Abroad
-
Summer Vacation, 2022
School starts next week. Buy a new backpack, meet the teachers, visit the classroom, and talk about “What you did during Summer Vacation”. A few minutes ago, Jae and I were talking about our summer, and I thought I’d write up the list. Our summer was packed – camps for the boys (Neuron Garage, DoubleCreek, EarthNative, Camp Allen), swim lessons at the Y, movies at the Drafthouse, challenging projects at work with ever-present pandemic complications, traveling to visit my parents in El Paso, camping in the Limpia Mountains, and a family trip to Santa Fe. Including stops for meals, fuel, and bio-breaks, the trip to Santa Fe was a little…
-
Bastrop State Park
This past weekend we drove to Bastrop to camp, hike, and enjoy some time outside. Jae’s Kindergarten is on Spring Break this week, and LisaDiane (as she is always so good about) planned ahead to get us a very nice campsite for the first few days of his holiday. Bastrop State Park is a beautiful wooded park not very far from Austin. The park is filled with post oaks and loblolly pine trees, part of the Lost Pines Forrest. The park is in the early stages of recovery from the Bastrop County Complex fire, which swept through Bastrop County in 2011 and burned 96% of the park. I volunteered in…
- Abroad, El Paso, Fort Davis, Glacier National Park, Logan, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park
Summer 2012 Vacation Highlights
Joey has finished posting all of the photos from our vacation this summer. We drove about 5000 miles, through eight states, and visited four National Parks. Check out the map below for details of our drive: Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip. Below you can find the links to all of the photos, which, if you know Joey, you know there are lots of pictures! Here are some of Joey’s Flickr Albums from the trip:
-
Lazy Saturday Morning
Today I am off to Munich, Germany for work with two of my colleagues. Next week we will be showing off the new database for the first time to end-users who have not been involved in the design of the system. I really hope they like it! Since I had to be in Wilmington for SME Week, it was cheaper and less crazy to simply stay over in Wilmington on Friday night and travel with Aaron and Albert from Wilmington to Munich, rather than try to go back to Austin for 24 hours. I am very pleased with my decision to schedule my travel this way. It meant I got…
-
SME Week
My project at work has really picked up. We are working on figuring out what topics people will need to be trained on related to the new database that is being built. My team spent the week in Wilmington, NC, meeting with Subject Matter Experts. We had back to back meetings all week (organized beautifully by my team member, Jessica). We began calling it “SME Week”. We made a lot of progress, but all the work this week highlighted how much more there is to do between now and our go-live date, which will be toward the end of the year. I did manage to have some fun while I…
-
St. Patrick’s Day in Wilmington
Julie invited me to join her and her husband at their favorite Irish Pub, Harp, for St. Patrick’s Day. It did not take much convincing, and shortly after work, we were standing outside the pub watching people play the bagpipes. As we approached the pub, I noticed that Dr. Who had also traveled to Wilmington for St. Patrick’s Day, as the TARDIS was parked outside the pub. I got a kick out of hearing people walking by asking, “What is a Police Public Call Box?” I never spotted The Doctor, but I am sure he was there somewhere. We drank green beer, and ate bangers and mash. We hung out…
-
Wilmington Walk
Whenever I am in Wilmington, NC, and the weather is nice, I like to walk down the boardwalk that runs along the Cape Fear River. It was quite warm this time, and the first spring flowers had started to bloom. The night blooming jasmine in one garden I passed was just opening up, and it smelled fantastic. I was inspired to take out my camera and snap a few pictures of things I saw on my walk.
-
Arriving in North Carolina
I traveled to North Carolina from Baltimore today. I landed in Research Triangle Park, or RTP to those of us who frequent the area, which is between Raleigh and Durham, NC, at around noon. I met up with some colleagues from the RTP office and we went to Neomonde Baking Company Cafe for lunch. Neomonde’s is a favorite stop of mine. I really love middle eastern food, and these folks know how to do it right. After a yummy lunch, I spent a few hours working in the RTP office, and then drove down to Wilmington. My friend and colleague, Amy, had told me that, of the nights I will…
-
Shopping with Mom and Laura
My dad had surgery on his back yesterday. My sister, Laura, and I came up to Maryland to be with my mom and dad for a few days. The surgery went very well, and Dad is resting and recovering. After visiting with Dad today, Mom, Laura and I went over to the mall and went shopping. Laura tried on some fancy gowns. She found a beautiful gown that looked amazing on her. Hopefully some wonderful patron will read this post and donate the money necessary to make the purchase. We left the gown on the rack, but I did get a picture. We shopped for a purse for mom, and…
-
SoCRA
I dashed off to Dallas on Friday for the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SoCRA) Annual Conference, where I gave a presentation on Audit Readiness. The conference was really great, with many good speakers and interesting topics. I got to stay at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, and had a room on the thirty-first floor! An added benefit of the trip to Dallas was getting to hang out with Laura and Jason the day after their return from Amsterdam. I drove up to Denton to see them. Naturally I asked to go to Sweetwater for ceviche, and Beth Marie’s for ice cream. Reading that sentence, it dawns on me that beer,…
-
Home again
Joey and I made it back to Austin late on 22 September. We had a fabulous trip to The Netherlands and Germany. You can check out some of the early pictures in Joey’s Collection on Flickr. He has not yet posted the second half of the trip. Once everything is up, I will post my favorites here on Etherlimits. [Done :-)] Thank you to everyone who helped us out while we were out of the country! Katy and Elanor appreciate all the people who looked after them, and send wags and kisses.
