how gorgeous it was in there. I mean every detail was thought of and the browns, oranges & pinks that Jen chose were just stunning. She really did an amazing job.
Cutting the cake!
Jen and her nephew dancing up a storm.
This gives you a nice feel for the warm glow around the reception.
Taking a break from dancing.
Us with the bride & groom and the bride's father.
With Jen & Wayne at the end of the evening!
This is a shot from the wedding photographer. I love it. We're really getting down.

It was a beautiful wedding. The bride & groom seemed to really have a wonderful time and so did the guests, and that is the mark of a good time! It will definitely go down as a day

Raccossum's To the Bush!

2008-03-24T14:17:00.004+02:00

Friday morning we met up with Cyndi Parrish, a friend & old colleague, from SEI’s South Africa office. It was great to have breakfast with her and catch-up. We got to see SEI’s new offices and meet some of their new team since we were last in touch with them.

From there, we jumped in the rental car and headed up north right to the border of South Africa and Botswana. Madikwe Game Reserve where one of my best friends, Jen, was getting married. Jen’s wedding was very special for me on a lot of levels. Jen was the maid-of-honor at my wedding in 2003 and that was her first trip to South Africa. She loved her trip so much and it was such a blessing to have her at the wedding. Then this past January 2007, she went back to South Africa with her daughter, Katherine, and on that trip she met Wayne! He was a game ranger (while waiting for his visa to come through for his regular engineering job in the Netherlands) at the place that she visited and they fell in love. They have been engaged for the last few months and got married this February at Tau Game Lodge.

Jen did have a huge issue the week before that I just cannot believe. She got scammed by her wedding planner, who had been working with her on a 50% down payment for the wedding, but then refused to do the wedding A WEEK BEFORE unless she got her remaining 50% before the wedding. What kind of wedding planner does that?? That’s doesn’t even make sense. You pay someone 50% ahead of time for wedding and than the remainder when they've done their job because that’s what guarantees that they show up and hold up their end of the contract.

Anyway, poor girl managed to get it all sorted out with a new wedding planned in less than a week.

So we arrived in the afternoon at Tau and headed straight out on an evening game drive.

Our Game Ranger Piet!

I liked this picture a lot.

Another picture I liked. I'm just loving my new camera!
Our first big game of the night drive - some very sleepy lions. I've only ever seen one lion before and that was a female. I was very excited.

Me happy in the bush!
Some dung beetles. The male beetle collects the dung and the female just hangs out on the dung while he does all the work...hmmm...sounds like a good plan.
Nice sunset.
Stopping to stretch our legs and have a snack.
Sundowners are always good!

The lodge was absolutely beautiful with topnotch service and food and game. We had a wonderful time on Friday’s drive.

We only got to see Jen & Wayne for a few minutes at dinner since they had been too busy for the game drive and needed to get their rest. We were pretty wiped out too and since we had a 5 a.m. call for the morning game drive coming from Piet, we turned in.

Thursday – Another PRI Workshop Done Well

2008-03-24T13:54:00.003+02:00

Graham had another PRI Workshop on Thursday at Advantage Asset Management. I was asked to help take notes at the session and photos at the Networking hour afterwards, which I was happy to do. The entire session was a great success and again, Graham did a great job. He really has a gift for getting people to open up and be motivated. He’s a brilliant public speaker as well. They audience gave him so much credit for his efforts. And, he won't brag, so I WILL!

**As a side note: I have to admit that despite Graham’s fantastic success with these workshops and how satisfied his clients/signatories were (plus all the non-PRI signatories that are now signing up because of it), neither of his managers even acknowledged that the events happened. On top of that, they completely forgot to mention his big Geneva event success the week before in the updates to the board & organization. Couple this with the fact that Graham sometimes doesn’t get paid or reimbursed for work travel, and I have to wonder…anyway, just food for thought on the UN. Oh, and they always say that the relationship management & sales part is easy (which laughingly implies that the work they do is the hard part), so I guess it makes me wonder why they cannot get more signatories than they do - if that's so easy.

OKAY, SO now that everyone is bored.

Then after the networking, Graham and I got a chance to spend some extra time with Victoria, who is a friend of Graham’s and the daughter & niece of friends of Graham’s, Dorothy & Cynthia, who he met while hiking the Otter Trail in 1997 and whom we went to visit on our honeymoon in 2003. We had dinner & then went in search of an espresso martini (which we never really found, but here's a recipe if you're so inclined) and made plans for Graham and I to stay an extra week in South Africa and visit with her mother Cynthia. Of course these plans never came about because sadly Graham had to come back to Geneva for work!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Joburg We Go!

2008-03-24T13:37:00.002+02:00

Sadly on Wednesday morning we had to leave Graham’s parents and head to Johannesburg. We were very lucky that Duncan still had a house in JHB that he was looking to rent, but that was free at the moment, so he kindly offered to let us stay there. It was fantastic to have a home base in JHB that didn’t require going to a hotel or getting in the way of someone else’s plan.

Wednesday night we were also very thrilled to get to have dinner with our good friend Jonathan Clark. Jonathan was Graham’s partner in the grueling 8-day mountain bike race that Graham had to drop out of due to injury. Jonathan finished and did it again the second year and now his planning his 3rd time for this year. Really impressive for a father of 2 and a fully employed & busy man. Jonathan picked us up and we had dinner at a great West African restaurant, where Graham and I finally got to have our favorite ostrich medallions. Delicious – ostrich is fantastic, but as the experts in SA told me, have it medium or medium rare. It gets tough when cooked too long.

Another day that starts with PRI, but ends well!

2008-03-24T13:25:00.004+02:00

On Tuesday morning I had a meeting with Investec and then we headed over to Futuregrowth offices, where Andrew works and where Graham was holding his first of 2 PRI workshops. Not surprisingly, it was a great success and here are some shots:

Futuregrowth offices.
L to R: Graham, Andrew, Michele, & Philip (yes - same Philip from my Lac Leman sailing trip)
Other people at the Networking Function.

Then we had a fantastic treat – we were able to stop by our friend Duncan’s for cocktails with his wife Tania. Duncan was actually the client that brought Graham to Philly in 2001 when we first met. He's actually even the reason that we met, so he’s been there since the beginning. He and Tania were also at our wedding, which was fantastic. And here they were, married and with their first child and having drinks with us on a Monday night. It was lovely:

Scrubbed, Rubbed & Steam Cleaned!

2008-03-24T12:58:00.004+02:00

Graham’s mother and I set off on Monday morning for one of my birthday presents from Graham – a half-day visit for his Mom and I at the Altria Spa at the Arabella Western Cape Hotel & Spa. We were scheduled first for The African Rainforest Experience. This is a 15-step detox & relaxation process (see all the gritty details here) that involves body scrubs, hot & cold showers, saunas, steam rooms, foot baths, rain showers, cool mist rooms, & full body moisturizing. It was a lot of fun and Graham’s mom & I had lots of giggles and good talks.

Then we had full body massages & facials leaving us rested, relaxed and polished to a good shine.

Graham and I were scheduled to spend Monday night at our friend Andrew’s in Cape Town since we had a big day of meetings and Graham’s first PRI in SA workshop on Tuesday.

We were lucky enough to spend another evening dinner with Malcolm and his lovely wife Colleen. I can say that they are one of the most fun couples to have dinner with and I always look forward to it. This time, Malcolm chose Savoy Cabbage (don't be fooled by it's low grade website - it gets great reviews), which has a fantastic tomato tart appetizer that we were told is listed as a New York Times Top Ten Thing to Eat Before You Die, but I cannot find the reference to that yet.

My Final Birthday Celebration

2008-03-24T12:19:00.003+02:00

Somewhere back in February...

At Graham’s parents’ house we had my 5th and final 30th birthday party. My sister-in-law Leanne and my 2 nieces Kendall & Mia (and Kendall’s boyfriend) came out to Villiersdrop for a braai.

Graham’s mom made me a delicious chocolate cake that helped me see why Graham is always requesting them at home (not that mine would ever compare – plus, I’m best when I start from a box).

We had a wonderful Sunday, as you can see by the pictures:

Leanne & I all smiles!
Blowing out the candles (seriously though, I had no idea I was showing that much cleavage - Graham is failing at his job of keeping me modest!).
Me trying to explain to Graham that I was not too fast blowing out the candles, it was just that he was too slow taking the picture!
No, it's not a bad picture - the cake is just that good!
The birthday gang. Thanks Sinclair Family!

P.S. I don't know why it's so obvious that I'm the non South African. Graham has been in the Northern Hemisphere with me for 6 years now, but he always manages to be a bit tan. Meanwhile, I'm so pale I produce my own icy shimmer! Does anyone know how to PhotoShop in a tan??

Happy Easter

2008-03-24T01:12:00.002+02:00

So this is the Easter greeting the family got from Kevin, Rachel & Sean:

A Happy Easter indeed!!

Slow Going

2008-03-24T01:10:00.002+02:00

I'm still working on my entries from South Africa, but with all the pictures it is definitely time consuming. Therefore, I'm going to start putting smaller, more timely postings in between. I know, I know - it throws off my perfect chronology - but work with me people - this isn't a perfect system. I'm lucky when my internet works for 50% of my day!!

Warren’s Very White Wedding

2008-03-16T18:59:00.006+02:00

Graham’s childhood friend Warren got married on Saturday at Webersburg Wine Estate to the lovely Christine.

I have to tell you that I had a small issue with this wedding when I got the invite. These days, a lot of invitations have a dress code – black tie, formal, smart casual (still not entirely sure what smart casual is – perhaps I.Q.’s over 140 in khakis) – but this event not only had a dress code, it had a dress color. In retrospect, I guess that’s basically what “black tie” is as well, but this was very specific. The guests were asked to dress “smart casual in shades of white & cream.”

Again, I have to be honest and say that my reaction was almost 100% because my standard uniform is black, brown or navy. I don’t own anything white or cream or light colored for the lower 50% of my body besides my own wedding dress and THAT didn’t feel appropriate. It’s just a life rule that I have always maintained – it does me no favors to have white down there – none. So being winter in the northern hemisphere and not owning anything already, I started to panic.

I managed to borrow an adorable dress from my best friend Dara, but I was worried it was a bit casual. So on Friday in Cape Town one of our errands was to find something at the mall for the wedding (Graham had nothing either and thought it would be a good idea to get a linen suit anyway).

When I arrived at the mall in CPT, I realized why this wasn’t a big issue for most of the guests at the wedding – South Africa in mid-summer is chock-full of adorable white & cream outfits. I guess that’s what you get in a country that is used to dealing with serious sun. Also, I found a dress that I really liked (to be honest, Graham found it and made the sales clerk take my size off the mannequin – I was just excited I fit into the size that was on the mannequin!) and it made me a lot less worried about the dress code.

As you’ll see from the pictures, the white/cream theme really worked with the wedding location despite my issues. Beyond that, it was one of the most beautiful, fun, & happy weddings we’ve ever been at. The bride & groom had a wonderful time and seem really in love. The whole thing was focused on showing their guests a good time.

