Life in Vienna

Is soy sauce really cheating?

2012-01-18T21:53:00.003+04:00

So, life has taken a couple of crazy turns in the last week or so, but I'm keeping my head above water.

First, I will start with how guilty I am feeling about adding some salad dressing (soy sauce and honey) to my dinner tonight. Why might one feel guilty about this seemingly small thing? Well, it's the latest obsession with the Paleo diet, according to the book you can "cheat" or follow an 85% rule, which means the average person eats 20 meals a week, so if you follow the diet 85% of the time that means you can have three meals a week that don't strictly follow the diet. I must say, I am really shocked by what I miss the most. It's not the sweets, breads, dairy (although I do miss lattes) it really is all the salty/processed condiments that I use in cooking or as salad dressings. I still don't quite get what the problem is with salt, vinegar, soy sauce etc. if used in moderation, it's not like I'm drinking it... And, there is NO reason I am doing this other than to see if it helps with my training. Right now I'm in the "don't quit, you should feel tired and it will take longer to recover" period. Which, is not fun. I feel like I am working out harder by adding in strength training, eating healthier and instead of an increase in energy and better workouts, my body feels tired. I am not used to my legs not wanting to run another step. But, all the books say three weeks minimum before you decided what you think about the diet and it's effect on your performance. Most books say stick with it longer and you will continue to notice improvements, it just takes time. Today I did stop in at this small bio store near my house I've never been to before and bought some unsweetened almond milk to try in my coffee. I'm actually pretty excited. Overall training is fine, swim class was good, we won't learn the full stroke until week seven, seems a bit extreme, but I guess with swimming it's about technique and we have a lot to learn. There are four of us in the class, it is in German and it actually makes me want to learn again. They seemed to be laughing and having fun and I had no idea what was going on. I mean I could understand enough to follow the class, but sure would be nice to know the language.

Ok, back to the rest of life, wait, is there life outside of training and eating?! I went to Amsterdam to visit a friend who was traveling through Europe from Australia, it was awesome! We stayed with a friend who worked with us in Dubai, rode bicycles all over town ( a bit scary...), went to a few local markets, wandered all over, went to this ridiculously awful, so almost entertaining band, I mean, who knew Lionel Ritchie could be remixed in quite that way, and what band doesn't play Oh When the Saints Go Marching On...! The next day Mark and I went for a run, lounged about the house for a while and then met another friend who I worked with in Vienna for lunch at this great Nacho place and it was great to just sit and talk with her! It is pretty fun that I have friends that I can visit all over the place, I consider myself very lucky!

Work is work, really, with training and this whole eating thing, I really feel like I don't have time to do much else. It will be really, really, really nice to be home this weekend! I haven't been home for a weekend in only a month. I don't really have anything I have to do, but some things I want to do. I'm thinking about buying a grown up fridge, mine is TINY and the freezer is super tiny and with all this eating and prepping I need some more space. I also ordered a juicer and am hoping it arrives soon and am going to look at food processors too. I should just go buy the Kitchen Aide mixer and all the attachments that I have been dreaming about for years now... I keep thinking, well I don't want to buy it here because I don't know how long I'm staying, well, it's at least another year and a half, definitely enough time to buy a mixer...

No plans to travel anytime soon, we had talked about meeting in Thailand or China, or wherever Steve is, but he might be back to Vienna before my break in February. The smart thing to do would be to stay here, do my training and relax, but... I would really love to see the sun!

I'm back... to Vienna

2012-01-10T23:12:00.002+04:00

Christmas Break was a big, fun, blur. I loved being home and seeing my family and friends. Let's see... some quick highlights, seeing my family, I cannot explain how cute my niece and nephews are, meeting my cousin's little girl, Christmas with my Dad for the first time in six years, continuing training, shopping, dinner at the place my brother cooks at now, more food than one should consume in one day all in one meal, meeting up with old girlfriends, the Lam's, they sure are growing up!, birthday brunch and nails with Missy, Starbucks with a tier one friend, a fun lunch at McMenamins with my best friend from kindergarten, how funny is that, 30 years later...spending so much time with my mom and a zillion other things I am probably forgetting. I guess it's a lot of the same things I do every time I go home. I did some serious damage shopping this time, even with paying for an extra bag I had to take things out in order to meet the weight limit... I was that person that you definitely didn't want to be behind in the baggage check lane, iPad, laptop, boots, jacket, carry on, massive purse... Oh, and as usual, my bags didn't make it back to Vienna with me.

When I arrived into Vienna I met Steph and her mom at Dots Sushi for a delicious meal and then came home and unpacked a bit and did much of the same on Sunday, couldn't be bothered to leave the house really. Drank coffee and ate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for dinner.

Monday and work came way too fast. I was wide awake at 3:00 and I finally got up and did my long bike ride at 4:00 because I will be in Amsterdam this weekend, so that was nice. Well, nice until I just about fell asleep while trying to work that day! I managed to make it through the day and decided to skip the gym and head home to do some grocery shopping for my new Paleo Diet, which I'll get to in a minute... but anyways, I also found out that my luggage was supposed to arrive, so I had to be home between 6 - 9 anyways. So, I decided I would do some sit ups, push ups and other at home weight training activities. So, I went to Billa, made myself some dinner and then started with my workout. Next thing you know I hear the buzzer ringing. I had somehow managed to fall asleep in the middle of my push ups? Sit ups? Arm lift things? Who knows...?! My luggage did arrive though, so that was nice. I quickly unpacked and went to sleep, obviously, I was tired.

So, back to the Paleo Diet thing... and ironman training. Like I mentioned before, I signed up for the Zurich Ironman on July 15 and the St. Polten Half on May 20. I'm not really sure what exactly I was thinking, except that I guess it has just become an obsession. So, I was doing a little research and wanting to add in something different to my training this time around and knew that I would need to improve my swimming technique so I signed up for a 10 week swim course and also decided I would focus on strength training and nutrition. After some research I decided to try the Paleo Diet, which is basically eating like a caveman, lean meats and all the fruits and vegetables you want. It doesn't allow grains or dairy. So far, 2 days into it, and it's fine, except for one thing. It's not giving up grains, or cheese, or even soy milk, it's SALT. I am going crazy without it! I made turkey fajitas last night (with a lettuce wrap) and as delicious as it was all I wanted was salt, just a tiny, little bit...!

In one of the MANY books I bought, I think it's something like the Paleo Diet for Endurance Athletes, it talks about the five stages of eating and what is allowed in each, and which foods are usually not allowed in the Paleo diet, but can be eaten in moderation during Stage II/III and then salt is ok if you are exercising at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time, or are losing a certain amount of sweat, oh, it is all SO confusing. Then it goes on to try to explain the percentage of fats/proteins/fruits/etc. that you should eat during the different phases of training, base, build, peak, and then when you are just about to race an A priority race you should limit your calories the week before, I get tired just thinking about it. I also bought this training journal to help plan the workouts and write down how they go and what I eat for the day. I was working on transferring all of the plan into it and was getting exhausted just writing it down, let alone when I am actually doing the long training weeks! Right now it is only 8 or 9 hours + whatever strength training I do (and I don't get to count the time sleeping). I am really excited about the new diet, strength training and my swim class. My ultimate goal is still to complete the ironman, but, it sure would be nice to be faster this time too!

Oh, and to add to my ironman obsession, I would also say I can't stop listening to Colbie Calliat and reading about and watching youtube videos on Kris Carr. I bought a juicer on groupon today...

Ok, off to bed. Hope I manage to sleep through the night.

Love/Hate

2011-12-23T22:03:00.000+04:00

Oh, how I LOVE the English language… and I love being on break and I love sitting at Starbucks and I love, well everything at the moment. I’m sitting at Starbucks in the Heathrow Airport drinking a double tall soy latte surrounded by English speakers and on my way home for Christmas, what’s not to love?!

But, last night I hated traveling, hated saying goodbye to Steve for nearly three months, hated that I wouldn’t have time to work out today and hated that I had to fly British Airways, last time I didn’t get my bags for 16 or 17 days. Is anything ever good enough? Or do we always want more? Or is it just me?
Is it possible to have it all; that seems to be what I want. I want to be surrounded by friends and family, be healthy, have them be healthy, have a job that I love, live in a city that is fun, have tons of money, travel, buy what I want, have my student loans paid off and somehow have this perfect little stress free life, thing is, I don’t think that’s how it works, but is it ok to want that? I mean, you have to have some goals, right?

It seems pathetic at times, when I think about the things I worry about, should I rent a car for two weeks while I’m home? Should I take the train? Do I want to buy my towels in the US and pay for extra baggage fees? On February break should I travel somewhere sunny? Go someplace to train? Oh, and over the summer should I go to Poland and watch Euro Cup or Ukraine? Yet somehow, I manage to get all stressed out. Maybe it’s just my personality. I should be feeling very fortunate, and at times, I definitely do!

Right now I am just anxious to get home. I am planning on staying in Vienna at least another school year, but also realizing, this job might just be as good as it gets. Of course, it’s not perfect, I don’t expect that, but it’s a safe city, I love my apartment, I have some friends, I can train easily, especially with my bike trainer, I mean all in all it’s all pretty ok, but is ok enough? I was talking over whether or not I should look for a new job with a friend of mine and as we were talking it through, and she was explaining what it was like to live in China and what she thought of her time in Hong Kong, I just started to realize that maybe Vienna is the place for me. So, maybe it’s time to act like I live there. I think while I’m home I’m going to go through all of my things and see what I want to ship over, I don’t even know what I still have at my mom’s, just that there are boxes of things and, well, I guess my things should be where I live instead of just rebuying cheap versions of things I already own…

Or, maybe I’m just exhausted and worn out from work and need to take a break and relax a bit…

48 hours and 20 minutes

2011-12-20T09:24:00.002+04:00

but... who's counting. Can't wait to get on the plane home! The last few weeks have been really busy, but fun. We had our work Christmas party, I managed to drag Steve out to dinner with some friends and then we went out towards the 19th district, always seems like a lifetime away out there. The party was great, it was on a Wednesday night because we had the following Thursday off for some random Austrian that I don't even know what it is. I went a bit crazy shopping that day, I went to this store to buy Reidel wine glasses that were on sale but ended up with all kinds of random things that I decided I desperately needed after living here for over two years. I ended up needing a taxi home, but there was not one to be found. I would have to walk maybe 10 feet, set the bags down, rest and then do it again until I managed to drag myself onto a bus that I knew would take me to a taxi stand. Ha! I looked like quite a fool, but now do have everything I own in tupperware like containers.

Work is work, I'm definitely needing a break.

Everything else in life is good. Steve is still deciding where he is going for the winter and how long he will be gone, I plan to meet him in February wherever he might be. I, of course, am hoping for some hot tropical destination, we will see!

I"m totally ready to go home! I went a bit crazy online shopping, but it just seems like such a better deal at home and as much as I'd like to be that person that adjusts and buys all the products that are here and available, I'm not. I like my Crest toothpaste and Neutrogena face soap.

Yesterday was Day 1 of Ironamn Zurich training. It is fairly easy in the beginning, I will definitely run and bike more than what is suggested, I don't want to go backwards, but the idea of dragging myself to the pool seems like torture. And, I'm going to try to add in weight training this time too. I sitgned up for a swim class that starts January 12. It's quite annoying because the only time I could get in for was 8:00pm, that means not getting home until 9:30 or 10:00 and that is late for me! I have been working on structuring my race plan and trying to figure out what and when to eat, it all seems managable now, but I do remember those days that are yet to come...

For now though, I am just anxious to get through the last couple of days here and head home to see everyone. I can't wait

Walking in a winter wonderland...

2011-12-05T00:50:00.003+04:00

After a couple weeks of fun in Vienna it was time to head off to Barcelona to visit Heather, but first we had to go to a few Christmas markets... Steph and I had a great day making Christmas cookies and then went and had some punsch at the Rathaus, it was gorgeous out! We also went a different day with Kent and Amy to the Karlsplatz market, which is definitely one of my favorites. Thai punsch is the only one I really like, love the spice and burning lips!

Barcelona was great, well, what I saw of it, the BEST part of the trip was spending time with Heather, we went and visited a cool town about an hour away, saw some ruins, ate some tapas, talked... While we were in Barcelona we did much of the same, the weather was amazing! We went on some great runs, wandered around to amazing little tapas places, a champagne bar, Starbucks, cooking class, spent time talking and laughing and just relaxing. What a great city, I would love to live and train there. It was a much needed long weekend. I forget sometimes how nice it is to be around good friends, it had been over a year since we had seen each other last, but that didn't matter at all! Already looking forward to my next trip back in March.

Work is crazy, life is moving too fast and I feel like I am just caught up in all the craziness and not really enjoying the things I should be. I did just buy a ticket to go home for Christmas, so I'm really excited about that. Less than three weeks and I'll be home for the holidays.

Going to try to relax a bit and take advantage of the last few weeks before training officially starts up again. Which actually doesn't mean relax, it means having that extra glass of wine :-)

Christmas is coming...

2011-11-15T12:03:00.002+04:00

Well, I made it back from Kenya, bags and all! It was nice to get back and have some time to spend with Steve and get ready for the short work week. And, VERY nice to only have three days of work before the weekend. There has been a principal change at work that has proven to be a bit of a challenge, nothing that I won't be able to manage, but certainly far from easy or fun. I also had my last soccer tournament, the girls had a lot of fun, played well and ended with a penalty shoot out and won their last game. The weather was freezing, but blue skies, so it was nice. Steph's team won the whole tournament, so that was fun!

The weather, I can't believe how nice it is. It is absolutely freezing cold, but bright blue skies and not a drop of rain. I love it! I went on a great long bike ride and also some beautiful runs, the color of the leaves are gorgeous. I'm gearing up for Ironman training to start again. I signed up for the one in Zurich in July and also a half in St. Polten in May as a training race. Steve was just in England and bought me a few training books, I'm getting excited as a read them. I also signed up for a swim class, it was quite amusing actually. Registration for January classes started on November 7th, so I got to work, logged on and tried to sign up. The website was all in German so I was trying to read the directions, register for the class, website, loging, etc. and as you're doing it you can see the spots in the classes literraly disappearing. So, under each class there are these little icons that represent a spot in the class and as a person registers the little icon disappears. It took me so long to figure out how to register that I ended up with a class that meets at 8:00 - 9:00 on Thursday nights, terrible! That is my bedtime! I was laughing so hard though and in such a panic. I'm on the waitlist for a 7:00 class on Tuesday or Thursday, I hope I get in... whatever. Not like there is too much to do in the winter anyways.

Steph and I had a really fun Sunday. I got up and went on a great run to Schonbrunn Palace, Starbucks with Steve, baked Christmas Cookies with Steph and relaxed at home, went to the Rathaus Christmas market, out to a movie and dinner with Steve and then watched the x-factor. I really didn't want the weekend to end!

I went to this store, Metro, last night,it's similar to a Costco, and went a bit crazy. I bought so many things that I should have bought years ago, things like four/sugar/rice containers, vases, I don't even really know what else, just random stuff for the house. I also bought Steve some new dishes, we have been eating Chicken Salads out of takeout Vapiano dishes for about 4 months...

I'm considering applying for a different job, maybe Hong Kong, Brazil, who knows. I am pretty happy here though, why make a change!

Kenya - living in African Time

2011-11-10T13:26:00.000+04:00

One thing I am not is calm and patient. I figure I have to be at my job; in fact, people actually think I am an easy going, calm, take it as it comes type of person. Whatever. As usual, I arrive to the airport and end up on a different flight, arrive quite a bit later than I was supposed to, and somehow managed to miss every meal with the weird flight times. Fortunately my Mom and cousin were prepared. They stayed awake and I inhaled their leftover dinner. The conference was actually really, really interesting, I have been writing up all kinds of different things that I want to do when I get back to work. The first couple of days were spent at the conference all day and then dinner and relaxing at the hotel with my Mom and cousin. It was SO relaxing and nice! I feel so fortunate that we were all able to meet in Kenya. My sister came after she finished her volunteer work and we crammed all four of us into a room and the next day we had to say goodbye to Nicole and off we went on our safari!
It was a long bumpy ride to Masai Mara, but very interesting. We stopped at a lookout point and gift shop, took some pictures and then were on our way. We arrived to our beautiful tented camp in time to have some lunch, rest a bit and then go on an afternoon game drive. It was amazing! We saw tons of animals, zebra, giraffes, elephants, buffalos, gazelles, impalas, wildebeest, antelope, cheetahs and I’m sure some other things too. It was also just beautiful to see the vast amount of open space, the sunset, the hills in the distance, well, just everything. It was amazingly beautiful! We came back to the lodge, showered and changed and it was time for yet another great meal, buffet style. I’m not sure what it is about buffet meals, but I always feel like I just need to eat and eat. And, since the food was so good, it was great fun! I mean, you need three different types of dessert very night in addition to the dark chocolate chunks and almond slivers.
The next day we were up early for a game drive, I was happy I had brought my Dog River traveler’s mug, thanks Lindsey…, and we once again saw tons of animals. Amazing. We barely made it back in time for breakfast, which was once again, a huge delicious buffet, and just like at home; I had an egg white omelet, yogurt and granola, peanut butter and jelly toast, coffee, water and a little fruit. Right, just like at home. Between the morning and afternoon game drive we lounged around the pool and worked on our tan, we did take a little break to eat some lunch of course. The afternoon game drive was amazing. Raphael, our driver, all of a sudden seemed like he was on a mission! At one point I asked what an animal was and he dismissed me pretty quick and gunned it, he was taking us somewhere and we were in a hurry, but had NO idea where we were going. Then, out of nowhere, all of a sudden we were surrounded by more animals than I can ever remember seeing. Every direction you looked were zebras, gazelles, and wildebeest, just everything. It was amazing! He did stop so we could take a few pictures, but then, we were off again. To where you ask? We had no idea, but suddenly we got to where we were doing and he let us get out of the car, seems a bit risky, and it was an area where there were hippos, they were so cute! And it was nice to see water too. We got out and took a few pictures and then we got back in the car for the drive back to the tented camp. On the way back we saw an amazing rainbow and a sunset you could hardly believe. Pictures really don’t do it justice, but, don’t worry, we tried. I think Kristin must have taken a thousand pictures.
The next morning we did an early morning game drive and then drove to Lake Nakuru. When we arrived to Lake Nakuru we had some lunch and then went out for an afternoon game drive. We saw many animals again, but we were really out looking for Flamingos, we didn’t see any, but did see tons of beautiful pelicans. We also saw Black and White Rhinos that were really cute. And some warthogs that were adorable when they ran with their little tails sticking straight up. We had a really nice dinner and then went to sleep, had to be up early for another game drive before we were off to the airport and then Mombasa. The morning game drive was great, we saw lions up in a tree, I had to laugh when Raphael was driving around and parking a little bit out from under the tree, he said, we have to be careful, those lions aren’t that good in the trees, not like the cheetahs. And, when we questioned him a bit further about what he meant, he said, well, you don’t want to park under the tree because the lions could just slip and end up in the van with you. Right. We don’t want that to happen. We also found some flamingos and pelicans that morning. Raphael was saying how few there were and that it had changed so much, which, even in my experience from being there 13 years ago, it had, there were definitely less flamingos, but… there were still a ton of pelicans and a fair number of flamingos. To me, it was still amazing. We also went up to a really amazing view point where you could see the whole lake. It was gorgeous! After that we were off to Mombasa! But, we did stop at a gift shop, where I used Kristin’s technique of bartering and ended up with a fair sized canvas painting that I think will look nice in my living area above my shelf unit, well, I hope it will anyways. We arrived to the Nairobi airport and were off to Mombasa.
Mombasa was meant to be our relaxing beach time, which it was. But, I was EXTREMELY disappointed with the quality of our room. It really bugged me, it was actually dirty, not just not fancy, but dirty. Yuck. Like, brown water coming out of the hot water faucets and chunks of dirt, and walls that were in desperate need of paint, bugs in the light fixtures, just well, not nice. The rest of the resort was beautiful, the pool was great, good water temperature, the service was wonderful, the people super friendly, I had a great pedicure, but, oh how the rooms were awful! By the end I was just SO irritated about it that I asked to fill out a customer card and wrote exactly what I thought. Mom and I were sitting in this lounge area waiting for our airport pick up and the assistant manager came and found me because she wanted to talk to me about what I wrote. I felt a bit bad, but really, the room was awful.
Ok, enough complaining about that. We had such a nice and relaxing time. We spent all day every day by the pool on the same three chairs. There was a little flag you could raise and they would come over, we had drinks one day and lunch another. I would just sit in the pool on the steps reading my book for hours. I did manage to go to the gym most days and one day I had an amazing pedicure. My mom asked if I was worried about being cut in Africa, well, I hadn’t thought about it at all till she mentioned it, but, I went anyways and there were no major injuries to report. Meal time was similar to what a cruise ship meal time would be like. In the evenings they had a live band and it was pretty nice. Mom and I went out on a dhow cruise for dinner one night, it was really great. We sat with a couple that were traveling from Australia, they were really nice and celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. The weather was perfect and the food was delicious. I opted for the prawns, but one of the options was lobster and I have NEVER seen such a huge portion of lobster served, then after the main course was served, they came around asking if anyone wanted to try the lobster and were just handing it out. There was this live band on board singing most of the time too. Of course their CD was for sale… I chose not to buy it. We made it back to the hotel by 11:00, which is very late for us! The next morning, today, was our last morning. We spent the day by the pool, ordered a leisurely poolside lunch and then had to shower and head to the airport. We are just about to board our plane to Amsterdam, it’s an overnight flight, and I hope I can sleep! My connecting flight in Amsterdam is about an hour and fifteen minutes, I am pretty much counting on missing the connection, doesn’t seem possible. And, even if I do make it, I can’t imagine my bags will, but since when do they ever make it to where I go…
I already miss my Mom and she is still sitting next to me at the gate. Too bad Vienna and Portland aren’t closer! I loved my time in Kenya and can’t wait to come back…!

Fall Break!!!!

