MIA

Yes, we have been seriously missing in action for quite a while. I have not been in the blog-updating mood. It's not that nothing happened over the past many months, I just wasn't feeling witty and creative and write-y (not that my writing is all that witty or creative). Since our fabulous trip to Morocco/Spain/Portugal (just writing that makes me want to go back), we have been keeping ourselves busy.

On the train in Portugal

Mark got home long enough to unpack and repack, before heading off to Costa Rica for a week. As soon as he returned from that mini-adventure, he started an even bigger adventure, working as the Warehouse Operations Manager (aka the Director of GSD ... which stands for Get "Stuff" Done [I'm keeping this rated G]) for Spidertech Kinesiology Tape. If your wondering what that all means, just know that it's magic tape that makes your aches and pains go away. (Sorry to confuse you with all my high-tech scientific talk!) If you want to know more about it, ask my dad. He loves it. Or you could ask Mark, as he would be able to explain it more professionally than I apparently can.

The bright blue stuff on the arms and legs of this
creepy black mannequin is SpiderTech tape.

Our summer was filled with barbecues, hikes, bikes, and even a raft trip or two ... and for me, a too-quick, but very fun, trip back to New Jersey/Connecticut/Massachusetts to see the family (during the big hurricane, of course).

Ella and Sabrina watching the storm roll in
Plymouth, MA

Then in the fall, it was back to Costa Rica for what had to be one of the most difficult-to-put-on World Rafting Championships ever. I won't bore you with the details, but the "highlights" include two weeks of soggy, ant-infested tents, mildewy laundry, monster-sized moths and bugs in the bathrooms, cold showers, slippery-slope hikes down to the river, and a bunch of unappreciative athletes (not all of them, but the vocal minority were really annoying). But we survived, and now, after 10-plus years, Mark is officially retired from the International Rafting Federation. And it is their very serious loss.

Did I mention our camera died at the end of the Portugal trip.
This is one of four photos I took in Costa Rica, using my camera phone.

Thanksgiving, my folks came out for a fabulous visit. We ate delicious food, tasted some incredible local wines, and had lots of laughs. I wish they (and the rest of our families) lived closer, so we could spend more quality time like that together.

Family fun at Bitner Winery

Winter was very mild here. We did make it up to Sun Valley for a yurt trip for our 10-year (holy cow!) anniversary. But other than that, we've been hanging out in Boise, working on the house and having fun with friends.

No photos of the yurt trip. The camera was kaput, and our phone batteries died due to the cold. The few photos I did have (courtesy of our good friend Daphne Muehle, who just moved to Idaho), I proceeded to delete from my computer ... along with ALL of the rest of my photos. Oops!

Now spring is coming fast, and the rivers are rising. We already have two river trips planned for the summer, and possibly even a trip at the end of this month (brrrr!!). We also hope to get out to the East Coast and then to Australia. Unfortunately, this real job gig of Mark's is getting in the way of our usual fun travel times. It's tough being a grown-up!

The first blooms in our garden

We hope all is well with all of you and that we get to see a bunch of you sometime this year (come visit! Boise is wonderful!). And maybe we'll even write again sooner rather than later with another update (lucky you!).

Catching Up

There is so much to post here, but it's late and I am tired. So I will just send out a little note letting those who are interested know that Mark made it to Manchester, England, just fine. Last I heard, he was "packing gear right now--2 duckies [2-person inflatable kayaks], 2 life jackets, 2 helmets, 2 paddles and my gear--all in 2 bags. Then i get to lug it all on the train tonight, switch stations, and get to Gatwick at 2pm and fly out [to Marrakech] at 8. Will be an adventure."

In the meantime, I am here in Hamden, CT, with my folks. We had a great weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, their three beautiful girls, Nana, Karen, my cousin Debra, her folks, Rab, Julie, and a bunch of neighbors and friends I had never met before. All to celebrate Ground Hog's Day. Today the girls and I trudged through three feet of snow on an adventure of our own along the trails behind my parents' home. Who needs a gym when you are "postholing" up to your thighs with every step?