Here are some of the best shots. True – I don’t appear anywhere in my new dress, but that’s because I refused to let go of my new camera:

There was a cocktail reception before the ceremony that lasted for over an hour (great because we were a bit late) and both the bride and groom were hanging out and talking to everyone. I had my first Pimm's, which I enjoyed.
This is the view up the lawn to the the wine estate.
Guest in white waiting for the ceremony to begin.

They actually had a really neat format for the seating at the ceremony. All the guests sat in a circle around the wedding trellis. I thought that gave it a very intimate feel.
Warren & Christine with flowers in their hair from the guests throwing them.
They took a group photo on the steps to the main house with all the guests in their shades of white. There's Graham in his cream & white.
For the reception, we moved down to their function room next to a little man-made pond. This is the nice patio out front of the bigger room.
I love weddings. I love the table decorations and to see what people choose to use. It says a lot about personalities. Christine & Warren's was gorgeous, but very simple and fresh looking. There was no detail overlooked. The chairs had our names on the back of them. Each place had a menu and everything matched to a T.
When the bride & groom entered, we all held up sparklers.
The patio space was perfect at night. Everyone after dinner went out for drinks on the patio for some fresh air.
Now, I added this picture of the lake because there were 2 MAJOR events at this wedding that I didn't have my camera for, but they made the night extra special.

The first was that the groom's father performed a striptease down to his boxer shorts on the dance floor WHILE balancing a full pint glass of beer on his head! Amazing. Apparently, he did this at his daughter's wedding as well and have been known to do it with any level of encouragement. Truly a talent that the guests appreciated and I would have to say that my family (both the Hays & the Kilcullens) would have really embraced him after the display!

The second major event involves the above pictured pond. Apparently, in South Africa, sports mates & team members & old friends have a long history of "Naked 4x100." This can usually be 4x100 anything - running, swimming, hopping, you name it. Tonight we were treated by Warren's friends (Warren was a member of the South African National Hockey Team - he's a great athlete and therefore had tons of guests that no doubt had participated in many of these sessions) to a Naked 4x100 Medley Relay in swimming. 2 teams of 4 competed. Most down to just their skivvies and a few brave souls (or the ones who had gone commando) went down to nothing. I have to say that being a moderate swimmer in my lifetime, I was much impressed by the fact that all 8 were excellent and that each one of them were very good at their strokes - even the butterfliers!

Quite an evening!
Finally, a photo of the old HS mates. L to R: Paulo, Rob, Warren (the groom - let's hope if you're this far into the post that you already know that) and Graham.

Interesting side note: I sat with Paulo & Rob and their wives (all lovely people) and I got some new information about my husband. Some can be shared, but others are just shocking. I do believe one story involved him climbing in the window of Rob's sister in the middle of the night!

South Africa – Oh How We Missed You!

2008-03-16T18:39:00.002+02:00

We were happy to land in Cape Town on Friday (this would be way back in the first week of Feb.) afternoon. We went on a few errands around Cape Town (Graham’s parents were kind enough to drive to meet us in 2 cars so that we could do this) and then we headed out to Villiersdorp.
Graham's Mom & Dad in their kitchen as we're getting ready to give some gifts.
Graham's Mom checking out her new Lance Armstrong T-shirt.
Graham's Dad capturing it all on video. Very good way to document the family!
Graham in front of the loot. We get excited because we collect up all the Christmas, Birthday, & Just Because gifts to take with us each time we go to SA. It's always fun to see it all opened at once - like Christmas in February!!

In His Spare Time

2008-03-10T13:39:00.007+02:00

Whew. So I haven’t really been all that busy, just a bit lazy about writing.

Graham and I came back from the U.S. to Geneva for just 2 days at the beginning of February. Just because he’s that good, Graham decided to squeeze in a major joint PRI/UNCTAD event at the UN Palais in one of those 2 days.

It was the launch of the first Indian ESG Index. His old company KLD (no snide comments – I promise) was one of the firms that worked to build it, so I guess ESG is a small world.

I was asked to attend to take pictures with my flashy new SLR camera (thanks Mom & Dad!!), so here are a few photos from the event. I won’t post to many because after about 3, I get bored with myself.
Here is Graham speaking - he was great as always, if I don't say so myself.

View of the whole room from the back. Very UN with the microphones & country signs, etc.
Graham checking out the cute camera woman.
Tony, who was Graham's co-organizer and speaker for the event, looking suave.
Graham networking after the event.

In the meantime...

2008-03-03T12:08:00.002+02:00

Just another cute photo of Sean to keep you company!
Sorry - he's just too adorable. I cannot help it!

Back from travels...

2008-03-03T12:06:00.003+02:00

Graham and I went straight from the U.S. to South Africa for 10 days and then on to Paris. We have both been very under the weather with some sort of flu that we cannot shake. Graham's is worse than mine and seems to be getting worse daily.

So finally, today and tomorrow I should be getting a chance to post more...

Depressing...

2008-02-04T05:17:00.000+02:00

I just watched the New England Patriots, my favorite football team, lose in the SuperBowl after going 18-0 leading up to it. I'm highly disappointed.

It will be a long flight back to Geneva tomorrow night.

Darn.

Ladies Night Out!

2008-02-04T05:11:00.001+02:00

We celebrated Jen's Bachelorette Party out on the town in Philly. I cannot tell any stories or show any pictures other than this nice shot of us all together:

Kerry, Jen (the bride-to-be), Dana, Vanessa & Kristen. A good time was had by all.

My Favorite Family!!

2008-02-04T04:33:00.000+02:00

I made my way from Vermont down to Philly to meet up with Graham who had come to the U.S. to speak at a work conference. We decided there would be no better way to spend the weekend than down in Philly with some of our good friends - the Carsons!!

Annie & daddy - all smiles.
Maggie & Marla making their way down to the lovely tea party that Marla hosted for my birthday - as you can see by the balloons.
Annie - all smiles still!
The birthday girl, again not looking a day over 23, checking out the tea selection.
Okay, I know John has his eyes closed in this one, but it was a cute one of Marla and I. Sorry!
Marla talking to Vanessa & Grant.
Maggie sharing her cookies.
Me and my birthday cupcake.
The very civilized tea party. It was John's first and I think we'll find him sneaking up to the Montrose Mansion in Villanova for high tea.
Jen & Erik joining us late, but it was great to see them.

Celebrating Katie's 30th in Albany - I'm not the only one that's old!

2008-02-04T04:10:00.000+02:00

I spent a weekend in Albany with some of my best girlfriends from high school (we missed you Kirsten & Amy!) to celebrate Katie's 30th birthday.
Here's my adorable friend Meg who is due in April (?) - it might be May...sorry, I cannot remember, I feel like I have some many due dates in 2008 that I get confused.
Meg, Katie, & Heather enjoying our dinner.
Katie & her giant candle!
Making her wish...definitely not to be back in her 20's...
Josh, Meg's husband who was in excellent form serving us drinks & letting us watch football with him, Heather, Meg, & Katie.

All the old ladies!
Josh letting us join him to watch a Patriot's game in the basement where he had been hiding from us and our Woodstock High stories

More of my cute nephew

2008-02-04T03:57:00.000+02:00

Here he is with my youngest brother Rory, who despite the look on his face, was really good with the baby.
There, that's better.
Rory's tall enough to hold him comfortably in one arm.
Sweet & asleep.
Again with his Aunt.

I like to play it safe...

2008-02-04T03:49:00.000+02:00

This is Graham wanting photographic proof that I'm so early to my flight home to the U.S. that my flight is not even on the board yet...

My first 30th Birthday Party in Geneva

2008-02-04T03:39:00.001+02:00

Wine bar near our house, Aux Ports de Vin, where we met for drinks with all of our Geneva friends to celebrate the first party of my 30th Birthday month.
Nice group shot.
More of the gang.

I don't look a day over 23!

Getting to be a new Auntie!

2008-02-04T00:38:00.001+02:00

More pictures of my adorable new nephew:
Me & Sean on the couch.
Checking each other out.
Sean making his mother's favorite face!

The Disco Version of "Take Me Home, Country Road"

2008-01-06T16:39:00.000+02:00

January 2nd started off slow with a FREEZING & windy morning run. Overnight it had dropped down to -8C and the forecast was a drop down even further to -14C.

Cristina & Patrick said their farewells and headed back to Zurich, while Mark, Tony, Graham and I went to the Riedel glass factory in Kufstein where Graham finally got his desired red wine Amadeo decanter. Then it was off to the slopes of Austria for a half day of skiing and Wilder Kaiser.

I decided to sit this one out at the après ski restaurant and do some computer work & have some hot cocoa at Waldhof Resort at Wilder Kaiser. I blamed it on my sledding injury, but it is mostly because I wasn’t up for the cold. Funny part of the bar was that at 3 p.m., as the lifts start to close & it gets dark, the nice quiet bar switches on their disco lights, drops their disco ball and starts playing traditional après ski music – like the disco version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and also the disco version of several Beach Boys songs. Interesting.

The boys met me for après ski drinks & food at the bar & then we hit up Kufstein’s train station to pick up Joe (see the Zermatt post), who was coming in from Geneva for some skiing. We had another low key night with some beer tasting & a viewing of the Bourne Supremacy.

Sadly, Graham & I departed the next day for Geneva. We had such a fantastic time & felt really grateful to be invited & to meet such great and funny people. My stomach muscles still hurt from laughing so hard on more than one occasion. We hope to see everyone again soon.

But all those great laughs & fun moments have all just left me wondering, can you have a 100% cotton shirt that is “Wrinkle Free”?

The answers my friends, can be found here http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2004-12-31-kantor_x.htm, but I fear it will not be able to clear up the disagreement. Yes, wrinkle free garments are cotton, but are treated heavily with many types of chemicals. So, no, you cannot put a 100% cotton garment in the wash & have it dry wrinkle free UNLESS it's treated with some very serious chemicals, which then no longer gives you the benefits of 100% cotton.

Also, after multiple washings a 100% cotton shirt that is treated to be wrinkle free will eventually lose it's de-wrinkling powers & return to the wrinkly nature of a regular cotton shirt. So, a 100% cotton shirt can NEVER remain wrinkle free forever because when it returns to its natural state, it wrinkles BUT at one point in its life when treated enough, it can keep the wrinkles at bay at least for a few good washings...

I have a feeling this might still be a discussion next year!

A Race to the bottom & no, I'm not talking about the UN!

2008-01-06T16:37:00.000+02:00

As we forced ourselves up to face the day, we started by washing last nights’ dishes in melted snow. Thanks to Cristina & Tony’s experience & preparation, snow had been taken inside the night before in big tubs & left by the fire to melt. Since the cabin does not have running water or electricity, this saved a tremendous amount of time the next day. Due to winning the “Most Cringe Worthy Comments Award,” Mark was supposed to be tasked with washing the fondue pot, but in the end, the muscle work was done by Tony since Mark used the now familiar excuse, “Um, I don’t really know how to clean a fondue pot. I’ll just watch this year.”
View when we woke up.

Mark, Graham & I ready to hit the slopes.
Getting organized for a group photo.
Here we are!