- Abroad, Brooklyn, Friends and Family, Laura and Jason, Lisa and Tim, Manhattan, Massachusetts, New York, Tanglewood, Ted and Becky
More pictures from NY Trip – July 2010
Joey posted his pictures from our trip to New York and Tanglewood to Flickr. Lisa added more pictures to her NYC Staycation 2010 photo set on Flickr. Lisa’s pictures include some great photos of Laura singing at Tanglewood. Here is Joey’s album:
-
Tanglewood – Summer 2010
My sister, Laura, spent the summer at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, MA. She was one of the handful of vocal fellows who were invited to participate in the festival. During our time visiting Brooklyn, NY, Joey and I traveled with Lisa to Lenox, which is in the Berkshires. Lisa commented that the trip to Tanglewood made our experience of New York City in the summer very authentic – extreme heat and humidity, several days of riding the subway and pounding the pavement, and then an escape to the much cooler country! Tanglewood is an amazing place. It has all kinds of musical artists: instrumentalists, singers, composers, and conductors. …
-
Brooklyn, New York – July 2010
Joey and I went to visit our cousins, Lisa and Tim, in Brooklyn, NY. We also got to spend time with our dear friends, Burke and Michele. We ate our way through New York, and walked across the rest of it (to make up for all the calories we ate). Lisa actually took the week off work to show us around. We fell in love with the Park Slope neighborhood in Brooklyn. Tim and I took a Saturday morning jog in Prospect Park, which is just a few blocks from Tim and Lisa’s place. We had a totally fantastic time! Here are a few of the places we went: We…
-
Five states in nine hours
I previously posted about a crazy drive around Texas, during which we were in three cities in fourteen hours. Well, this past weekend I completely topped that when I went to see my mom and dad! I started in Raleigh, North Carolina at around six in the morning. I flew to Baltimore, Maryland, where my mom and dad picked me up. We drove through Maryland and Virginia on the way Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where my mom works. I got to see Mom’s building, office, and classrooms. We walked around Shepherdstown, and had lunch in a nice tea shop. I browsed through the shops on the main street…
-
3 cities in 14 hours
Joey’s maternal grandfather, RD Cline, passed away last week. We all called him Granddaddy. One of my favorite memories of him occurred the first time I first met him. We were introduced, and within five minutes, he had opened up his wallet, which was full of pictures of his children and grandchildren, and pulled out a picture that he had of Joey and Joey’s former girlfriend. He handed the picture to Joey and said, “I like LisaDiane. This picture is no good anymore. I need a new one with LisaDiane.” We actually got a picture taken right away and sent it to Granddaddy. That was the first of many portraits…
-
Opera in Dallas, A Weekend in Denton – May 2009
Last Saturday LisaDiane and I loaded Ela into the car and made a road trip to Denton to visit Laura and Jason and to see Laura’s new opera in Dallas. Ela stayed with Laura and Jason, and was well behaved around the cats (although she did knock over that one flowerpot in the living room). We visited our favorite stops on the square – Beth Marie’s Ice Cream, Jupiter House Coffee, and Recycled Books – and added a new favorite stop: Laura’s new business, Massage on the Square. Laura and her partner Wendy have opened a very comfortable, beautifully appointed studio right next to Recycled Books. LisaDiane blogged about it…
-
Textile District
Our hotel is right across a major street from the major textile selling area of town. The main street in this area is Arab Street, although “Textile District” is used almost interchangeably. Purvi and I had gone to the restaurants in this area several times, but we had not made it early enough to go to the shops. Today we got back from work early and walked all along the various stores filled with all kinds of fabric and other textiles. All the fabric was so beautiful, I just wanted to take it all home! We enjoyed the atmosphere of the street – there were tons of people out walking…
-
Merlion Park
The Merlion symbol was designed as a logo for the Singapore tourism board in 1964. The Merlion has a fish tail and the torso of a lion. According to an article written by Cornelius-Takahama, Vernon [replaced by a new article at the same document number; original article at WebArchive] in the Singapore Infopedia section of the Singapore National Library website: The lion head alludes to the legend of Singapore’s founding by Sang Nila Utama, a Palembang Prince who, on his arrival on the island, saw what he thought to be a lion and thereafter renamed Temasek, Singapura or “Lion City”. The fish-tail represents Singapore’s links to the ancient sea-bound island…
-
The Ruby Jane Show at Central Market
Friday night Lee and I went to see the Ruby Jane Show at Central Market. They were spectacular. We were treated to some blue-ribbon bluegrass and high-spirited fiddle work as Ruby Jane Smith led her band through a set of original songs and standards. The cafe was standing room only as about 400 people crowded in to enjoy the music, but somehow I managed to take a picture when only a few people were between our table and the stage. Ruby Jane’s fiddle work was wicked splendid, her exchanges with the crowd and her band were warm and charming, and her smile was electric. If you’ve not had a chance…
