Archive for November, 2006

Conversion Averted

Posted in Miscellaneous on Thursday, 30 November, 2006| 4 Comments »

As a vegetarian, I get a lot of questions about what I eat, how I maintain a nutritious diet and, occasionally (only three I know of in 20 years) someone will decide to become a vegetarian themselves. More often than not, people want to cut out the amount of meat they eat and I’m happy to share any tasty recipes. In no way do I try to actually convert anyone to a meatless life ~ you either want to or not.  FM certainly hasn’t been swayed although he happily eats my meat-free meals at dinner (when I actually cook).  

My golf partner, T., was very curious about my recipes and I told her I get most of my new recipes every month from the Vegetarian Times magazine.  I hate throwing away my used magazines and, when in Germany I shared them with a fellow veggie, Alex. Since T. was so curious, I sent several back issues, via FM, to give to T’s husband who was suppose to take them home to T. You know, the husband postal service.  We’d done this with novels and have had no problems.

When we were all out at dinner the other night, I asked T. if she tried any of the recipes in the magazine. Suddenly, the table got very quiet and her husband looked down with a very guilty look on his face. I knew immediately what had happened ~ he threw away the magazines for fear his wife might become a vegetarian. It’s not like she’s an easily influenced 18 year old and, since I’m not a fan of someone who would actually censor his wife’s reading material, I’ve decided to give her “The Best of Vegetarian Cooking” for Christmas 😉

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Lunch at Tiffany’s

Posted in Miscellaneous on Tuesday, 28 November, 2006| 3 Comments »

So it wasn’t quite like Breakfast at Tiffany’s but I had a very elegant, delicious and informative  lunch at the Hyatt which was hosted by Tiffany’s store.  I sat at a table with 2 navy spouses and an air force spouse. The Navy life intrigues me so I asked lots of questions of those 2 ladies and they were equally interested in the strange army life.

Tiffanys had several of the spouses wear little black dresses so they could model the jewelry. There were so many gorgeous pieces and so many diamonds. Also present were several very muscular security guards keeping a close eye on everyone which I don’t blame them at all…one ring cost $24,000.  Yes, I have the right number of zeros 😉

I’m not much of a jewelry wearer. I basically wear my wedding ring/engagement ring and I’ll occasionally (rarely) throw on gold earrings and a necklace. The sales director gave us a brief lesson on what makes a Tiffany diamond special. He then offered for us to look through the special diamond magnifying machine so we could check out our own diamond. Three of us at the table looked at each other and all agreed we didn’t really want to take a look. Why would we want to see flaws or anything else since we were all emotional attached to our wedding rings. The fourth woman at our table sheepishly looked down. We asked if she wanted to check out her ring and she shyly said “Well, when I first got engaged, I had the ring appraised.”  Wow, that’s what I call one practical woman! She explained that she wanted to make sure the jeweler hadn’t cheated her soon-to-be husband. 

It’s unlikely I’ll be getting any Tiffany diamonds anytime soon ~ we spend all our disposable income (little that there is) on traveling. I’d rather have those great memories than a hard rock anyday.  

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A little shakin’ going on

Posted in Travel on Saturday, 25 November, 2006| 3 Comments »

After spending a very tranquil Thanksgiving with FM and FG, I curled up to my book club novel “The Red Tent” at about 9:45 p.m.  FG had just gone to bed and FM was in the living room going through old files. About 5 minutes later, the bed started shaking. At first, it reminded me of when Bennett would lean up against the bed and, with all 100 lbs of him, it would give the bed a good shaking. I could see Sport across the room curled up on his dog bed and Maya was in her crate for the night.  That’s when it hit me ~ an earthquake!

As I made my way down the hallway to see if FM felt it, FG came out of her room. Her bed is elevated on stilts (you know, the IKEA special) so her bed really shook. FM, who was sitting on the floor, felt nothing. And so much for dogs have the sixth sense to predict an upcoming earthquake ~ both dogs were sound asleep.