After cleaning, packing & shutting up the cabin, we were set to begin the run to the bottom. I have to admit that I was quite nervous after our last sledding practice runs at the ski area (plus, the bruise on my “bhut-Tox” was quite impressive), not to mention that the sled run to the bottom was crowded with locals hiking to the top for a run down. Plus, I had to share a sled with the dreaded "South African Snow Champion."
Graham and I limbering up for the run.
Cristina & Patrick looking calm & relaxed - they had done this before.
One more group shot before departure.
Tony getting ready.
Mark & Tony trying to figure out how to position the poles to best endanger themselves & everyone else around them.

As all things this trip, it turned out to be a serious amount of fun. In fact, it was probably my favorite part.
Mark is off & running.
Here come Graham & I looking very uncoordinated (in fact, I do believe that Patrick & Cristina were laughing at us at one point because we were debating how to steer - each with our own opinion - and they knew that experience from their first year).
There they are - whizzing by...
Here comes Tony...
Being chased by someone else! Good thing he had some speed.

Nice video of Graham & I hitting a flat patch.

I'm sorry, but this video makes me laugh so hard. It's Mark coming down the hill wearing his ski goggles, but to me it looked like he was blindfolded. On top of that, he was really flying!
Mark arriving at the church that is on the way up the hill.
This picture captures another one of my favorite moments. Mark had just reached the church where we were all waiting & taking pictures. Cristina was trying to get him to pose while not moving for a photo and look like he was going really fast. Then, out of no where, Patrick just pushed him down the hill. Mark wasn't even ready and so this is the picture of Patrick giving a nice shove - apparently Patrick was ready to keep moving.
Speaking of, here's Patrick trying to win at the bottom (Tony was already finished, so this was really for second place - plus the real contest was who could go the farthest on the flat, but some of the husbands did not catch on to that) by beating Graham & I. However, you'll notice that he's missing his lovely wife...
...whom he has pushed off further up the road (see her laying helplessly in the background - actually she's just in shock that her husband shoved her off in mid-sled, backpack & all) and was trying to finish on his own.
Needless to say, that was apparently part of the husband plan since this is me lying in the snow after my husband shoved me off the front of the sled in a desperate attempt to get to the line first. I'm starting to wonder what would have happened if they had the option to leave us at the top...I'm fairly certain I know what would have happened...

To no one's real surprise, Professor Mark Belcher arrived last at a leisurely pace singing Christmas carols & handing out 1 GBP notes to the other sledders hiking up and still blindfolded.

It was really just an amazing time. Part of me wanted to go back up and do it again, but my legs kindly took the time to remind me of the 3 hour hike up the day before and I decided it was best to go home for a hot shower & some lunch.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the house in Nussdorf & exchanging photos. We found at least an hour’s worth of entertainment from Mark reading Cristina’s Cosmo magazine aloud to us.

We finished the evening with a late night meal of spaghetti fixed by Patrick & said goodnight.

Happy New Year 2008!! And a loss of innocence.

2008-01-06T16:36:00.000+02:00

We woke up late Monday morning and while Tony & Cristina went shopping for supplies, the rest of us prepared breakfast and for the day ahead. We managed to have the sleds packed & ourselves ready at around 1 p.m. (despite our 12 p.m. original aim) for the hike to Tony’s mountain cabin.
This is a picture from the night before where Cristina saved us significant time by tying the crates onto the sleds that night instead of in the morning. Smart cookie!
Here we are setting off down the streets of Nussdorf.
Passing people with chickens in their yard...
With only a minor pause for Tony to apply his new-fangled snow chains.
Over the river...

And through the woods...
To Grandmother's house we go...
The ladies know the way, to carry the sleighs through the white and drifting snow, oh! Over the river...
Okay, I'm finished. I swear.

Hiking up into the snow we worked up quite a sweat. Sadly, we were burnt up the hill by an 80 year-old woman from the village out for her daily constitution.

We were successful at arriving at the cabin before dark, but we almost lost our one African companion to hypothermia. I had to spring into action with body heat & peanut M&M’s and managed to avoid disaster. Cristina also came to the rescue by melting snow and boiling & filtering it to make tea. Yes, the cabin has no electricity or running water. Just 2 gas lights, some kick-butt wood furnaces, & a bio-toilet (it's better that you don't know...)

One of the "traditions" I was told was that you had to have a photo taken with some rather sexy glasses that are always at the cabin, but only 3 of us were stunning enough to uphold tradition:

After Tony got the fires going and the cabin began to reach a normal temperature, we settled in for a few rounds of Jenga and some deep discussions about the flatulence of previous revelers. At one point, I was laughing so hard at Mark’s desire to continue discussing this previous guest and describing how his/her flatulence created an atmosphere of eye watering, color changing, & wavy heat lines. I almost laughed myself into throwing up, but luckily it stopped at tears.
Graham giving me his expert opinion on Jenga - he had a lot of expert opinions. You would have thought he invented the game.
Look at that concentration!
Mark, going for one of the top pieces. Graham certainly had thoughts about that.
Me at my maximum reach!

Despite the fact that everyone else claimed to be a first time Jenga player, they were apparently all professional hecklers. Our first tip over was courtesy of Cristina followed by the tipping over of a beer by her spectacular, multi-talented breasts.

Tablecloth - we did a quick change while Tony was out of the room, but we were fooling no one...
She looks so innocent!

Speaking of innocent, it was during Jenga that things started to go south. Poor Graham was educated on a few topics he would have rather skipped such as what women do with detachable shower heads (which came via a discussion about Cristina & Patrick's exhibitionist neighbors who do not bother to have a curtain on their bathroom window that happens to be in their shower!) and also the definition of "Dutch-oven" and "Corn-holeing" (thank you Mark). And thanks to Patrick...we have it all on video. Sorry Tony, but I just have to post it!

**Advisory: May not be suitable for young children, those of weak constitution & Graham. Actually, it's not that bad - I decided not to post the one about the shower head and instead went with these 2:

Poor Graham, getting harassed!

After several games of never making it past 24 stories high, we took a break to prepare dinner and Mark & Patrick developed “Flick Jenga.” Thanks to our hard work in the kitchen, the rest of us missed their new invention, but they did find it highly amusing.
We sat down to a traditional cheese fondue that was orchestrated by Tony & Cristina. This is where the evening to a decidedly more debauched turn. Mark is a vegetarian, so Cristina & Tony had picked up some “vegetarian salami” for him at the store.

Don't know why it's flipping the picture upside down, but you get the idea.

It's a bit hard to see, but it's made of of cold slices of carrot, broccoli & cauliflower held together by clear gelatin - not very appetizing. Tony was actually the only one that ate it (although that is up for debate since I did witness Patrick mixing one into Cristina’s salad while she was not looking).

I have to admit that I cannot quite remember the order of the next events (no, not because of too much to drink, but just because I didn't concentrate on how each activity passed & in what order), but here are some highlights of the less respectable part of the weekend:

Tony's beginning to get a bit fired up...
He's working his way there...
Then like magic, the right song comes on the radio and behold...

**Warning: Keep the children in the other room. They are too young for this...

As you can see, things (people) we're really getting heated up. There were several more discussions about topics that Graham wasn't quite ready for, so...

Since there seemed to be a screaming need for something more civilized, we started playing UNO. The first game went rather quickly (yes, of course I won) and seemed quite enjoyable, so we started round 2. After almost an hour & the 6 of us almost holding the entire deck of cards in our hands, we had to abandon the never-ending UNO game from hell by declaring a “2 card, speed round, sudden death” match, which Patrick mercifully one.
Patrick had his sweater off, ready to play.

Mark being oh-so-good at concealing his hand!

Before we knew it, it was almost midnight. Tony set up the fireworks (shot from empty beer bottles – there were plenty) on the porch and we got the sparkling wine ready. At midnight, we were treated to a rousing display of bottle rockets & roman candles while toasting in 2008. The best part was that after Tony’s personal show had ended, the sky was still being lit up (you couldn’t see them because of the clouds) by flashes & bursts of other Bavarian personal firework shows. It sounded a bit like the valley was under attack.

Cristina in relaxing after some sparkling wine.
We exhausted Tony and there was no way to get Sweet Home Alabama back on the radio.

I believe we lasted through a few more brief UNO rounds before calling it a night and bunking down for the first time in the New Year.

December 30, 2007 – Pre-New Year’s New Year’s

2008-01-06T16:34:00.000+02:00

The next day, we had a nice lie-in and woke up to snow falling!! Graham & I went for a stunning run up the hillside in the snow. It was great. We came back and Tony had a spectacular brunch ready for us.

After brunch, we went on an exhilarating, if not slightly life threatening sled ride down the side of a ski area mountain. Tony & I almost killed ourselves in a mid-slope collision that sent us hurtling over the left bank. We only managed to save ourselves from an icy ravine with a metal culvert by throwing our bodies off the sleds and crashing inches from the plunge. However, my serious bruising came later after skillfully navigating the last sharp turn, collecting speed, and then hitting a final bump that put me airborne and I landed on an ice ball with my hip. Very painful. It definitely left a mark.

Graham and Cristina - ready for the slopes.
Yes, it's "lazy sledding" - you take the chairlift up with the skiers to the top of the hill. You could walk up, but we weren't that crazy!
Patrick & Cristina looking very snow chic! Love the white hat - you cannot see them in the picture, but it had very cute sparkles!
At the top & making our way to the run...
Graham forced us to have a pit stop with the goats. He needed to see his wildlife...
Graham getting ready for his first run.

Tony starting his engine!
This is my favorite series - photographed by Tony. This is me, quite concerned (if you click on the picture and take a close look at my face, you'll see what I mean) coming down the hill & trying to negotiate the turn while not getting run over by Patrick who is a tad bit out of control, as you can see by his loss of proper sledding technique.
Now, here's Patrick trying to get away from the most dangerous person on a sled - Graham. Africans, snow, & sped are apparently a recipe for disaster. He narrowly missed killing a small boy earlier, almost lost his sled over a cliff, & now is hurtling down at Patrick sideways. Good thing Patrick is quick!
Finally, this is Graham running like mad off the track. Because as dangerous as he was, there were more young adults out there who were worse, so you learn to clear the track quickly.

We stopped at the bottom of the run for Gluehwein (I think that is how it's spelled - pronounced "glue-vine", which is a German/Austrian hot wine served especially around Christmas time - you can find a recipe at the bottom of this web page) before packing in the sleds and heading back to the house. After some showers & some Aleve to numb the buns, we were off to dinner at Blaue Quelle, which is a traditional restaurant. I had my first ever Wiener Schnitzel and enjoyed a few giant beers.
Menu. Very exciting.
Boys & beer.
This is Cristina & Mark molesting a ceramic choirboy with a fork. Very typical of the weekend.
This is me and my big beer - photographed by Prof. Mark Belcher (this is the first time I've ever succeeded in getting a vertical picture onto this blog - it's a miracle). I needed 2 hands!

Graham apparently not so happy with the waitress? Patrick just happy with the beer.
This is the whole gang with some very important Blaue Quelle folks. From L to R, front row: Our waitress, me, the owner (I think, or else just a really pretty woman hanging around in regional dress), and the chef. From L to R, back row: Graham, Mark, Patrick, Cristina, & Tony.