-
Orchard Road
Orchard Road is a major shopping area in Singapore. It has several large malls all right next to each other, plus stores along the street itself. All the stores are high-end, fancy stores like Louis Vuitton and Burberry, and lots of boutiques. Purvi and I decided to go down and see what all the fuss is about. Saturday night the stores all stay open until 23:00, so we ate dinner and then went up and down the street window shopping. We stopped at a stall that sold fresh juice. I had a slush with mango and dragon fruit – delicious! We also found a sweet shop. Not at all like…
-
Singapore Botanic Gardens
Saturday I went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is very large, and admission is free. The garden is filled with trees, fountains and flowers, benches and picnic areas. There were families relaxing on the lawns, kids playing, people out for a jog. The garden also has an open air theater where the symphony performs. My first stop was the rain forest walk. I immediately saw a lizard sunning himself. He had a very small patch of sun, just big enough for his body. He did not want to move, but he was annoyed by my approach. It was clearly a struggle – in the end he did run and…
-
Little India
Tonight Karen, Purvi, and I went out to dinner at a restaurant called Muthu’s Curry in Little India. Little India is the area of Singapore where many people who are originally from India live. Purvi said that it really sounds and looks quite a bit like India. One of the famous stores in Little India is Mustafa. It is a huge shopping complex that is open 24 hours. They have some of everything. There is so much stuff, and so many people crammed into a very small space! The pictures below do not nearly capture the scale of the place. One thing that was very impressive was the jewelry. There…
-
Working in Singapore
I am here in Singapore to observe a training class, and sign off the two Singapore trainers to be mentors to Purvi, who is new to teaching this particular class, and any future trainers. The AsiaPac training team is made up of a great group of ladies. Karen is the training manager. The training coordinator is named Sally. She is super organized, and keeps everything moving efficiently. The trainers in this office are Katrina and Esther, and they have been a pleasure to work with. Purvi is the trainer from Mumbai, India. She has traveled here to teach the training class, and she is doing a great job. The class…
-
Ambrosia
Wednesday night Purvi and I walked down the street that is across from our hotel looking for a place to get some dinner. This street has many restaurants, so it is really just a matter of choosing what you want. All the places have callers outside to tempt you into their restaurant. One caller was particularly persuasive, and we walked over to look at the menu. It was Mediterranean food of all sorts. It looked good, so we told the girl we would like a table. We started to walk into the restaurant immediately behind her, but she told us to follow her, that there was a different dining room. …
-
Walk around Singapore
I went shopping and took a walk on Sunday. I took the bus to the People’s Park Centre. I really like taking public transportation in a new city. It helps you get the feel of the place and the people – not just the tourist stuff! People’s Park Centre was my destination because they have a craft store called Golden Dragon Store that sells yarn and knitting supplies. The shopping center also has lots of food stands, so I got some supper – I asked the man behind the counter what he recommended that included pork. The man gave me a plate filled with what looked like smoked pork (it…
-
Trip to Singapore
I arrived in Singapore a few hours ago. I just finished unpacking and getting cleaned up. There was no way I was going to bed without a shower after 32 hours of travel! I seem to have arrived with everything I need, and despite the length of the trip, it was mostly uneventful. Singapore Airlines is wonderful. The flight attendants are very kind, and everyone was super helpful and smiled each time they spoke with me. I had a really long lay over in LAX, which is possibly the strangest airport known to man! Please note that there are no pictures of LAX – that is not an oversight! The…
-
Massage on the Square
You may or may not know that in addition to being an amazing opera singer, my sister Laura is a registered massage therapist (RMT) in Texas. From the time she was a little kid she would volunteer to give people a neck rub, and everyone always said she did a great job. She took her natural talent to the next level when she attended massage therapy school between her undergrad and graduate degrees. She has been working as a massage therapist for about five years (I could be wrong here). She does all kinds of massage from hot rock to deep tissue. She is always looking to improve her technique…
-
Random Image Widget – Cousins
The Etherlimits main page has a random image widget at the top right corner. Each time you visit the page, you see a different picture. Today the random image was a picture of me and my female cousins in Market Square in San Antonio. This picture was taken right after my grandfather’s funeral on 09 January 2006. I totally love this picture, and since it is extremely unlikely that anyone else will see it on the random image generator, I thought I would share. The five granddaughters of Esperanza and Louis Rodriguez, from left to right: Madelynne, LisaDiane, Laura, Lydia, and Katie
-
That was in your back?!