2011-10-21T23:12:00.000+04:00

I probably say this every year, but this time, I really mean it, the last four weeks have been the WORST I can remember. For whatever reason work has been exhausting, I haven’t been sleeping at all, and by at all, I mean up at 3:00 and staying up, SO annoying, coaching soccer is wearing me out, I am not doing it next year. Between Fall Trip, coaching and a few trips by choice I am just going crazy. I’m currently sitting on the runway in some airport in Africa, I couldn’t even tell you what country, because my easy flight from Vienna to Amsterdam to Nairobi has, of course, turned out a little different than planned. I wonder if there will ever be a time when I get on a plane and everything goes as planned, including getting my luggage at the other end of the trip. Probably never.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Work is crazy; it was just announced this week that our principal is moving to the High School and there is no current plan in place for the Middle School. This will make for an interesting and challenging rest of the school year. I am going back and forth trying to decide if I should stay in Vienna for another school year, or be looking for another job. If the last few weeks and now this big change is any indication of how the next couple of years are going to be, for my own sanity I might want to consider a new position and a new city. Like I said, I haven’t been sleeping very well at all, I’m sure a big portion of it is stress and anxiety related. Living abroad is really, really, really hard. There are a lot of great benefits, financially and travel opportunities are amazing, but day to day life is just plain hard. And exhausting. When you think about looking for a new job at home, it doesn’t necessarily require a work visa, moving across the country, learning a language, etc. I think what I’ll do is apply for a few specific jobs if they open up and will be doing their hiring before December 15, which is when I need to tell my school what I am doing. I was thinking Singapore, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, possible Kuala Lumpur, we’ll see what happens. I think I just want to stay in Vienna though. Things really are going well, except work, it’s just too much right now, something has got to change.

I am now at the hotel in Nairobi. I ended up getting here around midnight or so, had to wait in the car at the gate while they swept the car for bombs. My mom and Nicole stayed up and waited for me to get there, we stayed up for a while and talked, I was SO happy to see them! We got up this morning and after I went to the gym had a super delicious breakfast and then I went to my conference and my mom and Nicole went to the hospital that Kristin is working at and also did some shopping. I’m really glad I decided to attend this conference, it’s the first time I’ve done any professional development that is actually geared towards counselors, so I feel like I’m learning and will learn a lot during the whole thing.

While I will learn a lot from this conference, I am ready for the vacation to start… and to see my sister!

I LOVE Fall.

2011-10-03T22:55:00.003+04:00

You would not believe the weather we have been having! It has been absolutely beautiful. Work and soccer have kept me really busy and I'm actually going a bit crazy. Fall trip was fun, the sixth graders crack me up. We hiked, went to salt mines, ice caves, markets, painted nails, you know, all the usual things. And, of course, I did ruin this one kids entire life. Easy to do when they are 11 years old. Whatever. She got over it, she was painting my nails for me about 15 minutes after I ruined her life. We also played in a couple of weekend soccer tournaments, which were time consuming, but fun. We had our day trip to Budapest on Saturday, I think I said "turn around and face the front of the bus" about six zillion times.

The cow festival in Westendorf was way more fun than I thought it would be. We rented a car and drove out there on a Friday right after work, it was about a 4 or 5 hour drive and the woman driving did a great job, but hadn't driven a stick in a while and nearly ran the car into the wall in the parking garage, but it improved from there. I only screamed one time. Anyways, we got in late on Friday and went to the only open place to grab dinner, the kitchen was closed, but they agreed to make us pizza. We ate our pizza while we watched the crazy Austrians dance to American classics played by some random band. Oh, and we were at a gelato place/bar. Normal combination, right? The next morning I went on a gorgeous run, I can see why they say "the hills are alive with the sound of music..." Seriously, the hills looked alive, and I really don't even know exactly what that means, except that they looked alive. The dressed up cows started coming through town around 10:30, it was just like a big parade and people lining the streets waiting for the cows. Of course there was sturm, beer, sausages, noodles, and all the other Austrian foods for everyone to enjoy. By the end of the day there were many people that were having a hard time standing. After we watched the cows for a while we hopped in the car and drove to Kitzbuehl, which was such a cute town! Most of the shops were closed and I would love to go back, pretty much a ritzy ski town. We wandered around a bit and then sat outside and enjoyed some pumpkin soup for lunch. We stopped at this cute pumpkin stand on the way back, I bought a couple of different pumpkins and made home made pumpkin soup with them, delicious! We also had an amazing dinner in town that night, some random nice guy let us join him because the place had no tables, seemed like a nice enough guy, German I think. Went on another great run the next morning, this time I headed up the hills and saw some amazing views. By the time we got back from Vienna I was pretty tired from being gone all weekend.

Let's see, what else. I signed up for two more races. The St. Polten Half Ironman on May 20, 2012 and the Zurich Ironman on July 15, 2012. I don't really know what I was thinking. I think I am getting a tad bit obsessive about the whole thing. It almost feels like now that I have done that, any other running event seems like nothing. Steve sent me videos of the swim start and me crossing the finish line and I just watch them again and again. It just doesn't seem real that I was able to do that. I am trying to tell myself that my goal is to finish the Zurich one, but in the back of my mind I want to beat my time. I really think I can take a full hour off the bike ride, those hills killed me. I have been running a ton lately. It takes the same amount of time to run home from work as it does to take public, so I run three or four times a week and am still running in the morning. Tomorrow I am meeting Anika at the gym and she is going to help me figure out a weight training routine. I want to work on that and swim technique before I officially start training in December. I am going to sign up for these basic swim technique classes, but the ones now are all full. The next sessions start in January, so I'll do it then. I guess registration is November 7.

Speaking of dates... We have to tell the school our "intent" by November 4th. That seems so early! But, at the same time, we don't have to tell them for sure until December 15. I can't decide what I want to do, part of me thinks I should stay a few more years and pay off all my debt, and part of me gets really excited about the idea of looking for a new job. What makes it hard for me is that if a school I am interested in posts a position and I decide to not apply, that means I won't have another opportunity at that school for probably 3 - 5 years. Ugh! I just subscribed to TIE online, so now I can obsess and watch for job openings. It was probably a really bad idea to do that. Soon I'll be updating my resume and sending off letters of interest. It would have to be a pretty amazing job, city and financial package for me to leave this job. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I am heading to Nairobi for a conference in a few weeks. My mom and sister will be there too, as will my cousin. I can't wait! We are going to go on a safari and also stay at a beach resort for a few days. And, once again, we are missing Halloween at school. YEAH! That is probably my least favorite holiday. I love it when the kids are small and cute, but think so many woman use it as an opportunity to dress really slutty. So annoying.I do have to come up with some sort of costume though, this Friday is Activities Night and it is a Halloween theme... maybe if I bake enough baked goods for the bake sale they won't notice that I'm not dressed up...

Oh, so when I'm not working or coaching I am trying too spend every waking moment outside in the sun! Sundays have been great this Fall; I have been riding my bike to the Prater to meet Anika, running for an hour and a half or so and then coffee over at Thomas's house. Then, I usually try to meet Steph for some sort of "active lifestyle" activity that also involves Pumpkin Soup. This Sunday, afer I got home from an amazing two or three hour bikeride, we went out by my school, ate pumpkin soup and salad with Amy and then Steph and I hiked around throught the vineyards and forested area. So fun! Oh, and for some reason the night before a few of us went out to 1516 (after a LONG day trip to Budapest) until 3:30 in the morning, I haven't done that in YEARS. But, it was pretty fun!

Ok, off to bed.

Time flies!

2011-09-02T16:52:00.002+04:00

It’s hard to believe how fast time goes by! I just had soccer tryouts this week, which to put it mildly, were disastrous as far as the administrative side of things, but I had a great time out with the kids. They are just amazing and I’m looking forward to a fun season. I’ve managed to book practically every weekend from now till Christmas. Some optional things and some not so optional. This weekend is free, then off to Fall Trip next week, next weekend is Frankfurt Soccer tournament, next weekend go to see the cows near Kitzbuhl, which I have really been wanting to go (I really don’t know what it is, but hear it is great fun), then Budapest for soccer, then Vienna Night Run, free weekend and then off to Kenya to meet Kristin and my Mom. Seem like a lot? Well, there’s more… free weekend, then Soccer tournament (in Vienna at least!) Nov. 11-12 and then Thanksgiving in Barcelona visiting Heather. It seems like it never ends! Many fun things, but just a lot happening.

I’m totally ready for the weekend. I brought my running things and am planning on a long run home from work. I’m missing Ciara, we used to run on Friday afternoons, it is way more fun when you do it with someone else!

Planning on another long bike ride on Sunday, which should be fun. Last week we accidentally ended up going on a 100km ride…oops! But, it actually felt great and made me think that I want to go through all the training again and am considering another Ironman in the summer. I’ll probably regret it… but, I actually do enjoy the idea of training that hard again. It takes up a ton of time and all my mental space, but that probably leaves less room to worry about other things. Ha!

I'm melting...

2011-08-25T23:05:00.002+04:00

So, it is ridiculously hot. It's pretty much all I can think about. The heat and humidity was way worse in Dubai, but we lived in our air conditioned bubble so it was manageable. Here there is just no place to escape!I was trying to figure out

The weekend was great, Steph and I walked from Grinzing up to Kahlenberg on Saturday morning, went to another friends for a Mexican feast, got up early for a long bike ride and then went and had a great salad for lunch. All part of my new "active lifestyle" vs. training. Work is work, super hot, kids are nice, crazy start, but it should be fine. Back to more interesting things... I am going to try an "active lifestyle" instead of training, but, it's hard because I don't feel very motivated. I've been running an hour or more pretty much every day, no swimming and a few long bike rides, and I can do it all, but, it just doesn't feel good. Ugh. I'm hoping it gets better! I don't want to feel like this for long. May need to sign up for another race so I have some sort of goal in sight!

I just pulled out my spiral notebook of things I want to do in my life, I finally get to cross off Ironman, which was written in with a question mark because I wasn't sure I wanted to do one. Well, I did it. I'm going to look through and see if there is anything else I can cross off, or anything I should add.

I've been reviewing my finances and should really cut back on traveling, but I just LOVE it. I really want to buy a scooter too, the commute is making me crazy. I wanted to take public and get to school early for the first week, but after a terrible commute on Friday and another awful commute on Tuesday, involving broken tram lines, a 45 minute walk and then a 12 Euro cab ride... something has to be done. Until I figure out what to do, I'll just have to take the school bus.

Since I'm melting and can't do much more than sit still with a fan blowing on me I have gone back to my Friday Night Lights addiction. I'm still on the first season, but loving it.

So happy tomorrow is Friday.

Back to life, back to reality...

2011-08-19T12:56:00.002+04:00

Back to work, and real life. I just about went CRAZY getting to work on Friday, took just under two hours and I was hot and sweaty and miserable. I never really recovered and was in a bad mood all day. Basically sprinted out the door at 3:15.

But... my last week or so at home was awesome!

My mom's birthday party was really fun. My Aunt did a great job planning and cooking. She also bought the most beautiful cake from a local bakery, fancier than a wedding cake, and there were peanut m and m's everywhere, so of course I was thrilled. And, my friend Amy, who was in Nice with us this summer came, and that was really fun! It was the only time I saw some of my family. Time just seems too short!

The next day we had a BBQ at my brother's house, he does the best chicken! My dad came over too, which was nice. He seemed to enjoy himself. Gavin was hilarious, using scissors to "mow" the lawn. It was really relaxing and fun.

I went and visited the Lam Family after, which was AMAZING! I miss them so much and only was able to see them twice this time home. I was just going to stay for a little bit and then head out to the beach, but I couldn't leave and ended up going out to dinner with them and then driving to the beach much later than anticipated, but it was so great to see them!

We had a great time at the beach, it was totally relaxing and I love all the time I can spend just hanging out and relaxing. The drive over was a bit scary, the road was so dark and windy and I was pretty convince that a deer was going to jump out at any given second. It felt a little like a video game till I realized, wait this is real... As always, the beach was one of the best parts of my trip home, beach time, McMenamins, Cannon Beach (and the best pizza ever), walks to Pacific Way Cafe, runs on the beach, hanging out at the house just relaxing, it was just great! I had to say my goodbyes, Ella always says something that just breaks, my heart, as I was leaving this time, she just gave me a hug and said, it's just so sad when you have to leave, there's never enough time to do everything. She's so right!

I drove to Marisa's and she arranged it so that we could drive down to Troy's wedding in Sisters together, which was AWESOME! We had lots of time to talk about everything and I don't feel like we always have that, so it was perfect and the drive flew by. We settled into the hotel, opened a bottle of wine and relaxed until it was time to go and see everyone else at this place in Sisters. It was so great to see Troy, his family, friends from high school and college and just have tons of fun! The night ended with me flagging down a police officer and asking for a ride home. Unfortunately he didn't think my idea of turning on the sirens to scare Marisa was such a good idea, but he did stop and pick her up too, so we didn't have to walk home. The wedding the next day was absolutely perfect. The house it was at could have been, and actually I think was, written up in Architcectural Digest, or some other magazine. It looked like a movie, set, so beautiful, amazing views, gorgeous decorations, and many of the things weren't just there for the wedding, but were part of the house all the time. Jill looked amazing and everything seemed perfect. It was an amazing wedding and super fun to see everyone.

We had to get up early and drive to Portland so I could catch my flight back to Vienna, which I barely made. Bridgepedal, this great Portland biking event... just about made me crazy! I did make it, but it was pretty stressful and close, I barely made the 60 minute checked baggage rule... but I did make it, so that was good!

Being back in Vienna has actually been great. Seeing Steve was great, I really missed him and am realizing being gone for 3 or 4 weeks is just too long. It's hard because I want to be home longer, but don't want to be away for that long. As usual, the life abroad, wanting things that you just can't have... Work is work. I had to go back right away and time is just flying by. I have a zillion things to do and am having a bit of trouble organizing it all and my time. I have also decided that I want a more "active lifestyle" and not do any race specific training, so Steph and I walked to Kahlenberg (up this long hill) yesterday and a few of us are going on a bike ride to lunch and back this afternoon. Steph said we were turning into "nerds" and I said, no, we're just turning into Austrians...

10 days and counting....

2011-08-04T23:17:00.002+04:00

I am SO glad that I decided to come home early. This has been by far my most relaxing summer home since I started living abroad four years ago. I guess it just takes some time to accept that you can't see and do it all in three or four weeks. I have just had the best time seeing my friends and family. I've managed to do some big group things, which are totally fun, but also had 1:1 time with so many different girlfriends that I don't always get a chance to see. I have met three more new babies/toddlers and loved every second of it! I'm watching Tilly right now, and, it could not be any easier. She is the most precious little thing ever!

So, let's see, what have I done since I've been home... went over to my friend Erin's and meet her little girl, drank delicious French wine at Noble Rot, spent time relaxing at my Mom's house, was up at my sister's house and had the best time ever with the kids and had so much fun one night drinking wine and eating Trader Joe snacks (the one store I would import to Vienna, well that and Nordstrom), lunch dates with girlfriends, happy hours, went out to HR and saw some friends from Vienna and a few friends from HR, I stayed with Linds and I had to laugh because we were discussing all the different hiking options and we just decided to do "the bench" which was literally across the street from her house, and, it was AMAZING, some of the best views of Mt. Hood ever. What a life... I love that place, if I ever move back to the states, that is where I would want to live, so beautiful. I went out to lunch with my brother and his girlfriend for his birthday yesterday, it was so delicious I never wanted the food to end! And, I still have plenty of fun things to look forward to in the next 10 days, although, I am getting to that nervous, oh no! I won't have time to see everyone do everything panic, but I guess I just have to realize that's the way it goes.

I am SUPER excited to see the famiy that I used to work for here for lunch tomorrow, and meet up with a girl I used to work with in Dubai for coffee, then I am heading up to my sister's house for the weekend. I am hoping to see some friends from Vienna and also a girlfriend from college and her familly but I don't have the details worked out yet. We'll have to wait and see. Then it's my mom's birthday party, my brother is going to BBQ and have my Dad over, then the beach house for the week and a wedding the next weekend in Sisters, then back to Vienna...

and, back to work... summer is going by too fast!

Home?!

2011-07-23T21:53:00.002+04:00

I was sitting around in Vienna, loving my European summer, when all of a sudden I just felt like being home. With a few quick calls I was able to change my ticket and come home a week early. Kristin was at the beach, so I looked into all kinds of different options from getting from Seattle to Portland, but my mom ended up driving up and picking me up. I think she has spent more time in the last four years driving me around to friend's houses, dinners, airports, and errands than she did when I was a kid...

Anyways, we stopped at a Mexican place for lunch, where I promptly inhaled the entire basket of chips and about 3 bowls of salsa in 4.3 seconds while I waited for my faijitas to arrive... Just can't understand why Mexican food is so bad in other countries. The drive was pretty easy and I managed to stay awake 26 hours and went to sleep and got up at a normal time, no real problems with jet lag. We went to Safeway and I just LOVE walking around and looking at everything. Seems funny that a grocery store can make me happy. I was putting things in the cart and getting excited about all the things that were just available. I mean, aisles and aisles of things like brown sugar, chocolate chips, salsa, hummus, I mean what more could I ask for! And, who can live without cinammon graham crackers, not that I've ever had them, but I desperately needed them. Delicious.

The next day I finally got to meet Tilly, Katie's little girl, which was awesome! I basically just spent the day holding her and playing with her when she wasn't eating. FUN. And, as always, it was great to see Katie. I love where she lives, walkig distance to great little shops and restaurants. My mom came and picked me up. Ha.

The next day was family day. We went and saw my dad, we are so lucky that we found such a great place for him to be cared for. They are amazing people and the place is so nice. They had redone the front area and there was a beautiful garden that just looked perfect. When we got there dad was sitting at the kitchen table, he was pretty alert as long as were were talking to him, but a bit sleepy too. He looked great. I told him all about the Ironman and gave him an Irondad t-shirt. Next stop Grandma's house. It was really good to see her, she made us coffee and cake and fruit, I felt like we were in Germany, they always do that there. We also got a tour of all of her flowers and plants. They looked great, I always think it would be nice to have a garden, but I don't want to take care of it. Kind of like how I feel about dogs and kids too actually. Next we went and saw Michael and Nina and Grandma Rivera. Michael and Nina had just gotten back from Hawaii, they looked so tan! The greenhouse was filled with plants, again, I'd love a garden, but no desire to care for it. The weather was nice, so we just sat outside and talked for a while. Last stop of the day was my mom dropping me off at Erin's house, where I met Ayla, I hope that's spelled right! She was born the day before Tilly, and she is just as cute! It was so relaxing to just sit out on the back deck and talk with Erin, stare at Ayla and hang out. Ben came home and we sat around, talked, drank wine and it was WONDERFUL. I am just loving summer. Oh,and then I called my mom for a ride home. As you do when you're 34.

Missy is on her way to pick me, not sure exactly what our plans are, but I can't wait to catch up in person! I also made plans to see Anna and meet Lukas. So many new babies! I am also anxious to see Kristin, Eric, Ella, Gavin and Dane. They are at the beach now and will swing through Portland to pick me up tomorrow, I'm SO excited to see them!

Life is good.

A few pictures from the race...

2011-07-17T00:17:00.004+04:00

Celebration time!

Just outside the Expo after I picked up my registration packet...

Steve and I outside the Expo

Check out the great shirts!

I loved our support crew!

I was all smiles after I finished, I felt great!

Just a little run after a little ride...

Couldn't wait to get off the bike! Even if it meant running a marathon.

Coming out of the swim. Part one was over and it went well!

Ciara made a great sign to wake up to!

143 + 140.6 + Friends and Family + French Riviera = Summer 2011

2011-07-14T20:33:00.002+04:00

What a start to Summer 2011! These are the times when I realize how fortunate I am that I have chosen to live the life I have. I have had the most amazing 3 weeks in the French Riviera, first with a large group of friends and family and then the last part traveling with my aunt and mom. I could not be any happier!

This is a long one…

Ironman Nice 2011

Steve and I arrived into Nice on the afternoon of Friday, June 24. It seemed unreal that it was actually here, the weekend of the race. It all started about 7 months ago when my friend Kent came into my office and asked if I wanted to train for an Ironman. At first I was like, no, I don’t think so, but the second he said that, I should have known that this is how it would work out. Completing an Ironman is actually on my life list with a question mark next to it, I wasn’t really sure it was something I wanted to do. Long story a bit shorter, once he mentioned it, it was all I could think about and the next thing I knew we were sitting in my office, both online at the same time registering for the Nice Ironman. First we wanted to do the one in Austria, but it sold out. We looked at the Nice one because of the timing. When I looked at the course, it appeared that the bike course was very challenging and hilly, great for people that were strong on hills and enjoyed the downhill parts too. I didn’t think too much of it and we signed up.