I do believe this dinner is where the Graham’s pronunciation of the word “buttocks” became the “mot de choix” of the weekend. He was pronouncing it as “bhut-Tox” with the hard T second and an X on the end. I think I probably counted a total of 50 or more uses of “bhut-Tox” for the rest of the weekend – mostly by Mark.

Then off we went to Kufstein, a town that curiously has their big New Year’s celebration of live music, drinks & fireworks the day before New Year’s Eve.
The gang (apparently Patrick did not want his photo taken at this moment) on our way into the celebration.
A shot from above.
Mark & Cristina.
Awww. The newlyweds (married in Sept. 2007).
Kerry & Cristina. I like this photo. I think we're both very cute & happy. That's what happens after a few big beers.
The crowd & the "bad cover band" in the background. I didn't think they were horrible since they were just singing cover songs and sadly, I knew the words to most of them!
Fireworks.

Finally, it was home to bed to rest up for the hike up to Tony’s cabin and our own private New Year celebration.

A Bavarian New Year

2008-01-04T18:35:00.000+02:00

We left Geneva on Saturday morning, December 29, just making the train with 10 minutes to spare for Tony’s Bavarian Blowout. We took the 3-hour train to Zurich & changed to a EuroCity train and headed off to Kufstein, Austria.
Graham in the oh-so-civilized restaurant car.
Me in the compartment. This is how I pictured European rail trips - your own compartment with just a few seats.
Graham examining the tickets.
Beautiful views as we sped by...
You can see the front of the train just there to the left. We were in the last car, so as we went around each curve you could see the train on the tracks ahead of us.
Doing some work & having a snack.
Can you see all the snow!!??
Graham working hard as usual.
Nice view into the valley as we snaked through the Alps.

We only had one small incident on the train when another traveler, who had been riding with us since Geneva, got off the train in Innsbruck to walk his dog quickly. I could see that as he tried to get back on the train, he couldn’t get the door to open, so he walked past our window and I assumed that he got into another door. However, as the train began to pull away from the station, I saw him running along the platform with his dog. I checked the compartment that he had been in and realized that his luggage, laptop, dog carrier & gloves were all still on the train. I found the closest conductor & explained the situation, so later I saw that the conductor had gotten his stuff off the train and hopefully he was able to pick it up later. Poor guy. That really sucks.

We arrived in Kufstein & Tony picked us up in his hip VW EuroVan and took us to his family’s home in Nussdorf. Apparently, Nussdorf is in Germany, but Kufstein is in Austria. The border is very jagged (see map) and you can end up driving back & forth into the 2 countries several times in one outing. I liked this, since I’ve never been to either country, it was fun to hit 2 of the places on my Europe list in one trip.

We had a wonderful cocktail time in front of the fire with some great local beers and were introduced to our other lovely party companions – Cristina (living in Zurich), her husband Patrick (also obviously living in Zurich), & Mark (living in the UK) a.k.a. Professor Mark Belcher. I had a spectacular dark wheat beer that I’m officially in love with and could tell after a few minutes with the group that we were going to be in for a good time & quite a few laughs. After cocktails, we headed out to Al Gambero Rosso, the local Italian restaurant for a delicious meal.

Cristina & Patrick. Really, I think he was having a good time, but that is quite the stare. Maybe he doesn't like to have his photo taken at dinner?
Graham is hungry. I think Prof. Belcher is giving us some European equivalent of the middle finger, but I can't be sure.
Graham - he was seriously hungry & in need of a drink.
Tony, I'm guessing unlike Patrick, is amused with having his picture taken during dinner!

First Ever Non-Vermont Christmas & I Survived!!

2008-01-04T18:21:00.000+02:00

Graham and I had our first non-Vermont Christmas. It was a bit sad and very different, but it was quiet & there was no travel stress, so that was okay. I still miss the big, family event in Vermont, but you always have to try something new every now and then.

[Christmas Day pictures TO COME]

We exchanged nice presents and had a quiet steak dinner before finishing off the evening with a viewing of the movie Ratatouille. It was such a nice movie. Very cute & entertaining if you haven’t seen it, you should.

Old Neighbor & Good Friend Comes to Town

2008-01-04T18:13:00.000+02:00

One of my big treats for the week before Christmas was that my friend Heather from Philly came to visit!!

She took a much needed and earned vacation and arrived on the Monday after we returned from skiing. We had a nice dinner and we did a bit of exploring on Tuesday before Heather headed up to Zurich for a night to visit friends there.

She returned on Wednesday evening and we attended a nice birthday party for our friend Dorothee in Carouge. On Thursday, I took Heather on a tour of Geneva and we visited the shops, walked around old town, had sparkling wine at Globus, and started to get ready for the Sinclair Annual Christmas party that was being thrown on Friday night.

Thursday for dinner we went to an AMAZING fondue restaurant, Café du Soleil. I highly recommend it if you like cheese fondue. It’s delicious and Heather & I managed to polish off the almost the entire pot without any help from Graham. Like everything else in Geneva, it’s fairly expensive for some slices of bread, some melted cheese, & a few slices of dried meat, but it’s a good cultural experience & very tasty.

Most of Friday was spent preparing for our Annual Christmas party (see entry above), but Saturday we managed to rent a car & escape Geneva for a few hours. We drove back up to the Col de la Faucille and were again rewarded with great weather above the cloud line of dreary Geneva. Heather did get her first glimpse of the Alps & Juras after a week of only clouds down below.

[Col de F. pictures - TO COME]

Then we wound our way through the French countryside to the lovely town of Divonne-Les-Bains. They have a very cute town that was piped full of Christmas music & tiny shops open late for last minute gifts. We did some poking around:

[Divonne photos - TO COME]

We finished with dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant called Nova where the food was excellent. What a great evening and conversation we had! We were very sad to see our Heather leave on Sunday!!

Naked with Strangers & Skiing in Zermatt

2008-01-04T12:54:00.000+02:00

One of the December activities I was really looking forward to was the a ski trip to Zermatt. Our friend Anthony (see previous entries about guns) invited us to share a ski chalet for the weekend with a large group of other couples. It was an amazing trip. I have never skied the Alps or anything outside of the U.S., so it was great to actually go for the first time.

As usual, my pictures describe it way better than I do:

We met Anthony, Elise, Joe, & Marta at the Geneva train station. Now these guys know how to ride a train! Just as we pulled out of the station, Anthony busted out the sparkling wine and we drank and ate and enjoyed the ride.
That's Graham & Marta with the skis (not ours, we rented, but they were good props) changing trains in Visp to the more local train that goes directly to Zermatt.

During our voyage by train, we discovered that I had packed a new treat, which was a big hit with the crew – heroin cookies! No, no, don’t worry; I have not gone that way since moving to Europe. But apparently we were discussing drugs (mostly prescription meds) and right afterwards I offered up some home baked M&M cookies. Since the cookies proved rather addictive and the M&M’s resembled pills...well, you get the picture.

One of the great things about Zermatt – no cars! Cars are not allowed in the village, so you have to arrive by train & you have to take the electric taxis everywhere or the electric ski bus.

Graham in the taxi with his new helmet - still with tags on & yes, he does know they are there and yes, he does do it on purpose!

Our chalet was lovely, but since we arrived at night, you couldn’t really see the view, so we had some nice wine and headed to bed. When we awoke for skiing, this greeted us:

The Matterhorn & the outside of the chalet - the Talisman.

Graham walking down to the ski shop.

Graham & I getting our gear and doing the proper safety checks, like smelling the boots!

Waiting for tickets.

Riding the gondola.

Finally to the slopes - it was worth the effort! Just gorgeous.

I was very happy that we invested in a helmet for Graham. It made me feel a lot better. I’m going to have to get one next!

One of the very touristy things is that guys stand on the mountain with nice views and a Saint Bernard. Then they offer to take pictures of skiers with the dog so that they can buy them later down at the shop. We did not get an official picture, but we definitely wanted one of the dog. They are such an icon of Switzerland & the Alps that I was happy to see one even through the poor guy didn’t seem to be happy to be there!

Graham was skiing really well on one of the easier slopes, so we bravely decided to take a red. In Europe, the color system is a bit different than the U.S.

US Green = Easy
US Blue = Intermediate
US Black = Expert
US Double & Triple Black = Really experienced and/or brave Expert.

Swiss Blue = Easy
Swiss Red = Intermediate/Expert
Swiss Black = Insane

Needless to say, I did take Graham down a red (I believe on the map it had a small section of black, but other people felt otherwise, I still disagree) and after the turning back point; I realized we had made a big mistake. It was icy and steep and narrow. All the things you hate to introduce a still relatively new skier to! But Graham was a trooper and patient and we survived. Then headed immediately back to the blues.

It was just gorgeous views, but REALLY COLD. I’m sure it gets colder, but at -13C, I was chilled to the bone, so I was grateful to get into the sun & the lodge at lunch and heat up with some hot chocolate.

After a great day of skiing, I experienced my first traditional sauna. Now most of you know how I feel about taking off my clothes in front of strangers or anyone that is not my husband. I don’t feel about it. I don’t do it. Never.

BUT…I felt like a bit of a dork when all the other ladies and men at the sauna (don’t worry, there were only a few) seemed to have no issues with it. You are supposed to shower first, then sit in the HOT (85 – 90C) sauna for 15 minutes and then shower again (sometimes people throw in a massage & a steam as well, but I wasn’t in the mood for steam & there was no masseuse).

And understand these things are co-ed. No shower for boys & shower for girls. One shower with a few showerheads and some frosted glass. Of course, I skipped the first shower and headed into the sauna with my sports bra & boy shorts on and with a towel wrapped around me. Not only did I barely survive the 15 minutes of heat, but also I felt like an idiot when everyone else around me was just in their towels & whipped them off to get in the shower.

So, I promised myself I would be braver on my next sauna visit…

Thanks to Tony for organizing & hauling (Elise helped haul too) several boxes of cheese fondue to Zermatt and Carl, Andre, Joe, & Marta for cooking and preparing, we were able to enjoy a lovely cheese fondue dinner on Saturday night.

L to R: Cora, Andre, Tony, Marta (hidden by Tony – very sadly because she’s adorable & has fantastic hair), Joe, Graham, Carl, Elise, Fatima, Pablo, Brad, & Soizic.

More wine & talk in front of a raging (I mean raging – it only took Anthony an entire bottle of lighter fluid to get that bad boy going) before we hit the sack to prepare for another day on the slopes.

Graham and I were a bit less adventurous the second day thanks to some sore thighs (we need to be doing our dry land training next time – my Dad has a program), but we did get better views this time around and skied some of the different hills. On our last run, we were able to ski right to the rental return place. Brilliant.

The gang was catching a 5:45 p.m. train back to Geneva, so we had time for one more sauna.