OK, I am in Florida again with my dad. He is having more of the laser surgeries for his back. One of the procedures they did was remove hardware from an old fusion that was done on his L4, L5, and S1 vertebrae. When dad told me they would be extracting screws from his back, I thought, small screws. Like the kind they use to put glasses together! That was not at all the reality. The reality is so creepy I have to share it with you! Upon seeing the picture, my co-worker joked that it was no wonder Dad was having back trouble if the package of Kleenex was…
-
Trip to Fort Worth
Joey and I drove to Fort Worth on Friday night. The main purpose of the trip was to see Ross and Kat before they leave Texas and move to Baltimore, Maryland. Joey got us all packed for the trip, and arranged for Elanor to stay with Lee, Billy, and Cali. Troy came over to pick up Katy for the weekend. As he left our house, he was holding her bed, and the bag with her food, etc. He called Katy, she followed him into the driveway. Katy was confused about what car to get into, since the tailgate of our CR-V was open, she she stood behind the CR-V waiting…
-
Tampa
My dad is having back surgery in Florida. I drove to Houston, stopping at Dorie’s for a visit and some lunch. We had a great time. After a quick trip around the beltway, I made it to Hobby airport, which, by the way, has entirely too few signs. From the parking lot to the terminal there was exactly one sign pointing the way, and it points the wrong way! After finding the terminal, I flew from Houston Hobby to Tampa. We got up early this morning and went to the Laser Spine Institute for dad’s procedure. Our hotel is only a short walk from the institute, and we walked over. …
- All Saints', Camp Allen, Diocesan ECW, Friends and Family, Lee and Billy, Lindsay and Don, Misty and Brian, Twenties and Thirties
Episcopal Church Women Annual Meeting and Retreat
Many of you know that I was president of the Episcopal Church Women at All Saints’ Episcopal Church back a few years ago. The last year of my tenure, our church hosted the Annual Meeting of the Diocese of Texas Episcopal Church Women. The meeting was well received, and everyone had a great time. It was a really tough job, and I was glad to take a break and relax once it was done. Apparently people sat up and took notice of the job I did as Annual Meeting Chairperson, because this past spring I got a call from the president of the Diocesan ECW, Anne Hart, asking me to…
-
New Manager, Former Manager
My manager, Heidi, is leaving my company. She is adopting a baby, and has decided that she wants to stay home with her new daughter. I totally respect and support her decision, but I am really bummed she won’t be my manager anymore. I really love working with her! Happily, the person who is taking over as my manager is a co-worker that I admire. Her name is Tracy, and she is officially my boss on Monday. My former manager and new manager are in the picture; Heidi is on the left, and Tracy is on the right. Tracy and Heidi have done a great job with the transition. They…
-
Drive to Durham
Today I drove from Wilmington, NC to Durham, NC. I always stay in a hotel in Durham. My co-workers usually stay at hotels near the airport. There are lots of fast food restaurants and business parks. It is not very friendly or welcoming. A few years ago, when I was spending every other week in this part of North Carolina, I discovered that there is a DoubleTree Hotel about a ten minute drive from my office. It is in more of a neighborhood, and not to far from a major shopping center that has good restaurants and stores like Target and CVS. Anyway, I made the drive from Wilmington to…
-
Relaxing Saturday
I decided to take it easy, and have a relaxing Saturday. I slept in a little bit. I worked on my knitting project. At lunch time, I met Farrah at Brasserie du Soleil. We were both craving the same thing: Brasserie Burgers – small burgers (my mom used to call them “mighty bites”) – with roasted tomatoes, caramelized onion and gruyere. We also got macaroni and cheese. After lunch we went shopping at Belk. Fun for me because we don’t have this store in Austin. I spent the rest of the afternoon giving myself a pedicure and manicure. I tried to go to the movies, but there was nothing I…
-
Happy Hour – or Happy Day?
Happy Hour is illegal in North Carolina. You heard me. There is no such thing as happy hour. The state government of North Carolina has decided that having drink specials at certain hours causes people to drink too much too fast. Restaurants and bars can have daily drink specials, but not happy hour specials. One of my favorite places to go for “not happy hour” in Wilmington is the Cafe Phoenix. First of all, they have a cool name, and a cool logo. Secondly, they have half price wine all day Thursday, by the bottle or by the glass. Whenever I am in Wilmington on a Thursday, Nicole and I…
-
Hanging out in Wilmington
I am in Wilmington, NC for a big project for work. The weather is really beautiful: mid-sixties during the day, down into the forties at night. Wilmington has a really nice downtown area along the Cape Fear River. My hotel is on Water Street, which, as the name suggests, is right on the river. Within a few blocks of the hotel are tons of great local restaurants. The project lead, Michelle, invited everyone to dinner at Deluxe Cafe. We had a great meal. The food was creative and fun, as well as delicious. We started with seared ahi tuna topped crisps with greens, bruscetta with pears and brie, and calamari. I had Scallops Florentine…
-
Aerodynamics
frustrated grackle - tortilla in autumn breeze - I can't fly like this.
-
Mental Health Day
Lee has been working like crazy lately. Billy asked her to take a day off for mental health purposes. He asked Joey and me to join them for a day trip. We decided to drive out to Shiner, Texas to visit the Spoetzl Brewery. We had fun trying the beers that were on tap at the brewery. The tour was interesting, and we had a nice tour guide, but there was also a crazy tour guide who always sounded like she was angry. Billy and I had a good time laughing about how much she yelled. We also stopped into Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in Shiner, which is one…
-
The Seattle Underground
Today we took the ferry from Orcas Island to the terminal and drove back into Seattle. With a day left before we were to fly home, we decided to explore the city a little, and we took a tour of the Seattle Underground. In the 1890’s, the streets around Pioneer Square were re-graded at one-to-two stories higher than the previous street level. Some of the older ground level walkways and dwellings, now below grade, fell into disuse. The tour took us through some of these spaces. We also spent some time at the Seattle Mystery Bookstore, shopped at the Utilikilt shop, and had a snack in Occidental Square Park.