Pictures to come soon, along with a photo update of our past two months of good times and construction projects. In the meantime, here are two of the three gorgeous nieces and a whole pile of snow:

I'll also post the news from Mark (along with any photos he sends) as it comes in to me.

G'nite from snowy, sunny Connecticut!

[p.s. I don't have my camera here and am relying on my Android phone for camera shots. Never did get one of spunky Sabrina.]

La Pura Vida

Today's Guest Post is courtesy of Mark, who is living the sweet life this week down in Costa Rica.

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I am sitting at El Tigre (Rafa's farm house on the Pacuare), and it is raining like you wouldn't believe. The place is a rustic hut with solar electricity (we had to use a generator tonight, as the batteries are not working well). Except for the LED light above me, it is 100% dark. The rain is so loud, you can't even hear the jungle noises, and all I can think of is that you need to be here with me. [Ed Note: Awwww.]

This place is incredible, and I love it. Today's adventure was fantastic. We started out early, at 7 am, and cooked a breakfast of bacon, eggs, rice, and plantains. Then we got on ATVs and rode all around the area. (When we reached the road, that's when I called you from Rafa's phone.) Next we met the Rios Tropicales clients and went with them to the river. Had a fantastic day on the river and figured out how to do the time trial on the Pacuare. We plan to make it a community event, where we are going to plant trees and showcase how this river was saved from a dam. Once off the river, we had a late lunch at Cairo and then got a ride with the guides back to the ATVs and rode back here to the hut. We sat out on the open deck, listening to the rains come in as we figured out how to organize the World Rafting Champs. Beautiful.

Rafa is now asleep (8:22pm), and I am working on the event and putting all my notes down so we can remember everything. Anyway I just want you to know that as great a time as I am having, the most important thing is that it is not 100% complete as I am not sharing it with you. I promise you will see these places by October 2011 at the latest.

Hello Forties!

Thank you to all my family and friends for making the transition to 40 so wonderful. All the emails, cards, phone messages, phone calls, Facebook notices, generous gifts ... everything! It was all great, fantastic, more than I could have asked for. And I loved hearing the stories some of you had about my early days on this planet :-)

Yesterday was just about a perfect birthday. After sleeping in a bit, Mark and I hopped on our bikes and headed to Moon's Kitchen Cafe for breakfast. I veered (only slightly) from my usual breakfast of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and toast to try the special scramble of eggs, bacon, mushrooms, cheddar, and jalapenos, all eaten to the tunes of 50s and 60s music, that of course I sang along to while I ate, even though my dad always taught me there is "no singing at the table" ;-). Yum! We then walked around downtown and window-shopped/talked on our cell phones (me to Mom and Mark to a friend), checked our PO Box, and rode back home.

After a few quick fun emails, we dashed off to the gym (really), as this is just the beginning of a major food-frenzied week/month/rest of the year. I had enough time afterward for a quick shower before heading off to The Bungalow, where I met up with Heather, our dear, dear friend who helped convince us to move here (thank you, Heather!!). Lunch was delicious: tomato basil soup, butternut squash ravioli in a sage brown-butter sauce, accompanied by my new favorite cocktail: gin (or vodka; I'm not picky) tonic with muddled cucumber, mint, and lime. More yum! (Thanks for that too, Heather!)

Then I dashed across the street for a haircut and eyebrow grooming, helped Heather move a table into her dining room for Friday night's feast (more on that to come), and stopped by Sarah G's to return her cruiser bike (sad to see it go). I picked up a couple of dollar tacos for Mark from Parrilla Grill, as he had stayed home to clean up while I was out celebrating (what a guy). I then had enough time to squeeze in a teeny bit of work and take a few more birthday calls before heading off to the final festivity of the day.

This time we walked downtown (no more cruiser bike) to the Basque Market for one of their cooking classes. While we nibbled on tapas and sipped various Spanish wines, we watched as the owners of the market (Tony and Tara) taught us how to make braised lamb and then how to use the leftovers (HA! who ever has leftovers from lamb?!?) to make empanadas. Then we got to eat everything that was prepared. All so very yummy!