Yes, I did do it the right way this time!! I did cheat a bit in the beginning since there was no one else in the sauna or in the facility at the time. So, although I did take the first shower in the shower room with Graham without a stitch of clothing, there was no one but him to appreciate it. I did however; sit in the sauna with 3 other people – Cora, Andre, & Joe – with just my towel on. When it was time to take the final shower, they still had a few minutes left on the sauna. So, again, I did not have to share a shower with anyone but Graham. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but the shower was only frosted glass & you could see it from the sauna (not that any of them would have cared to look, but the option was there), so there was the chance that someone COULD have seen my blurry, pale outline through the glass AND that was a big personal victory for me.

Whatever, let’s see YOU do it!

All in all, a fabulous weekend it was! Good skiing, great food, amazing views and best of all, a really fantastic bunch of people that we now know in Geneva!!

Oh, and one last comment…

Long live Zucchinistan!

Really Far Behind...Photos from the rest of US trip

2008-01-04T12:33:00.000+02:00

My mother was very proud of her perfect bacon this particular morning – so proud that we took a picture.

See – perfect.

Later in the day, since Kevin had arrived, we scheduled time to play walleyball. For those of you that don’t know what walleyball is, I’ll explain it very briefly. I forgot to take pictures during the game (I’m a little too focused on winning when I play, which I didn’t do AT ALL this time – very disappointing), so I just have a few of the court. Walleyball is basically just volleyball played inside a racquetball court and the players are allowed to hit the ball off the walls. There are a few other rules differences, but I’ll teach you when you come to VT some day.

The Kilcullen Family plays at Thanksgiving & Christmas as a family with the Matz Family. It’s tradition. Some families go to church; we play sports.

Here are a few photos of the court, of Graham kicking around the soccer ball afterwards, and the gang getting ready to head home.

The rest of our visit was too quick as always. Here are a few more pictures before we went back to Geneva:

This is my friend Katie who paid a lovely quick visit to our house. She also got dragged into the walleyball the day before because I ran into her at the Sports Center when she was finished playing tennis with her family.

This is me cooking a meal for my parents - the first time ever! Chicken Curry. Very good - recipe can be found here - instead of cream I use coconut milk, which reduces the fat and makes it taste better. Read the users reviews for extra good tips. Plus, reducing the sauce takes a little longer than the recipe says, so be prepared.

Here we are on our way out of Boston – back to Geneva. Very sad.

I mean seriously...

2007-12-28T13:51:00.000+02:00

Could he be any cuter??!!

Sean Jacob Kilcullen

2007-12-28T13:47:00.000+02:00

Isn't he adorable!!??

P.S. Maybe the blogger site is only rejecting non-adorable pictures this month, which would explain a lot since I've mostly been posting ones of Graham & I in self-portrait mode!!

Postings Paused!

2007-12-28T13:45:00.000+02:00

Sorry on the long delay, but Blogger has been having trouble loading my pictures (and really, it's all about the pictures, I know you don't even read what I'm writing...Mom...).

PLUS, I've made a huge accounting mess for 2007 and waited until the last minute to fix it, so I'm putting out that fire right now.

Finally, I'm going to try desperately to get a photo of my new nephew online because he is just too adorable for words!

Nothing like Turkey Day in VT!

2007-12-13T22:26:00.000+02:00

Graham & I were lucky to be home in Vermont for Thanksgiving. I don't think I would have survived this ridiculous European experience without a proper Turkey Day. I don't have photos, but we did do a 5K Turkey Trot the morning of Thanksgiving. Graham and I agreed to "have fun," which I interpreted as running together, and he interpreted as something else because he promptly left me as soon as the starter's gun went off! It would have been nice to do it together, but at least I did some pre-turkey fat burning!

My parent's new kitchen, which is now basically finished, was just amazing. For those of you that have never seen the original, you won't be able to appreciate it as much. However, those of you that have been to the house will think I'm taking pictures someplace else.

So, here we are in Vermont over Thanksgiving:

Seriously - that's the new kitchen. Photographed from the living room. I know!!
Dad working hard to peel potatoes and other such T-Day tasks.
Graham working. Yes, he did "take the day off" and no, other than to eat the meal, he did not stop working on his computer. Yes, I'm giving up.
Ryan. Who apparently doesn't like to have his picture taken, so he used the cat to shield himself at the last minute! And, YES! That's the view over the new bar top and into the living room. They still have a bit of work in the living room, but mostly cosmetic. They are going to do some covering on the fireplace, add a new mantel, add some built in bookshelves & get some new furniture. Should be amazing!
Here are Dave & Ryan - no cat available for this picture and Dave's dog is way too heavy to lift! We have Thanksgiving every year with Dave & his parents. They are like a surrogate extended family. We were rather small this year since some of my siblings were missing, but it was still a lovely meal.

Me with the Matz's dog Guinness. Biggest chocolate lab I have ever seen!
Table set for the meal.
Ryan! Geez.
I think it may just be when I take pictures because here Ry is looking fine while Dave is taking the photo. That's Meg & Joe in the background and my Mom bringing out her famous pies!

It was an exciting Thanksgiving discovery of mine to find out that my husband knows how to pour a layered Irish Coffee! Who knew he was so talented! He had to improvise with the cream though, since we didn't have the right kind, but he made some at the end of the evening. I wish he would take a break from work more often & join us - imagine what we could learn!
Ah, what a man. I knew I married him for a reason!

One final shot of the whole gang. I was so glad I went back to the U.S. for it!

BIG, HUGE, FANTASTIC NEWS!!

2007-12-11T18:09:00.000+02:00

Okay, I've got another backlog of posts, so this is out of chronological order. However, it is much too important not to post ASAP! And no, I didn't get a job. Settle down - it's even better.

My brother Kevin & his lovely wife Rachel just welcomed their first child into the world on Saturday, December 8th! A little boy, Sean Jacob Kilcullen, has joined the family weighing in at 8lbs 9oz.

I am anxiously awaiting pictures and cannot wait until I go back to the States in January to meet him.

I'm so thrilled. I was already an aunt on Graham's side, but now I'm an auntie to a little boy who shares my last name. So neat! And we all know, it's all about me!

Trip to the VERY snowy Jura Mountains

2007-12-04T19:04:00.000+02:00

On Sunday morning, we dragged ourselves up and picked up a rental car. Sean drove (good news for me - I hate to drive & the boys would have gone crazy at the speed I choose to drive anyway) and we headed up to the Jura mountains to check out the snow.

They have had record snow falls this year in the mountains (not a drop in GVA since we've been here - just plenty more rain) and so we headed up to Gex in France and up Graham's summer cycling route to a ski area named La Faucille. We were scouting for lunch & couldn't find a place and stumbled upon this little ski area. To our delight, they had a lovely creperie, which was actually open on a Sunday. So we did what the weather called for and had crepes and hard cider:

Here's a cute shot of the some of the buildings at the hill's base:

The ski area was not open, so the locals were using it as the world's best sledding hill.
We decided to walk up the slopes to the stop to see if we could get a good view of Mont Blanc & the Alps.
Graham and Sean were having a bit of a time with it...
Here they are at about half way up to the top...

They were exhausted, but they reached the top!
As you can see from the pictures, it was the most glorious weather. It was well worth the hike to the top because this is what we were rewarded with:
The most stunning view!
Can you believe the weather? The cloudy mass in between where we were in the Jura range and the beautiful Swiss Alps on the horizon (Mont Blanc right in the middle) is Geneva. Yes! Geneva was overcast & rainy all Sunday, but this is what it was like in the mountains!!
More stunning views of Mont Blanc.
The Summit Lodge!

Us arriving at the bottom. The picture that is missing is Sean & Graham trying to slide me down the mountain on just my jacket. It did not work and all I got as a reward were underpants full of snow!

Dinner & Mini-Soccer!

2007-12-04T18:51:00.000+02:00

After my awesome tour of Geneva (still have not heard my rating from Sean, so I'm givin' myself 5 stars until otherwise notified), we hung out at the house & had dinner with Natalie!

After many good, scandalous & hysterical stories from Sean (I'm not at liberty to share, but there were some doozies!), we capped off the evening with some mini-soccer in the living room which Sean & I clearly won. You know Graham, he's such a cheater...

Here we are posing after soccer for a picture. Natalie decided to sex is up a bit (that Natalie - always have to keep an eye on her...)

So not to be out done, the rest of us joined in. Although, some of us were not showing our six packs, but instead displaying our "neoprene cases"!

Our weekend with Sean!

2007-11-28T06:44:00.000+02:00

Graham finished up his WWF training (not the wrestling - the Wildlife organization - but I wonder if that would have been more fun) on a Friday and came back to Geneva with a new friend.

Sean is a consultant in the oil industry and is originally from Canada. He now lives in Germany and had never been to Geneva, so we were in charge of hosting him for the weekend and giving him the official tour. We have not yet received our tour guide ratings, but I can tell you that I certainly had a good time!

On Friday night we had dinner and then went out to a local Spanish wine bar to meet some friends. It was a good evening, but slightly late. So, we started the next day a bit on the slow side with a relaxing English breakfast at the apartment. Here are our tour pictures:

Here are Sean & Graham in front of the President Wilson hotel and on the right is the UNHCR.
This is us on the Bains des Paquis. Interesting note about the Bains des Paquis - full of topless women in the summer and naked men in the winter. There are some things that really make me miss the U.S. and one of them is naked men in the winter!
Sean and I taking the water taxi across to the other side of the lake.
Exiting the water taxi.
We took Sean up to the top of the cathedral to see the city from above. Graham tried to pick a fight between me and a Yankees fan, but luckily neither of us cared enough to argue.

Me at the top in my possum fur hat from Australia.
Sean & I with a good view of Geneva.

Here I am trying to point out approximately where we live - just in case anyone wants to come & visit!
The end of a good tour (I think) and headed home for dinner.

Final day in Paris.

2007-11-28T06:24:00.000+02:00

Graham had his board meeting in the morning, so I was on my own again. I had another lovely meal by myself. I love how the Parisian cafes have single tables with the chairs facing out the window so you can sit alone and people watch over breakfast.

I wound my way down to near where Graham was for his meeting and doing some window shopping along the way. In early afternoon, I planned to meet up with him and take him to the Musee L'Orangerie since he had never seen Monet's Water Lily series.

Wednesday was the start of the Paris transportation strike and I ran into the strikers and their march on the way to meet Graham:

After picking Graham up in early afternoon, we headed to the L'Orangerie. I love the Monet series and glad he got a chance to see them. Here's Graham posing in front of the D'Orsay as we walked by:

Here we are on the way out of Paris!

Dining out alone...

2007-11-28T06:10:00.000+02:00

I'm not always very good at doing things alone. However, at one point in my life I overcame 2 activities that I never dreamed of doing on my own - dining in a restaurant & going to the movies.

If you've never dined alone and are slightly afraid of it, you have another good excuse to visit Paris. It's one of the best cities to dine alone in. There are many people who do it and quite a dining alone culture. At the restaurant I chose, there were 5 of us dining alone. Bring a good book and you are good to go!