-
The Village of East Sound
We began our day today in the charming village of East Sound. Lovely morning, good breakfast, enjoyed exploring. Looking forward to tonight’s festivities. I’m so happy for my cousin 🙂
-
Traveling to Marty and Brittney’s Wedding
Today we traveled with Nancy to Marty and Brittney’s wedding destination on Orca’s Island. We met up in Seattle, traveled together to the ferry dock, spent the day on the ferry, and settled at the end of the day at the OutlookInn.
-
Seattle – 24 July 2008
Our second day in Seattle started with a trip to Pike Place Market. We rode the monorail, and then walked a couple of blocks to reach the market. On our walk we stopped off at Lush; Kat loves this store, so we decided to check it out. We stopped to get some coffee to give us some pep. Recharged, we started exploring the shops. We found a great shop called Little Shanghai, and I got a fantastic jacket. We continued to wander and shop. Just beyond Pike Place Market is Victor Steinbrueck Park, which overlooks Puget Sound. Joey took some pictures of the totem pole that is in the park,…
-
Seattle – 23 July 2008
Joey’s cousin Marty invited us to his wedding on Orcas Island, Washington. We really wanted to support Marty and Brittney by attending their wedding. Since we had never been to Washington State, we decided to not only attend the wedding, but check out Seattle as well. We woke up very early to catch our flight to Seattle. Thanks to the fact that we were flying west, we still had most of a day when we landed. We stopped and got coffee immediately – we were in Seattle, and we had been awake a very long time – what else could we do! We got our rental car from Thrifty. They…
-
Unexpected Day in Fort Worth
Joey and I got up early on Thursday, 19 June 2008, to travel to Troy and Christinne’s wedding in Cozumel, Mexico. We boarded the plane in Austin at 5:45 am for the forty minute flight to DFW. From DFW we were catching a connecting flight to Cozumel at 10:25 am. If any sane person had to guess, they would say five hours is plenty of time to get from Austin to DFW, find the correct gate, and board the second plane. If they were on our flight, AA1038, they would have been wrong. As we approached DFW, the pilot announced that we would have to circle for a about twenty…
-
Kat’s Birthday – February 2008
LisaDiane and I drove up to Fort Worth yesterday to eat cake, slay a piñata, and celebrate the beginning of Kat’s 32nd year on the eighth return of her birthday. Tim’s father was at the party and I spent some time chatting with him and Tim and Rod about home improvements, cellular networks, recumbent bicycles, and other worthy engineer topics while feeding my Yitzchak Spector glass a fair supply of bubbly sweet red wine. Kat made a wonderful yellow cake with rich chocolate icing – I had two pieces and took a big piece home after the party. Sad news for Fort Worth – Tagel is moving to Seattle to…
-
A day with Papa in San Antonio – July 2007
LisaDiane and I spent Saturday in San Antonio with Papa – It was so nice to see him. Papa was in SA to attend Promise Keepers. We met him after the event and enjoyed an afternoon browsing in the shops on the Riverwalk, exploring the dragon exhibit at the Institute of Texan Cultures, and shopping in Market Square. We had dinner at El Mercado and bought desert at the candy counter at Mi Tierra.
-
Logan, Utah – July 2007
Last weekend LisaDiane and I went to visit Laura at the Utah Festival Opera in Logan Utah. I was delighted to discover that Jason was also visiting Laura that weekend (it is always a treat to spend some time with Jason – the other other of a Mercado daughter :-). LisaDiane and I spent our days shopping in town and hiking in the canyons while Jason got in a little fly-fishing in the cold waters of the Bear River. The three of us spent our evenings at dress rehearsals of “Porgy and Bess” and “Il Ttovatore” — the performances were terrific (I learned that the anvil chorus is from “Il…
-
Krista and her Amazing Space – November 2006
Twas the night before Thanksgiving and we visited a friend of Ted and Becky named Krista. Krista is a creator. She is living in a renovation in progress – a retired trade school in south central Pennsylvania. She is transforming the space from sturdy-single-pane-school-house to fanciful-curvy-found-industrial-restoration. The space is sparkling textures, warm wood floors, pastel paint, futurist appliances, fiber-optic bath fixtures, and comfortable antique farm machines. Click. Look. Enjoy.
-
Ted’s Haircut, Chambersburg, PA – May 2006
Work dictated that I travel to Hagerstown, Maryland, and I decided to use the opportunity to visit Mom and Dad in Chambersburg. They were good enough to pick me up at the airport and have me stay with them for a few days. Dad mentioned that he had been thinking of shaving his head and mustache. I told him if he wanted help, I would wield the clippers. Mom had her doubts, and Laura declared, “He has been threatening to shave his head forever, and he is never going to do it!” …that was all it took. We went to CVS to get the proper head shaving supplies: gel shaving…
-
Visiting North Carolina – April 2006
I finally took up LisaDiane’s offer to visit North Carolina. She has been working in RTP for a little over a year and she invited me to join her for a few days, see the cities, and meet her co-workers. We went to the Spring Daze Earth Day festival in Cary, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, and the Magic Wings Butterfly House at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. We had dinner with friends at Maggiano’s and a tasty Mediterranean lunch at Neomonde. Here are some photo’s I took along the way.
