Amazing Grace

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Snow, Vodka Sauce and the Oscars

A morning snowfall, larger than expected, church cancelled, a dinner party with penne and vodka sauce and Wendy's moist and yummy chocolate butter frosting cake, and late night Oscar viewing while reading The Washington Post... that about sums up my day and night. Oh, I almost forgot, I was also introduced to a few short flicks and videos circulating the internet, some of which you might already know about: Weird Al's "White and Nerdy" and "Don't Download this Song" (available on You Tube), and "Lucas in Love", and a few others. I guess you can say it's been a day chock full of images. First, the beautifully white-covered trees and streets of Arlington, a little later the slosh, then came Weird Al, Raymond's creations, and at last an Oscar for Martin Scorsese. Boy, Hollywood is a whole other world. That's all I can say.

Back to reality of DC life. Several inches of snow, but 40 degree temperatures forecasted for Monday. Tomorrow I've got work. I've already received the email: "Open with unscheduled leave". That means you can take the day off if you are having problems getting to work, but it comes out of your annual leave. Wouldn't it be nice to institute more frequent 3-day weekends?

Saturday I spent mainly on I-95, making my way north to Hungtingdon Valley, PA, (north of Philly) for a bridal shower for my friend Steph, and then turning around and driving back to DC. Silly me... somehow I thought it was a 2-hour trip instead of 3! All in all it was a good day. There wasn't too bad traffic and the weather wasn't bad. I actually got to enjoy the sunshine while driving and channel surfing the radio waves. Despite my profound love for European (especially German and Czech) public transport, there is an unbelievable feeling of freedom and independence when one gets behind the wheel and hits the American freeways.

Well, this snow day has come to an end.

Hey, so when did the word precipitation get shortened to "precip"? I, for one, obviously am not in the in crowd.

Oh, wouldn't it be nice to have just one more day ...

Beach Patrol -- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Gotta love the fam. Here's Dad, Mom, Karen and Christian on Sunday afternoon in Myrtle Beach. The differences between Myrtle and DC were quite stark: no snow, no ice, 45+ degree weather, and of course, the ocean. However, it still took a bit of effort to brave the wind. For my part, I was all bundled up in my winter coat, scarf, hat, and gloves as extra protection against my already frustrating head cold.

I don't think I've ever been to the beach in the fall or winter; it was a welcome retreat from metro DC. There is definitely something peaceful about water. And, I'd add there is also something very soothing about watching birds on the beach. Perhaps this weekend was about taking time to watch the sea birds rather than smelling the roses!

Family time was very good-- it was just too short! We only got in one game of chinese checkers and I lost! My sister Karen beat me, which I took well. My mom, to her credit, proved a worthy challenger herself. I was sort of rooting for her, but of course, I gave her a hard time, talking smack. Haha. One of the other highlights of the weekend was my mom's amazing red velvet cake. It was gone way too fast and is already sorely missed.

On the down side, my plane was delayed several hours last night so I only got in after 11pm. It was a long night and today was quite exhausting. But, I'm off to the gym to do my exercises.

Enjoy Fat Tuesday. I splurged and made a quick batch of crepes as a treat.

After a long silence...

Hey there! Wow. It has been a while. Sorry for the absence... I'm not quite sure anymore who happens to read this. I'd love to think I have some loyal fans, but who knows?

To be honest, life has been running me a bit ragged recently. Well, I should say DC-life seems to consistently run me ragged! Ever since I got back to Washington, the pace of life has just been busy... NON-STOP... that reminds me of a lot of the signs for shops in the Czech Republic and Austria. Oh, those funny signs. One I forgot to share, which is a particular favorite, was for a pizza delivery place near my place in Prague 2 called "Pizza Go Home". You gotta love it. I think they intended to convey they delivered pizza, in effect, they offer pizza TO GO, but somehow they came up with "Pizza Go Home."

Anyway, my current work assignment has proved pretty stressful. I work on the hottest topic of the day... that hot spot country in the Middle East. I wont go into too much detail, but my days are consumed by Iraq and sometimes some of its neighbors. I'm learning a ton, which is good. After all, I consider myself to be a life time learner. It's good to be exposed to an area I've never work on before. I've been such a slavophile all these years!

I'm also having my share of health problems. Ouch! I've got bursitis in my right hip and sciatica. Yeah, I guess you might say I'm an 80-year old woman in a seemingly young person's body. Oh, and today's news is that the root canal I paid for out of my own pocket in Prague might have been done incorrectly. I've got some issues with my 2nd molar. I'd love to go to bed tonight and have it all go away. Do you every wonder why? Of course, we all must. I guess I just feel like the Lord is really intentionally slowing me down.

Well, that was a mouthful. That is me a nut shell after being back now almost 2 months. Yikes!

I'm really glad we have a long weekend ahead and that I made the decision to go to Myrtle Beach with my parents. They arrive Friday night and we drive down on Saturay morning. I also get to see my sister and brother-in-law, which will be fun. Can't wait to get out of metro-DC!!!