So glad we walked, as it felt great to walk off all the wonderful food as we recapped the day. The stars were out (the rain/snow storm that had been predicted decided to delay itself, just for me), the air was crisp and cold, we crunched through leaves. Just what a fall birthday night should be.

Of course, the camera did not make it out of the house even once, so no photographic proof of my wonderful birthday. But lots of memories that will not be soon forgotten, even if the mind is the first to go now that I'm "old."

More Catching Up

So, Mark is off in China (Hong Kong, Shanghai, and then Taipei) with his business partner, Dave. They're checking out all the factories, eating all sorts of interesting and yummy food (floating chicken head soup anyone?), and getting nightly foot massages while sipping drinks and watching soccer/football. Rough life! He was going to update the blog personally (I know ... shocker! It would have been nice to have a guest blogger.), but he's getting in to his hotel after midnight each night and leaving around 6 or 7 a.m. (I know this, because we are 13 hours apart, and I chat with him on Skype every night and every morning/noonish when he's getting ready to go or coming home to sleep. In fact, he's "on" my other screen right now. We aren't really chatting, but he's catching up on emails, and I'm writing about him--are your ears burning, Mark?--This Skype thing really eases the loneliness factor on his long trips!).

But it's not all world traveling these days. We've also been doing stuff here on the "not-home" front. Cooking lots of yummy food (I have attempted to photograph some of the better ones, but they all come out looking gray and unappetizing . . . a proper food blogger I am not), trying to keep the weeds in the backyard from taking over (without actually really doing anything about it except mowing, and even that I'm failing at miserably, as the pull cord thingie decided to get stuck when I was not even 1/100th done with the backyard), catching up with friends and family here in the Dallas area (dinner with cousin Aaron, drinks with Lorena, visits with Dave and family), watching the grass grow thanks to all the rain, and, as always, going to the gym.

A couple weekends ago, I went on my first-ever road bike rally (as in road bicycle, not road motorcycle, though with the wind we had, a motorcycle would have been very nice!). It was at the Muenster Germanfest. And no, in answer to Lynn and Nanci, no cheese (though there used to be a cheese factory that is now painted to look like shops in an old German town--which you can see if you click on the link above). Just a lot of sausage and sauerkraut and Shiner Bock. And after my 22-mile bike ride, I felt that I had earned every bite and gulp--though I should mention that everyone else we were with did the 42- or 60-mile ride, so really I was pretty wimpy, especially since they had a headwind the entire way, and we had a tailwind for the second half (hallelujah). Mark was super nice and stayed with me and even let me draft behind him for some of the windier sections. He easily could have done the 40- or even 60-mile ride, what with his pistons-for-legs and incredible stamina. I thanked him profusely for not leaving me in the dust too much and for encouraging me all along the way (except for the occasional times when he picked up the speed and blasted away from me, making me realize how incredibly slow I am).

While Mark's been awayin the Far East, I've just been working, "gym-ing" (we have another challenge at the gym where you earn points for each class you attend; I think it's the only thing that gets me up off the couch most days), knitting (yes, I took up this hobby over the winter to give me something to do; I'm on my second scarf now. Too bad a scarf is not really needed here in Texas.), and trying to keep the bugs at bay. (Have I mentioned how much I HATE junebugs, slugs, moths, mosquitoes, and all the other bugs that think my house is their house? I've filled up the vacuum with live bugs that I capture with the longest hose attachment I can find, and now I'm wondering how I'm going to get them out. I'm sure they are dead by now, but if they are not, I know they'll all swarm out and attack me. I think I might just leave the canister full until Mark gets home. Yes, ew, but I am SUCH a wimp.).

So that's our life these days. I'm heading down to Austin next week, and then Mark returns. We have a couple week break, and then it's off to the Northern Rockies for a road trip with his folks. And, once again, any relevant photos that I have associated with this blog are not on my computer. In fact, I think they are all on Mark's computer in Shanghai. So, you'll just have to visualize all this until I get the Picasa site updated ... someday.