-
Grandpa’s Memorial Services – January 2006
Sunday January 8, 2006 and Monday January 9, 2006 Lisa Diane and I celebrated Grandpa Louis at two wonderful solemn memorial events. On December 30, 2005, Grandpa Louis Rodriguez passed away. Grandpa Louis was married to Esperanza for 63 years, raised six children – scientists, soldiers, businessmen, teachers, and musicians – and shared his smile and charming character with the world. He was a charter member of the Pan-American Golf Association, sang with the San Antonio Chordsmen for 20 years, and retired from Southwestern Drug Corporation in 1983. His family and friends gathered at the funeral home on Sunday night. Members of the Chordsmen sang, friends told stories about his…
-
Dialogues of the Carmelites – January 2006
Great show. Real guillotine. Principle overcomes fear through fellowship and faith. Faced with death, nuns lose their heads. Laura was terrific. Our trip up to Fort Worth was the first part of a whirl through central Texas – we went to the opera on Friday, celebrated Dory’s 80th birthday in Houston on Saturday, and sang at Grandpa’s memorial services in San Antonio on Sunday and Monday. Not only did we see the opera and get to spend time with Laura, Jason, and Nathan, but I finaly got a chance to meet Mary and Gordon.
-
Thanksgiving in El Paso – November 2005
LisaDiane and I spent Thanksgiving week with my parents in El Paso. She and I had just recovered from a couple of weeks of flu, so we took it easy – LisaDiane spent a lot of time knitting, we took a drive through the upper valley, we had lunch at Little Diner in Canutillo, and we saw a couple of movies (’Good Night and Good Luck’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’). Toward the end of the week we were feeling a little more adventurous, so we went hiking up above the theater in McKelligon canyon and then drove to Chico’s Tacos for some lunch.
-
Wisconsin Dells – August 2005
Joey works for a company based in northern Illinois. They have a retreat for all the managers and their families each year. This year Joey and I were invited. We gathered in a town called Wisconsin Dells a few minutes north of Madison, WI. It was a Las Vegas for kids. Just like the strip in Las Vegas, all along the main street in The Dells (as the locals call it), there are hotels all advertising why their hotel is better than the next. Instead of casinos, amusement and water parks bring in the crowds. Our hotel, The Great Wolf Lodge, was an indoor waterpark and hotel. An indoor water…
-
Gear Up for San Francisco – July 2005
Mom had a Gear Up (the grant program that she works for) conference in San Francisco. While she was planning the trip, I was lamenting that I had not been to San Francisco in more than a year. She suggested that I join her and be her activity coordinator for sight seeing in The City. I agreed immediately. We really had a great time seeing the sights, shopping, and visiting. We had a wonderful time, just us girls. Thanks Mom!
- Abroad, Chambersburg, College Park, Friends and Family, Laura and Jason, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ted and Becky
Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania – November 2004
Laura played Rosina in the Barber of Seville at the University of Maryland. The last show was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Joey, Grandma Margaret and I decided to travel north to see the opera and celebrate Thanksgiving with the Mercados. Jason Wright, Laura’s boyfriend, and Jason Kaminsky, Laura’s roommate and fellow Barber of Seville star, both joined us for Turkey Day. Of course, we all consumed huge amounts of delicious food, and had a wonderful time.
-
Nanny’s Memorial – November 2004
Our paternal grandmother, Nanny to us, died on November 15, 2004. She had been living near our our Uncle in Kansas and had made arrangements to be buried alongside her husband in Pampa, Texas. Kay, Troy, and I made the drive from Austin to Pampa and attended Nanny’s Memorial service in Pampa on November 22. Our parents drove from El Paso, and we spent most of our visit at Aunt Suzie’s house visiting with our cousins, aunts, and parents. I was so happy to meet for the first time some of our cousins from Massachusetts. Nanny’s obituary is archived at Charmichael-Whatley.com. A photo of the obituary from The Pampa News…
-
Mustang Island State Park – November 2004
We decided to take a trip to the beach. Trusting that the weather in Texas is always warm, we set out for Port Aransas the second weekend of November. Our weather theory proved incorrect, and we had rain, wind and forty degree temperatures! We also had a great time relaxing together, playing games, walking on the beach and kicking back and taking it easy for a few days.
-
Buenos Aires, Argentina – November 2004
Early in November 2004, I had to go to Buenos Aires, Argentina for work. The first week I was there, I was working. I stayed in the Marriott across a lovely park from my office. I did not manage to see much outside the office. Luckily, Joey and I had arranged for him to fly down at the end of the week, and we spent 8 days exploring the city. Joey set out for Buenos Aires from Austin after being in London for several weeks. The weather in London, hard work, and rapid time zone and climate changes meant he arrived exhausted and a bit under the weather, but recovered…
-
Santigao, Chile – October 2004
I spent one week in Santiago for work. The training class went well thanks to lots of hard work on the part of my fellow trainers, Mauricio and Ricardo. The highlight of my week was that last day. Ricardo and his wife, Gipsy, gave me the grand tour of Santiago. We had a wonderful day together. I hope to spend more time with my new friends, Ricardo and Gipsy, and I must return to the beautiful country of Chile!
