Archive for the ‘Flashback Fridays’ Category

Flashback Friday Bratislava 2001

Posted in Flashback Fridays, Travels on Friday, 3 November, 2006| 1 Comment »

During our November 2001 trip to Vienna, we took an old, cold-war era train to Bratislava for the day.  Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, is located on the Danube River and is a very charming city. I’m so glad we took the time to visit this endearing city.  We only had about 9 hours in Bratislava so we toured the castle on the hill, then had a delicious lunch at the Forum Hotel and spent the afternoon walking around the old city. I remember it being very cold and I dressed FG in the warmest pants we packed. Unfortunately, they look like pajama bottoms ~ when she looks through these photos, I hope she’ll forgive me for dressing her that way. 

 

One of my favorite things around the city are the fun statues.  FG was quite entertained as we walked around and she would pick them out so she could pose with them. 

I loved this one:

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Flashback Friday: Halloween in Wyoming

Posted in Flashback Fridays on Friday, 27 October, 2006| 2 Comments »

I’ve never been one to dress up on Halloween and, as I looked for old Halloween photos, I had to go way back to the late 80’s to find one where I dressed up. Not only do I not usually dress up but this outfit was “borrowed” ~ I had a very talented friend, Sue, who loaned me this jester outfit, which she made, so I wouldn’t be a complete dud at the party 😉

Maybe I’ll break the mold and dress up this year! What to wear, what to wear…..

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Flashback Friday: Be My Guest

Posted in Flashback Fridays on Friday, 13 October, 2006| 1 Comment »

We love having friends and family visit our home.  FG usually picks out one of her prized stuffed toy animals for our guests to sleep with since she feels they might be ‘homesick’.   We thought when we moved to Germany in 2001, we would have a non-stop flow of visitors since we were centrally located and our house could be a “home-base” for more extensive travelling of Europe.  But then the attacks on 9-11 happened and a lot of people didn’t want to travel, preferring the safety of being close to home.

Still, there were some who wouldn’t let that stop them. Our first visitor was Heidi H. who came in October 2001.  She’s one of my closest friends and it was so fun to have her there.

My Mom was our most frequent visitor ~ coming every Christmas while we were in Germany. It’s become a tradition to have Grandma Betty with us at Christmastime.

Then in 2002, two really fun couples came to visit. 

Sometimes, I don’t always like my friends’ husbands/boyfriends.  Usually the husband is  tolerable and OK to be around but it’s so much nicer when you have a good friend and their husband is wonderful, too.  My friend, K. & her husband, S. came to visit in October 2002.  I met K. when we volunteered together at a local NC animal shelter, we went through some heart-wrenching times with the dogs we encountered there and it’s because of her, we have our current dog, Sport.  Her husband is really special ~ he is a “get it done” kind of guy and someone I would most definitely want around in a crisis.  During their visit, we drove to Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic where we toured around for the day. They wanted to continue on to Prague for a couple nights and ended up catching a BUS to Prague. Talk about adventurous. My friend, Heidi S. still teases me about abandoning my friends on a Czech bus 🙂   Not only do they look adorable in this photo but I love the reflection in the train window:

Then there is W. and S. who rank with only one other couple as my all-time favorites. There are some people who are so smart, funny and give off such a positive aura that when you’re with them you feel great ~ that would be W. and S.  They are so strong as individuals and unbeatable as a couple.  Hard to believe I’ve known them for 35 years! Yes, I was very young when I first met them 😉 In May 2002, W. and S. were in Germany and made a special trip to visit us in Weiden. I was beyond thrilled to see them and wished they could have stayed longer. Heck, I wish they lived next door! There was so much FM & I wanted to show them. At the time of their visit, they were residing in Australia so it was a VERY long trip for them. Sad thing is now that we’re here in Guam, they’re back in the states.  Hopefully, we’ll see them again soon. 

As far as being in Guam, I think we might have more visitors here then we did in Germany. Could it be the beaches, great weather or the chance to visit such an exotic faraway locale? We’re already booked for Christmas and a few people are making plans for next spring and summer. To all our friends and family, you’re welcome anytime. FG will no doubt have a fluffy, cuddly, stuffed animal waiting for you on the pillow.

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Flashback Friday – Pumpkin Picking 2000

Posted in Flashback Fridays on Friday, 6 October, 2006| 1 Comment »

In October 2000, FG went on her first real pumpkin picking trip in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

We’ve made a trip to the pumpkin farm every October since 2000. It was especially fun in Germany where they had not only regular pumpkins but some really interesting shaped pumpkins and gourds.

For some reason, I don’t think I’ll find a pumpkin farm here on Guam so let’s hope the commissary will get some in soon 🙂

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Flashback Friday ~ A Date with Destiny 1993

Posted in Birthdays, Favorite Man, Flashback Fridays on Friday, 29 September, 2006| 5 Comments »

My dad died on my birthday 20 years ago today. It would be 7 years until I felt like celebrating my birthday again and in 1993, a group of us ‘Hotlanta’ singles went out on the town. Because it was my birthday, I got to chose where we would go and it was a foregone conclusion that I would pick the County Cork Irish Pub. I always had fun there.