FG was quite shaken (pun intended) and ended up sleeping with me that night. The local paper reported the magnitude of the quake was 4.6 and located 35 miles southeast of Guam’s capital, Hagåtña. After hearing about the earthquake on the Big Island in Hawaii the day before, it seems the Pacific Rim is a rockin’ place these days! Rocking in the New Year may have a whole different meaning for us this year…

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Flashback Friday ~ Salzburg, Austria 2003

Posted in Flashback Fridays, Travels on Friday, 24 November, 2006| Leave a Comment »

In 2003, the day after a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with the Sims and the Martins, we caught an early morning train from Weiden,Germany to Salzburg, Austria. I almost cancelled because Bennett, our lab, had an eye infection and I didn’t want to leave him. Our neighbor, Stephanie, agreed to take him to the vet first thing in the morning and, much to FM’s relief, I reluctantly agreed to go.  Of course, I called several times that weekend to check Bennett’s medical status 🙂

Off we went to Mozart’s birthplace and the city where “The Sound of Music” was filmed.  There was a slight delay on our train ride ~ FM thought he had time to get a beer and a bratwurst in Regensburg where we had a 15 minute connection but the train took off without us.  He has yet to live that one down ~ FG likes to remind him about that ordeal everytime we take a train.

It was so cold the entire weekend but we walked the old city, road the incline to the castle and enjoyed all of it. We especially liked the gorgeous Christmas market which looked so magical at night with the lights shining bright.

Seems whatever city we’re in, the mimes are always so sweet to FG. This Salzburg mime was no exception:

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Having a gratitude attitude…

Posted in Miscellaneous on Thursday, 23 November, 2006| 2 Comments »

I once read an article in Time Magazine when I was a teenager living in Puerto Rico. There was a photo of an impoverished African man who laid on the ground and the caption read something like this: he comes from no where and has no where to go. He lays here waiting.

As I sat on a gorgeous beach, with my picnic lunch and read the article, I was overcome with gratitude for the life I was living. I knew then and there I was ‘priviledged’ ~ my family was far from rich but I felt like I owned the world.

Ever since then, I have been grateful EVERYDAY for everything in my life, even the challenges which only serve to make me stronger and more appreciative of what I do have.  My first thought each new day is “Thank you, God, for giving me one more day on this glorious earth.” And at the end of each day, I once again thank God for my day’s blessings. I am grateful to have shelter, running water and electricity which may seem so basic but, I always remember that some people have to walk miles for water and all I do is turn the faucet.  

On this Thanksgiving day, I am especially thankful for:

FM and FG who love me unconditionally. 

Good health.

Family and friends who, although they are far away,  continue to support and encourage me.

I want for nothing (OK ~ I do want a house on Puako Beach in Hawai) 😉

For living in a tropical paradise and meeting the wonderfully diverse group of  people on the island.

For having traveled all my life and knowing there is more goodness in the world than evil.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.   (John F. Kennedy)

Happy Thanksgiving to all !

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School Spirit Week

Posted in Favorite Girl on Monday, 20 November, 2006| 2 Comments »

Last week was School Spirit week and FG enjoyed dressing crazy all week. Her favorite day was “Wear your PJs” – especially getting to wear slippers to school.

Unfortunately, the school chose this day to present the five art finalists with their certificates and take photos. FG received 5th place in the school-wide art contest. I would post the drawing but I didn’t think to scan it before she turned it in. FM and I have ZERO artistic talent so I think FG takes after my sister, Jo.

It was also parent-teacher conferences ~ all’s well on that front except the teacher showed us some take home projects which were turned in early. FG’s class each picked a different building on base to duplicate. She picked an apartment building (barracks really, but they look like apartments to me) and she’s been working BY HERSELF on the project. Well, the one turned in is the base airfield and there is no way it was done by a third grader. It’s even built to scale. So my question is: how much do you “help” your child? I want her to learn to do projects on her own and to take pride in her own work. But it’s disheartening for her to see the other works of art ~ she thinks the kids did it on their own.

She also has a power-point presentation due on the Rainforest and has to make a diorama to augment her slideshow. She’s been working on it herself but when FM checked her work, he had to have a discussion about plagiarism ~ it’s was a little too easy for her to cut and paste off the internet 🙂 Since she wants to be a travel writer, she best learn now about not ‘borrowing’ someone else’s work.

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Friend for Sport

Posted in Animals, Favorite Girl on Wednesday, 15 November, 2006| 6 Comments »

Most people who know us won’t be surprised we’ve added a new puppy to our family ~ Maya.  She’s been adopted from the local animal shelter (G.A.I.N) and is sweet as can be. We brought her home on Saturday for what FG calls a “sleepover” so we could make sure Sport liked her.  They certainly look good together since Maya is the color of Sport’s spots. She’s a matching accessory 😉 

Since Sport is 11 years old, I didn’t want him to feel jealous and thankfully, he seems to like her a lot.  He’s been very lonely since Bennett died.

Sport actually started running around and playing like a young pup himself. That sealed the deal for Maya ~ she now has a new family and is officially off death row.