-
London – October 2004
Mark, Rick, Dave, and I spent most of October working in London. I saw as much of the city as I could during the little free time I had (a couple of Sundays and a couple of evenings). I went for a sight-seeing walk along the Thames from Big Ben to Tower Bridge, saw the London Eye (hard to miss), walked across the Millenium Bridge from Saint Paul’s to the Tate Modern and the Globe Theater, went to services at Westminster Abby, and enjoyed watching the street performers at Covent Garden.
-
Tradeshow in Las Vegas – September 2004
For those of you who asked about my trip to the Recharger World Expo in Las Vegas last week, here are a few photos. The trade show was held in the Sands Expo center, which is part of the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. I’ve posted some pictures of the Venetian, the trade show, and the company party at Studio 54.
-
São Paulo, Brazil – July 2004
Sujata and I travelled to Brazil to train the employees in our São Paulo office. Our training class was fantastic; the room was great, the view was beautiful, and the trainees were charming, lovely, and smart. We did not have too much time for site seeing, but we did manage to eat at a churrascaria (yummy) and go shopping a couple of times. Our shopping trips were very different from each other: the first was to Xtra Hipermercado, the Brazilian equivilant of Target, and the second was to Embu das Artes, an outdoor market located about forty minutes from the part of São Paulo in which we were staying. We…
-
W.H. Taft High School Class of 1994 Reunion, San Antonio, Texas – June 2004
Even though I graduated from “that other school” my friends from Taft High School encouraged me to join them at the 10 year reunion. Luke and Joey opted to stay in Austin, so Aleisha and I went to the reunion together. We went to a picnic on Saturday, the dinner and dance on Saturday evening, and on Sunday we had breakfast at April’s charming home. We caught up with lots of old acquaintances, and spent time with our longtime friends. We had a lovely time!
-
Cambridge, England – June 2004
After our sojourn in London, we set down to work in Cambridge, but you would never know that from the photos!
-
London, England – June 2004
Work required that I go to Cambridge, England for two weeks. I had never been to England before, so I decided to go early. My co-workers: Sujata, Jeannie, Katie, and Quinn had the same idea. We spent three days in London prior to beginning work in Cambridge. We took in the sights, ate lots of fish and chips, and a pint to wash it down. We had a fantastic time just being tourists!
-
Mother’s Day in El Paso – May 2004
Troy, Kay, and I drove to El Paso on May 5th with the intention of spending the Mother’s Day weekend remodeling Mama’s kitchen. (Roadtrip!) Papa had already removed some of the cabinets and taped, floated, and painted the new walls. We spent the next few days cutting tile, sweating new joints into the plumbing, running new lights and outlets, and replacing all of the cabinets and countertops. Ross and Kat were in El Paso while we were and we spent some time with them. I hope we can do more family projects like this. It was fun to all work on the project together.
-
Kat’s 7th Birthday Party – February 2004
Kat celebrated her seventh birthday on February 29, 2004. LisaDiane and I drove to Ross and Kat’s house in Fort Worth to attend the party. It was good to see them – we don’t manage the trip often enough. The party was the right kind of low key – friends and family – and everyone took a swing at the Piñata.
- Abroad, Chambersburg, College Park, Emily and Scott, Friends and Family, Laura and Jason, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Ted and Becky, Woburn
A Wedding, Our Nation, and The Frog
Our good friend Scott Howard and Emily Lovejoy were married on Saturday the Twenty First of February at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Woburn, Massachusetts. Scott had just come to serve at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer when he and Emily met (she drove Scott to the pot-luck dinner held to welcome him to the church). Ever conscious of propriety, Scott attempted to conceal his attraction to Emily from Emily and the congregation for months (after-all, he is a priest and she was a member of the congregation). Of course, Emily, being the perfect match for Scott (and a member of his evaluation committee), attempted to conceal…
-
The McNay – January 2004
Kay and I drove down to San Antonio to see the Nightmare Before Christmas exhibition at the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum. The exhibition had original models and artwork from the stop-motion animated film “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. The museum is housed in a 24-room Spanish Colonial Revival smansion set on a manicured twenty-three acre lot. The collections include works by Cézanne, Picasso, Gauguin, Matisse, O’Keeffe, Cassatt, and Hopper. Kay and I spent the day touring the various collections on display.
-
San Francisco – November 2003
LisaDiane and I popped out to San Francisco for the weekend. We spent Saturday morning at the Cable Car Museum and then we walked over to Japantown for sushi and shopping. On Sunday we drove down the valley to visit Kyle in Mountain View, shop at Kepler’s Bookstore in Menlo Park, and take a tour of the San Jose Museum of Art.