Basically, my life became run, swim, bike and that was it. The first couple of months of training were pretty reasonable, more training than I would normally do, but manageable. As the training progressed, thoughts of the race and what I was eating and how I was training became all I was able to think about. Weekends were reserved for 6 or 7 hour training days and I was up by 4:30 or 5:00 and training before work and 3 or 4 days a week had to train after work too. I followed a program called Iron Fit, there was a Just Finish and a Competitive Program, of course, if I’m going to do something, I do it, so I followed the Competitive Program and it really nearly killed me I think. One morning, toward the peak of the program, and a 20 hour training week, I woke up and just started crying and saying that I couldn’t do it anymore, I had come so far, but the thought of getting out of bed at 4:30 and running two hours and then going to work and then swimming just seemed, well, like more than I could do. As I was hysterically crying, Steve tried to tell me to take a break, and I just was a wreck saying that on the day of the race I won’t be able to take a break, so how could I possibly take a break during the training. After a few moments (which probably felt like a lifetime to Steve) I was able to calm down and get on with my run and work day. The hardest part of training for me was not knowing if the training was working. I mean I knew I was getting fitter, long bike rides of 5+ hours seemed easy, my swim times were staying consistent and I could easily do the 2.4 mile swim in the pool and running has always been my strength, I actually felt like my running was less and slower than what I was used to, but I just didn’t have any idea if it would all work out on the day of the race and I would actually be able to go the whole distance. As part of the training we did an Olympic distance race, a half iron distance race and a training race day that was distances that were between a half and full ironman and lasted 13 hours, and we were able to complete that, so I thought the training must be doing something, but it just didn’t feel like it was working. How is it possible to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles in one day? It wasn’t that I thought I couldn’t do it, but I don’t think I ever thought I could do it either. I realize that doesn’t make sense. So, that’s the background of how it all started, but now to race weekend…

I was SO lucky to have such a great group of friends and my mom and aunt come and support us, there were three of us doing the race. We rented 2 flats in Nice for a week and the time had finally come! The hours leading up to the race were going to be stressful no matter what, but a few unexpected things happened too. First, we were given the wrong address and so my mom, aunt and Amy (who is AWESOME and decided to come all the way from Portland at the last minute, all plans made via text messaging) didn’t have the correct address to the place we were staying. It all worked out in the end, but it was a bit stressful. I realized that I was so stressed and nervous about the race, I wasn’t really capable of worrying too much about anyone else. We walked around the Expo, I registered for the race, picked up my race packet and all this time all the other “Ironman” participants I saw were in comfortable running clothes, etc. I was wearing heels and a dress, bad idea. All of a sudden I was noticing that my feet hurt a little and when I finally stopped to take a look I saw three huge blisters, perfect. Of course I was a mess and so irritated with myself and I couldn’t find bandaids that I liked, Steve went all over till he found the ones I wanted. We met up with the people staying at the other house for dinner and it was all starting to become more and more real. My aunt was great, she went back to the house to try to figure out how to find my mom, who was still not with us. She had a delayed flight and missed her connection to Nice, so we had no idea when she would arrive and she didn’t have the correct address. After dinner we walked back to the house, my mom had made it back and we talked for a bit and then we all went to sleep.

Steve and I got up early the next day so I could go swim a bit in the salt water and see what it was like to be in the Mediterranean Sea at the same time I would be racing the next day. We stopped for a quick coffee on the way back, an amazing way to start the day, I had to laugh because as we were talking, Steve just said as he was watching me swim, he was also trying to figure out exactly what he would do if it looked like I was in trouble, I was way out there and by the time he got out there I’d be at the bottom of the sea. We stopped to pick up some fresh pastries at this really cute place below our flat, but ran into Ciara who had the same idea. We went upstairs, ate our chocolate croissants, drank coffee and relaxed for a bit. I loved the place we stayed. It was beautiful and spacious and had air conditioning. Somehow in the last couple of years I have become one of those people that melts in the heat.

We rented a car and Steve, my mom, aunt and I drove the bike course. Crazy. I knew that the course was going to be difficult, but I had NO idea that it was going to be as challenging as it seemed in a car. It seemed like the whole course was uphill. I mean, I realize that’s not possible, but then when we saw the downhills I was just as scared of those. Originally, I was hoping to finish the bike in about 8 hours, but after seeing the course, I was going to be relieved to finish the bike course at all. The look on Steve’s face made me think he felt the exact same way. Later that night he told me that if I finished that bike course, that would be like completing the whole ironman. It really was a challenging course. I was relieved that we drove the course, but it took a LONG time to drive the 112 miles, longer than expected. I had to check in my bike and also have it looked at since I had put it back together myself. We cut the time VERY close and I was scrambling to pack my transition bags, get my bike to the bike check and it was very near disastrous and again, I was mad at myself for not being more organized and thought that I should have managed my time better. I was supposed to be relaxing before the big race and instead I was shoving my bike in the trunk of the car and crossing my fingers that I had everything I would need in my race bags. When Steve dropped me at the place to get my bike checked, he couldn’t find a place to park, we couldn’t get the bike out of the trunk, it somehow slipped in, but we could not get it out. Not stressful at all. So, after a lot of pulling and twisting and freaking out, we eventually got it out. Amy was running around town and thankfully offered to pick up this ankle thing I wanted and meet me at the expo, somehow having someone else with me calmed me down a bit. When they were checking my bike, the guy asked me if I had the handle bars bent a certain way because it was more comfortable. Um, no sir, that’s because I had to practically break my bike to get it out of the trunk… he straightened them out for me. So, Amy, Steve and I managed to pull it together enough to get my bike looked at, tires pumped up and my bike and transition bags checked in, all is well. Mom was at home making dinner and we would be there soon. Perfect. Or not, as we were driving home all of a sudden someone on a scooter was pounding on the window. We rolled down the window and the guy told us the car was on fire. Seriously? We were stuck in a big traffic jam and I opened the door and jumped out and yelled to Steve and Amy, um get out, the car is on fire! And they were both calmly sitting there. Eventually they got out of the car, we flipped on the hazards, people were honking and staring and we tried to call the Emergency Breakdown/Accident hotline. They didn’t answer and after a while Steve finally told me to go back to the place, eat dinner and get ready for the race, he would handle the car. I felt terrible leaving him in that situation, but also didn’t know what else to do, or how it would be helpful for me to stand around, knowing that I would only get more stressed as time passed. It was almost to the time that I wanted to be sleeping and I was standing next to a broken down car. Not good. I went back and my mom had made dinner, we sat around talking and then Steve came back and said he parked the car on the side of the road and would deal with it the next day. Somehow I was able to get to sleep that night, we laid there talking about the race and while I wasn’t totally nervous, I wasn’t really relaxed either, I just wanted it to start so I would know what it was like. I set my alarm for 4:40 and asked my mom to do the same, it was finally here Race Day!

Race Day

So, the morning of the race I was surprised that I was able to sleep fine and woke up feeling pretty good. I made myself some eggs, toast and a cup of coffee and threw on my swimsuit, the whole time thinking, I can’t believe I’m actually doing this, is it really going to work? Will I really finish? And, somehow not feeling nervous, just almost out of it. I woke up to a great sign that Ciara had made and she got up to wish me luck. Then, Steve, my mom, aunt and I walked to the start of the race. I looked out and could see how far away the buoys were in the water and just thought, am I going to be able to do this? Still feels unbelievable when I look back on it. It was a beautiful walk to the start, Steve was carrying my things, I was watching the clock and trying to drink some water and throw down a gel. I really don’t like those things, but knew I would be eating them all day long. I dropped my bags, said my goodbyes and went to check on my bike and then put on my wetsuit, goggles and swim cap and walk down to the start.

Swim

I stared at my bike for a minute, put on one bottle of water and one bottle of this homemade energy drink and then got dressed for the swim and dropped off my after the race bag. I had no plan to meet Kent and Wayne, but happened to run into them. We chatted and walked down to the swim start. Still felt like it wasn’t real. Pretty soon we were standing there and the announcer was trying to get the crowd going and there was tons of people everywhere. I looked around amazed at the number of people, so many more blue hats than pink, less than 10% of the participants were women and the way we all looked now really showed that. It all seemed to happen so fast, one second we were cheering on the shore and the next we were racing into the water. There was a moment of feeling terrified, was I going to be kicked in the face? Were my goggles going to stay on? Would I really be able to swim that far? But, I just went with the crowd and dove in and started swimming. The whole thing felt pretty surreal. I swam and was a bit panicky at first, but then just settled in and started swimming. It was really hard to know where to go, I thought it would be really obvious, and there was a big red bouy I was aiming for, but somehow you’d start swimming and you’d be surrounded with people and assuming you’re all going the right way, but when you look up again, you realize you are really swimming off to the side a bit. I guess I really wasn’t too bothered by other people while swimming, there was a few times around the buoys, or just randomly, where you’d get kicked or an arm or elbow would hit you, but really, it wasn’t that bad. Time seemed to go by fast and slow, I didn’t really push myself, just tried to find a comfortable pace and was relieved that there were people behind me. Coming into the exit area was the second roughest part of the swim. I was definitely kicked and hit a bunch of times, but I was also so happy to be finished and be able to get out of the water, I really didn’t care. I climbed out of the water with assistance from volunteers, which was SO needed, it was really hard to get out for some reason, and saw that I finished under an hour and forty minutes, which was good because I was aiming for under two hours. I waved to my friends and gave my mom a hug and ran off to get ready for the bike ride. Swim was over.

Bike

There were people there to help take off your wetsuit and put on sunscreen and well, do whatever you needed, but I just took my time and did most of it myself. I figured in a 16 hour day, what was 10 – 15 minutes making sure I was all set for the bike ride. It was pretty funny getting to the bikes, there were hardly any still there, but I didn’t really care. I kept telling myself that this wasn’t a race against other people, I just had to do what I planned on doing to finish the race and not get caught up in anything else. It really was a day of mental games. So, off I went on the bike. I waved good bye to my friends, and saw Anika’s cute new haircut and then was off, knowing that I had 180km before I’d be back. After driving the bike course, I was pretty nervous, but also knew what to expect, so I just put it into my head that I just had to pedal, that was it, just keep going and do the best that I could do. I’m not real sure what I thought about during the whole race, I was constantly checking the time and drinking water, sports drink, gels, and I tried a bar once or twice, but thought the gels were a safer bet. The first section was fine, winding around through Nice a bit and up towards the hills. At the steepest hill, right at 19km, I ended up having to walk my bike about 25 – 40 meters or so. This guy was weaving back and forth on the road because it was so steep and I was going straight up and in order to avoid hitting him I had to unclip and stop, there was NO way on the incline I would be able to start again, so I just jogged up with my bike. I was not the only person doing it, there were many people that walked the whole thing. It was super steep. The course really was one big hill, I tried not to think about it too much and just kept going. I never really got tired and tried to keep as even of a pace as I could and on the flats and downs I would pedal, but never really gave it all I had, I kept thinking, just keep steady, you have a long day. It was an absolutely beautiful course, the views were breathtaking, but I didn’t really appreciate them the whole time. Instead, I was focused on riding, drinking and eating. I kept being amazed at how high I would get so quickly, at the end when I was trying to describe the bike course, I kept saying it was so weird because the parts that seemed like they were flat were somehow uphill and the parts that looked like they would be impossible and steep, seemed fine. That probably doesn’t make any sense, but that’s how it felt. There was a huge 21km climb and it was long. It took me around two hours, I felt like it was never going to end, but at the same time, my legs never got tired, they just wouldn’t go any faster and I was in my easiest gear. At one point I was just chatting with the guy next to me and it really seemed like we were barely moving. At the end of the climb there was this rolling hills section and my legs were so happy to have a break. The rest of the course was up and down, but nothing was as difficult as that section. There was another climb though, I don’t remember exactly where that was 7km and it seemed to last forever. We also had to do this out and back section and it seemed to last a lifetime too. I was watching my time and I was hoping to finish the bike course in 8 hours, but then once I saw the course, I was just hoping to finish it at all. I finished in 8:17, 17 slower than my original goal, but I felt ok about it. Coming into the transition area I saw all my friends and family and it was great! I was smiling and felt good. Again, my body wasn’t really tired and I never really pushed myself, just kept at a steady pace and told myself the whole time that I needed to keep it together, ride my ride, not worry about anyone else, drink and eat because at the end of the bike was a marathon. A marathon? Really? What was I thinking?

Run

I was all smiles when I finished the bike, I was so sick of being on the bike, not really sore or in pain, just tired of it, that running a marathon actually sounded great. It was really fun to see Steve, because after we drove the course I don’t think he thought I would be able to do it, so when he saw me come in I sort of felt like saying, I told you so… I talked with Anika a bit too, and then I once again did a real slow transition. For whatever reason, I could not get my swimsuit off and my running shirt on, it seemed to take forever. Eventually I did it, threw down gel number 13, or something like that, and was off to run the marathon.
In my mind, what I had told myself during training and during the race was that if I could get through the bike and to the run, I would be able to finish. So there was definitely a bit of relief to be starting the run. And, my time was such that I had nearly six hours to run the marathon. So, I knew I would need to run part of it, but if necessary I could walk some of it.

I set off on the run and was greeted by all of my friends in matching t-shirts screaming for me, it was SO motivating! They had all sort of spread themselves out a bit and the race course was an out/back four times course, so it was great to have people cheering for you in different spots. We also had our names on our numbers and different groups of people who I didn’t know started cheering for me. There were these New Zealand guys that took me in as one of their own and would go crazy every time I ran by and it really was great and I loved seeing them. A lot of people were also cheering because I was a girl. When I reached the 5km mark and checked my time, I had done it in 30 minutes, that would normally not be a great 5km, but I was shocked and relieved and started to think maybe I could do this… It was also fun to watch everyone else that was running/walking and try to figure out their story, where they were from, if it was their first ironman, if they were feeling ok, etc. I also saw Wayne and Kent a few times, it was great to see them, they were both ahead of me, and see that they were doing fine. As the run went on, I felt pretty good and again, the best part was when I would get towards the turnaround/finish line and see all my friends and family and smile at them and wave and then take off for another lap. It wasn’t until I hit 35km that it really hit me that I was going to actually finish, even if I had to walk, I was going to be able to come in under 16 hours. My body and mind felt good and I thought at that point that I would be able to run the rest of the marathon. At about 40km, with 2 km left to go is when I had to start telling my legs that they were going to have to go just a bit farther. I was starting to get physically tired for the first time that day, but I really wanted to be able to finish running. And, I did. It was such an amazing finish. As you are approaching the finish line there is a red carpet, stands that are completely filled, an announcer that is calling out your name and saying … Lisa Rivera is an IRONMAN! And it was just an unreal feeling. Steve, my mom and aunt were all at the finish line and when I finished I saw them right away and went over to talk to them, there was a fence between us, but it just was such a crazy, weird, exciting, surreal experience. The whole thing. And, now it’s over, which also seems weird.
I really wanted to go and find all my friends, but I was also tired and hungry, so we ended up just getting all my things and walking back to the apartment. I was probably just going on and on about the race, I still do sometimes. I can’t believe I really did it. The training definitely worked.

Nice

We spent the rest of the week relaxing in Nice. It was absolutely perfect. Steve had to leave early the next day to get back to Vienna for a golf tournament and work, but the rest of us did a whole lot of nothing and it was wonderful! We met up with Anika and Thomas for smoothies and then walked over to the Expo, I wanted to buy a shirt, but only after I finished, otherwise I didn’t want any reminders of the event. My friend Amy flew in all the way from the Oregon just for the week, it was SO great to see her and I am so happy that she was able to be there for the race, but also get to see a small piece of my life and friends in Europe. I am SO happy she was able to come and we had so much fun! What else did we do that week… we had big dinners at each apartment, went to Trivia night, ate gelato at 1:00 in the morning, relaxed at the beach, took a bus to Cap Ferrat, Ciara and I went on a few runs, which felt great, hung out at the house ate delicious dinners and drank tons of good wine. It was a little bit sad too, Ciara, Andrew, Amara and Eddie are all leaving, so it was kind of like our last big hurrah… we did have a good time though! We celebrated with numerous bottles of champagne, sometimes in the morning and sometimes at night. All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better time in Nice. Next up a tour of Provence.

Provence

My mom, aunt and I left for Avignon on Friday morning to start our tour of Provence. I didn’t help at all with the planning. I told them I was happy to do anything they wanted, I was too focused on my training and the race to be able to put much thought into anything else. They did an amazing job!

Avignon

We arrived to our hotel in Avignon without any problems, it was fun to be on a train again. We spend the first afternoon and evening just walking around. It was a beautiful city.

The next day we went canoeing at Pont du Gard, which is this huge beautiful Roman aquaduct. It was actually pretty hilarious, we ended up taking a taxi there and met our canoe company transportation, and after we are all set up and in the canoe, we start paddling and realize we have NO idea which direction to go, my aunt just starts screaming, hello?! Anybody there? Which way do we go? It was hilarious. I’m sure they thought we were complete idiots. The canoe ride was beautiful and it was a perfect day for it. We saw some wildlife and fish and the aqua duct was beautiful. We ended up being on the water for a couple of hours at least and then we walked back around to the aqua duct and walked over it and took some pictures, it was beautiful.

We set up wine tasting for the next day, originally we wanted to go on the afternoon tour, but it was fully booked and we ended up on our own private tour at 8:30 in the morning. It was AMAZING! I thought it couldn’t get any better than Pont du Gard, and then we ended up on a private wine tour with a really nice guide. First he took us to the remains of an old castle, which had amazing views of the region, and then we went to three different wine regions. The first one was Chateauneuf – du – Pape, we went to this tiny little winery that was SO cute and my favorite one. The winemaker was the one who did the tasting for us. We were in this small cave like area, surrounded by wine barrels drinking really good wine. Who cares if it’s 9:00am?! On the way to the next winery, we noticed a huge sunflower field, Eric pulled over and we took some great pictures. Then we were on our way to Giogandas. It was a really cute town and the wine shop/tasting was a very modern looking place. We tasted very good wine and also olive oils. The olive oil was absolutely delicious! They also brought us a cheese and olive oil snack that was super delicious. After the tasting we had some time to walk through the town, it was unbelievable, looked like a movie set it was so cute. Next we were off to Vacqueteras, this winery was much larger and more of a commercial winery. It was really cool to walk through the tunnels where they stored the wine bottles to age them and they also had these huge barrels to hold/store wine too. The wine was really good and we had an amazing tour of the area. Another great day!

The next day we rented a car and left for Roussillon. We were pretty sure driving was going to be an adventure. Nancy did the driving and mom did the navigating. I went ahead and held down the back seat. They did a great job. On the way to Rouissillon we stopped in Gordes, which was a really cute town for lunch. Then we made our way to our hotel. We had the cutest hotel with a great terrace. We had started making a habit of opening a bottle of wine and having a little happy hour every night. I liked this habit. In Roussillon we walked around the town, ate some great meals, did some shopping and relaxed a bit on our beautiful terrace. We also did two really fun things, we went on a hot air balloon ride, which I’ve never done before, and it was amazing! We had to get up super early and then we were up in the air as the sun was rising, it was gorgeous, we could see all kinds of lavender fields, small towns, castles from afar, the town of Roussillon, farmland and just being up there was amazing! Our balloon was beautiful and it was really cool to see them set it up and take it down. GORGEOUS! We were back at our hotel having breakfast by 9:00 or so and then we set off to walk through the Ochre Cliffs, which were right in Roussillon. It was really cool to hike around through them, it was this red sand looking dirt/earth and it looked amazing. I’m sure I took way too many pictures.

We left for Gorges du Verdon the next day. We had yet another amazing day. The drive itself was what we were going for and then they had found this hotel that was basically in the cliffs on the gorge, so it was going to be a great beautiful day…but, it got even better! We were trying to find our way to our hotel, and talking about how pretty it was everywhere we looked and as were a bit unsure of where to go, we decided to stop and have some lunch. We ended up stopping in the cutest town ever, and I realize I’ve said that a zillion times, but really, these towns were amazing! It was called Moustiers – ste- Marie, we stopped walked around, shopped a bit, took some pictures and ate a very good salad. Another picture perfect town and stop. We got back into our car and started driving and came around this corner and saw this amazing turquoise water lake, Lac de Sainte Croix, unbelievable. We stopped to take some pictures and as we were standing there decided we would go down and rent a paddle boat. We changed our clothes in the car, as Americans normally do, and headed out on the lake. It was SO perfect! After our stop for lunch and the lake, I really thought it couldn’t get any better. Then, we showed up at our hotel, and it did. The views from the hotel were out of this world! We took a few pictures, relaxed and then went and had some dinner overlooking the gorge. Another picture perfect day. The next morning I got up a bit early and hiked down to the bottom of the gorge, it was a pretty tricky hike, really rocky and involved some climbing of boulders, but it was beautiful once you got down there and made the canyon seem so huge! We then had some breakfast and were on the road again to return to Nice. We had decided we would stop in Cannes on the way back too. So, after a little confusion, we eventually made our way to Cannes for lunch and a walk along the Promenade. Cannes was a very interesting place, seemed a bit like Dubai on the coast, super fancy stores, everyone dressed in designer clothes, elaborate hotels, and very beautiful. We left Cannes and headed back to Nice, it was sad to be going back because it meant the trip was coming to an end, and it had been so fun! We had a really difficult time finding the car rental return place in Nice, but once we did, our hotel was literally right there.

Back in Nice… our hotel was SO great and in the perfect location, it was right in Place Massena and there was a huge Jazz Festival going on that we could listen to from our room. Our hotel room was the only one that had a little table and chairs area overlooking Place Massena. It was a gorgeous room and had the best shower of the trip, but the air conditioner was broken, so that was a bit of a challenge because it was HOT. My aunt had to leave the next day, so we picked a place to have our last dinner together. Sad. We did take the time to go find a set of three empty blue chairs on the Promenade and sit and look at the Mediterranean Sea one last time… it is so beautiful there! So Nancy left the next morning and my mom and I basically just lounged around Nice the rest of the time we had. We walked out to the lighthouse, did some shopping, went to the market, ate gelato, watched the Tour de France, ate some great meals. One of my favorite days of the trip was our beach day. We splurged and went to a beach club for the day and sat on our comfortable lounge chairs with umbrellas, had our cappuccinos delivered to us, walked down to the sea with the mats laid out so it was easier on our feet and then had our lunch brought to us too. Very relaxing. We thought about taking a bus to see another city, but in the end, were just as happy to stay around Nice. We went to a couple of really good dinners too, I love eating. One was this olive oil shop that also serves food and it was so good! Makes me want to drown all of my food in olive oil and the other one was this Lebanese place, also super delicious. It was really sad to say goodbye to my mom, and I had to laugh a little because our last meal together in France was a chocolate croissant and coffee and McDonalds Café while we waited for the airport bus to come. It was actually quite good.

Home Sweet Home

Now I am back in Vienna, it is pretty hard to believe that this trip to France is over. It was such a huge commitment to train for the ironman and then to have everyone decided to come and make a big trip out of it made it so special. I really could not have asked for any part of it to go any better than it did. And, really, I’m back in Vienna and happy to be here too. It was really good to get home and cook my own meals and see Steve and sort of get back into a normal routine. But, at the same time, I’m not sure what to do with my time now that I’m not training and I can’t quite figure out what to train for next? For me, there really isn’t anything bigger than an Ironman as far as races go?! I am loving the time off though and am not bored at all. I went to Dr. Falafel today for the first time in months, I’ve missed that place! I also finally made a pedicure appointment, managed to get my bike back together and had a personal training session at the gym that just about killed me. I am having a way harder time recovering from that then I did the Ironman. I am shuffling around and have to allow extra time to walk places because I am in so much pain, and it’s been 2 days! Ugh.