This is FG’s first experience with a puppy and she’s having to get use to Maya being underfoot ALL THE TIME. Needless to say, I am going through the ordeal of the puppy training ~ I’ll be really happy when she’s housebroken and doesn’t refuse to move everytime I put the leash on her.  She’s quite the charmer though so she makes us smile a lot.  

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Memories and Great Sadness

Posted in US Military on Sunday, 12 November, 2006| 3 Comments »

This week brings back very difficult, sad memories from two years ago when FM’s unit lost a lot of good men during the battle of Fallujah. No matter what I’ve been doing this weekend, my thoughts drift back to those awful days in November 2004. My friend, Heidi and her terrible loss 2 years ago has been on my mind even more intensely than usual. 

Throughout her terrible ordeal, she’s always handled herself with grace and she honors her husband, Sean, in everything she does:

Last night, as I was watching yet another episode of Law and Order, FM came in and asked me to change the channel to FOX news. A familiar face was on the TV. It was SSG(Ret) David Bellavia and he spoke at length about his time in Iraq with A Co. and how difficult it was to lose his Company Commander, CPT Sims and his Company Executive Officer, Lt Iwan and the Battalion Command Sergeant Major, CSM Faulkenburg.  He also spoke of the importance to not “cut and run” from Iraq and how we need to give the Iraqi people a chance at democracy. SSG Bellavia earned a Silver Star for his contributions in Iraq and also was up (and I think he still is) for a Medal of Honor.

About an hour later, FM once again called for me to watch something else on FOX and this time I saw SGT Mock on the TV.  The last time I saw him was at the 2-2 IN Welcome Home Ball and remembered him to be so polite, well spoken and nice ~ and so young, only 21 years old at the time of the ball.

As the FOX news clip played, I felt very unsettled. Why were they showing footage from two years ago? At the end of the interview, SGT Mock said something to the effect of: I will never attend another Memorial Day or Verteran’s Day event without thinking of all the men who gave their lives here (in Fallujah). Whew, I thought to myself ~ it’s just a Veteran’s Day piece. Unfortunately, the reporter then said SGT Mock wouldn’t have that opportunity, he died on 22 October 2006. FM and I gasped and both said “Oh, NO” at the same time.  He’d been serving again with 1ID but this time with 1-26 IN, 2nd Brigade. My prayers go out to his family who are in Kansas and I imagine he’s had another kind welcome home but this time he was greeted by all those great soldiers who went before him. 

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Veteran’s Day 2006

Posted in US Military on Saturday, 11 November, 2006| 1 Comment »

World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany, however, had ended seven months earlier with the armistice, which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Armistice Day, as November 11 became known, officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and a national holiday 12 years later. In 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans.

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all veterans.  Their committment requires that they leave their family and loved ones, they risk their lives and their health and for some, they make the ultimate sacrifice.  I appreciate all you do (or have done) to ensure our nation remains safe from those who seek to do us harm.

Poem to a Soldier  

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us a right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag.

                     by Father Denis Edward O’Brien, USMC

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Flashback Friday St. Martin’s Day Parade

Posted in Favorite Girl, Flashback Fridays, Germany on Friday, 10 November, 2006| 1 Comment »

St. Martin’s Day Parade 2001



St. Martin’s Day Parade 2002

One of my favorite traditions while living in Germany was the annual St. Martin’s Day parade which took place every November. When FG started kindergarten in 2001, she was able to participate in her first parade. The children take weeks making their own lanterns and then on St. Martin’s day at sundown, they march in a parade through town re-enacting the legend of St. Martin.

The legend (and parade) goes something like this: A knight, wearing a red coat, on horseback, rides through the town with the children following behind with their lanterns and singing songs about St. Martin. There is a beggar walking alongside the horse. Once they arrive at the kindergarten, where the bonfire is, the beggar asks the knight (St. Martin) for help. St. Martin takes off his coat, cuts it in half and gives the beggar half of the coat to keep warm. Then, St. Martin gives the beggar bread for his hunger. More songs are sung by the children and it is a festive time for all.

After the play is done, everyone enjoys warm glühwine and bread. Every year, it was so cold and the glühwine was very warm and tasty.

The first year FG participated in the parade, she was only three and there was a REAL candle in her lantern. Needless to say, I worried the entire time about these fire hazards. Thankfully, no one burst into flames that year so I was much less neurotic during subsequent parades.

Each year, she made a new lantern which we still have. The kindergarten teachers were always so creative and patient when helping the children make their lanterns.  We’re  going to get the lanterns out of storage tomorrow for St. Martin’s Day and light them at dusk ~ just for old times sake. 

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