After a couple of ‘black & tans’, I was told I could “pick out” someone that we would all go over and talk to. I surveyed the pub and settled on a clean-cut, about our age guy who was sitting at the bar.  If I remember correctly, we sent Wendy over first since she was the ‘hottie’ of the group. Seriously, heads ALWAYS turned when she entered a room.  The rest of us joined the conversation and after a few minutes, I knew this guy was not for me. Seemed nice enough but not my type. 😉  As my friend, Stacy described it: my eyes glazed over and I totally lost interest in the conversation. BUT she was particularly smitten and they really hit it off. Stacy was a master at flirtation so he was done for.

Here’s where destiny comes in: Stacy began dating Scott which led me to playing racquetball with him which led to my being invited to his “football watching” party in October. Scott invited a buddy of his from Ft. Benning who turned out to be my future husband. Scott ended up being the best man at our wedding and Stacy my maid of honor. Unfortunately, they split up after our wedding but thankfully for me they hit it off at the pub so I had a chance to meet FM. ▼

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Flashback Friday ~ Berlin Sept 2005

Posted in Flashback Fridays on Friday, 22 September, 2006| 4 Comments »

 

This time last year we were enjoying a wonderful weekend in Berlin. We knew we had only 8 months left in Germany and took advantage of every opportunity to travel. It became a running joke with FM and I that we would splurge just this once.

We were able to go door to door without entering a car. We took the strassenbahn from our little town of Rottenbauer, then took the train into Berlin and caught the U-bahn to the hotel. We chose to stay at The Adlon hotel, located, literally, next to the Brandenburg Gate. The Adlon was beautiful, the service impeccable and the location unbeatable.

I loved being at the Brandenburg Gate which is steeped in so much history. It was built in 1791. Atop the gate sits the Quadriga, the four-horse chariot driven by Victory who is holding the Prussian Iron Cross. Napoleon stole the Quadriga when he conquered Berlin in 1806 and it wasn’t until his defeat in 1814 that the statue was returned. The gate was badly damaged during WW II and, during reconstruction, the GDR, removed the Iron Cross and turned the statue to face the west. After the wall came down, the cross was replaced and the chariot now faces the Mitte once again.

As much as I don’t understand anyone wanting to run 26 miles, FM loves it. He does pick some great cities to run their marathons: Berlin, Paris, Vienna and Rome. FG and I go along for the ride and we cheer him on. It’s exciting being near all the energy as well. Even though there were 38,000 runners, we made arrangements to see him on the course at predetermined locations. It was a sea of people but we actually found him!

And as always, in a big city, I drag everyone to a vegetarian restaurant. There was one named Samadh located around the corner from the Adlon. Very good! We also had the chance to meet up with our previous neighbor from Neunkirchen, Norbert and his children for dinner. It was great to catch up on things.

All in all, we had a great weekend in Berlin and would go back in a heartbeat. I’m glad we splurged just this once.

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Flashback Friday: Season Premiere Anticipation

Posted in Flashback Fridays, TV on Friday, 15 September, 2006| 1 Comment »

When I checked my 2005 calendar, it turns out we’re doing the exact same thing on this Friday night as we were doing on the same Friday in September last year: anxiously awaiting the Season Premiere of “Survivor.”  Seems at the end of every season, I say I’m never going to watch the show again because I rarely like the winner BUT I can’t help myself. FG and I love the show’s challenges and it’s one of the few shows FM watches. For us, Fridays are Survivor days since it was delayed by one day in Germany and it’s on Friday nights here because we’re a day ahead of the states. Popcorn is ready and we’re 5 minutes out.

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Flashback Friday: An Even Dozen ~ Sept 1999

Posted in Flashback Fridays on Friday, 8 September, 2006| 4 Comments »

In 1999, when we lived in North Carolina, I spent a lot of time volunteering at The Haven, a no-kill animal shelter in Raeford. It was hard work but I loved it and felt I was making a difference to the abandoned dogs and cats.  We lived in a house which we were renovating and we had a large, fenced yard so I was able to bring home “foster” dogs.  The foster dogs needed special attention to make them ‘adoptable’ ~ some were ill and needed medication, some were unsocialized, and then there was “mama dog.”  She was found pregnant, in a ditch, with a belly so big they could barely get her out.  The owner of the shelter asked me to foster her. I was very reluctant because I had never been a midwife to an animal before and was more than a little nervous that I would do something to hurt her or the puppies.  But the alternative was so bad for Mama Dog because the shelter didn’t have enough room for her and she was being ‘crated’ ~ how miserable to be stuck in a crate when you’re pregnant.

Off to the house we went and thankfully my FM is very tolerant of my animal passion. For the next three weeks or so, Mama Dog was on a high nutrition diet. I pampered her as much as I could and kept her away from FG and my other dogs. FM even built her a whelping crate for her and we kept her in our ‘demolished’ kitchen.