Chez Jenny was an Alscasian restaurant recommended by the hotel. Graham had a dinner to attend with some of the PRI board members, so I was all on my lonesome. Chez Jenny was fantastic - have the meat kebab - grilled duck, fillet, and sausage with grilled veggies, salad & fries. Fantastic. I had a lovely Riesling and then finished the meal with foundant au chocolat with vanilla ice cream. Amazing. I could hardly walk back to the hotel and was fast asleep when Graham arrived.

P.S. Going to the movies alone is fantastic too! I didn't do it in Paris, but it's best to go to a movie you really want to see a few weeks after it's out. The theater is generally empty and there is no one to talk or bother you during the film. It's great.

Okay...weekend booked up...

2007-11-17T13:51:00.000+02:00

I was going to finish my posts on Paris, but that's going to wait. We have a house guest (our first!) until Monday and then we get another house guest Monday night and I leave Tuesday morning for Thanksgiving!

Today, I have to give a walking tour of Geneva's old city, grocery shop for tomorrow's breakfast and a dinner for 5 tomorrow night (stores being closed on Sundays & all), and get ready for a quick guest turnaround on Monday afternoon. Plus, we're scheduled for a run this afternoon and tomorrow we're renting a car for some hiking!

Busy, busy. I can become a full time hostess - will make me decide if I can ever actually run a B&B!

So, will update with Paris photos when I can.

Day of Freedom in the City of Lights

2007-11-15T17:33:00.000+02:00

While Graham had to spend the day working on UN PRI strategy before the PRI board meeting on Wednesday (the real reason he was in Paris), I spent the day at my all time favorite museum - the Musee D'Orsay. I do love the Impressionists and have a soft spot for the Neo Impressionists as well.

I walked down from our hotel and between the Louvre & the Jardin des Tuileries. I passed a woman with the biggest dog I have ever seen. And no, she wasn't a small woman. She was taller than I am, so this is a huge dog!

Then I made it to the museum. I do love the Musee D'Orsay. If you've never been, I highly recommend it next time you're in Paris. I managed to take some photos of my favorite artists and works:

Musee D'Orsay from outside.
The main hall of the museum.

More of the main hall.
This is a large work in the main hall entitled "Romains de la decadence" by Thomas Couture.
I loved this exhibit, which is the scale model of the new Paris opera house as it lays into the city plan.
This is the scale model of the actual opera house.
One of my favorite Monet works - Poppies.
Another Monet - Lilas, temps gris.
Here is Manet's Le dejeuner sur l'herbe.
This is Degas' painting Danseuses bleues
Can you tell that I love Monet? Here's another - Londres, le Parlement, Trouee de soleil dans le brouillard.

Although a bit blurry, this is Van Gogh's La nuit etoilee.
This is one of my new favorites - I discover someone I like every time I visit - a Neo Impressionists - Georges Lemmen's Plage a Heist.

After a wonderful day at the museum, I was able to meander my way back to the hotel passing some of the lovely Paris sites. Below you will recognize the always lovely and impressing Cathedral de Notre Dame.
It was a rainy and gray day in Paris, but because it's Paris, I still managed to have a fantastic day.

Hotel Paris France

2007-11-15T17:09:00.000+02:00

No really, that was the name of the hotel we stayed in. Hotel Paris France. It was only a 2 star hotel, but clean and with good WiFi (10 Euros for the stay). It's in a good location and I was able to walk to everything - www.paris-france-hotel.com

I love the little wrought iron window guards - here are some pictures of our night time view.
Cute. It's close to Republique and it only took me about 30 minutes to walk to the Musee D'Orsay.

I did have a small panic attack when Graham and I both got in the tiny French hotel elevator with our suitcases. I had a major flashback to Paris '98 when my family was in town for the World Cup. About 5 of us got on the elevator for our rented flat and just as my brother Kevin said, "If my math is correct, we are way over the weight limit," the elevator stopped & we got stuck. It was severely claustrophobic and I started to flip out. Luckily, the very unhappy building manager was able to open the doors and we had to be hoisted out by other family members because we had stopped between floors.

Needless to say, I now prefer the stairs regardless of the floor our room is on. The good news is that most Parisian hotels are no more than 6 floors high!

Taking the TGV to Paris

2007-11-15T16:56:00.001+02:00

As I mentioned, Graham and I took the TGV together to Paris on Monday night. I love riding the train. It's so much easier than flying. No long security lines, no pushy over-luggaged businessmen, and the freedom to move whenever you want. Here are some pictures of us with the train:

Paris. TGV. Oh how j'adore Paris!

2007-11-14T00:06:00.000+02:00

Graham and I took the TGV to Paris on Monday night. Can I just say how much I love Paris. I just do. It's a fantastic city. Today it rained all day and I still managed to have a great museum day. I won't give too much away since I have pictures to post upon my return, but if you have never been to Paris - go. Book a trip now. It's just wonderful!

Funny though - I do find myself wandering the streets of Paris humming, "Les poissons, les poissons. How I love les poissons! Love to chop and to serve little fish. First I cut off their heads. Then I pull out their bones. Ah mais oui, ca c'est toujours delish. Les poissons, les poissons. Hee -hee-hee. Ho-ho-ho"

Anyone? Little Mermaid. French chef. Disney. Anyone??

"Zut alors! I have missed one!"

Graham is finally home!!

2007-11-14T00:04:00.000+02:00

And we're in Paris. I just love it. I'm so happy to see him and besides losing him again on Thursday, Thursday night and Friday (I know!! I mean really - how much can a person travel - South Africa, Australia, the U.S., Paris, & now to Nyon for a day or 2), I should have my husband by my side until Nov. 29th. This is how God intended it!

Ladies. We need to talk.

2007-11-11T15:03:00.000+02:00

I do NOT profess to be a fashion expert. That's probably a fairly obvious statement for most of you who know me well or even see what I'm wearing on a daily basis. Even beyond that, I don't try to critique other people's sense of fashion. I leave that up to these hilarious ladies: www.gofugyourself.com

However, I have to call out one fashion trend here in Geneva. I've let slide the leggings under long sweaters with no skirt. I've ignored skinny jeans and flats. I have blocked out the resurgence of leg-warmers. But I have to say something about pants tucked into knee high boots. I just have to do it.

I don't care about the trend so much. Tuck away. But, what really gets to me is when someone tucks a pair of regular pants - jeans, khakis, cords - into a pair of knee high boots. I have to tell you - I don't actually think that is the trend. I believe the rule is - skinny, tight pants only when wearing pants under knee high boots. If you have to fold the pants at the knees to make them fit into the boots, I think you've missed the look. Plus, you have this weird German military pants circa 1940 look going on when that happens and it's not flattering - the reminder of Hitler or the look.

So, I again say tuck away. But remember skinny pants & no folding. Of course, you'll never see me wearing such a trend, but mostly because I realize that when you're built like me (all rear & thigh, not a lot of calf) anything that exaggerates that lower shape is not something to embrace!

Wide awake at 1:24 a.m.

2007-11-08T02:24:00.000+02:00

And I was just thinking...how often to we practice random acts of kindness? I have a lot of time on my hands these days in Geneva and one of the really go things about time is that you learn to slow down. I've always been a relatively observant person in life. I notice things about other people - strangers, friends, family - that other people don't. It is an odd thing sometimes. Like the other day, I realized I can tell when a couple is expecting a child by the way the husband very subtly changes his behavior towards his wife when they are together. Just small changes and they can speak volumes if you pay attention.

So one of the good things about slowing down is that you have your head up more often. I walk around Geneva and actually look people in the eye. Most often, I smile as well. And you would be surprised at how many people smile back and say hello. So I started noticing that if I smiled at people more or held the door for them or let them go ahead of me in line or helped them pick up something that they have dropped...if I did any of these things, people's attitudes towards me and other people around them changed. They smiled back, they held the door for the next person or they started a conversation with me. It's really kind of fun. It's a nice way to make a bad day better.

Now, I'm off to try to convince myself to fall asleep. Good night!

Not a lot to say at the moment...

2007-11-07T14:42:00.000+02:00

It's been a slow blogging week, but that's really because most of my activities have been lunches and happy hours and church and other things with new friends. It's been great so far, but nothing that really can be posted about.

It's been a difficult time for me to have Graham away so much and to not have anything else to do with my time, so I've been finding activities to take part in and places to volunteer. I'm trying to motivate to really put effort into the career search, but sometimes I just cannot overcome the feeling that...you know what, I'll keep that to myself for awhile.

However, I did manage to write the first chapter of my book, so that's a big deal for me. It needs a lot more work, but at least it's down on paper!

So at this rate, it will be 2025 by the time it's complete!!

More shooting...could this be a theme?

2007-11-04T20:14:00.000+02:00

On Sunday, I was resting after a rousing Saturday afternoon of paintball. Some friends of ours - the aforementioned Anthony and some others - organized an afternoon match out in the Swiss country side. Actually, the lovely Marie-Elise put the group together. There were 12 of us, 6 on a side, and I am disappointed that I did not get a single picture!! I cannot believe it.

But the good news is that I had a killer time. I love shooting at people...with paint...I think.

I love anything based in competition. And am happy to report that I only got shot once and that was in the first game. I would like to say that I ran out of trees on attack that were bigger than me. Therefore...paintball to the eye...eye covered with mask, but none-the-less shocking.

The second match came down to me and one person on the other team. He was hiding in a tree protecting his flag as a sniper. It was either call a truce or make a mad, suicide dash to the flag in hopes of catching him off guard. I'm glad he agreed to the truce, as I'm sure it would have hurt BIG TIME to be shot in the derriere.

Final game, everyone on offense. My swat team got blown apart on the left flank, but luckily a lost teammate (not sure how he came in from behind or how he got so lost in the first place - go Riccardo!) shot up the last enemy and after a 100 meter sprint to the other team's flag, I managed to blow the horn in victory for our team.

You had to be there to understand that last paragraph.

Good times had by all. Beers afterwards made it a great day. I passed out at 9 p.m.

I love paintball!

Only in Europe...

2007-11-01T22:41:00.000+02:00

Can you be waiting at a crosswalk light and be approached by a handsome man in his late 20's or early 30's, in sports gear carrying his professional grade...

...badminton racket. Gotta love it. That is a confident man!

As promised - me shooting things!!

2007-10-30T16:45:00.000+02:00

Again, my animal sensitive readers, they were only clay pigeons, not real ones. I would never shoot anything that was living (at least no animal). I swear there is a story out there about how I went fishing with my dear friends in W. Virginia and cried after I caught my first fish. I couldn't stand the fact that I had killed something myself (even though it was a stocked pond and the point was to kill them for dinner). I was staring at the fish at the end of my line and just burst into tears while getting my picture taken with it. My dear friend Erik was quick to action and managed to get it off the hook and back into the pond before it actually died. I was grateful and then was promptly put on the pond's first catch & release program. Although, we did have to hide the program from Erik's mother, since she was really looking for a good fish haul for dinner that night!

So...here are the pictures of me learning to shoot. Now, our friend Anthony (you might recognize him from our previous boating/synchronized swimming expedition) is from Virginia. This is why he has guns and shoots things - I think. Anyway, Anthony took us to a shooting range just outside the city. He has 2 guns, but obviously too big for me. I got lucky that a lovely Swiss woman was at the range who was about my size and had her own gun. She very kindly offered me a chance to shoot it and even taught me how to do it.