Next time I won’t wait so long to write, this is way too long.

Train. Train. Train.

2011-05-11T15:45:00.001+04:00

Had a bit of a breakdown last night, I’ve had to work a few evening parent events the last couple weeks, last night being one of them, and it just throws everything off! Working 40 hours a week, training 20 hours a week, commuting almost 10 hours a week, it just doesn’t leave much room for anything “extra”. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done, even daily life is impossible to get to, stores not being open after 7:00 and not at all on Sundays really makes it hard. These are all things I knew when I started this training, but as the training hours increase and work gets busier, I am just getting tired of it, I think I’m on Week 24 and it seems like it will never end. At the same time, I don’t want the training to end because that means the race will be here. Scary.

Training was a little more fun this weekend because I ran with a girlfriend after work on Friday and then went out with a friend for a long, hilly ride on Saturday morning, it was great! I did almost throw a fit at the end, I was DONE, but still had another 35 minutes till I was home and then I was supposed to run for 45 minutes after the five hour ride. Fortunately I didn’t know this person well enough to get off my bike and storm around even though that was exactly what I felt like doing. It reminded me a bit of how I felt when I was hiking Kilimanjaro and our guide kept saying, only 5 more minutes, for like an hour, and at one point I just sat down and refused to take one more step, and when he said you are almost there I called him a liar and stayed sitting down. What was great is that when I finally did stand up and start to walk, the top was about 5 feet away. Guess he wasn’t a liar. Anyways, the ride and run was great, the Derby party was a lot of fun, managed to stay out till 1:30, that is the latest I can even remember being out. Also had about four glasses of wine and a mint julep, again, more than I think I had to drink the whole time in Mallorca practically! Then next day I slept in till 8:00, which is TOTALLY late for me and then did a 2:10 minute run, it was a new route and I loved it, but it was only supposed to be 2 hours and even though I cut through town, that last 10 minutes seemed like it was just about forever… I was going to go to this food/wine festival but the weather was a bit rainy and it felt great to just lounge around the house and do laundry, bake some cookies and relax.

So, I had a “rest” day yesterday and have figured out that I just can’t do it. I can’t start my day without some form of exercise, even if it’s just walking part way to work. It just throws me off. Yesterday my bus broke down, I ended up late to my Student Council Meeting, I ate terribly and had to work late. It was MISERABLE and I really think it started because I didn’t run or bike in the morning. So now, even on my days off I think I’ll do a short 15 minute run, just to get the day started right, I mean, I’m up anyways with the sun shining in. Or, maybe I just need curtains? Who knows. Today is much better, I had a great 95 minute ride up to Kahlenberg, so I got in some hills, it was beautiful and sunny and a great way to start the day. Work is fine and I just have to swim tonight after work. The weather isn’t supposed to be nice this weekend or next week. The idea of being on my trainer or at the gym on the bike for 5 hours is totally unappealing. Hopefully that will change… we’ll see I guess!

I am going over to a friend’s to work on a “Vision Board” this weekend. I’m not sure what my vision is at the moment. All I can see and think about at the moment is completing the Ironman. I still can’t believe I’m actually planning on doing it.

Update...

2011-05-04T16:39:00.001+04:00

Training. It’s all I do. Really. Can’t seem to find the time to do much else! Well, that’s an exaggeration, surprising for me, exaggerate? Ha.

Let’s see, March and April were good and busy months, what did I do?
In March I went to Cirque de Solei, Mojo Blues, helped host Steph’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party and took my soccer girls out for a “reunion dinner” at TGIF’s, I hate to admit it, actually enjoyed the American food and atmosphere, if I was in the states, I would have hated it, but… while out of the country anything that reminds me of the U.S. of A, I LOVE! Work weeks fly by and the weekends are basically taken up with training.

April was a busy month, did an Olympic Distance “race” and felt really good afterwards, could I do it all three more times? Who knows. Went out to Bad Ischil to do a long ride with hills, had to get off my bike twice and walk it. I am terrified of the hills during the race in France, I am googling it and watching Youtube videos of the bike part, I really should stop doing that. So many of the things I read talk about how it is the longest climb, not necessarily steep, but hours long and 7.5 km per hour, I can run faster than that… and people that normally finish the bike portion in 6 hours are finishing a bit over 7, which means, experienced cyclists are adding over an hour to their times, what does that mean for the beginner????????? So many parts of me just wants the race to be OVER, but I have enjoyed the routine of the training and can’t imagine what I will do with all my free time when it is finally over! 53 days to go. Crazy. I also ran the Vienna Half Marathon, it felt good and was a really fun day, the weather was perfect so we just relaxed at the end and waited for our friends to finish the marathon and then went and grabbed some lunch at Charlie P’s. Steph, Anika and I went to Mallorca for our Spring Break. I just LOVE that I still get a break, not sure how I could cope with M.S. students without getting a break though! We rented a car and spent the first couple of days in Valldermosa, which is on the Eastern mountainy side of the island. We had lazy, long breakfasts in the mornings, then toured around some of the different towns, they were all so cute and the food and wine was delicious! We also found some great markets and shops. There were a few stores that I really wished were in Vienna because there were so many things I wanted to buy for my house, but I wouldn’t have been able to get it home. We then went up to the Northern part of the island, Puerto Alcudia and it was AWESOME! The place we stayed was great and the weather was hot and sunny. Laying by the pool and getting a tan was wonderful. Steph and I had coffee and croissants every morning at the same place and walked on the beach, rented bikes, ate delicious pardon peppers, paella, tapas and drank Rioja. What could be better! We also watched a few soccer matches and the Royal Wedding. I LOVE vacations. I also really enjoyed being part of the Spanish culture for a while, everyone was so friendly. When I got back it was part of our training schedule to do a half ironman. On what planet is it part of training to do a half ironman? Isn’t that enough to train for? Anyways, I did a “race” but it was swimming in a pool, indoor biking and then I ran the 13.1 miles outside. It actually felt really good, but I just CANNOT imagine doing twice as long for the distances and the hills, they just terrify me! It just takes SO long, I did half the distance and it was about 6 ½ hours. The idea of working out for over 15 hours seems insane. Oh, I also had a crazy anxiety attack. Steve and I were out having a coffee at Starbucks and when we came out I looked up and down Mariahilferstrasse and just freaked out. Nothing looked familiar and I knew where I was and didn’t know where I was all at once. It was awful. We sat down and I had some water, it was the weirdest thing. I ended up going back to Steve’s and just laying down for a bit, I never sleep during the day, but who knows. Hopefully it won’t happen again. According to an article in the NY Times, rats that exercise a lot it actually increases anxiety levels, maybe I’m part rat.

Oh, and I bought a new couch and somehow that makes me feel like I’ll end up staying a fourth year here. I have no idea why I think that. I’m also really considering buying a scooter. The fact that school is less than 10km from my house and I have to allow at least an hour to get here by public is just irritating. I can run faster but then would need to shower and change and all that. ANNOYING. Everyone says, oh, you’ll get used to the commute, read a book, listen to music, relax. Whatever. Two hours a day is too long to be wasted, I’ve got too many things I would rather do with my time. None of which involves standing on a corner waiting for the bus/tram and then getting on dirty public transportation… Vespa shopping soon…

This weekend training is a 5 hour ride and 1 hour run on Saturday and a 90 minute swim and a 2 hour run on Sunday. Doesn’t seem like I ever really get a break! Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and I’m going to a friend’s house for fresh tortillas and margaritas, Friday is a run with a girlfriend, Saturday is a Kentucky Derby Party and Sunday there is a food festival that we went to last year that was fun, so it’s a really busy weekend!

Exercise. Eat. Work. Eat. Exercise. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

2011-02-28T13:47:00.004+04:00

Well, that pretty much sums up my life.

Ha! I keep meaning to write, but get caught up doing who knows what! I decided to buy a ticket to Dubai at the last minute and flew down for a week long escape to the sun. It was very, very necessary! I saw good friends, did some beach camping in Oman, ate Carrot Cake at Lime Tree, went to the beach, kept up with my training and did an all you can... just couldn't resist! Didn't make it to Barasti, or any malls, but I did manage to get in a few massages, a pedicure, you know, the usual Dubai luxury treatments for free.

Life is pretty crazy, well actually, crazy isn't quite the right word. Training has completely changed my life. It is all that I do. I am asleep even earlier than usual, often before 9:00, training around 12 - 15 hours a week right now, it goes up to 20 at some point, I don't even know how it is humanly possible to work full time, commute over an hour a day, get the workouts in and still have some kind of life. The life part is pretty much non-existant. I have been so exhausted when my eyes blink they want to stay shut. Also, exercise used to give me energy and now I'm just super, super tired. It all sounds bad, but I actually am enjoying parts of it, but also miss having time to do other things. I also don't drink anymore, which is weird. I mean, I'll have a glass of wine every now and then, but that's it. Very strange, I think of everything in terms of training. I was laughing this weekend because I was on my trainer for 3 hours and then had to do a 30 minute run and was thinking on the run that I'm not sure how I'll managae the bike ride without a movie to watch or tv shows... I'm sure I'll work it out! I'm really looking forward to the week in Nice AFTER the race.

This weekend was nice, went and saw King's Speech, to a BBQ at a friend's house and then spent half of Sunday drinking a latte, then having a snack and then another coffee at Starbucks with Steve. NOTHING is open on Sundays, wasn't quite sure what to do with ourselves. And, it was my day off training... I've also been baking obsessively, I made up a recipe for double chocolate cookies and they were delicious, but I won't be able to recreate it I'm sure, oh well.

Now, back to work and counting down the days till our next break, we have a bit of a stretch. Some fun things coming up though, Cirque de Solei this weekend, Steph's birthday dinner the next weekend, and hopefully it will start to get sunny again soon...

Where does the time go?

2011-01-31T18:07:00.000+04:00

Let’s see, I could probably sum up the last couple of weeks in about four words. Swim, bike, run, sleep. Seriously, it’s ALL I do! But, I’ll back up a bit…

Winter Break was great! I eventually made it home and spent most of the time with my family. I flew in/out of Seattle and did manage to make it home in time for Christmas, it was the first Christmas I’ve spent at home in four years. I loved watching my niece and nephews Christmas morning, they were just so excited! We also went to the beach house for about a week, which is always so relaxing. The weather was freezing, but we still managed to play outside, go on a hike and of course I had the opportunity to ref some soccer games between Ella and Gavin, they are so hilarious! Jess came to the beach for part of the time too. We all managed to relax, drink some NW wine and just hang out and do NOTHING. It was wonderful, not at all rushed like last summer when I was home.

I went into Portland for a few days, had a great visit with my dad, a few nights out with some friends, a nice lunch, some shopping and then dinner at my brother’s restaurant with family. I also spent some time with the family I used to work for, which is always one of the highlights of my trips home, I am constantly amazed at what a great family they are and how much fun the kids are to be around, they are growing up way too fast! I then went back up to Kristin’s for a couple days before it was time to come back to Vienna. It always seems WAY too short, never enough time to do all the things I want to do, or see all the people I wanted to see. On the last night I was there I spent some “special time” with Dane, Ella and Gavin. I think Ella pretty much summed it up when she said, there’s just so many things I want to show you and there’s never enough time. Tear.

I made it back to Vienna after an unplanned Spa Day in the Minneapolis Airport, my flight ended up being delayed by 10+ hours. Annoying. It was nice to have a few days back in Vienna before work started up again, but once it started, it’s just been ridiculously busy.

Triathlon training… unbelievable. I cannot believe what a time commitment it is! I am physically exhausted most of the time now.

The workouts vary; last week looked something like this:

Monday: Rest Day (I used to call it starvation Monday, but now LOVE it)
Tuesday: 60 minute run, 60 minute swim
Wednesday: 45 minute bike, quick transition to 20 minute run
Thursday: 60 minute bike, 60 minute swim
Friday: 60 minute run
Saturday: 2:45 bike
Sunday: 75 minute run

Needless to say, I’m not used to working out this much, it feels like a part time job added on to my life, but instead of earning extra money I am physically exhausting myself. I can’t count the number of days in the last few months I’ve put my feet up on the sofa at 7:30 after a day of running, working, rushing to the gym, eating dinner and just thought to myself WHAT AM I DOING?! This Sunday after my run, I was lying on the couch falling asleep while watching the Australian Open (Tennis) and the European Tour (Golf), I NEVER sleep during the day.

Oh, and this week is the last week of Phase 1, which is the Base Phase, now the real workout begins… seriously? I’m really not sure how I will possibly add that much more time to what I’m already doing.

Steve bought me a fancy new bike trainer for Christmas, which is already making a HUGE difference, I can now do the bike workouts in the morning and I watched a ton of TV while on the trainer for 2:45 this Saturday. 3 hours next Saturday will be real fun I’m sure… Next week also adds in another 1 hour swim and they also suggest 2days of week of strength training… really does seem impossible.

Let’s just hope it’s all worth it. I do have a Spa Day booked for this weekend that I’m looking forward to!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

2010-12-21T20:06:00.002+04:00

Christmas break has begun! And, once again, the airlines are not being my friends. We had some fun doing the Christmas thing the last week or so, went to a cookie exchange, where we somehow ran out of time to exchange cookies, a Christmas concert that was fun, but seemed a bit like we were in a high school gym/lyons club hall. But... the director guy really looked like the happiest man alive and it was entertaining enough. Although, the girl they had singing in a tiny little skirt was a bit painful to watch, every time she bent over to get a glass of water we would all cringe and try not to stare, but for some reason couldn't help but watch and torture ourselves. The rest of the week at work flew by, had a Christmas party, talent show and a random snow day.

Speaking of snow... I was supposed to fly out Monday morning, but... all of Europe is a mess because of the snow. How it is this shocking that there is snow at this time of the year is amazing. Heathrow and Gatwick have all but shut down and flights in'/out of Germany aren't much better. I was supposed to go through Paris, but after arriving at the airport a little before 5am and a few delays, I realized I wouldn't make my connection and went down to get reticketed for a different day and by the time I got there they had cancelled the flight, I was lucky and was only 4 or 5 people back, but it still took nearly 4 hours to get rebooked. Oh, and it made me wish I was in a wheelchair or had a kid, because apparently then it it TOTALLY ok to walk to the front of the line and ask ONE person if it's okay if you go ahead of them because of your situation. It happened a couple of times before this guy just lost it and started yelling at anyone that even tried to ask a question, let alone cut in line. It's crazy how long it takes to reroute one person, it's like 20+ minutes... I felt bad for the people that worked there. I had an option to try to fly again the next day, but they told me it was unlikely the flight would make it, so if I lived here, it would be wiser to go for the next confirmed flight I could get, which was the 23rd. Whatever, and in typical fashion... they couldn't locate my checked luggage and said it would take at least 5 or 6 hours before they could get it to me. So, instead, I can just go the day of my flight, pick it up at Lost Luggage from Austrian Air and then recheck it on my KLM flight through Amsterdam. I'm sure that is totally going to work out. I decided that I will go out to the airport tomorrow and try to locate my luggage and get it checked in. Who knows if that will work. Unbelievable really. I had to laugh at this point, my luggage situation is now just a joke. My carry on is probably enough to get me by for a week or two... Steve was really great too, he was planning on flying home that morning, but now stayed here instead, you know, to entertain me. Ha! I'm frustrated and annoyed, but at the same time, what can you do? I have had some time to go to the gym, wander around shopping, enjoy Starbucks and clean my house a little, so it's not all bad. I have a hard time relaxing, but not a lot more that I can do!

I can't wait to get home! I was doing okay with it, but talking to my sister last night made me a bit sad about the whole thing. In the whole scheme of things I guess it's only 3 less days at home, but when you're only home two times a year for a few weeks, it seems like a lot... oh well. I'll be there soon enough! Crossing my fingers that the airports are all up and running by Thursday!

Sleigh bells ring...

2010-12-10T18:03:00.001+04:00

I am so ready for Christmas Break! Work is ridiculously busy and I feel like I am just running around but somehow getting nothing accomplished. Annoying. I’m also starting to realize what a HUGE time commitment this Ironman thing is going to be. On paper I realized that it would be a lot of time, but after only two weeks, I’m realizing it’s even more time than I thought it would be. Getting to/from the gym and working out somehow takes twice as long as I think it will. We had Wednesday off and my one hour swim and 30 minute bike ride somehow took nearly three hours when you factor in getting to/from and changing and all that. And, that was a workday workout normally, how will I have three hours in addition to working all day? Especially when the commute to and from work takes up a minimum of an hour and a half per day… Swimming hasn’t been nearly as bad as I thought it would be, 2400 meters in less than an hour without stopping, so, I doubt I’ll drown in the Mediterranean. I had to laugh though, this guy decided the best option in an empty pool was to share the swimming lane with me, which was annoying and he had the nerve to be splashing me. Hmm, I’m guessing that might happen when I am in the middle of the race. Let’s see, what else? I went out for a run on Sunday and it was -12 degrees, that was fun. I didn’t realize my eye sockets could somehow hurt from the cold. The rest of the day I was super lazy, never left the house again. Tuesday I came home from work to find all kinds of chaos happening in my apartment building, I never did figure out what happened, but there was a door that looked like it had been kicked in that is now boarded up and another door on the same floor now has some pad lock and thing all hooked up on the outside. Who knew that I lived in the ghetto?! There was this new notice downstairs, of course it was in German, so I took a picture of it and spent the next 45 minutes typing it into Google translate thinking that it might tell me what happened, nope, all it said was that people are putting the recycling in the garbage or garbage in the recycling and this is very, very bad… I’m really glad it’s the weekend, we are doing a Christmas cookie exchange and going to some concert on Sunday, and it should be fun. No plans the rest of the weekend, I need to get some Christmas shopping done, or at least started…

Catch up....

2010-12-02T18:24:00.002+04:00

I am SO far behind! Not only in writing in this blog, but life in general… okay, it’s been just about forever since I’ve written last so I’ll try to make it quick…
Time is just flying by, I think I have been out of Vienna more than I’ve been in Vienna. For work I went to Hallstatt with the 6th Graders, which was beautiful. We went to an ice cave, salt mines and we hiked a bit. I did some running around a lake and up in the hills, it was beautiful!

A couple weekends later Bridget and I went to Berlin for a long weekend. I ran the Berlin Marathon, it was absolutely POURING down rain. I actually wore a pink poncho during more than half the race and my phone and iPod died within the first three kilometers because they got so wet. My shoes were soaked and I have never seen the type of blisters I had on the soles of my feet. It was funny though because I knew that I hadn’t really trained enough for the race and with the conditions (and lack of music) I didn’t have any time goals, I just wanted to finish. For the first time ever in a race, I walked through water breaks, stopped at the bathroom, stood on the side and stretched at one point and was SO annoyed that I finished in 4:00 and 41 seconds… are you kidding! I could have totally gone 41 seconds faster, but I had no idea I was so close to breaking 4 hours. Annoying. When we finished we made our way back to the hotel, showered to warm up and then drank a delicious bottle of champagne while lounging around the hotel room, we did eventually venture out to a really great Italian place for a celebration dinner.

A few weeks later my mom came, we had such a great time! I love having her come, we just hung around Vienna, did a bit of shopping, a lot of eating and not much else. We then flew to Istanbul for about a week. We stayed in a really great place right next to the Blue Mosque and it was just perfect! The room was pretty tiny, but the location was great. I think I had Chicken Sis for every meal. I loved it! It was a perfect amount of time to be there. We had plenty of time to see all the main sights, but could do it at a leisurely pace, with plenty of time to stop at Starbucks, which I insisted we did almost every day. We also went to this traditional Turkish Bath. You know how I am with naked people… well, we were in our swim suits, but most people were just walking around with nothing on and just sitting there and ahhhhh, where are you supposed to look! Steph and her mom came the last night we were there and we all went out to this traditional Turkish dinner, it was really fun! We also saw my friend Brycen, it was nice to have a “local” to take us around one night. Fortunately we just missed the bombing… it happened the morning we left. My mom and I had a few more days to hang out in Vienna before she left. I am always so sad when she leaves, this time I wasn’t sure when I was going home again next too, so that always makes it worse.

A couple weeks after that, I took our MS Girls Soccer team to Lug, Switzerland for our SCIS tournament. We had a really great time. It’s always nice because Steph coaches the other team, so it’s a little bit like we are on vacation… well, a vacation ruined by coaching… no, we had a great time. It poured down rain the first day, but was beautiful the second day. I was hoping to see a friend of mine from Dubai, but, I was just too exhausted to make the trip into Zurich, even though it was only 45 minutes away. Maybe next time. We went into Luzern for a team dinner and it was such a cute place, kind of want to go back.

I came back to Vienna for a couple of days and was back at the airport for the ECIS Conference in Nice, France. Nice was absolutely beautiful! I am excited to go back in June… more on that later… but the conference was fine. The best part was reading on facebook that another girl I am friends with from Dubai, now working in Cyprus, was at the same conference. So, I stalked her and eventually found her at the conference. We went out to a great French meal that evening and it was WONDERFUL to see her! It was one of those long dinners when you talk about absolutely everything and nothing all at once. I miss dinners like that. When I flew back into Vienna, Wade, Katie and Amy were there waiting for me, without their luggage. Must be because they were visiting me that it got lost… We had a really great time while they were here. It was great to meet Wade, and always a good time with Katie and Amy. We had way too much wine and food, I feel terrible! We mostly just walked around to different Christmas Markets, shops and Italian restaurants for a few days. They also saw some museums and churches and other things that I have never seen even though I live here… We went to my friend Kent’s house for Thanksgiving, it was such a good time. Great people and great food. I was also able to check something off my life list… make a cheesecake, so exciting! I made a Pumpkin Cheesecake, had to be a bit creative with the ingredients, they just don’t sell everything here. The next day we rented a care and drove to Lake Bled. Driving to Lake Bled was sort of like a near death experience. I feel asleep for a bit in the backseat and when I woke up I was so excited to see the pretty snow… that ended pretty quickly. It was seriously whiteout conditions and icy snowy roads, if I remember correctly we got in front of the snow plow… We did eventually make it there and had our gourmet meals with goose liver and wild boar, massages, castle touring and wine tasting. It seriously looked like a winter wonderland. I went on a great run the first morning around the lake, breathtaking! We left early and got back to Vienna in time to eat at the Gulasch Museum, who knew that existed? Wade and Katie left that night… sad. Amy and I basically didn’t do too much the rest of the time she was here, but I loved having her (and Wade and Katie) just be around, I miss good friends from home like crazy and it was so good to be able to talk to them about anything and everything and hear all about their lives too. It’s hard living away, so I am SO thankful that they were able to come visit. Amy just left this morning at 4:30… she’s actually flying as I type.