 BEFORE:

Mama Dog went into labor at 3 am in early September ~ isn’t that always the way?  As FM and FG slept through the night, I helped (OK ~ watched) as she birthed TWELVE puppies.  It was crazy. They just kept coming. I think I woke FM up after #8 because I was freaking out. All were healthy, sweet looking and different. Poor dog must have had 12 different encounters because every puppy looked different from the other.

AFTER:

 

I kept all the puppies until they were ready for adoption at 9 weeks and, as you can imagine, I interviewed each prospective family myself. Many didn’t pass the test. But, because the puppies were so cute and healthy, we had no problem finding suitable homes.

The entire experience was wonderful except that I would like to have kept Mama Dog BUT she didn’t get along at all with my two other dogs and she was very skittish around FG. One thing I did make sure of is that she was spayed before she went back to The Haven.

Sidenote: The weekend the puppies were born there happened to be a “Planet of the Apes” movie marathon on TBS and so there is a dog named “Dr. Zaius” out there.

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Flashback Friday Vienna, Austria Sept 2001

Posted in Flashback Fridays, Travels on Friday, 1 September, 2006| 1 Comment »

When ever I think of our trip to Vienna over the Labor Day weekend in 2001, I think of it as the last “age of innocence” trip we took. The week after we returned was the attack on NY and Washington and we all know what it’s like to travel now. Not that it stopped us one bit ~ we liked Vienna so much and, since we weren’t about to let some murderous group of terrorist scare us into not traveling, we did a return trip to Vienna for the Thanksgiving weekend in 2001. And FM ended up running the Vienna Marathon in May 2002.

Vienna is so seeped in history and culture which I couldn’t get enough of: the elaborate palaces, churches, the famous choirboys, the Ringstrasse, coffee houses, the Danube river, museums and, of course, the famous music.  Below is a photo of FG sitting on a kangaroo which is Austrian humor for the geographically challenged tourists who think they’re in Australia. REALLY! There were t-shirts in the shop which said “You’re in Austria.”

Vienna’s history is fascinating and I prefer the late 1800’s and early 1900’s ~ the time of Empress Elisabeth.  She was such a romantic yet mysterious figure.  If you’re going to visit Vienna or just want to know more about it, I recommend watching The Third Man and reading The Reluctant Empress and, my favorite, A Nervous Splendor.  A Nervous Splendor covers the years of 1888/1889 and talks about some of Vienna’s more famous sons including Crown Prince Rudolf, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Gustav Mahler and chillingly ends with the birth of Adolf Hitler.

The photo below is the Reisenrad (Ferris Wheel) located in The Prater which is a large amusement park. The ferris wheel was built in 1897 and is about a 10 minute ride. Talk about a nervous splendor. Actually, the real fun started when we caught the U-bahn (subway) back to our hotel.  FM likes to race for the trains, not realizing after all our travels, that I HATE running for a train. I’d rather wait for the next one. Anyway, he and FG jumped on the U-bahn and, as I tried to get on, the door closed on my arm. I was able to get my arm out but the doors wouldn’t open. All I could do was wave as they pulled away. Poor FG, who was only three, was so worried about me.  Thankfully, I paid attention when FM talked about the train schedule and I knew what stop to hop off once I caught the next train (which was only 7 minutes later).  

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Flashback Friday Killer Bees of 2004

Posted in Flashback Fridays, Germany on Saturday, 26 August, 2006| Leave a Comment »

It was a gorgeous August morning in Germany so FG and I decided to take the dogs for a walk in the forest, something we’d done on countless occasions over the past 3 years. FM was “away” so we drove out to the forest and proceeded to walk along a dirt trail. We were about a half mile from the car, FG and Sport were about 100 yards ahead of me when suddenly, FG turned to me with a look of sheer terror. My first thought was “OMG, she’s found a dead body” and, because she wasn’t moving, I thought she might be in shock. I yelled for her to run to me and that’s when I noticed a dark cloud over her. As she ran, I realized there was a swarm of bees attacking her!

I can’t even begin to describe the adrenaline that surged through me. Needless to say, the dogs were on their own at that point while FG and I ran as fast as we could to the car which was about a quarter of a mile away. The bees were only attacking her, not me or the dogs. We all made it to the car with the bees still swarming and a couple managed to get in the car. I raced the dogs home and headed to the emergency room all the while FG screaming from the pain. 

We stopped counting after 27 bee stings ~ most of which were on her head.  I had one sting on my hand from trying to pull the bees out of her hair and it hurt like heck ~ I can’t imagine the pain she was in. To this day, I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn’t driven to the forest and had walked there ~ the bees would have followed us all the way home, I’m sure.

After the incident, I researched the internet and according to all the descriptions, it sounded like it was africanized bees. Once FG was able to talk about it without crying, she explained Sport had stuck his nose into a hole in the ground and disturbed the hive. It was consistent that the bees only went after one target ~ the dogs didn’t have a single sting.

So far, we’ve not experienced any traumatic animal incidences here in Guam but it is a little disconcerting when FG hums the theme to “Jaws” every time she sees a large fish while snorkeling ~ now that’s a whole different kind of anxiety.   

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