Come Strut Your Mutt

Friday, 25 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

Hit Radio 100’s First Ever Dog Show will be this Saturday (26 May) at JFK’s High School (Ramsey Field) from 4 pm to 8 pm. There will be “Purebred”, “Boonie” and “Fun” categories including Best Pooch Smooch, Longest Tail, Best Trick, Cutest Puppy, etc.

There will also be hundreds of raffle ticket prizes (tickets are $1.00 each). All proceeds will go to G.A.I.N (Guam Animals in Need).

Since I’m volunteering, I won’t be able to “show” my dogs and I’m trying to talk FM into being either Sport or Maya’s handler.  Maya may have aged out of the Cutest Boonie Puppy category but she might be able to take Best Pooch Smooch.  

I hope to see my Guam friends at the show with their furry friends.

Posted in Animals, Travel | 2 Comments »

Lei Greeting

Sunday, 20 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

Arrival at the Guam Airport

Yesterday, FG and I picked a bunch of plumerias and she made a lei for FM, who was returning from a two week trip to Georgia. She did a great job and it has the best smell 🙂

First thing this morning, we headed to the beach. Our goal was to explore “Double Reef” beach which is located on the Navy base just down the road from us BUT it was closed due to the ranges being open so we went directly to Ritidian Beach and enjoyed a morning of swimming, snorkeling and sand castle building.  

Double Reef is high on our ‘must do’ list before we leave ~ everyone who’s been there says it’s fabulous and very isolated.

FM is doing very well with his jet-lag but then again he always does.

Posted in Travel | 2 Comments »

Flashback Friday: Leaving on a Jet Plane

Friday, 18 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

This time last year, FG and I were living in temporary housing on post in Würzburg. We were classified as “dog people” since we had Bennett and Sport with us. We had a large room with a great view of the parade field and a small kitchen area but what we didn’t have was a private bathroom. UGH ~ my days of sharing a bathroom are so over.  We didn’t have much choice though since I didn’t want to put the dogs into a kennel before their LONG flight from Frankfurt to Seoul to Guam.  They were going in the opposite direction as us. So FG, Ben, Sport and I spent three weeks hanging out on base without a car. I did a lot of walking during those three weeks! All in all, FG and I had a really great time especially since it was spring and so beautiful. We spent as much time outside as possible ~ and the dogs enjoyed their time outside as well.  

We left Germany on 19 May and flew from Frankfurt to Chicago to Honolulu. We stayed in Hawaii for 5 days which helped acclimate ourselves to both the weather and the time. Fm and FG fared much better with the jet lag. I couldn’t stay up past 8:00 pm and woke up before 4 am every morning.

It’s going to be Deja Vu in a few weeks when we head back in the opposite direction and it starts all over again.

Anyone have suggestions for jet lag relief?

Posted in Flashback Fridays | 4 Comments »

Historic Commissioning Ceremony

Thursday, 17 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

Update:  click here to see the ceremony. 

On 17 May (Thursday), the President of the United States will host the the First Joint Commissioning Ceremony at the White House.  There will be 55 Cadets taking their oaths and Cadet Bamba from the University of Guam (UOG) will be one of only 23 Army ROTC candidates. It’s an honor to be one of the chosen few and it’s a proud moment for the Cadet & his family, the UOG Army ROTC program and for Guam itself. 

Personally, it warms my heart that Cadet Bamba was chosen. I’ve had a chance to meet him a few times and he is a confident, very competent yet humble young man.

I hope the Guam media is all over this story ~ the Pacific Daily News headlines this morning was all about rampant youth violence and I would so prefer to see a good news headline tomorrow or Friday regarding the honor of being commissioned by President Bush.

Posted in US Military | 1 Comment »

Happy Mother’s Day

Sunday, 13 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and all the other hardworking, loving moms I know.  I hope all of you have as good a Mom’s day as I have.

I’ve spent a really fun day with FG and since FM is out of town, it was a true mother/daughter day.

                     

FG brought me breakfast in bed ~ tea and toast. She then showered me with gifts. My favorite were the handmade roses which she made in class. Her teacher is very talented and loves to do stuff like that.

We also spent a little time at Tarague Beach today. Normally when we go down on Sunday afternoon (it was after four), there’s usually no one there. Today it was packed! Glad I left the dogs home on this particular trip.

          

We fed the fish, picked up some trash and watched the waves crash. The surf was up and I saw the biggest waves I’ve ever seen at Tarague. They were fun to watch but scared FG a little.

Posted in Travel | 5 Comments »

Flashback Friday: 2005 Visit to Slovenia

Friday, 11 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

When we lived in Germany, we made five trips to FM’s motherland: Slovenia. The paternal side of his family hails from the small town of Unec, Slovenia. We always went in the spring and it was a beautiful drive through Austria and into Slovenia. There are SO many tunnels along the way with some being 20-25 km long. The length of time spent inside the tunnels was a little claustrophobic for me. Interestingly, we found out FM’s cell phone worked even in the middle of a long tunnel which I thought was odd.

My good friend, Heidi, joined us on this trip. She LOVES to travel and I was excited to show her a country she hadn’t visited in the past. She’s great to travel with and I still think we could do the Amazing Race together. Maybe we’d be the first all female team to win! What say you, Heidi?

On this particular trip in 2005, we ventured a little farther than usual. We took a day and drove to Piran on the Adriatic Coast.  Not surprisingly, the town had a very Italian feel to it.  One of the things we still laugh about are the “hairy” mussels FM had at a beach-side restaurant. They really had what seemed like hair growing on them.  Yuck.