So that’s the traveling/work part of life… let’s see what else? My U2 tickets were a scam, good thing I recommended the site to my boss too… oops! Went to another concert, I don’t remember who it was, but it was fun and there were lots of normal people there. We also did the Vienna Night Run again, which was great. Eddie had us all over before the race. Ciara and Andrew had a little girl, Amara, I was the first visitor at the hospital besides the grandparents, I just couldn’t resist! She is SO cute and they let me watch her the other night when they went out to the Marine Ball, she really is the cutest baby ever and has such a great temperament. Actually, speaking of her, there is a baby shower for Ciara this afternoon, I made a carrot cake and can’t wait to have a piece! We have been meeting up at lots of different Christmas Markets. I still love the Thai Punsch at the Karlsplatz market the best, but also love going over to the Spittleberg market, it’s just so cute over there. We are planning on going to a Krumpus market, or something like that on Saturday. It has been snowing excessively for the last few days, there must be nearly 10 inches of snow up at school, it’s beautiful. For now I love it, but I’m sure in a few weeks I’ll be sick of it. What else… Oh, I started taking the school bus to work and it is seriously life changing, lots more time in the morning and no standing outside and waiting for trams and busses. I love it. I also went out and bought a few more things for my apartment and signed on for another year, I guess it’s time to start settling. I’m sure I’ll get my place just the way I want it and then be ready to move, that’s usually how that works out. I’m currently wanting to get a soda water maker and a rice cooker/vegetable steamer but don’t want to carry it home. We were in Saturn the other day for hours looking at small appliances. I am also trying to convince Steve to get a coffee maker to make my life better. He ended up with a toaster instead. Maybe next trip. I finally bought a new cordless phone, but I can’t seem to figure out how it works, all the directions are in German, it’s driving me crazy! So, I still haven’t magically learned German, weird, right?! Ha. Oh, and in other news, I signed up for an Ironman in Nice, France on June 26. Not sure what I was thinking!

I’ve officially bored myself… so, while it may seem like it's so exciting and I get to do so much over here I am absolutely exhausted. I feel like I have NO time to do anything and am always running from one thing to the next. As usual, many of the planned things are fun and things I want to do, but it's just like summer. Exhausting. I keep trying to do things differently, but because of work, or coaching, or training, or whatever reason, I can't seem to keep any time to just relax. And all the traveling has put me pretty far behind at work also, which then just stresses me out. I feel like I need a break, and while I am SO excited that I decided to go home for Christmas, I'm really worried I'll do the same thing and end up running around like a crazy person. What I really need is a day at the spa...

Back to life, back to reality...

2010-09-07T00:25:00.003+04:00

Things are going well. Not too much to report actually. It's already freezing, which I find very irritating, I was actually considering wearing my wool jacket the other day, but then refused and chose to freeze instead. Blah. We went out to dinner at this tapas place that I love the other night which was fun. Went on some fun bike rides, random lunches, Steph and I just had wine and cheese at a great place right near my house, I now eat a zillion times a week at this place called Vapianos. It's Steve's favorite place and I don't mind it, but it's no 6th Street... Soccer started last week, it should be a fun season. Too many girls for one team, so we need to find another coach. I'm not entirely sure my athletic director realizes that I think we need a full time coach, not just someone to help me out. Practice was a nightmare today. The bus didn't come to pick us up and take us to our practice field, so after a long time of waiting, I made the girls change and run the mile and a half to the field. You would have thought I asked them to walk on water they were so confused. Then it was a zillion of them and one of me. Fortunately my boss came down and helped out. Should be interesting. We have games this weekend and only one more practice and I haven't picked the teams. Oh, and I looked great running down to the field in my work clothes this afternoon... no wonder I had to go have wine and cheese tonight... Then next month or so is insanely busy...

Sept. 10 - 11 Soccer Tournament
Sept. 15 - 17 Fall Trip (Hallstatt)
Sept. 24 - 27 Berlin
Oct 2 Budapest
Oct 17 - 31 Mom's visit... and our trip somewhere really fun, yet to be determined...
Nov 11 - 13 SCIS tournament in Switzerland
Nov 17 - 19 Conference in NIce, France
Nov 19 -30 Katie and Amy come and we may travel for Thanksgiving...

I was exhausted after a summer of traveling and swore I would be more settled once I got back here, but things just seem to take on a life of their own. Of all those things, the only one I wanted to do was Berlin... and now that seems like it wasn't the best idea. I signed up for that marathon last January... haven't done much along the lines of training. Oh well, what can you do, right?

Ok, it's way past double digits... time for sleep.

Summer lovin had me a blast...

2010-08-24T23:30:00.002+04:00

Highlights... let's see. After a crazy 20 hours in Vienna, half of which was spent paying a taxi driver a zillion dollars in order to hit nearly every district in Vienna to eventually collect my bridesmaid dress, I think it only cost around 250 Euros to get that taken care of... packed one big bag with all of my favorite clothes and the dirty clothes from S. Africa and a quick dinner at Vapianos I collapsed at Steve's house. We woke up early the next morning and we came to my house to quick pick up my bag and then he was going to drop me at the airport to catch my flight to Portland, where I would arrive at 1:30 in the afternoon the day of the rehearsal dinner for a wedding I was in. Well, of course we get to my house and instead of everything going as planned, I mean, when does that ever happen for me? I get there and I was completely locked out of my house. Eddie, my friend's boyfriend, was so kind as to drop off my black dresses at my house that Steph had borrowed so I could bring them home. Little did he know, he had locked a bolt that I did not have a key to. Captain Chaos, that's what Steve called me. Eventually we sorted it out and managed to get into my apartment, the best part was, when I looked at the black dresses, there was about 238 of them, she had given me ALL of her black dresses, but not the two that I had loaned her, the one I was planning on wearing to the rehearsal dinner and/or Jesse's wedding at the end of the month. Ha!

I had an overnight in NYC to meet my friend Jen, which was so much fun! We went to a great French place and drank delicious wine, ate wonderful food and listened to good music. Very fun. Of course, shockingly enough, my bags didn't arrive with me to Newark. I left the next day for Portland and now I'll just give the condensed versions...

Erin and Ben's wedding was amazing. We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner, I'm sure there were all kinds of really great people there, but I was so excited to see Erin and Ben, Casey and Myra, Shane and Mark. They are such a fun group of people that I don't spend nearly enough time with. My mom was amazing, driving me all over town, fixing my dress... while she was dropping me off at the rehearsal dinner, I just looked over and said, I bet you didn't think when I was 33 years old I'd still be asking you for rides... I thought the same thing the next morning when she was picking me up from my friend's house, really?!

The morning after the wedding, I must have still been a bit jet lagged, I decided I couldn't wait one more second and I drove out to Gearhart to see my sister and her family. I didn't call them I thought it would be fun to just surprise them, well surprise, when I got there, they weren't there. Ugh. Not to worry, I called Eric and they had just left for Seaside, so they came back and picked me up. It was great to see the kids. I decided to stay with them and then go up to their house for a few days until Anika arrived on the 7th. We had Gavin's birthday party, which was at a park and just kind of hung out and did a lot of nothing, it was great!

Anika arrived and we spent some time at Katie's and I saw my brother and some other friends, which was awesome. I showed Anika all my favorite places, we went out to HR, where we stayed with Lindsey and Simon, and just drove around taking pictures and of course went to 6th Street, it was as great as I remember it! It is still where I want to live if I ever go back to the States. Then we headed down to Missy's in Dundee for a wine half marathon. It was great, we met up with my best girlfriends and went wine tasting, bbq'd at Missy's and then they went out and Anika and I went to sleep so we could do our race the next morning. The race was hard, but beautiful. At the end of the race, I was sitting back, sipping a glass of wine and lounging in the sun and looking at all the runners "tasting" wine and thought, finally, I have found my people. We watched the World Cup final that day at this dive bar in McMinnville, and it was SO fun! We went for a great long lunch and then some wine tasting after that. Anika and I stayed down another night and it was great to just sit and catch up with Missy. The next day we went and sat in the Spruce Goose at her work, which was cool. Then we headed up to Portland so we could see the family I used to work for. Of course, things didn't go smoothly, Captain Chaos strikes again... we were on the freeway and things just didn't seem quite right. So, yep, the car I borrowed broke down and I ended up paying a zillion dollars for a rental, had to call my poor mom AGAIN to help me. Right, so we were at Washington Square and she was in Troutdale and it was rush hour traffic. Convenient.

I can't say enough about how great the family I used to work for is, I keep saying that their kids have spoiled me, I think all kids should be like them, and they most certainly are not all as much fun, smart, creative, funny and well, just all around PERFECT kids. I am sure I am not biased at all. I never feel like I have enough time to see them.

Anika and I then picked up my friend Heather from the airport and we all headed up to Seattle to see our friends Andrew and Ciara. We sat out on this beautiful deck on Alki Beach and sat and talked and had a great time. We then walked around a bit and then headed back down to my sister's house where we drank some wine and sat on their deck relaxing. We had to drop Anika off in Seattle the next day, so we had lunch up there and then Heather and I came back and went to a kid's track meet with Kristin, Eric and the kids. It was good fun, both Ella and Gavin won some ribbons. It looked like they were having such a great time. It was really great to spend some time just relaxing with their family.

Heather and I went back to Portland where we hung out with my brother and friends and had a BBQ one night, went to Noble Rot, my favorite wine bar, walked all over Portland, it was just great! Heather left and I went to a family thing and then my mom, brother and I went out to the beach for almost a week. It was by far the most relaxing part of my summer. I love being there, somehow I turned into the official soccer ref. It was great, yellow cards, red cards, the whole deal. We also went and listened to some music, watching Dane dance was absolutely hilarious.

Oh, did I mention I didn't have my luggage for 15 days? Seriously? I have the worst luck with that. It was also interesting trying to remember what time zone I was in. I think I spent a zillion dollars texting Steve good morning, or good night, or have a good day, now what time is it there? It seemed like about every 4 hours it was time for one of us to get up or go to sleep.

From the beach I went up and did the Ragnar Relay. It was more fun than I thought it would be, I mean, I was excited, but it was even better. It was great to see Kim and Steph and see Shane again too. Ragnar Relay started right at the US/Canada border in Blaine, WA and ended on Whidbey Island. We were the Northwest Heat (after my Dubai Soccer team) and dressed up like Devils... ah, all in good fun I suppose. The race was hard and tiring, but great and I would definitely do it again. After the race finished Steph, Kim and I stayed with Shane in Tacoma. After our delicious Mexican dinner in Seattle, we were going to go out, but... next thing we knew it was 9 the next morning. Oops.

Shane dropped us off at my sister's and we all drove down to my Grandma Rivera's house. Michael organized an awesome BBQ, with family and friends and the most delicious Filipino food ever, it was SO good!

I had a few more days in Portland, I saw Jess, went out to HR again, had a family BBQ, did some shopping and spent some time with my mom. It was really, really fun. Then I was off to the East Coast for a few days.

I'm not sure exactly what my plan was, but I ended up renting a car and driving from Newark to Harrisburg where I met up with Kate and Becky. We had a great time as usual. Kate somehow managed to take the worst pictures of me I have ever seen and she was so kind as to post them to her facebook account. Really? Oh well. We didn't do much, but I loved every second of my time with them. It's hard to believe we all used to live in Dubai together, seems like a lifetime ago. I drove from their to Philly to meet up with some more Dubai people for Jesse's wedding.

Jesse and Gibber's wedding was so great it almost made me think I may want to do that some day... it was in her parents' back yard and it was gorgeous. I've never seen anything quite like it. Somehow relaxed and fancy all at once. The food was actually part of the decorations and delicious too. We also toured around Philly a bit too, fun city. The family that we stayed with when we went to Oktoberfest a few years ago was there too, it was great to see Klaus! Jesse and Gibber both looked so happy too. Seeing people from Dubai made me miss it a little!

From there, Gregg, Mye and I drove into Newark, it was quite a long drive, traffic was terrible. Eventually Gregg and I met up with some friends in NYC and we had a fun night out. I took some train back to Newark and was a bit sketched out, but survived just fine. At this point, I just couldn't wait to get back to Vienna. I was excited to see Steve and not be living out of a suitcase.

Back to reality... I had a week or so with no work, which was great. Spent time in the sun, went on a bike ride that was supposed to be quite reasonable, but turned into an experience... Captain Chaos... followed a random Austrian to find the correct path and we ended up at an elderly nudist colony, what should have been a 3 or 4 hour bike hour to Bratislava turned into quite an ordeal. If nothing else, we did get some exercise.

Being back at work is fine, today was the first day with kids, which was nice because it just goes by so much faster. Let's see, what else, since I've been back I guess it's just been movies, dinners out, Rathaus, time with friends... all good things.

I'm SO happy to be back and am trying to get a bit more settled in. It only took me a year to realize that I live here. Steph and I painted my apartment, which has made a huge difference. Kristin drew a picture of how my apartment should look, so I am trying to follow that. I've been looking around trying to find some decorative things, but haven't had much luck yet. Soccer is starting next week, it will make for some very busy nights and weekends. We also have our fall trip coming up and then I'm going to Berlin too. I guess I'll have a little down time in December... My mom and Katie are both coming to visit. I can't wait!

Well, that's it for now. I'll try to write more often and less wordy... I am currently trying to download some new pictures to Picasa so I can put them up, but so far no luck.

Cape Town - London - Vienna - NYC - HOME!

2010-06-30T14:03:00.003+04:00

You know that part of a vacation when all you have left is the trip home... I hate that part... I'm sitting at Beads cafe in Stellenbosch waiting for the citihopper, my own personal taxi service, to pick me up so I can start the zillion hour journey home. I'll have an overnight in Vienna, which means I can grab some summer clothes, then about 11 hours in NYC to see my friend Jen, then I arrive into Portland just in time to go to a rehearsal dinner for a wedding that I probably won't even be in... I shipped my bridesmaid dress USPS Priority Mail, which should have taken 5 - 10 business days over a month ago, the dress never made it. I could not feel worse about it, but have NO idea what I could have done differently. I keep calling and e-mailing school to see if it arrived, but no luck. Today is my LAST hope. Sad. But anyways, back to the end of this vacation...

We had an interesting drive to Stellenbosch, we stopped at this great place called the Wine Village where we tried wine and olive oils, it was great! Then we eventually made our way here, checked into our hotel and then went and watched the England Germany game... talk about some bad calls! We were at this really cool champagne and tapas place though, the food and wine were delicious! We went back and hung out at our hotel for a bit and then went to the Big Easy for dinner and to watch another game. Very fun.

The next day was great, we went on the only kind of hop on hop off tour I like, the one that takes me to different wineries :-) They were all beautiful and the wine was good. We had a really fun day, wine tasting is definitely one of my favorite things to do. We "rested" back at our hotel and then went out to this amazing Indian dinner where I was reminded why everyone hates American tourists. There was the most obnoxious group of American men I have EVER seen in my life. They had bought one of those HUGE bottles of wine (25 bottles)while wine tasting and were so loud and annoying I was embarrassed for them. As we were leaving they were telling us they loved us and offering everyone in the place wine. Ugh.

The next day we went out to lunch in a different town, it was unreal how many different wineries we drove past. It was absolutely pouring down rain and Katie and I looked real cute in our bright orange ponchos. I was SO sad that it was our last day together! We had a hard time finding our way back to the airport, but we eventually made it and dropped off the rental car. I was happy to be rid of that thing. I only nearly killed us once, so that was good. We caught a shuttle back to Cape Town and watched the Spain Portugal game. We had great seats and the game was an exciting one! We were right in the middle of a bunch of crazy Spaniards, but it was fun! Tony, some driver we had met the day before while wine tasting, came and picked us up and brought us back to Stellenbosch, it was a long, but good day.

Katie left at 5:30 this morning for a safari and I am just waiting to start the long journey home... I can't believe this trip is OVER! S. Africa is definitely on my top 5 list and I am already planning my next trip here... and Brazil in 2014 too!

Can't wait to get back to Vienna for the night and then head home!!!!!!!!!

USA! USA! USA!

2010-06-26T19:23:00.002+04:00

So, you know when you think something is going to be fun and are really excited to do it and then it comes and you feel slightly let down? Well, that would be the exact opposite of how this trip has been. Cape Town was amazing and even better than I thought it would be. Seeing Katie and Nicole has been great too. Quick rundown... I met Katie at the hotel on Sunday, we watched all three games and ended up meeting up with the co-worker of a friend of mine and his friends and what was a relatively calm afternoon, turned into a long, long, but fun, night. My cousin Nicole arrived a couple days later for a few days before she moves to Zimbabwe.

As far as touristy stuff in Cape Town, we went up to Table Mountain and did the rappelling off the side, Robben Island tour, drove through Chapman's Drive, or route, down to Cape of Good Hope and then shark diving today. We spent a ton of time at the V and A Waterfront, watched a whole lot of soccer, ate a ton of good food and drank some pretty amazing wine. I NEVER want to leave the people are great, the city was full of this crazy fun energy, it feels completely safe and well, everything about this place is great. A few notes on the different things we did. Rappelling, not sure what made me think it was a good idea, we were standing on the edge waiting to go and I was fully just pretending that it was fun and I was comfortable, but I think it worked, because by the time it was my turn, I felt totally ready to go and just hopped on over and went for it. Midway down there was no longer a wall and you were just sort of dangling there, very scary. The hike back was actually more dangerous than the rappelling down. These British guys waited for me, which was nice, but we were all sort of wondering if one of us wasn't going to just slide right off the side of the mountain, which is 3000 meters high... Robben Island, half cool and half boring. The tour guide was a former political prisoner and listening to him speak and describe what it was like to be imprisoned there was very interesting and walking through the grounds and the prison cells was too. Although, it was so nicely kept that it was deceiving because it looked so nice and I'm sure it wasn't nice to be stuck there. The other part of the tour was a bus tour, and I just can't stand those.

We also went to two games, the Portugal vs N. Korea was amazing, seven goals and we were sitting right there at the corner. The Netherlands vs Cameroon game was also fun, but our seats weren't quite as good and the game wasn't quite as exciting. Our next game is Spain vs Portugal, it should be amazing! Watching the US game the other night was really fun too. We were at this place called Quay Four and they were showing the US vs Algeria and England vs Slovakia game, so it was a crazy mix of Brits and Americans. Very fun.

Yesterday we rented a car and drove around to where we are now, not sure of the name of the city, or village, it is outside of Stanford, another little town. The driving is crazy, the driver is on the right side, you drive on the left, it is all very confusing. We managed to make it all the different places we wanted to go, Cape of Good Hope, Penguins, Chapman's Peak Drive and a cool winery. We dropped Nicole off at a random train station, made sure she got on a train back to Cape Town and then we kept on our way. Of course it took way longer than we thought it would and it was dark, windy and a little scary to drive, but we did make it here. Our hotel is awesome. The guy drove us into town for dinner basically because I was so stressed after driving I didn't want to drive one more second and I wanted to have a drink. We had yet another delicious dinner and bottle of wine. Our room and the view is pretty amazing, it's right on the coast and you can see mountains and on some days whales... but not today. This morning we went shark diving. COLD. It wasn't actually as scary as I thought it would be, but the water was just freezing and being on the boat that long was hard because I was feeling seasick and people were just hanging off the side getting sick. Yuck. We've been lazing around the rest of the day, went out for some lunch, just watched Uruguay make it past Korea to the quarterfinals and now we're waiting for the US game to start in a couple of hours. USA! USA! Tomorrow we leave for Stellenbosch, and wine tasting. MY FAVORITE! I never want to leave.

Start of Summer break and WORLD CUP!

2010-06-22T01:05:00.000+04:00

The last week of work flew by, I had another headache and ended up back at the hospital and then got an MRI, I wasn’t really too concerned about the whole thing till the jerk doctor at the hospital explained to me how stupid it would be to fly and/or go to S. Africa without knowing the exact cause of the headaches. He then mentioned how he would never give a “person like me” the needle in the back thing because I would likely flinch and end up in the hospital. Whatever. The MRI was fine, so off to S. Africa I went…

Anika and Steph helped me celebrate my last day of work by drinking a bottle of Moet and then a great dinner at this tiny Vietnamese place at the Naschmarkt. We decided that should really be part of our monthly plans next year. I mean, we deserve the champagne lifestyle. I’m still obsessing with the Swarovski Champagne glasses, I want them so badly and can usually justify purchasing most things, but… can’t seem to do it this time. Friday we watched the US game… that last goal TOTALLY should have counted!!! And then the English game after. We did break up the game evening by doing some Sake Bombs at a fancy Japanese restaurant, I’m sure they loved it… I think I’ve watched more soccer in the last week than I have in years or at least since last World Cup.

I was planning on taking public to the airport, but Steve was flying out the same time and came round with a taxi so we ended up at the airport way too early and then both of our flights were delayed. We just sat at Starbucks for hours for the second time that day. It was nice; I love Starbucks, it’s just like being home and they have soy milk.

I am right in the middle of a 23 hour journey to Cape Town. So far it’s been easy. I watched the Australia game in a bar at the London airport, got on the overnight flight to Johannesburg, had a glass of wine and Tylenol PM and woke up when they brought me my breakfast the next morning… Now I’m sitting at a coffee shop waiting for my flight to Cape Town. Almost there!!!!!!! Can’t wait to be there, just being in the airport feels exciting and there is World Cup paraphernalia everywhere and people running around in their full country gear… and down jackets. I’m going to FREEZE. I just couldn’t take the thought of putting on my long down jacket again, I mean; I was still wearing it in APRIL. Unbelievable. So, instead, I’ll just freeze. I thought about stealing the airline blanket so I could bring it to the games with me.