Graham also shot things, but I didn't get any pictures. Whoops! I was still on my trigger high and missed his shooting.

Anthony did the whole course since he's done it before.

Here are the pics and I'm going to try to get a video loaded...

Graham and Anthony inspecting the gear.
Lining up on the course.
A good shot. I was impressed by how good he was - he hit a lot of targets, half of which I didn't even see!
I just fell in love with this older gentleman who was also shooting. His outfit was from another generation - great tweed blazer with elbow patches, a fantastic leather cartridge case, brown corduroys, button up vest, tie, the hat - just perfect. He also had a wonderful spirit - all smiles and shrugs and cute things in French!
Here he is taking aim.
This is the lovely woman that let me borrow her gun and taught me how to shoot.

Here I am with my ear protection (very necessary) and watching them go through the course.

My first lesson...
Taking aim...
and missing completely. Not even close. I didn't even see the clay pigeon and I have no idea what I was aiming at. Plus, the kickback really does hurt!
I love this picture of the 3 of them. It's great. Doesn't the man in the middle look fabulous?? I just wanted to take him home.

Okay, I'm attempting to upload a video of me shooting here, but I've never loaded video before on the site, so we'll see what happens!

SA Pictures Ready...

2007-10-30T10:25:00.001+02:00

Again, in no particular order - certainly not chronological:

This is me with the dog that I want when we finally own a home with a yard large enough to let him roam. It's a Rhodesian Ridgeback. This particular dog belonged to the owners of one of the wine estates in Franschhoek. He was too cute. I might even want 2! However, my mother cannot imagine me with a dog since they shed & drool and therefore I would be constantly walking around behind them with a vacuum.

This is me with the head of Public Relations, El-dez, at Glen Carlou in the Paarl Valley. They have a great chardonnay that you can actually buy in the US if you look hard enough (I even think it's sold in PA). Visit their estate. It's gorgeous. Their tasting room is beautiful and I love their dogs (see above photo - I wanted to kidnap...um, dognap...him, but he seemed so happy on the wine farm that I thought my 90 sq. m. apartment in Geneva might disappoint him).

By the way, every time I'm in SA and near Cape Town. I force Graham to take me wine tasting. I love it. It's the most beautiful landscape in the world. You should plan a trip - all of you. Call your travel agent. Get on Expedia.com. Do what you have to do...

This is the ostrich in front on L'Ormarins (one of my favorite estates - it's been closed for 2 years for renovations, but is finally open. Their 1998 Merlot was one of the best wines I've ever had). Graham would like me to admit that I was taunting the ostrich (I'm not a huge fan of poultry to begin with and these are darn big and they scare me) because I had eaten ostrich the previous night for dinner. Okay, before you animal lovers go all crazy on me, they raise ostrich in SA to be eaten. So unless your a strict vegetarian, I don't want to hear it. They are delicious, low in fat, and are very expensive in other countries. And before you throw stones - they eat horse here in Switzerland. You heard me - horse. I don't go near that, so throw something at the Swiss first!

I just like the background in this photo and that the ostrich is getting riled up by my taunting!

Here we are with Andrew, Kelebogile (best name ever - I love to say it), Graham and I. We stayed with Andrew in Cape Town on Friday night. They were excellent and gracious hosts and their house is gorgeous. It's way up in Fresnye (I think that's right) and has spectacular views. Andrew is another person who's house I've stayed at (in fact it's where we were staying when we got engaged - not this house, but his house in Sea Point), but I had never met in person. So, it was such a pleasure to finally meet him, even if he did accuse me of stealing Kelebogile's socks!! See what I mean about her name - every chance I get. I love it.
This is the view from Andrew's guest room. Not a good picture because of the camera, but you get the idea of how amazing the views are...

Even better shot from the guest room.

It was also Andrew's birthday on Saturday night. He was 45. It was a lovely party. Good food, good people, and Kelebogile gave him a baby grand piano. You heard me right folks - now that is a birthday gift. I hope Graham remembers that my 30th is just around the corner. No Mom & Dad, I don't want the old upright that you just pushed into the backyard!

Here's just a bad, but somewhat cool shot of the outside of Andrew's place at night.

Here's Graham getting ready for Clifton Beach. Yes, the car is the infamous Jam Jar that still belongs to us in SA. This was Saturday in Cape Town and we wanted to at least put our feet in the ocean...

This is me watching the storm clouds roll in - I have a knack for bringing rain to South Africa. That's why they like me so much.

Finally, getting our toes in! Despite it looking like a beautiful day, it was actually quite cold and the water was FREEZING. The kind of icy cold that numbs your skin to the point of no feeling and then when the feeling comes back it burns like no body's business. Kind of like the big pool at the Woodstock Rec back in the day. You WST folks know what I'm talking about!

And finally...

Me getting on to KLM to go back to Geneva. Boo!!!

Fly thru the rest of SA

2007-10-30T10:21:00.001+02:00

Okay, because it's taking me so long to get through my SA recap, I'm just going to wrap it up in one last post with lots of pictures, so stay with me. In no particular order, here we go:

**Check that. The blog site is having some issues with loading pictures. They are working on it, so stay tuned.

Also, coming up: Graham and I go clay pigeon shooting. There is even video!

Thursday...more good times for me.

2007-10-23T23:16:00.000+02:00

So Graham kept right on working. He was doing about 4 meetings a day and covering some serious ground. The man can work. I hope certain people appreciate that...

First thing in the morning we went to my favorite flour shop, Dunkeld Fruit & Flowers, to buy some flowers for Marlene. I love this place. It's just fantastic. You pick out the flowers that you want and after you pay for them, they mix and arrange your bouquet for you. It is always stunning. Here I am with my fabulous mixer:

While Graham was doing his meetings, I got to hang around and drink good wine while eating good food. His meetings were in a new development in JHB. I don't remember what it's called. Graham will have to remind me. No, wait, I remember now - Melrose Arch. It's a new shopping & restaurant development around some office buildings. Very lovely.

I wandered around the shops and then settled in for lunch at the Meat Co. Graham came to join me for lunch and help me with my bottle of wine. This was my view...

We had a fantastic waitress, who told me I was too old to not have children (and you thought your mother-in-law was direct!) and we had a great meal. I had the Biltong salad, which I highly recommend. Afterwards Graham ran off to another meeting and I finished the wine...

Okay - back to recapping the rest of our SA trip...

2007-10-23T22:59:00.000+02:00

After all the UNEP FI event and press excitement, we're back to Wednesday...

On Wednesday, I actually got a break and was able to catch-up on some very needed sleep. Graham went off to his appointments that morning and for his CNBC interview. Meanwhile, I slept in.

Graham and I were staying at Graham’s old professor, (she looks way too young to have ever been his professor) Marlene’s, house for the week in JHB. I’ve actually stayed at Marlene’s before when Graham was house sitting on one of my visits, but I never actually had the chance to meet Marlene. Her house is gorgeous. It was one of my favorites when I saw it the first time, but she has recently redone her dining room, kitchen & living room, which made it all the more stunning. Her kitchen was done in lacquered red cabinets. I have seen this in an interior design magazine and thought that it was way too flashy for a real kitchen, but to see it in person and in use, I completely changed my mind. It fit Marlene and her home beautifully. Marlene’s backyard is a little paradise. She has a small rock pool (South Africans refer to them as plunge pools – literally small pools you just jump in to cool off) with a waterfall, lovely lawn space with wonderful plantings, and my favorite part of all is the wide and long veranda with a table that seats about 10. Perfect for outdoor dinner parties and a hostess' dream. She had also just put on a deck addition to the master bedroom suite that included an outdoor shower. I covet an outdoor shower. Every since my bucket showering on our game hike, I have been dreaming of having an outdoor shower. If you’ve never showered outside, you are really missing out. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures, which is such a waste because I would have loved to share them! Um...of the house. Not of me in the outdoor shower. There will be no sharing of those...not that they exist...

Anyway, Marlene’s house is wonderful and a perfect place for a good rest. And rest I did. I was still feeling the jet lag from the U.S. to Geneva leg of my travels, so I managed to sleep in and read until 12 pm. It was heaven.

When I awoke, Marlene’s mother who was visiting from Durban was downstairs waiting for Marlene to come home. She is just about as lovely as they come in this world and we had a great bonding chat in the living room while we waited. Marlene came home and we spent a few hours hanging out in her new kitchen while she prepared dinner for that night.

My luck continued when Graham left me that evening to head out to a work related dinner. He spared me the occasion and left me to dine with Marlene’s family. What a joy. It must be very nice to have a mother, a sister, a niece and a brother-in-law that are so delightful. Wednesday was a great day for me!

Here I am with Marlene!

Wow - that's an awkward pose on my part!! It looks like something happened to my knees...

We've been spotted on TV...

2007-10-21T00:12:00.000+02:00

Just to prove that Graham and I are not hallucinating, a friend of ours emailed and said that she almost fell out of bed when she saw my name on TV over Graham's picture (I got credit for sending it in to CNN).

Okay, now I'm exhausted and have to go to bed. It's 12:15 a.m. and Graham has to be up at 5 a.m. to catch the bus to the airport for his big trip to Australia. He, of course, is not going to bed and is watching the replay of the game on Euro Sport. It will be a good way to force himself to sleep on the plane.

P.S. that last post is in the colors of the South African national flag...

SOUTH AFRICA WINS!!!!!

2007-10-20T23:30:00.001+02:00

They've done it! The Springboks have won the Rugby World Cup. They have defeated England 15 - 6. What a game!! It wasn't pretty, but they got the job done.

My throat hurts from yelling insults and my arms hurt from pounding my knees, but wow, was it fun to watch!

The U.S. doesn't know what they are missing not having some type of National team to really cheer for...it's great to beat other countries!!

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/

One more thing...

2007-10-20T23:29:00.001+02:00

Another side note from the Rugby World Cup – Graham was on TV again!! I sent his picture from Friday into CNN iReport. We got a call from one of their journalists this morning and this evening his picture was featured on CNN with my name across the screen.

How fun!

We’re very nervous right now as we’re waiting for the game to start. I was wrong about the time; it’s 7 pm Pairs time, 9 pm Geneva time and 3 pm US Eastern time.

I’ll report on the results as soon as it’s over! Go BOKKE!

BIG SIDE NOTE

2007-10-19T20:12:00.000+02:00

Okay, I realize I'm in the process of recounting my SA trip, but I'm going to bring it back to real time for a moment.

Tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Geneva time - that's 1 p.m. Eastern time in the U.S. - the South African National Rugby team plays England in the Rugby World Cup. It's a HUGE deal for countries who have national rugby teams (yes, we have one in the U.S. And no, we're not very good, but we did import several guys from South Africa and Tonga who give it a decent showing).