-
Bamburg – September 2003
After our visit in Copenhagen we road the train back to Germany to visit Kerstin in Bamburg. Kerstin, who is attending university in Bamburg, took a couple of days off from school to show us the city, lead our tour of the monastery and cathedral, and introduce us to her new beau Michael. Kerstin is a wonderful host – I hope she and Michael can come join us in Austin soon. At the end of our stay in Bamburg, LisaDiane and I made an anxious train trip back to Frankfurt to fly home. Two train delays – one a complete shutdown – meant we had to think on our feet…
-
Botanisk Have – September 2003
The University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens are AMAZING! Over a dozen large greenhouses are surrounded by acres of outdoor annuals, perennials, ponds, rock gardens, and lush trees. Our day in this garden was a redolent treat. After the garden we met Ellen and Søren at the Canal Kafeen where they treated us to a “traditional” Danish lunch – herring, cheese, and beer 🙂 The curried herring and smoked herring were particularly good. Refreshed, we walked past the Caritas Well on Gammeltorv and took a tour of the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory (souvenirs!).
-
Nordjylland – September 2003
Ellen’s mother’s parents, Gert and Karen, invited us to visit their Summer House in Nordjylland (the northern tip of Denmark). Ellen drove us from Copenhagen to the Summer House. Along the way we went on a walking tour in Vejle, visited the Skagen Museum, played in two oceans, and visited Ellen’s parents in Aalborg. You can make your own Jelling Stone! (For more info on what the Jelling Stone is, look in the album for the Midgard Fountain that we saw in the pedestrian area in Vejle.) Click here to download the Jelling Stone kit as a PDF file. I found the PDF at http://www.runsten.info/
-
Rosenborg Slot – September 2003
We spent one morning at Rosenborg Slot, the castle in the center of Copenhagen which houses the Royal Danish Collections and the Crown Jewels. The castle is surrounded by the Rosenborg Castle Gardens (commonly referred to as the King’s Gardens), which are the country’s oldest royal gardens (established in the early 1600s). We toured the castle and had a nice lunch at the little cafe on the castle grounds.
-
Roskilde – September 2003
Roskilde, generally recognized as Denmark’s first capital (ask someone from Jelling and you may get a different story), is home to the Vikingskibsmuseet (Viking Ship Museum). We took the train from Copenhagen to Roskilde and enjoyed a vikingtastic day this city by the fjord. The museum was hosting a special exhibit titled “The Vikings in Ireland” which included artifacts from dig sites in Dublin on loan from the Irish government. As we left the museum we were treated to the beginning of the Roskilde Universitet Årsfest – the annual commemoration party and semester kick off at RU. The “You can’t use your hands” wrestling on a floating platform was tremendous…
-
København – September 2003
On our second day touring Copenhagen we decided to walk from Ellen and Søren’s’s apartment to the Danish Royal Residence of Amalienborg and then on to wherever we might go. That made for a little bit of a walk. Fortunately we got a chance to use some of Copenhagen’s ‘City Bikes’. The city of Copenhagen operates a generous scheme, called Bycykler (City Bikes), by which anyone can borrow a bicycle for free. Motivated in part by a desire to limit motor-vehicle traffic in the city center, private businesses and the city council sponsor approximately 2000 bikes for the Bycykler program. The bikes can be found at hundreds of bike racks…
-
A quick stop in Sweden – September 2003
Ellen and Soren drove us to Lund – where Søren was working for TetraPak and Ellen was attending university. LisaDiane and I spent our day exploring the monuments, the university, the cathedral, the bookstore, the fabric store, and a very pleasant Thai restaurant – nice call Ellen. The picture is of the main building on the campus of Lund University.
-
Hamburg – August 2003
In the middle of our stay in Copenhagen we all took an overnight trip back to Germany. Søren drove us all down to the ferry terminal and we sailed to Hamburg to visit Mauren’s family. Mauren and Stephan took time out of their busy schedules to be our tour guides in Hamburg. Their young son Felix led our expedition. Felix is quite a charmer. We visited the Hamburger-Kunsthalle, explored the waterfront, and saw the ruin of the Church of St. Nikolai.
-
Copenhagen – August 2003
We took the night train from German to Denmark, arriving the next morning at Københavns Hovedbanegård (Copenhagen Central Train Station). Ellen met us and led us back to her lovely apartment. Ellen and Søren were wonderful hosts – I hope we can return the hospitality in the future. Ellen and Søren’s apartment faces the Søerne. The view out their windows is spectacular, as you can see in the picture. LisaDiane and I spent a few days exploring the city. We visited the Round Tower, shopped along Kobmagergade, and explored Nyhavn.
-
Rothenburg ob der Tauber – August 2003
Kerstin met us at the train station in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and stayed to tour with us the couple of days that we were there. After traveling for 22 hours we were ready to take it easy for a bit – so we took a stroll through the city, spent some time catching up with Kerstin, and had a relaxing dinner. After dinner we took the “Night Watchman’s Tour” of the city and went back to our inn, the “Altfränkische Weinstube” and had a couple of beers with the Rothenburg English Conversation Club. The three of us spent most of the next day exploring the city. We visited St.…
-
Denmark and Germany – September 2003
LisaDiane and I celebrated my graduation with a trip through Denmark and Germany in August and September of 2003. We visited Ellen and Søren in København (Copenhagen), Kerstin in Bamburg, Maren, Stephan, and Felix in Hamburg, Karen and Gert in Nordjylland, and Nina, Ejnar, and Anna in Aalborg. We played the part of backpacking, camera toting, Rick Steves guided, train riding tourists the whole way. I can’t wait to go back. (Note: The trip began on August 26, so I’m placing this post on that date.)