Ok, off to catch my flight…

Jen's Visit to Vienna

2010-06-11T16:27:00.004+04:00

I'm so sad that Jen won't be at my house when I get home! We had a really great week. I was laughing because before she arrived I had asked her what she wanted to do while she was here, and she wrote something like, I'm not really into old churches and museums, I just want to see you and where you live... Perfect! We had the best time, I think I made her walk just about a million miles, we tried a bunch of great new restaurants and wine bars. My kind of visitor! I love being able to show people from home what my life is like, they get to see all the great parts, cool restaurants, beautiful architecture, the weather was gorgeous, but then they also get to experience the craziness of trying to get things done around here. Or that my washer drains through a hose into the sink and you have to sit at home while it's going so that if the hose flies out, you can sprint into the bathroom, dodge the flying hose and fix the problem. Or what a fun adventure ordering breakfast can be, I mean really, you should have seen the size of the muesli Jen got one morning, it was about the size of a thimble... well, I exaggerate, it was the same size as the espresso cup... She's off to Spain and I need to catch up on my sleep! We're heading out right after work today to watch the first World Cup game, but it will definitely be an early night and hopefully I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow. Even though I NEVER do, I'm hoping tomorrow I can. We'll see! Tomorrow night we have a big table reserved to watch the US vs England game. Should be great!

HOME!!!

2010-06-07T16:37:00.003+04:00

I am SO ready to come home!

I had a great weekend in the sun, finally, but last night right as I was getting ready to go to sleep I got this massive headache and burst into hysterical tears... but first the weekend. Friday night I met Anika and Steph at Wein and Co. for tasting and a glass of wine, went out to dinner with Steve and then early to sleep. Saturday was a beautiful day, met Steph and Anika for a run and Dr. Falafel, then we all met up again near the Danube canal, or river?? for some non-Viennese fun. And by that, I mean there were people with tattoos and accents and actually smiling, how non-Viennese. We laid out on concrete slabs and I loved to see the sun again, this was followed by dinner at Mas! (saltinis included) and a rooftop terrace birthday party and a VERY late night. Sunday Anika and I met at Stadtpark for more sun and some lunch at Le Bol. Then I met Steve for Starbucks and rented a few movies, we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I liked it.

Ok, so now for the horrific headache and hospital experience. So, right as I was about to go to sleep, out of nowhere I had this instant headache that was so bad I could not stop crying and was gasping for air. We sat there at home for about an hour before I finally agreed to go to the hospital, I hate doctors and hospitals and kept thinking it would get better, but it just wouldn't. The doctor was nice enough and knew enough English, but it was just awful. I was crying the whole way there and then when we got there I was ok for a bit, then the headache would come in waves and I would be hysterical again. Walking through the hospital there were beds that had obviously already been used and had dirty/bloody towels on them, which of course set me off into more crying, then they would speak German to me and give me German forms I couldn't fill out, so I'd be crying again. And, my head hurt so bad I wanted to throw up. After a zillion tests and cat scans, they worked out that I was fine. There was some percentage of a chance that something could be wrong and they wanted to take spinal fluid which brought on another round of hysteria. I said no and had to sigh a waiver saying I refused the recommended treatment, but there was NO way I was going to let them do that, they couldn't even get the IV line in without blood squirting everywhere and running down my arm. Then they gave me three different options of what I could do and I just was way too tired to know what to do, all I wanted to do was go home so once again I just started crying. So I just said I wanted to do whatever it was that was going to let me go home the fastest. Little did I know they would give me some sort of IV fluid medication in this large room that looked similar to a medic tent in a refugee camp with people sprawled out all over the place and ugh, it was just awful. Although, once I finally got the medication (about 3 hours after arriving to the ER)the pain eased up and I was tired and delirious enough that I was able to sort of doze off while I got the drip. I think I was just out of it because of the pain, I really couldn't even think clearly and I have a hard enough time with decisions as it is normally. Anyways, the doctor finally released me a little after 4 in the morning and gave me an "entry ticket" to go back the next day at 8:00am (which I decided not to do...) and then they ripped out the IV thing and again it started gushing with blood. I held the cotton thing on there for a minute, then threw it away. As we were waiting for the taxi to go home, I felt something on my arm, looked down and there was a huge amount of blood just running off my arm and dripping to the floor. So disgusting. When we got home, I collapsed into bed and was asleep in like two seconds, but had to come to work today because there is far too much to do and the school year is almost over, but now I'm just tired and exhausted. Jen is coming today, in fact, she should have arrived by now, and is being dropped off at Wein and Co. near my house. Can't WAIT to see her, but it may have to be an early night tonight. My head hurts and I'm exhausted... All I could think about last night was how much I wished I was at home, with my Mom in the ER at ANY hospital in Portland.

Time for Summer!

2010-05-25T23:40:00.002+04:00

Ok... it's been far too long since I've written... let's see. Life is going really well, I am SO tired of the cold and miserable rainy weather and if one more person tells me that this is the worst Spring in 15 years I might actually hit them. Whatever. So, since I've written last... not too much has been going on! We did a long bike ride and had to take cover in a random restaurant and wait for the big storm to pass. I've noticed that when it comes to any sort of physical activity, I automatically assume it's a race and just have such a hard time enjoying the ride and instead wanted to just go as fast as possible. Some day I may learn to relax! There was a food and wine festival that we went to at Stadtpark in Vienna that was really fun, we did a miserable race that would have been fun if the weather was nice, but instead I was SOAKING wet and freeing cold and running around the city of Vienna paranoid that the "seekers" would find me... we had a couple of long weekends, but I ended up just staying in town and going on a few day trips. Yesterday it was sunny and beautiful, I even sat out in my bikini and wore a strapless dress! Unheard of in Vienna... Let's see... what else, well nothing really. Boring.

I am really looking forward to summer. I think I have most of the summer planned and figured out. S.Africa for World Cup June 19 - July 1st, July 3 - 28th I'll be in Portland, HR and Seattle area. July 28 - August 2nd East Coast. Two weddings, a wine half marathon, the Ragnar Relay, it should be BUSY! I get back to Vienna August 3rd and will have some time to relax and might travel a bit, we'll see.

Can't wait to get home and see my niece and nephews and the rest of my family and friends too! I have a couple of friends visiting the NW and it will be fun to show them my "real life".

That's all for now... nothing much to report!

Guilty...

2010-04-20T22:01:00.002+04:00

So, it's been a week or so since I've written, since then I've returned to work, run a marathon and just finished a nice long dinner (surprisingly pizza and wine...) with a girlfriend from work.

First, work. Well, it's work. I would like to just be independently wealthy.

Second, the marathon. Well, all I can really say is I'm happy it's over. I knew I wasn't ready, but it was the worst marathon I've ever done. Not only was it the worst time, I just felt awful during most of it. Instead of feeling energized by running these days, it just feels awful. The time itself, wasn't that bad, but anything that could feel bad or go wrong did. The morning started with me thinking I'd sliced off the tip of my finger. I was trying to cut a roll so I could toast it, turned into a bloody mess. Then, at kilometer 15 my iPod broke, I could still see my time, but the music stopped playing. I was carrying my phone, so I texted Steph and she met me at kilometer 23 or so with her iPod and some water, which I was SO thankful for. Right around the same time, 15 km, my eyes started doing that thing where it goes all tunnel vision and sparkly for a second and then returns to normal, by kilometer 22 or 23 I was starting to have this weird shortness of breath thing that seemed like a panic attack, but I was able to calm myself down. Well, I could go on and on, but you get the idea, it was awful. There were periods of time where it felt ok, but overall, it was bad. The second I finished I was happy though. It was really great to have some friends cheering me on at the finish and then we all went to 1516 for drinks and lunch, then a lazy afternoon at home baking cookies and drinking wine. So all in all, it wasn't a bad day. And, the next day I got up and went on an easy run and was wearing high heels to work, so as far as recovery time goes, I feel just fine.

Dinner... pizza and wine. Good way to relax after a long meeting at work. The weather is starting to get nice again finally. I wore heels and a skirt to work the last couple of days and you would think I had shown up in an evening gown. It's pretty hilarious, all the same clothes I wore to work in Dubai, and here my boss was asking me if I had a job interview. Whatever. It's been interesting lately, we've been having all kinds of interesting conversations about the summer and going home and traveling and how much time and money we spend over the summer and then end up just running around trying to fit it all in. I was mapping out my summer schedule and realized that's what it is, a schedule. I'm trying to fit it all in, time with friends, weddings, time with family, having visitors and also trying to make sure I still take the time to do things I want to do too. I signed up for two running races (even though at the moment the last thing I want to do in the world, is run another race). It's amazing how badly I want to be in two places all the time. I feel like I'm missing out on tons of things at home. I miss my family and friends and being part of peoples daily lives. But, at the same time I know financially I couldn't hardly afford to be a teacher in the U.S., well, I could, but it would involve giving up traveling and working two jobs. When here, in Vienna, I can work only one job, and still be able to travel all over the world. I just got back from Italy, which I loved, and am going to go down to Zagreb in a few weeks to play in a soccer tournament. I definitely couldn't do that if I was home!

Things are going really well in Vienna, I'm happy here. The job is fine, the city is beautiful, I still think the people are pretty lame overall in the city, but I have met great people through work and then friends of friends. I'm starting to feel like this is where I live, I want to go away and travel and see things, but at the same time, I kind of like just normal life stuff. I love my Saturday routine and the fact that the I think the people at Dr. Falafel are my friends and that the guy who is begging for money at the grocery store I live above now just says hi to me... With the weather changing, all the outdoor seating is back and we are starting to hang out at the Naschmarkt again, which I love! We were there last night and I ordered this huge summer spritzer, because you know, I wasn't drinking... I guess I shouldn't feel guilty about being happy, but it's hard not to feel like you're letting people down by not being around. People are marrying people I don't know, my best friends kids have no idea who I am and I"m not entirely sure my youngest nephew knows me. How can you not feel guilty about those things? Maybe it's just the time of year, but I can't wait to get home and see everyone!

Back to reality...

2010-04-11T16:19:00.003+04:00

Just got home from pizza and wine at Il Sestante... the best pizza in Vienna, in my opinion anyways. Yesterday I was nearly in tears as the plane touched down in Vienna. I just wasn't ready for my Italian vacation to be over. I could bore you with all the details, or I could just break it down to a few words. Wine. Friends. Food. Sun. Views. Italian Men. Ha! We were sitting at dinner the other night, saying that if you're single and needing an ego boost, Southern Italy is the place to go. I don't even think we could count the number of men that were talking to us, ranging from bus drivers, bartenders, old expats, old Italian men, I mean, we were just loving our wall...

Okay, let me back up a bit. We had last week off work for our April Break. We went down to Rome for Easter Weekend, then headed south hoping for some sun. We went to Positano and Sorrento. The conversations were great, what I love about good friends is that you don't see each other often, or you see each other every day, and still you never run out of things to say. We didn't have much of a plan, so our entire trip was basically wandering around and waiting for it to be time to eat or drink again.

Some highlights... Rome, running in the park, seeing Vatican City decorated for Easter, delicious fried artichoke for desert, endless conversations about all the stereotypical girl things and wandering around cute cobblestone streets and window shopping... We made our way down to Positano where we met a random man, Frank, who's business card said "Adventurer" which I loved, and he suggested an amazing hotel with this huge sitting room with an amazing view. Our first night we were there we were sitting at dinner and I got a text from the guy I'm dating and it just said, I was talking to a guy at the gym today who used to date an American runner who used to live in Dubai, could only be you... I really think that's the kind of stuff that only happens to me. Ha! We went on a hike that caused my legs to shake like crazy after all the steps, we met Misty the mystical dog... amazing views the whole way to the next town. Next, we went back up to Sorrento where we hung out at the wall, were asked out by bus drivers and Steph and Heather both hopped in a random green car for some great photos, even had some free gelato, the way to a girl's heart for sure. Found a great hotel with a view there too, Heather and Steph went to Pompeii and I sat in the sun reading all day. We also found a great bar and they sang some karaoke and had some free drinks and spent some time staring at the best looking Italian man ever. His wife and child were at the bar the night before. I know, a baby, at a bar, normal, right? We did finally have to leave Sorrento and head back to Rome to catch our flight home. We ended up on the same train as my friend Claudia and all decided to have one last night out. She knew of a great wine bar, so we went there, had amazing wine and great food. We also stared at an incredibly good looking Australian guy the whole time. I love vacations.

Eddie picked us up from the airport and Steph and I were both just grumbling about the weather and hating Vienna and, nice guy that Eddie is, he brought us both presents. A bunch of baking supplies we can't get in Vienna, some cream cheese frosting, chocolate chips, saran wrap and ziploc bags. So nice. Who knew that would make us both so happy.

I am desperate for the school year to be over so I can get home! I've been feeling a bit homesick for the U.S. of A these days. Found a great deal on a ticket home, but it means I'll be arriving back to Portland at 12:50 and have a rehearsal dinner that night and a wedding the next day... should be interesting! Can't wait to get home to see friends and family, but, am still loving life abroad too...

Choices...and settling...

2010-03-29T16:57:00.003+04:00

We all make them, some are good, some aren't so good. All day I sit and talk with students, parents, teachers, friends and I always feel like I'm saying everything is a choice, and with the choice you make there is a consequence. And, not making a choice is, in itself, a choice. At work I have to be really careful not to use the word punishment and instead say consequence. Somehow consequences always seem bad, but can't they be good too? I mean, if you make a good choice then you get a good consequence, right? I made a few not so great choices recently and it's funny, because somehow, when you only have yourself to blame, it just kind of, is what it is, and there's nothing you can do but move on and keep on going, right?

I've been talking to a friend of mine who hates where he lives, but has stayed for years and years because the job is fine and the life is easy, but not good. Settling... So why does it seem we often let fine be good enough? It seems like everyone sort of lives at this ok level and lately it seems like many people I talk to keep saying the same thing, there has to be something more than this, right? I know that I personally find it especially annoying because my life is good, but I'm always just waiting for the next best thing. Work for instance, a big part of my plan was to eventually get to the point where I could afford to work and live in Western Europe. I had this idea that I would have to go to Dubai, then another big school in Asia somewhere, save a ton of money and then come to Europe. Fortunately, or so I thought, I found a great job that pays well and skipped the big school in Asia part, but now that I'm here, I'm thinking really? This is what I wanted. Sure, it's great, good people, tons of travel, lots of fun times but what else is there? And, it's not even like I'm miserable, I just think I should be happier than I am. And, I'm pretty happy.

Last night I went out to dinner with a group of people, one of the girls was visiting a friend of mine and she is currently living in Portland. It made me SO homesick, I couldn't stop thinking about all the people, places and ease of life that I miss so much. But, when I really think about it, I know I would go crazy at home and be so bored and so broke.

Settling... another word than often has a negative feel to it. People talk about settling in terms of relationships, jobs, all kinds of different things. But sometimes settling means you know what to expect, it may not be great, but it's not scary, it's not the unknown. There are many a time that I sit with a glass of wine and a girlfriend or two and talk about whether or not it's a good idea to settle, at the end of the day for myself, I'd say no. But, the more I think about it, the more I can understand why someone would make the choice to "settle" and just like how maybe consequences aren't alwyas bad, maybe, for some people, settling isn't always bad either.

Finally...

2010-03-22T15:44:00.002+04:00

So I have finally had a few good runs! Saturday was great, Steph happened to wake up early, so she did the first hour and a half with me, then the next hour and a half was with the rest of the group. And, at the end, I felt good, not exhausted and irritated. I'm wondering a little bit if the weather has something to do with it. The rest of the week was good, went to Steph's and ate some dinner and watched the Bachelor a few different nights, stayed in and caught up on some US tv and watched Gonzaga get crushed by Syaracuse... sad. Saturday was a great day, we ran, it was sunny, met at the naschmarkt for Dr. Falafel and then Steph and I bought those little ramkin things and made chocolate molten lava cakes. DELICIOUS. It tasted as good as they do in the restaurants. We have about 5 more recipes to make and then we will figure out which is the best one... fun, right?

Managed to get lost this morning on my run. I thought I would head over near the Prater and come back through the third district. Problem is, I have no idea how to navigate through that area and ended up who knows where. I eventually found a tram line I could follow back to the ring and managed to get to work without being late. Barely.

This is my first week without German class, I couldn't be more excited about the prospect of doing NOTHING after work every night this week. YEAH!

Just another week in paradise…

2010-03-17T16:10:00.002+04:00

Well, not exactly, but things are going well. Running is still pretty terrible, just need to slow it down I think. Ran into Anika this morning running around the ring at 6:15, or so, that made for a nice distraction. German classes are over tonight, which I am both really excited about and a little disappointed. But, not so disappointed that I’ll be signing up for the next session. We did all pass though, so that’s good!

A group of us went to Budapest last weekend for Steph’s birthday. I had to laugh because we were sitting in the dining area of the Meridien where we stayed and I looked over at Steph and just said, this just feels right, doesn’t it? And had to laugh, since when did it become normal to be sitting in a 5 star hotel sipping on champagne and ordering endless espressos and eating plates of delicious food. Oh right, since Dubai. Didn’t realize how much I would miss that life, or how normal it felt. Still think my best line ever was one night at the Westin in Dubai after returning from the bathroom and looking over at my friend and telling her… there was no one in there to help me. Still not sure what exactly I thought I needed help with… Ugh. Anyways, I digress. Budapest was such a cool city. We left Friday after work and arrived into Budapest and to our hotel, which was gorgeous and in a great location, by 9:30 or so. We dropped our bags and went to a cool bar called Black and White. It was a great place and people seemed relaxed and spoke English. The next day we had our delicious breakfast and then I was drugged and put onto the hop on hop off bus. Well, I wasn’t actually drugged, but UGH, I hate those things! Oh, I also did my long run, just under 20 miles, I managed to end up on this island thing with a track and toured about the city, it was nice. Then we just walked around a bit, tried out the sauna and steam room at the hotel and then lounged around the hotel and lazily drank some wine, champagne and got ready for Steph’s birthday dinner. We went to this Greek place that was delicious and then to a few other bars. I really liked the feel of Budapest, I don’t think I realized how uptight Vienna is until I get away from it and to a real city. People were nice, bars were fun, people spoke English and it was less expensive than Vienna. Who knew? I guess we’ll just have to go there more often, I have a friend who will be working there next year, maybe it will become our weekend escape…

I made a turtle cake for Steph’s birthday, it was fun to make something new. I need to find more new things to make like that, although, it’s a bit of a challenge with the limited supplies of things that I think should be readily accessible, like chocolate chips, all purpose flour, baking soda etc… I just can’t get used to it! It’s still snowing. Irritating. But, this weekend it may get up into the 60’s… that will be VERY exciting! We’re heading to Rome in a few weeks for an Italian adventure, we have no plans, no idea where we want to go, no hotel reservations oh, and it’s Easter weekend in Rome, I’m sure it won’t be crowded at all. Ha! Whatever, it’ll all work out.

Where does the time go!

2010-03-07T17:17:00.003+04:00

I keep meaning to write, but then think I want to upload some pictures and get very bored with that idea... it always takes forever. Life has been very busy and fun lately. Let's see. I had a great time with Kristin and Eric! While I would have LOVED to see the kids too, it was a really fun time to just be with the two of them for so long. They got in on Sunday afternoon, we went on a little walking tour and then to Il Sestante for Pizza with some friends of mine. Happy Valentines Day to us!

The next couple of days were filled with as many tourist things we could squeeze in, what was it I called them? Turbo tourists? I think they saw more museums and Vienna sights than I have. But somehow it didn't feel too rushed, we did things like long lunches at Cafe Central, Dr. Falafel at the Naschmarkt and some time just sitting around my house. They also met some of my friends, which is always fun for people to get to see part of your normal life. After a few days in Vienna we went up to Prague for a couple of nights. The train ride there was hilarious. The entire car was empty and Kristin had moved across the aisle and was sitting and reading and out of nowhere this lady came and sat right there. Even though there was a zillion seats. I don't really know what her deal was, she was speaking German, English and just not making a whole lot of sense. Then she would just stare at us. Very weird. When the person came to check tickets, this woman said something about going to Italy. Wrong direction. She ended up getting off at the next stop and just wandered off and got on a different train. Hopefully she eventually made it home...

We arrived into Prague and found our hotel, which was in a perfect location, and then just spent the next couple of days wandering around Prague. It was cool, one of Eric's friends used to live there so we had a whole list of things to do and some restaurant suggestions, which is always really helpful. The dinner we had the first night was SO delicious. Prague is a really beautiful city. One of the days we were in this church and for whatever reason Kristin and I took it as an opportunity to try to figure out our cameras. I think I have just about 8 zillion pictures of the stained glass windows. Very necessary. We walked all over the place and ate tons of good food. One night I tried to order the local hard alcohol, I'm not even sure what it was called and the waiter suggested to make it a long drink with tonic water and lime. I asked if I could have it with soda water and he just simply said NO, that would not be good. And refused to bring it to me. Interesting. The train ride back was fun, we drank some wine and played scrabble. When we got back to Vienna it was sad because it was their last night here. We grabbed a quick dinner at Tin Tan and then they packed. I missed them before they were even gone! I just wish Vienna and University Place were a bit closer, would love to just be able to go there for a long weekend.

The next few weeks were busy too. Between German classes, tutoring, dinner club, running club and Sunday Funday every moment of my life seems to be planned. Speaking of running club... running has been miserable for the last couple of weeks. I used to feel energized when I was finished and lately the runs themselves have felt awful, twice I had to walk home, and at the end I'm exhausted instead of energized. Maybe now I can relate to why some people hate running. If it was like this all the time I'd never go. It is driving me crazy though. I took 5 days off last week and went this weekend, yesterdays long run was okay and today we had a race and it felt pretty good, not great, but good enough. Oh, and it's snowing again. Boo.

