Turkey Trot

This afternoon at H's school, grades 3-5 participated in the annual Turkey Trot. Since I was working from home today, I took a little break to cheer him and the other kids on. H may be one of the smallest, but he's definitely one of the fastest. Four laps around the school on a brisk 40 degree day, he came in third place out of all the 3rd grade kids. He didn't win the turkey, but it was awesome to watch. I may have a new running buddy! (At least for a mile). I even got to say 'Hi' to C who was outside with his classroom cheering the athletes on.

Funny story. I got to the school and my camera lens was completely messed up. It looked like water got on the lens and made it bubble somehow. I had to use my iPhone to take pictures since there was a big giant blurry spot in the middle. I was freaking out a bit and was all ready to go to the camera store. But then I came home, looked at past pictures, and found the culprit -- C's lollipop from the photo shoot yesterday. All it took was a little bit of water to clean it off. Thank goodness.

Out of Control Camera

H hijacked my camera tonight. He usually takes much better pictures than this, but I still thought they were kind of funny.

Globes, Globes ... Are Everywhere!

And I like it! I totally have an obsession with globes, maps and atlases. This trend is right up my alley. (Globe Chandelier by Benoit Vieubled via Black*Eiffel, others by ImagineNations via Design*Sponge).

Happy 4th Birthday Storm!

You are the best dog E V E R ! And definitely worth ever bit of that giant scoop of peanut butter you enjoyed after dinner.

Korean BBQ with Friends

I have to admit, Korean BBQ is something I really enjoy eating -- but for some reason, we rarely go out for it. So I was super excited when our friends Sun and Carlos suggested going to San Soo Gab San for dinner. First of all the company was awesome. And the food and drink wasn't bad either. Sun is Korean, and for the first time ever, I knew what all the banchan was that we were eating. It was delicious, and just a really great evening. Can't wait to do it again.

Relax

So, the foot is doing great. I'm still in a boot for another week (at least). It doesn't hurt, but it sure is making me slow down a bit -- which isn't a terrible thing, really. While we are on the theme of relaxing, aren't these NESTRESTs great? I kind of wish our back yard had trees to hang some of these! (Designed by Daniel Pouzet and Fred Frety, via Black*Eifel ... again). 


P.S. I know it may seem like there's not much going on around here since we got back from Germany. In some ways, you are SO right. For the most part though, it's absolutely insane right now. Most of it is only good and exciting stuff. Some of it, not quite so much. But for now, it's nothing to write about here. Plus, our computer is completely kaput, which doesn't make blogging super easy. Hopefully I'll get some more cute pictures of my cute family up here soon.

Still Falling

Walking the Rope

I started watching Man on Wire last night. It's a (not new) documentary about Phillipe Petit -- the high wire artist who walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Unfortunately, I was exhausted and couldn't finish watching it (I will some time this week...). But what is sticking in my mind is the images of him dangling in the sky on a thread. I don't have the best balance -- in fact, you might even say I can be very clutsy at times -- so I can't imagine ever getting the nerve to even walk a tightrope that is a foot off the ground, yet alone 110 stories up in the air. These images of him walking between the Notre Dame, Sydney Harbor Bridge, and the World Trade Center are eerie and exciting. They make my stomach drop and are absolutely breath-taking at the same time.

Beauty

The day of my surgery, despite the fact the I thought I was just fine, my friend's had enough sense to realize I was pretty out of it. Melissa picked up the boys from school, and was taking them to her house for the afternoon. But before they did that, she brought them by so they could see that I was ok. They each came in holding roses and a get well balloon. It was the sweetest delivery ever. Melissa said they both insisted on getting roses. They couldn't find purple (my favorite color), so found the next best thing -- red and pink. Aren't they gorgeous? Thanks boys (and Melissa)!

Art by H: People

Art by C: Robot

Modern Farmhouses

Today was not your average day -- I had to have foot surgery. I'll of course be fine, but I absolutely hate being laid up like this. [Although, I imagine my toe will start throbbing at some point -- but I'm not going to think about that.] To top things off, I am on my own right now. If it weren't for some amazing friends, I'm not sure what I would have done. Seriously, I dropped the boys off at The Frigs before the sun came out so they could take H & C to school. Then, Melissa, Amy and I loaded up in the mini-van and headed downtown. I have never had to have a surgery that I had to sleep for, and I admit, I was petrified. But it really wasn't so bad. Kind of magical, actually. I woke up feeling really very good. [Pain meds are great, aren't they?] Nevertheless, my doctor was very adamant about someone needing to stay with me to supervise. This was not in the plans at all. But my friends completely altered their day to play nurse. Amy worked remotely from my house. And Melissa brought food, picked up the boys and took them home with her. She also made us dinner. Seriously, can a person be any luckier than me with friends like that? I don't think so.

Anyhow, that story is a bit longer than I wanted. But the point is, I've been sitting on the sofa all day, going through some of my blog archives. Among those were these amazing farmhouses by Vermont architects Birdseye Design. Yes, please. (via Black*Eiffel)

Germany - The End

We had to leave the house by 5:30 a.m. our last morning, so were up at the crack of dawn. I have to say, the boys were such troopers throughout this whole trip, and especially on this day. We had been on kind of a strange sleep pattern the entire time -- staying up a bit later, and sleeping late (I would have to set my alarm for 8:30 a.m. -- we never, ever, sleep that late normally). But they woke up without many complaints, and were really great. We even made it to our flight with a one-hour layover in Amsterdam without a problem. The flight was really good -- we all watched a bunch of movies, which made the time go pretty fast. And when we landed, my dad was there to meet us at the airport with Storm, which was a great homecoming. It was such a great vacation. Yes, the weather was cold and a bit rainy, but it was amazing to get to hang out with these people who I really consider a second family. Even after so many years have gone by, it's like I never left. It's a pretty special thing, if you ask me. And I'm so happy I got to share it with Brian and the boys. I cannot wait until we see each other again.

Germany - Day 10

Believe it or not, we left the birthday party pretty early. It started at 3:00, so by the time we left, we had been indulging for several hours already. We went home, and stayed up until the wee hours again drinking wine. (We were very productive though, and even planned an amazing motor home vacation we hope to take in a couple years.) The morning after, we headed back to Andrea's for a huge breakfast feast -- and some left-over sweets and ice-cream. That afternoon, Brian, the boys and I went to Möbel Kraft, which was an absolute zoo, then drove to Henstedt-Ulzburg for coffee and cake at Stefan's house. Stefan now lives in the house we lived in when I was an exchange student for a year. It's a beautiful home -- despite the fact that as soon as I left the house, they turned my tiny bedroom into a bathroom and I've never forgiven them since. (Just kidding. Kind of.) We rushed back so Andrea & Andreas could pick me up so I could go with them to take their son M back to school. He goes to a boarding school close by, and was home for Fall Break. It was a beautiful school. Afterwards, we just hung out a bit, and had dinner. It was a nice, quiet night.