We really want South Africa to win! We're very excited in our house. Honestly, I'm excited. I'm like my mother - an excellent, first-rate spectator. Even if I have no idea of the rules or really have ever watched the sport before. Despite the fact that half the time I'm watching rugby I'm screaming "Foul!" at who-knows-what (it's a violent sport for heaven's sake), I still really enjoy watch the Springboks (the nickname for SA. BTW way - I believe that the English team's nickname is the Roses. Seriously, that name alone deserves a serious a**whooping. Who names a sports team after a flower?? There was nothing better in England? Even the English Pints - much more of a national symbol - would have been better. Zero points for creativity) kick the daylights out of other teams.

Anyway, today was national green & gold day for South Africa and so here are Graham and I getting ready to face the day wearing our SA gear:

For those concerned - yes, I know I'm an American, but our rugby team didn't make the finals and just for the record, in 1998 at the Soccer World Cup in Paris, I was decked from head to toe in Red, White & Blue. I have photos to prove it. And video, but I sincerely hope my Uncle Don has destroyed the tape because my celebrating was really good!! Too good in fact to ever want to be witnessed again by me...

So, please cheer for the South African Springboks on Saturday night. They are way better than England and SA's "pretty boy" player is way more manly - always a good reason to support at team (ahem - Tom Brady). Go Bokke!!

Graham in the News!

2007-10-18T20:29:00.000+02:00

And on it! After the success of the JSE, a story landed on the front page of SA's financial paper about some comments by one of the speakers. It was big news in SA and Graham is mentioned at the end:

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A578848

He was also interview on CNBC Africa with his boss, Paul Clements-Hunt and the main author of the survey from UNISA. I have to admit that he was very good on camera and his family was very proud!!

JSE and Graham's big event on Oct. 2nd

2007-10-18T15:05:00.000+02:00

On Tuesday morning we had a lovely breakfast with an old colleague of ours from SEI, Cyndi. It was really great to see her again and it seems like a good time to have reconnected because she is on the move in SA and doing really well.

After that, Graham went on a series of meetings for UNEP FI (United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative - the reason why we're in Geneva to begin with) and I hung about and enjoyed the peace. Finally, we made our way to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange or JSE. Graham had a big event planned that evening at the JSE to launch a research report that he and colleagues had been working on about the state of Responsible Investment in South Africa. UNEP FI's research partner was UNISA or the University of South Africa. So now you know what I mean when I say that we're in JHB at the JSE with UNEP FI and UNISA. Yes?

Here's Graham prepping for the JSE event:

Now, a lot of people worked hard on this project and Graham was hired after the research was finished and the report was being worked on. However, he still worked incredibly hard on the project, the report writing (he was a co-author), the event, and was one of the speakers as well. Normally, I'm all for giving credit where credit is due, but it's been a rough week with me and UNEP FI for reasons I will keep to myself, so I'm gonna get stingy on this one.

Graham did a fantastic job. He really is a marvelous speaker and could probably make a good living on just doing speaking engagements - this is why he teaches MBAs, people. He also really connected with the other speakers, the audience and the people who were running the organization for the event. A lot of the people at the event were contacts of his that he had from years ago. And above all else, he can work a room like no one else. It's a fantastic skill that I do not possess and I far as I can tell, there are not too many people that do. I have been more than impressed with how good Graham's relationship management abilities are and he must have been a sight to behold when he was younger and managing the SA financial circuit. Also, all the speakers for this event were marvelous. I'm not exaggerating. It had to be the best group of financial services/research speakers that I have heard in my career, which is quite a feat. There was such a great vibe after the event. Everyone stayed around afterwards for a long time and there were some really great outcomes from the evening. However, there is one small item that did get to me and it's my only negative from the experience...

I find it interesting that a few members of Graham's new "work team" struggle to acknowledge his very distinguished almost DECADE long career in FINANCIAL SERVICES in, of all places, South Africa an EMERGING MARKET. I was a little surprised at how many people he works with in UN circles seem to ignore his CV when he can make meetings happen in SA with the top financial people in the market that no UN moniker could get on it's own. Go ahead, ask him who he met with while he was there and try to tell me you could have gotten meetings with those people. Seriously - he had a career in South African Financial services that is longer than most of their ONLY careers. Oh, did I mention that it was also in FINANCIAL SERVICES. He's a Certified Financial Planner. He knows this stuff cold. He works with the UN because he believes in it, not because he's aching to be a diplomat or because there is no other work that he can do. I know I'm sounding a bit testy, but this is a point that really burns me some days. If people's security levels would just come up a bit and see that it is in fact a team and not about just one individual or another, I think everything would work so smoothly.

Okay, okay, I realize I'm a bit biased because he's my husband, but it's my blog and I'll have my moments if I want to!!

Anyway, that was my only beef. Other than that, fantastic event. Fantastic research and work by the UNEP FI team.

We also met some really amazing people who were really impressed with the UNEP FI's work in SA. They have such momentum there and should really be thrilled with the work that has happened up to now and will continue to happen.

In JHB at the JSE with UNEP FI & UNISA

2007-10-16T22:41:00.000+02:00

Confused yet?? Me too! I have determined that I cannot possibly get a full time job here in GVA because I'm busy learning all the acronyms that Graham now has to memorize so that we can speak the special code of NGOs and IOs.

First things first, we flew to Johannesburg (JHB) on Monday. Actually, I flew Monday morning on my scheduled flight. Graham had managed to have his changed without telling me until after I booked my flight. SO, I spent Monday morning and some of the afternoon at the JHB airport waiting for Graham to arrive from meetings in CPT (Cape Town - are you with me yet?).

Felt eerily similar to my first ever trip to South Africa that no one in the world knew about but Graham and I, where I managed to wait for what seemed like an eternity for G to show up. I actually had started to panic when he wasn't there to greet me (for goodness sake people - I was 23 and in Africa for the first time after accepting the offer of a virtual stranger to fly there after only meeting him once. I was starting to think, "Oh my goodness, I'm going to be that girl that everyone talks about on Dateline. You know the one. The one that all her friends and parents say that she seemed like a smart girl, with a firm head on her shoulders, straight A's, good college, never in any trouble. So they cannot for the life of them figure out why she flew to Africa to meet a virtual stranger and her body was found in a suitcase in Fiji 3 months later.")
Okay, so I'm being a bit melodramatic, but it felt that way. Good news is Graham arrived after being stuck in traffic and here we are almost 7 years later and everything is fine. Now, please - Mom & Dad, erase that last paragraph from your memory and I shall never mention it again.

Whew - so back in JHB (Johannesburg folks - stay with me) Graham finally arrived and we had enough time to dash off to drop our bags at Marlene's (more on her later) and meet up with some old friends of Graham's for dinner. These are 3 of my favorites all around and now I can add Warren's beautiful fiance to the list. Here we are on 4th Street, Parkhurst dining:

Left to Right: Keith, yours truly, G, Christine, Warren, Charles.

Ladies, these are 3 really dishy men (okay honey - 4, but you were taken a long time ago), but now you've missed your chance and 2 of them have been snapped up by some very smart women (okay, the guys are pretty darn lucky too). When I say, "Get on a plane to South Africa - they have the best men.", please listen to me! In fact, my lovely friend Jen will be marrying a SAFA in February. I don't want to hear about how you're still single if you have yet to plan your trip. Charles is still available and I do have permission from my husband to say that he is in fact adorable.

Lecture complete. I will get to the JSE UNEP FI UNISA acronyms in the next post.

Arriving in Villiersdorp

2007-10-16T21:19:00.000+02:00

Graham's parents were kind enough to come pick us up at the Cape Town airport when we arrived late on Friday night.

SIDE NOTE: We flew KLM - not my favorite airline, but you all know I can be quite demanding. They just are not really known for their discretion. If you're the kind of person that gets flush in the cheeks when someone mentions having to use the ladies' room, than please do not mention to the air hostess on your next KLM flight that you need an extra blanket. She will surely announce to the entire flight that you are a pathetic American unable to keep your own body warm and therefore your life is pointless. Yes, they are THAT kind of indiscreet.

Graham was feeling very ill with a flu, so we headed back to his parents' house and set up a warm & snugly (did you know that snugly is spelled with one "g" or so my all knowing spell check says?? It just doesn't seem right without the extra...) camp for the weekend.

Here is Graham & his Dad with their new Ibex caps (BTW: Yes, it gets cold enough for caps in Cape Town - they are far closer to Antarctica than we are my friends!!).

We also had a lovely visit on the first weekend with Graham's sister Leanne and her husband Donald, and our 2 nieces Kendall & Mia. Here's us on the lawn having some girl talk:
We had a nice rest of the weekend just catching up and relaxing. Graham seemed to be on the mend as well. I guess he just needed a little mother inspired TLC and some good old Corenza C (a effervescent cold/flu remedy), which I like to fondly forget the name of and refer to it as Lorenzo D. Just to confuse those crazy South Africans and make my husband shake his head.

Off to South Africa

2007-10-16T17:05:00.000+02:00

So for those of you that are following my travels and not merely looking at the pictures...

I arrived back in Geneva with enough time to turn around and get on a plane to South Africa the next day.

Graham had a big research launch at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange during the week and we made a plan to see his parents in Villiersdorp on both the bookending weekends.

So, off we went...

Hiking in the Northeast Kingdom

2007-10-15T19:44:00.000+02:00

Now you'll be able to see where my poem first came from...I love Vermont in the fall. It's just the most wonderful place for me. I love the smells and the temperature and the leaves and the holidays and the back to school time. I know, really, what kid loves back to school. Me. Sad to say that I'm a complete and utter dork, but I loved the beginning of the school year. There really was nothing that I didn't love about growing up in Vermont in Autumn. I remember the first time I came home from working in PA and I hadn't been in Vermont for fall since I was 18 and I almost cried when I got out of the car to the freshness and wonder of it all.

So, to revel in that, my parents took me for a hike in the Northeast Kingdom of VT. The leaves had already changed further north from Woodstock and it would be better viewing. The drive was even spectacular.

So here we are, hiking near Lake Willoughby:
Dad - looking all hiking cool.
The summit view.
Dad again - hard to get Mom into the pictures. She's really not a fan.
There she is!! Finally. I had to con her into the photo.
Hard to see the leaves on the hills in this photo, but if you click on it to make it larger, there are a little clearer.

Love this photo. I love the way the colors move across the hills.

Dad trying to get his own snaps...
Finally, me on the way down. Love that all black look. Really good use of fall colors!

Ode to Vermont in Autumn

2007-10-15T19:20:00.001+02:00

Ode to Vermont in Autumn

It's not just the smell of moss gently warmed in the orange and gold twilight.
Nor the cloying sweetness of candy corns on the way to haunted hay rides.

No, it cannot be just the leaves of ruby and amber that make the rolling hills a fall mosaic.
Nor the hikes that get finished just as the crisp evening air begins to settle.

It's not just the kids in their Halloween costumes or the pumpkin picking excursions ending in a corn maze.
And it's not just the scent of decaying leaves and the soft rolling smoke of bonfires.

It cannot be just the smell of fresh cut grass waiting for the season's last soccer game.
Nor is it the millions of stars twinkling in the black and infinite country sky.

What can it be that makes Autumn in Vermont like no other place for me?
It is all these things and the way they cradle my precious memories.

I'll be waiting for the Pulitzer. Just remember that you knew me when...