Back to Sunday Funday, I hosted last weekend, it was fun. We had good food and everyone had to wear summer clothes, strapless dresses, board shorts, etc. Ciara and Andrew made these really good champagne/sorbet drinks and there were some cold salads and other things that remind us of summer. Oh, I am just dying for it to be warm. On Friday I had decided that I was just going to dress for Spring and wore high heeled open toes shoes, when it started snowing on the walk home I realized it was a bit early. Yesterday after run we went to Cafe de Provence near my house for brunch and then spent the day shopping and wine tasting on Mariahilferstrasse, which was totally fun. Then we decided to meet up for a Dubai type evening with shisha and Middle Eastern food. It was only the third time I've ever tried shisha and there is NO need for me to ever do it again, it made me SO sick. I actually had to leave the restaurant and come home.

Today I had a race, cooked for the week and cleaned. When did I become so boring? I'm trying to catch up on life, just haven't had the time lately during the week to get anything finished. I'm debating about whether or not to take the next German class. While I want to continue, two nights a week for nearly 3 hours is just such a big commitment and once the weather gets nice I know I'm going to want to be outside all the time... I have another week or so to decide. Taxes... I need to put that on my list of things to do... Hopefully I'll get around to adding pictures soon!

Venice Carnival 2010!

2010-02-14T17:32:00.002+04:00

I just got back from a GREAT trip to Venice. Seven of us boarded the "Party Train" to Venice late Friday night and just got back this morning, Sunday. We got on, relived my Gonzaga in Florence days, only we were a little classier this time around... ha! We were in 2nd class sleeper cars for an overnight to Venice, spend the day at Carnival and then back on the train for an overnight back to Vienna.

What a trip! We drank, played loaded questions, ate chips and salsa and dipped girl scout cookies in homemade cream cheese frosting on the train. Delicious! We also went down to the "Disco Car". When we arrived to Venice we were basically kicked off the train because we were moving so slowly... trying to drink our mimosas and eat our bread, salami and cheese... ha! We spent most of the day wandering the streets of Venice making our way towards St. Marks Square, taking tons of pictures, stopping in a zillion different shops, drinking super rich hot chocolate, stopping at cafes and bars for drinks and food, a nice long lunch, where Steph and I decided it was a totally reasonable option to do hand stands and give directions as if we had some idea where we were or how to get anywhere...

We watched an insect parade, a fire show and popped a zillion bottles of prosecco, drank mini bottles of wine and ate more pizza and gelato. We eventually made it back to Vienna this morning. I slept just fine, well thanks to the Tylenol PM. I love that stuff... now I'm just finishing uploading pictures to facebook, checking e-mails and waiting for Kristin and Eric to arrive. They missed their connection in Paris, same one I missed coming back in October. I wonder if they'll get their luggage...

Can't wait for them to get here! I have a week off work, we'll be here for the first half of the week, then we're off to Prague. FUN!

Life.

2010-02-11T23:19:00.003+04:00

I've been sick for just about EVER. But... things are still good here in Vienna. My sister and Eric will be here in a few days and I can't wait! Let's see... since I last wrote we have had a few more running club Saturdays, which have been great. I am loving meeting up with friends and running every Saturday. It still shocks me that we run in snow. And, that I haven't fallen. I know, I probably shouldn't even say that.

We made it to Wabi, the spa in Hungary. Amazing! We drank champagne from these hilarious glasses and celebrated a friend's birthday, I'm going to have to upload some pictures soon... When we arrived, they had all of our appointments scheduled for the next day. They managed to fit all of us in for all of our treatments, which was great! We had a really fun time and ran into another friend and her husband and all went out to this great dinner, which, since we were in Hungary vs. Austria, we had twice as much food and drinks for half the price.

It's "Ball Season" in Vienna, a group of us went to one the other night. A few of us got ready over here at my house, had a few drinks and then met up with everyone for dinner at the Sky Restaurant. The ball was fun, but I was feeling so sick I ended up leaving early. Once I realized I was using the ice bucket for the champagne to cool off I decided it was probably time to go home.

The last week of work flew by and then it was time for break. YEAH!

Gold Medal Flour...

2010-01-28T00:08:00.003+04:00

Who knew you could miss something so simple. In the good ole U. S. of A, we can just buy Gold Medal All Purpose Flour and make delicious cookies, cakes and breads. Well, here in Austria they have about 8 million varieties. I know I keep talking about it and asking people and trying different ones, but at the end of the day, you end up with a million different answers to the same question AND terrible cookies. Boo. I made some cookies to bring in for this class I just started teaching, stars to represent what they are good at already and shooting stars to represent their goals... Fun, right? Well, I hope with enough frosting they taste good.

We finally booked our spa treatments and figured out the train situation to get to Sopron, Hungary this weekend. I've never been to Hungary... we plan on having out own personal wine/prosecco tasting on the way there.

Fun!

Sunday Funday

2010-01-25T00:54:00.003+04:00

Another busy week that ended in Sunday Funday... German classes started on Monday, we meet twice a week for about 2 1/2 hours. The teacher is great for me, he speaks mostly German, but is willing to explain in English when we all look at him with these blank stares. Work has been going well, I'm settling into my new office and we just finished the 2nd Quarter. I can't believe the year is half over, that just seems crazy! But, I guess that's just the way it goes, life is just flying by!

Ciara and I had a crazy annoying experience trying to fine the running store last Thursday. I have been there before, but went a different way. Long story short, it snowed all day, but we decided we would run to my house and then catch public down to the store to register for this race, pick up a few things and try on some winter clothes. Well, it took us nearly an hour to wander around this area searching for the store. Poor Ciara was in capri pants, it was probably below zero. It was SO cold and I wanted to hit things I was so frustrated. It didn't help that once we foudn the store, they couldn't find my race number, so I couldn't even pick up the chip I wanted to, go figure.

After the mess, I went to a friend's house for dinner, one drink turned into two, turned into Champagne, turned into great coversation... definitely a fun night! Dinner club week two went well.

We also had week two of running club. Again, awesome run, Starbucks and falafel. I could get used to that! Steph made a great dinner that night too, then a bunch of us got up and ran this race, you could select your own distance, 7km, 14km, or 21km. It was absolutely FREEZING cold out, people passed me on cross country skis at one point... but we all did it and were happy about getting out there, even with the cold and miserable conditions. Since I had run a super long run the day before, I thought I might take it easy, but once the race started, I got all weird and wanted to run a certain speed. I ended up running the "predicted speed" the Smart Coach on runners world thinks I can complete the marathon in. After doing it for 14km, all I can say is NO WAY! We'll see...

This week will be busy with German Class, friend's birthday and then this weekend we are going to go to the spa and then try to do some cross country skiing too! I'm super excited about it, I haven't gone forever, but think it's a great workout and I love the idea of getting out and doing something fun in the snow instead of staring at it an thinking it's pretty, or staring at it and thinking it's ruining my running schedule...

Oh, so Bridget hosted Sunday Funday this week and it was great! We ate delicious food, drank Champagne and wine then had some cake and banana bread. So fun!

Ah, what a rough life.

Danube Canal Striders

2010-01-16T18:14:00.003+04:00

Today we had our first DCS run. I used to be part of the Dubai Creek Striders, which totally got me into long runs every weekend, to the point that I felt like I was slacking off if we ran anything less than 16 or 17 miles, with most runs closer to 20 miles. Since moving to Vienna I've continued running, but the long run was closer to 10 miles and most weekends... I'm looking to change that! A bunch of us are runners and most of us are training for the Vienna full or half marathon, so what better way to train then as a group! We met this morning, did our run and then went to Starbucks and Naschmarkt. I ran about 16 miles and it felt great! I'm hoping we can be consistent with this... Last night I went to The Buena Vista Social Club. It was amazing! I loved the music and they did have us up and moving around a bit, but it would have been a totally different type of show if it was at a smaller venue where we could all be dancing and drinking, but the music really was awesome!

It's just about over...

2010-01-14T14:40:00.002+04:00

any sort of life I might have had... Next week German classes start, which will be fun and all, but will leave NO time for anything else. A few of us signed up for these German classes at the University right near my house. While I am TOTALLY excited to be back in school and learn German, finally, I am realizing between class two times a week, not being able to run in the mornings (ice + dark = danger)and shops only being open till 7:00 or so... life as I know it will be over. We also started a dinner club, which I am really excited about, but that means every night during the work week I will be busy. I guess that will help me out financially. This whole world cup thing is KILLING me! I know it is going to be fun and I will love every second of it while I am there, they are charging so much more for everything the whole time we're there! But... I can't wait! I am also trying to book a flight home for a friend's wedding in July and hoping to make an East coast appearance on the way back next summer. Ugh. I just wish I was rich! February is going to be a very fun, but expensive month too. And, I just figured out Nordstroms.com will ship to Vienna. Dangerous!

Cultural Tour of Vienna...

2010-01-08T02:18:00.004+04:00

Well, maybe not. I had my first 6:00am morning in Vienna... We started out at our favorite Italian place, Il Sestante for Chianti and pizza, followed by Rioja wine and tequila shots (with orange and cinnamon) at Tin Tan, left for drinks at an Irish Pub, then swung by Roo's, an Australian bar and then of course we had to go back to Tin Tan, I mean, we did promise Luis... Jr. and Sr.! Ha! What a night! It ended with a little guitar hero, or some sort of game like that, I'm not sure which one of those WI or Nintendo or something..., but I was AWFUL at it! The next day we rounded off the tour with baking homemade cookies from the US of A and then Sushi and Sake... Ha! The whole night and following day was pretty hilarious, and the kind of thing I don't think I've done since college. Fun though! It snowed a TON that night too, the city is looking pretty awesome.

We had to go back to work today, sad. Well, it will be nice to be back in a routine I guess, but I really was loving just relaxing in Vienna. They moved my office over break, it was quite a disaster, I have a lot of work to do. I've already broken a huge shelf thing, I put too much weight on one side, but, in my defense it was a three part cabinet thing and they only put wall brackets on two sections... of course the one with no brackets is the one I chose to put old test materials in... now it's all rigged up with this funny t shaped random wood thing. I'm sure they'll fix it all up tomorrow...! It's supposed to snow a ton tomorrow, which would be great!! I wish it would snow tonight so we could have a snow day, but that is pretty much not going to happen.

There are a bunch of fun things coming up... I think we are going to a concert this weekend if there are still tickets available, Naschmarkt (I LOVE it there!!!), Buena Vista Social Club concert the 15th, German classes start the 18th, we may try to pull together a ski weekend, the ball February 6th and I think we are going to try to do this overnight Venice Carnivale thing and then my sister and brother in law come!!! Can't wait!

I just bought the Nike iPod thing, I used to have it years ago, but it died and I never got another one, but seemed like a good idea... we'll see. My friend and I just signed up for a series of races this winter, I guess you get to chose your distance the day of the race. Interesting!

Highlights of 2009... Prosit Neujahr!

2010-01-01T23:28:00.026+04:00

Just wanted to have a little "Best of 2009" entry... Pictures are on the sidebar!

One of my favorite quotes...

For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. this perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way so treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one.Happiness is a journey, not a destination. -Souza

January
Everest Base Camp, Dubai Marathon and camping in Oman.

Everest Base Camp
The year started off with a little hike... Katie, Syma and I hiked to Everest Base Camp. I have never been so cold in all my life! But, the views and the experience is something I will never forget! I love that I've done it, but even a year later, I can't highly recommend it for everyone.

Dubai Marathon
My personal best! I ran the Lisbon Marathon in December and only got in one long run before we left for Nepal, but whatever I guess the altitude training must have worked! I felt great during the whole race and feel like I could have actually run a bit harder. We celebrated with a delicious lunch at, surprise, surprise,Barasti. I miss the Tuna sandwiches there as much as I miss the sun... and the carrot cake from Lime Tree and my friends.

Camping in Oman
Mark and I left "right" after school, or on Mark standard time, whatever... We went down a little south of Muscat to Wadi Shab. I'm pretty sure I spent the majority of the time talking about vampires... and I quote "I can't believe they lied about Vampires in Interview with a Vampire." Right, because Twilight is the "truth." Poor Mark! We arrived at our first campsite, and I use that word loosely, at like 2am or something. I'm sure that had nothing to do with the fact that we just sat in the car talking, didn't really know where we were going, stopped for a nice long dinner and to buy some pans to cook with and then when we told the border guy where we were going, he just sort of stared at us and pointed in the direction we had just come from... oh well! I think it might have been my favorite camping trip while in Dubai, totally relaxing, no hurry, no stress...

February
James Blunt concert with Kim and Heather, Barclay's Tennis Championship and running races nearly every weekend!

Barclay's Tennis Championship
I went to a couple of different days of tennis. I took a personal day one day to go and attempt to get money back from a speeding ticket that I didn't actually get, I was in the states when they photographed "my" license plate. I tried to explain it all to the RTA people, but of course they told me I had to just pay the ticket and then go down to the main office and they would just reimburse me... Ha! As usual, the office hours were like 9:00 - 3:00 or something, it was in an area I was completely unfamiliar with and I ended up in Sharjah. At that point I decided the best option was to just call it a day, park my car up on the sidewalk near the Tennis Stadium and grab a vodka soda, or two, or three and wait for Liz.

Race Season!
Race season in Dubai... I had a race nearly every weekend. I did a few 10K's the different Running Clubs were hosting, the RAK half and the Wadi Bih relay. They were all great! Kelli, Alyssa and I went down to RAK the night before, ate a buffet dinner with wine and then got up and ran the next day... Kim and Heather also ran the half and a few other girls joined Alyssa and they did a relay. We all had brunch at this golf club with my running club after, very fun! The Wadi Bih Relay was really cool. We divided up into two groups and had a few cars, drove up to Dibba, camped and then each took turns running between 3 - 8kms, or something like that. Sort of the same idea as Hood to Coast, only a shorter distance and a bit more scenic and hilly and dusty.... After the race there was a brunch/lunchish thing at the Golden Tulip, some people rushed on home, Jess was nearly left behind... Mark and I met up with another group of our friends and camped another night. Very fun!

March
My mom came to visit. We went up to Musandam, Abu Dhabi, a dinner cruise on the creek, fun dinners out, Lime Tree, the beach and lots of other fun things!

April
Philippines with my brother and sister and Katie's visit!!! We made a home base out of the Trader's Hotel in Manila, played "Amazing Race" and hired drivers to drive us all over from the town where my dad was baptized, to help us find our relatives house, up to the rice fields, then we flew and boated out to the most beautiful beaches and snorkeling I've ever seen! Too bad it was the last night that we figured out it was self service all you can drink wine for the equivalent of 10 USD at our hotel in Manila!

Katie's visit
We had an "All You Can" weekend, tons of trips to Lime Tree, the beach, Fujairah, she pretty much bought out the souqs, well the spice and perfumes ones anyways! It was great to show her my "Dubai life" and she was AWESOME and brought me my favorite wines from home. She clearly knows me well!

May
Month of "All You Can's," goodbye dinners, birthdays and everything was one last time... I also broke my ribs this month playing soccer. PAINFUL. Very inconvenient for life in general. When we went into the ER because I woke up hysterically crying at 5:00am because I was in so much pain, the doctor thought is was "funny" to joke about how the person that brought me in was probably beating me. Hilarious. I seriously think there was at least one major event every weekend... if not more. One day we did a brunch and then went to the Sophomore Dinner... which of course we were quite late too... Seriously? We also had a Bachelorette party, and... we were those girls, you know, the one's you make fun of? That have on crazy outfits and show up to bars in a stretch hummer??!

June
More of the same in Dubai... plus the added funness, I realize that's not a word..., of packing, moving, selling and all that... Goodbye Dubai bye! Then... home for the summer!

Jen's Bachelorette party in San Diego
We had such a great time! I arrived into SF on a Thursday, went and stayed with Erin and her family one night, then met up with Jen at the airport and we all flew down to SD together. I think it was Monday by the pool that I finally realized I was in SD... the whole weekend was kind of a blur!

Joel and Ashley's Wedding
It was BEAUTIFUL! I was so happy that I was able to make it home in time to go to the wedding. It was great to see my family and we had a great day!

July
It was a busy month with a week at the beach for Gavin's 5th birthday, 4th of July, family BBQ, wine tasting extravaganza, including my fake bachelorette party, rafting with Teri and Jess and then the move to Vienna and a quick trip to Duabi.

Wine tasting... seriously? What was I thinking with my "challenges"? And, how could one day be that much fun!

August
Busy month... met all the Newbies, looked for a place to live, Gregg came to visit, started work... went to Poznan, Poland.

Poznan had a very cool old town area, beautiful old buildings and World Cup Rowing, because as you know, I'm a BIG fan. Ha! I couldn't find a place to live right away and LOVED living with Steph. When I finally did find a place I didn't want to leave! As part of our "newbie" events, we went on a biking tour that was pretty fun through vineyards and then had a great lunch in a really cute small town.

September
Coaching soccer, 8th Grade trip, Amber came to visit, Semmering hiking trip and another trip to Poland, this time Warsaw. Fall might be my favorite time of year in Vienna, gorgeous weather, pumpkin soup and well, just everything about it is great!

October
Busy month! I did the Vienna Night Run, Graz Half Marathon and then went back to the states for Jen's wedding in SF and then up to Kristin's for the rest of the time.

November
Finished up soccer and took the girls on a trip to Munich, Christmas markets started and I went back to Dubai for Thanksgiving. I LOVED seeing everyone and also was happy to lay in the sun! Eating carrot cake and talking with friends, it was hard to imagine why I ever left! We also went to Aquaventure, haven't been to a water park in probably 20 years... so fun! I was wearing a strapless dress, flip flops and LOVING life!

December
Month of visitors, Christmas markets and holiday celebrations. It might have been the best and least stressful holiday season I have ever had! When I got back from Dubai Heather arrived the same day. It was so much fun to have her here! My mom arrived the day Heather left. We had so much fun exploring all the different Christmas markets, walking around, hoping we wouldn't freeze to death and also just relaxing at home! Of course we watched the biggest loser a few nights too. My mom also bought me some new bedding. The day before my mom left Jess arrived and stayed through the New Year. SO FUN! We were lazy, I mean, we took advantage of our time off to relax. Ha! She really helped me fix up my apartment, not sure what took me so long to pull it together, but I now have shelves, pictures and mirrors hung. We decided to host Christmas Dinner for some friends that were in town, and my friend Damien flew in from the states too, so I had a full house. And LOVED it! New Year's was great fun too! We did the Silvester Trail, which basically involved starting with waltzing lessons at 2:00 and then going to different stages set up around town all with live music and/or dj's. We ended up at the Rathaus for the majority of the night listening to a Michael Jackson tribute band and then a Bryan Adams cover band. I get Michael Jackson, but Bryan Adams?

Well, those were some highlights...! Year round fun included... Saltini's, soccer, lunch club, beach, lime tree, running club, seeing friends and family at home over the summer and starting a whole new life in Vienna... Prosit!

While I am not a big fan of the word "lucky" I might have to say... I feel SO lucky that I am living in Vienna and have met the people I have met so far and am really looking forward to learning GERMAN so that I can actually communicate with people here...

PLEASE COME VISIT!!!!

Christmas Fun!

2009-12-26T04:09:00.005+04:00

I can't believe how much fun Christmas in Vienna is!

Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Snow. Bikes. Vienna. Love it!

Gorgeous Christmas ornaments from the Schonbrunn Palace Christmas market.

More market photos, not sure what I'm going to do when they're over. Don't worry... there are Easter markets.

Bridget and I, again, please notice the lack of hat, scarves and gloves!

While we were out at the Schonbrunn Christmas Market Jess was sitting on this bench, taking a break and when I went to find her, she was sitting there, kind of holding her shoe. I looked at it, and she was like, is this normal? Do you think this is from the chemicals? We had to still make it home and the shoes were looking a bit sketchy... but we did make it home. Eventually.

Damien and I... I knew Damien was coming in on the 24th, but we didn't have a set time/place to meet. So... I knew he was coming in by a train at 3:00, so I went to one of the train stations to just sort of check things, thought I might just run into him?? Ha, but while we were there, Damien called and he was at the other train station. We did eventually meet up with him and ride a bunch of metros till we got home. We enjoyed some wine and snacks while we sat around the house. Angella stopped by and we just had the typical Christmas Eve dinner of crackers, red pepper dip, cherry tomatoes and cheese filled sausage. That's normal, right?!

Jess, Damien, Bridget and I went over to David and Stacy's place for more wine and appetizers. Jess was showing us her Kabuki moves while we waited for the metro.

Damien having some gluhwein and checking out the line up out front of St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Stacy, Bridget and I getting ready to head out for midnight mass after super delicious snacks.

Waiting for midnight mass at St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Jess, Damien, Stacy, Bridget and David waiting outside, listening to the stampede warnings from the random English speaker behind us. Please note: NO hat, gloves or scarves!

Inside the cathedral

Midnight Mass in German, very moving. Well, maybe if we understood it? They did a few things in English, but mostly we just sat, stood and started. It was VERY touristy and really packed. throughout the whole service people were coming and going. When communion for the zillion people in there started, we went ahead and snuck right out. We when we left, the whole group of people that were sitting near us left too. I know, we're total trendsetters...

The walk home was not that fun, I decided I could wear these super high wedge shoes and wander about on cobblestone. Then we saw these random drag racing car things happening. I was pretty sure we were going to be smashed, obviously we weren't and we did make it home.

Now on to Christmas Dinner...

Jess set up the table for our dinner. Very fun and festive.

o
Our appetizers and check out my Christmas dishes...!

Damien taking over turkey duty with VERY limited supplies... Who knew you could substitute a wet towel for tin foil. I wasn't worried about that at all...

Check it out! Damien's first turkey.

Salad and bread station...

Sitting down to enjoy our meal.

Look at my new cool trick. Uh, not nearly as exciting as my "challenges" from wine tasting this summer.

Moving day...