Here we are enjoying the coast in Piran:

          

Another day trip was to Bled, Slovenia which is about a 40 minute drive north of Ljubljana and truly one of the most beautiful locations I’ve ever been.  It’s clean and pristine. The walk around the lake is about 6 km and is best done in the early morning when no one else is around. In the past, we’ve stayed in Bled but the hotels were full by the time we tried to book a room.

Here’s Heidi enjoying the view from Lake Bled Castle:

To get to the island in the middle of Lake Bled, you hire a boat rower and the boatman ROWS you out to the island for about a 1/2 hour visit. A half hour is plenty of time to visit the church, ring the bell for good luck (or is it good health?), then it’s a leisurely walk around the island which leads back to the boat. FG getting ready for the trip:

      

Heidi and FG on the ride to the island:

 

We stayed at the Union Hotel in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The Union is a grand old hotel in the heart of the city. Ljubljana is a fun city to explore and there are lots of yummy restaurants and my favorite of all ~ the LUSH store.  One of my favorite memories of this trip was sitting outside a tea shop and enjoying a great cup of tea with Heidi. FG and FM were off exploring so it was calm and quiet! 🙂

Another view from the castle:

 

Normally, we don’t travel back to a place we’ve already vacationed BUT I don’t regret we went to Slovenia 5 times.  Three of the five visits, we were accompanied by family and friends from the states and we enjoyed the country every time we went.

Posted in Flashback Fridays, Travels | 6 Comments »

Night of the Arts and Lookalikes

Thursday, 10 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

Last night, FG’s art teacher hosted a fun “Night of the Arts” show. FG put me on the spot when she showed me her classroom’s board which had their artwork ~ all 16 of them. She asked me to choose the “best” one which really meant I was supposed to pick hers. I couldn’t see any of the names so I decided to go ahead and pick the one I thought was the most artistic and, thank goodness, it was hers 🙂

She loves her art class and especially likes her art teacher. The first thing I thought when I met him was he looks just like a California surfer dude. Think Spicoli from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” I mentioned this to FG once we got home and she said one of her classmates already told him “hey, you look like a surfer dude.”    Too funny.

It got me thinking about how much some people remind me of other people ~ famous or not. And they don’t have to look like them but it’s something about their character or mannerisms. The actress I’ve been most compared to is Dana Delany. She’s best known for being the nurse on China Beach.  

Who do people compare you to?

Posted in Favorite Girl | 5 Comments »

Dining Out and Other Fun times

Tuesday, 8 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

A Dining Out is army speak for a formal dinner which includes spouses (or girlfriends/boyfriends). A Dining In refers to a formal dinner which excludes spouses/girlfriends/boyfirends. The University of GUam ROTC cadets put on a very nice Dining Out this past Friday. Since I’m usually the one planning events, FM kept warning me that the evening might be a little clunky since it was the first time for most of the cadets to organize a formal event. There were a couple of minor hiccups but, on the whole, it was a really great evening. 

Since this was only my second formal here and, no one at this dinner had seen any of my dresses, I wasn’t worried about what I was going to wear. At about three on the day of the event, I tried on the three formal dresses I was thinking about wearing. Uh oh, two of them were decidedly SNUG!  A not so subtle clue that I’m going to have to put a stop to eating the “cupcakes” we’ve been buying at the commissary bakery.

Speaking of cupcakes, I made some for the gift shop volunteers last Tuesday. Unfortunately, I ended up eating 5, yes FIVE, of the leftover cupcakes in one day. Is it any wonder I’ve got a few extra inches on the hips 🙂  I was responsible for the side dish at the gift shop today and took in a VERY healthy dish. I got lots of compliments on it and several requests for the recipe. Here it is if you’d like to give it a try:

Brown Rice Italian Medley (from Mahatma Rice Recipes):

  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 8 oz of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (about 2 cups)
  • 1/2 cup each, red and yellow pepper, diced
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • salt and pepper ( a pinch each)
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (optional)

Prepare rice according to package directions. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add asparagus and peppers. Saute for 5 minutes or until crisp but tender. Stir in pine nuts and cooked rice. Heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Top with Parmesan cheese (optional). Very yummy.

Enjoy!

Posted in Miscellaneous, Recipes | 5 Comments »

Recall: Agent Cool Blue Plaque Detector

Saturday, 5 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

I thought Agent Cool Blue Plaque Detector was the perfect dental product for FG since she “rushes” through when she brushes her teeth. Unfortunately, it was short lived ~ it’s been voluntarily recalled. If you’ve got some in your home, return it or toss it.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »

Flashback Friday: Class Trip to Veitshöchheim, Germany

Friday, 4 May, 2007 by Beachbums1

Last year, I was a parent chaperone on FG’s class trip. We took a leisurely boat ride up the Main River from  Würzburg to Veitshöchheim, Germany ~ about a 3km ride. It was a gloriously beautiful spring day. I almost didn’t make the trip due to my allergies with the blooming flowers. May is my favorite time of the year in Germany because it’s so beautiful but my sinuses hate it.

Once we got off the boat, we had a picnic at a playground which was located along the river. We then walked to the Summer Palace of the Würzburg Prince Bishops to enjoy the Hofgarten. The Summer Palace was built in 1680 and the garden has lakes, water fountains, a maze, over 200 Rococco style sandstone sculptures and wonderfully blooming flower beds.  If anyone reading this still lives in the Würzburg area, PLEASE take a trip to see this town ~ it’s well worth it.

One of my favorite sculptures ~ a boy and a goat:

The tower:

And here’s the BEST 2nd grade class 🙂

What a great trip!

Posted in Flashback Fridays, Germany | Leave a Comment »

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