2009-12-22T12:16:00.002+04:00

One last picture from the move... it was so hilarious! Jess and I went to the furniture store where the information lady gave me the evil eye and spoke in rapid German, it went something like this... you are a stupid non-German speaker, I am going to angrily glare at you, talk about you to my co-workers, slam my phone around a little bit, hold the paper that you gave me, act like I have no idea what is going on, then find an English speaker and stare at you some more. Fun. Fortunately, Lisa (Wow, we have the same name... she was so excited) came over and translated for us. Basically, I just handed them my US drivers license, bank card (I may, or may not have) used my "free money". I have been accidentally using this "Quick Laden" savings plan, well, it's not really it's a savings plan. I interpreted the Quick Laden button on the ATM machine as Quick Cash at home, where you would just get 50 Euros right away. Well, every time I tried it over the last four months, money never came out, so I would just do it a different way until money would come out. Most people would have tried to figure out what Quick Laden was, well, I couldn't be bothered to do that. So, it was a forced savings account, the money went somewhere, but I had no idea where. When I did finally call the bank about it one time, she gave me clear, precise directions in order to access the money. Unfortunately the directions were in perfect German. I just gave up. But, the other day when I was with my mom at the furniture store, the Quick Laden option came up as a way to pay, there were hundreds of Euros in there! Ha! So anyways, back to my new best friend Lisa. After I paid (I think) for the second half of the furniture, the "car rental" and the rest of the items she sent us around the corner to find the rental. She told us we had three hours to get the car back and asked if I knew the directions. I confidently lied to her and said, oh of course.

Jess and I walked around a bit and eventually found the area we were looking for, strangely enough, all the boxes were just sitting right there waiting for us. Jess confidently hopped into the MASSIVE moving van when the guy gave me the keys and asked that we just back up to the loading dock. Right between so huge garbage thing and some other poor person's car. She was reversing and I was directing. After about 10 minutes we had moved the van about seven inches closer than it would have been if we just left it where it was... So, off we went! We were cracking up, of course the van was HUGE, a stick shift, it was snowy and Jess had NO IDEA where she was going. Not that I really knew either. I told her to follow the tram tracks, but when it appeared that only trams were allowed, just follow the cars in front of her. I know, precise directions. It was great. So, it all actually went quite well! We started following the wrong tracks, but most trams lead towards the center of town, so we did make it with no major incidents. We parked the van right near my place and unloaded the furniture and managed to get it up to my apartment with little incident.

As we were driving back, we figured out that left turns aren't allowed anywhere and we drove a long ways out of the way. I figured it was just a "tour" for Jess. She was busy driving and the side mirror only hit one sign. Then she panicked a bit and was like roll down the window, fix the mirror. Then, I got a little nervous and kept saying, you're really close to the curb over here... then she would say she's really close to the cars on the other side of her. We determined the van was just too big for the road. Surprising in Europe, right? We did eventually make it back to Moma or Momax, whatever we want to call it... turned in the car, which they didn't even look at. Very successful. And hilarious. If I ever need to move anything again, whether it's from Momax or not, I will be renting that thing, it's way cheaper than the random, lazy mover guy I hired before...

Today is another big day. Goal= Gym, Naschmarkt, Karlsplatz Christmas Market and pants for Jess. She had a "minor packing error". She only brought one pair of pants. One of these days I'm going to show Jess how cool Vienna is... but for now, we're still playing a day in the life of Lisa.

One thing that is cracking me up about Jess's visit is the pure excitement about the availability of pork products and wine. Amazing what Dubai can do to a person!

Two more quick things...

2009-12-20T19:05:00.002+04:00

It's so cold even the birds are leaving... this is taken from my window, snow covered roof and tons of birds.

This is the potholder in the garbage... it should be illegal to sell potholders that don't work. My finger is still burning from using it. Garbage.

Pictures say 1000 words...

2009-12-20T16:49:00.007+04:00

Here's a bunch of pictures from the last couple of weeks, out of order I think. Some from Dubai, Heather's visit, my Mom's visit and the start of Jess's visit! Yeah to Christmas markets and snow!!!

My mom, Steph and I at the Schonbrunn Palace Christmas Market, trying to stay warm with our punsch.

Steph, Angella and I using our best German to order dinner

Mom and I at the market again...

My Mom and I enjoying a Mexican dinner, sadly my limited Spanish is still better than my German!

We went on a "night at the history museum tour" with Steph's school. The best part was the punsch and view from the roof. That's the Rathaus in the background, right behind is where I live.

My Mom, Sheona and I went to a concert, it was amazing and you know, cultural. We preordered champagne for the intermission break. Classy, right?

Anika, Steph, Andrew, Ciara, Bridget and I enjoying Thai punsch (my favorite) at the market in front of the church at Karlsplatz. I'm not sure what we're going to do when the markets end!

My mom and I up in Grinzing.

A snowy night in Vienna! This was the day my Mom left and the second day Jess was here. I treated Jess to a typical Viennese day... furniture shopping, internet surfing and Gluhwein at the closest market. We had a fun walk home in the snow taking a zillion pictures as if we've never seen snow before.

Jess, Bridget and I at the AKH Christmas market right near my house. And... the location of my upcoming German classes! Finally!

Steph, my Mom and I in the snow drinking again... see any themes? ha!

Rathaus Christmas market, the most touristy one, but I love it! Helps that it's close too!

Heather came to visit and it was SO great to see her and have her see my life here in Vienna! We tried this tapas place right around the corner from my place. Does the picture look a little foggy? Why yes, it does... that would be the third hand smoke...

Heather and I at the Spittelberg Market, where we surprisingly drank punsch.

Now for Dubai... Kelli and I on my last night in Dubai. We had a great time! She had some friends visiting and we went out for dinner and drinks right near the airport. I had a 2:00am flight, which conveniently got me back to Vienna just in time to go straight to work. Ha!

Gregg and I at Bar Zar at the Madinat, where I decided it was a totally reasonable option to start smoking sheesha, because apparently I do that now!

Again, I am now an avid sheesha smoker... this was Mark and I well on our way towards a long night... I'm pretty sure we finished our "strip" of drinks and then went home, opened up a bottle of wine, totally necessary, and sat around talking till 5:30 or so in the morning. Just in time for Mark to pack up and go on a camping trip...

Oh how I missed the sun! Laying at the beach was AWESOME!

Syma, Mark, Kim and I heading out to this new place. Sure, I miss the sun, people, etc. in Dubai, but what I really miss is throwing on a strapless dress and heading out to a beach bar, or any other outdoor place! I sorta wish I would have had some high heeled shoes too... here in Vienna the cobblestone and weather don't allow for all the clothes and shoes I've bought over the last couple of years. I seriously need to purchase a whole new wardrobe, hats, boots, gloves, jackets, everything you can imagine for the cold.

Ok, so a bit more about life... desperate to learn German. I signed up for classes two nights a week, they start January 18th, I'm sure I'll be fluent by the time my sister and Eric arrive in February. We have spent the last month or so going to every Christmas market you can imagine. I love the Gluhwein and punsch, my favorite is the Thai one at Karlsplatz. It's not too sweet.

While my Mom was here she bought me some new bedding that I love and we also went to this furniture store, Moma, which I am now obsessed with and I saw all kinds of things I think I should have for my apartment. So, on Jess's first full day we headed out in the snow and I ended up buying all this stuff. I'm not real sure what exactly happened, there was definitely some language issues happening, but I ended up buying a shelving unit, a bakers rack and... renting a car? Who knows, I got confused and sort of gave up and agreed to come back on Monday and pick up the large items and drive them home myself. It ought to be no problem for Jess and I to carry the 141lbs shelving unit up to my apartment, right? Ugh. I get so flustered when the whole German language starts up...

Speaking of confusion... apparently the flat downstairs has terrible water damage and it's all my fault. Which is strange because the plumber that came couldn't find any problems with my pipes... and it's so terrible that they haven't bothered to return any of my calls or be home when I arranged for the plumber to be here? Ugh. So frustrating. According to my rental contract (in German) I am required to have rental insurance, guess I should have had that translated... could be thousands of Euros of damage. Convenient. I do now, of course, have rental insurance.

Back to my apartment... Jess has been awesome, since she's been here furniture has been purchased, pictures have been hung and we are in process of selecting paint colors. So much to do and so little time. So happy that I don't work till January 7th!!!

I'll be hosting Christmas dinner with a variety of people bringing a variety of things... should be fun! We'll see how it all works out. Hopefully people won't mind sitting on the floor and drinking out of mugs... I did buy more wine glasses and some water glasses, finally... maybe someday I'll have all the makings of a real place to live!

Mom's here!

2009-12-07T15:55:00.005+04:00

My mom arrived on Friday, of course, her plane got in early and she was standing outside my door when I walked around the corner. Fortunately it wasn't raining! I was SO happy to see her! She brought me lots of nice things for Christmas, including an awesome down jacket and some clothes to keep me warm. My sister sent along some gloves and a hat too. So fun! We went to one of my favorite pizza places for dinner and then walked around the Rathaus Christmas market. I know, surprising, right?!

We both must have been exhausted because we were asleep by 10:30 and I slept all through till 9:00 the next day! I think I'm still recovering from Dubai. That place is just crazy. We had a great weekend! We met Steph for lunch at the Naschmarkt and a bit of shopping, I know, something different. Then we went to the Haydn Mass with some friends, my school choir with students and teachers were performing, it was amazing! A bunch of us went to a Christmas Market, dinner at a brewery and then tequila shots with Luis at Tin Tan... Fun times! The next day we went to the Vienna Boys Choir, the world's longest brunch and made Christmas cookies and chocolate chip cookies (best to date) at Steph's while watching The Biggest Loser and then came home. You know, a typical weekend in Vienna...!

We have a "newbies" dinner tonight at a friend's house. It should be fun and I'm not sure what all is planned for the rest of the week. Tomorrow is a holiday and it is the Viennese equivalent of "Black Friday" shopping, so I'm looking forward to picking up some things for my apartment. My mom and I finally moved my wardrobes into my bedroom and figured out a place to store my shoes, but there is tons left to do! While we were watching tv last night, I was making a list of all the things I need to buy. Drinking glasses? What a thought...

It's about time...

2009-12-03T16:04:00.003+04:00

So, I am having the BEST time with my friend who is visiting. It is so fun to have someone new here to go out and try some new things and show her some of my favorite things. Mostly though, it's just nice to have someone here that I love spending time with. I had to laugh though, she was part of my meal club in Dubai and when she saw me unpacking my groceries she looked at me like I was crazy. Well, of course that's an exaggeration, but she said something like I've never seen you eat so much pasta or prepackaged food! And, she is totally right. I love cooking and good food and wine. Half the time I was in Dubai I was dreaming of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat that I thought was good and farmer's markets... now that I'm here with all the great markets and fresh foods, my oven doesn't work and I eat cheap pasta and just add water soups. Seriously? Add it to the list of things that I just keep doing and can't figure out why! Who lines up shoes in double rows all around their room instead of buying a shoe rack? Uses an empty moving box as a table? Doesn't have a working oven? Doesn't hang pictures on the walls? Let's the washer hose drain into the sink instead of finding the correct piece to connect the two? Or, doesn't even have sheets that fit the bed? So, maybe I just needed someone who knows me to see what's going on and call me on it...! My mom comes tomorrow so maybe that can be our project. I'm sure she flew half way around the world to help me organize my spices... Really, I should just make a list of all the things I need to do and do them. I mean, how hard can it be to light an oven!

The grass is always greener...

2009-11-30T14:51:00.003+04:00

When I left Dubai at the end of the last school year I knew I'd be going back to visit and when I was there in July/August I knew I'd be coming back for Thanksgiving. Leaving this time, I realized, this could be it, the last time I ever see this place. It made my unbelievably sad. I arrived back to Vienna this morning after an amazing weekend in Dubai. I saw my friends, spent lots of time in the sun, ran around Safa, ate some Carrot Cake at Lime Tree and basically tried to do as many of my favorite things as I could fit in. What I realized, and in a lot of ways I already knew, was that Dubai is a great place, but what made it a great place to me was the people. It felt so great, seeing my friends and having easy conversations and being able to talk about every and anything! Ordering food in English with no pointing and broken German felt like the most rewarding experience ever! Last year when I was in Dubai and looking for a new job, the goal was to get to Europe and now that I'm here, all I want is that Dubai life back.

Professionally I am much happier in Vienna, but the day to day life can be so frustrating! I really need to learn German, not being able to communicate with people makes me feel rude, stupid and annoyed most of the time. I wanted to move here and become part of the community, but it feels like such a closed group of people that seems nearly impossible to break into. Even when I do meet Viennese people that speak English (as a second language) I end up having to work so hard to get my point across, or watching what I say to try to make it clear what I mean, and little to no jokes or sarcasm that it hardly seems worth it to even try. So, while you meet people that might be really great, you can't really tell because so much is just lost in translation. I don't mean it to sound like I'm miserable or anything, because I'm not at all, it's just really hard. I think I keep forgetting that I've only been here four months.

The other weekend was great. Friday afternoon I met some friends at a wine tasting event, followed by shots at the Mexican place by my house. Saturday I went on a two hour run in the Prater, lunch at the Naschmarkt, shopping and then girl's night at a friend's place. Sunday was a great hike with a couple of Viennese guys and then an art gallery opening. Sounds fun? Well, in a lot of ways it was. Well, except for the part that I was completely under dressed (in hiking clothes) and couldn't actually talk to anyone because everyone was speaking German... but there was free wine. The next work week was short, which I loved and the night before I left for Dubai we went to a Christmas market (surprising) and then an Italian dinner, it was great! I couldn't be bothered to pack, so I just decided to do it the next morning before I left. Which would have worked out better had I remembered to put the washer hose into the sink to drain instead of leaving it out to flood the whole bathroom. I was running around like a crazy person trying to take care of the disaster. I did, obviously, make my flight. That's just one of the little things I haven't been able to figure out yet. I need to go to the hardware store and buy some sort of connector thing that connects the washer hose to the wall. I'll take care of that when I replace the upside down moving box with a proper end table. Which will be right after I get around to figuring out how my oven works... really? This is how I live?

It's just so funny, right now it seems like everyone is just kind of holding back a little and trying to figure out life. Some friends are considering their different options for work next year, others are thinking about having kids, or not having kids and everyone seems to be freaking out about money. It was so nice to just sit back around friends I'm super comfortable with and just sort of say, life's not what I expected it to be. We all should be happy, but are we? I used to look at people that were married, or had a house, or a job they loved or .... something else... and think, oh, they must be happy! But, when I look at my life it seems like I should just be thrilled because of all the fun things I get to do or all the traveling, the thing is, it's not that I'm particularly unhappy, I just wonder sometimes if this is it? Or, is there something more? Am I missing something?

There are TONS of really fun things coming up. A friend from Dubai arrives tonight for the week, my mom comes on Friday, another friend is coming for Christmas and my sister and Eric have booked their tickets for February too. I also found a run in Vienna on December 31st, so that should be fun. I'm also really looking forward to April's Montenegro trip and summer in Cape Town. And then day to day life... the Christmas markets are great, the city is beautiful right now, we have a few fun work parties set up and soon we'll be on break. I can't believe it's almost 2010, that always seemed like a lifetime away!

Catching up...

2009-11-18T01:51:00.007+04:00

Pictures and an update... finally!

Just trying to catch up with some photos! I'll start with Graz... Cute city where we did the half marathon in October.

Steph, Bridget, Ciara and Andrew after we walked up a zillion stairs to get to this lookout point with a huge clock tower.

For some reason I loved this picture.

This was a typical pre race Greek dinner, who knew that was a good idea! The wine was delicious also. I wonder why I didn't get my personal best the next morning...

Perfect pre race breakfast; I ate tons of delicious cheese, bread and coffee.

Bridget and I celebrating our finish.

Anika was our expert champagne opener... I think we had about 4 bottles? and then some wine? It really reminded me a bit of my Gonzaga in Florence years, only we had glass bottles of wine/champagne vs. the boxes we drank in college.

A few pictures from my birthday dinner... It was great, we went out for pizza at this place right around the corner from me that I LOVE.

I arrived into SF and my friend Anna picked me up. We went out to dinner with her husband at a great little French place right around the corner from their house, where I was staying. I got up the next morning, went on an awesome run to Golden Gate Park and then the wedding festivities started. The weather could not have been nicer and the entire wedding was fun! We started out with a bridesmaid lunch, nails, cupcakes, rehearsal (where I thought the church lady was actually going to KILL JB (Jen's husband) for touching some really famous something or other, she was actually a scary lady), rehearsal dinner and then out to some bar. All of the people I met were SO great! The next day we got ready in Jen's hotel room, got our hair and makeup done, ate a champagne lunch, took photos, did the whole wedding in a church thing, rode around in trolleys and then back to the hotel for the reception. Great people, food, conversation, drinks, location, everything about it was perfect! I feel so fortunate that I was able to fly back for it!

Right near where they were filming Trauma...

Bridesmaid lunch

Jen and I at the rehearsal dinner.

Right before we got in the limo!

College roommates, 10+ years later!

Anna, Jason and I went hiking in the Marin Headlands the day after Jen's wedding. I can't believe I've never been there before! After we went and had some wine and snacks, fun!

Kristin and I at the Nordstrom cafe before they took me to the airport. It was SUCH a fun time with her family! I was able to speak at Gavin's school about Vienna, go to his Halloween party, attend a Gold Card lunch with Ella at her school and then go to a harvest fest at a church with them in their Halloween outfits. We also had lots of time to do nothing, drink coffee, play games, go on walks, just do normal everyday life things. Gavin and I also went on a run, it was so cute, he seemed really, really excited about the whole thing and we went all the way to the golf course! Which is a really long ways for him!

Ok, so on to creepy hotel... This is the hotel we stayed at for our SCIS tournament. I coached Middle School Girls Soccer this year and it was pretty fun. I think I'd like to do it again next year, but we'll see I guess. Anyways, back to the hotel. First, it is in the absolute middle of NOWHERE. Not near the school, not near public transport, not in Munich, just in this random area somewhere near the airport... In addition to crazy location, there is scuba diving, the smell of chlorine, naked people (what is it with Europe and naked people?!), overpriced food and wine, weird slanty rooms, uh, what else. Titanic posters on the walls and an underwater theme. Freakish. But, I did meet some really nice people. Steph was there with her team, which made it more fun. Then, when we were out the first night, one of the coaches mentioned that he was going to a wine tasting the following night. Steph and I basically invited ourselves along. Which I am SO glad we did, because it was literally exactly what I like to do. Only, it was in German. We tried tons of white and red wines and eventually drank a few bottles of red. It was just nice to be out and have people talk to us and drink wine and eat snacks... sounds just about right!

Look at that, you can watch people get certified while you are having a drink. Not strange at all!

My FAVORITE thing to do! I know, I work in schools, I'm supposed to say how much I love to read... but really wine, snacks, friends? What else is there in life?

Isn't it beautiful! When I got off the U Bahn Saturday night after our REALLY fun train ride home with all the soccer kids from both of our schools... there were a million people out and about and everyone just looked so happy! I texted Steph that we were going the following day, and we did! Wandering around the Christmas markets, drinking gluhwein and eating pretzels or spiced nuts, I really can't think of a better way to spend the next 6 weeks!

So late...

2009-10-18T03:59:00.002+04:00

I'm not sure when it all changed, but somehow, I now stay up till all hours of the night. What's annoying is that I still get up ridiculously early. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I have no curtains.

Today was a random day, I went for a quick run then banned myself from the internet until I got a few things done around the house. I was missing Dubai, so I threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top, my usual Friday cleaning outfit. So... I quickly cleaned, did laundry, had a latte, you know, the usual. I had to run down to the store, it's right below me, and get a few things, I must have looked like the neighborhood crazy lady, everyone else was bundled up in scarves, hats and gloves and I was half dressed.

Peter came over and dropped off a mattress, couch and took Steph and I to IKEA. SO nice! I have no idea why he decided to come help me with all this, but I really needed it! I just was not able to pull it together enough to get anything done, and he didn't really leave it as a choice. He just told me what was happening and where I needed to be and at what time, apparently that's what I needed.

Tomorrow I plan on spending the day putting together my new IKEA furniture and... going out with a random Austrian guy; I am realizing how fast I talk and how much I use sarcasm... which is often lost on people with English as a second language. Ha! I hope I don't freak out and run away from him at some point. He's a consultant and travels a ton for work... sound familiar? What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...?

Just one more drink...

2009-10-17T17:09:00.001+04:00

Ha! Just got back from a great weekend in Graz. We went down on Saturday morning, the train ride was great! We met at the train station around 9am on Saturday morning and made our way to Graz. After a little confusion we ended up on this old, dirty train to Graz. But, with the three bottles of champagne and great snacks we managed to make it just fine.... We arrived into Graz, made it to our hotel, out to pick up our race numbers and then back into the main part of town. We met Steph and Anika, did some shopping and then went to a long Greek dinner. We sat for hours, eating and drinking too much. Of course, I loved it and had a great time.
We all had great races, some of us did a half marathon and the others did a 10.5 k. We all felt great. We hopped on a bus to the train station and it was a disaster. There were a zillion people and even nuns were pushing and shoving. I was a sweaty disaster. I can't figure out how I can be so disgusting and others look so normal. Whatever. We drank a ton of wine and champagne on he train ride home, it was so fun! We didn't want the night to end, so we all went to pizza, pasta and wine... just another great weekend!
Of course, I'm still a mess about Andrew, it's so annoying, I just wish I could make it all go away!

Denial and avoidance are totally ok....

2009-10-17T04:34:00.002+04:00

I decided I should probably erase my "I'm actually crazy" blogs.... so, when I finish this I will do just that.... Surprisingly we had another great night here in Vienna. Actually, first I should start with the cross country run, it snowed and we lost kids... should I say more? i loved it.

Next... we went to a "lifestyle party" Do I go to the lifestyle club? No. Do I pay for it? Yes... So, a party???? We definitely decided we were in!!! Of course we ended up taking free shots at our favorite Mexican place... again... Ah, such is life!

Tomorrow, a friend of mine is delivering free mattresses for me and taking me to IKEA, how did I get so lucky?

Snow Day!!!

2009-10-15T12:54:00.002+04:00

I wish... it is totally snowing and SO cold! I can't believe the change in the weather! Last week it was in the 70's, beautiful blue skies and just,well, perfect fall weather. This week it has just been freezing and today the snow started! It was snowing this morning when I woke up and it hasn't stopped. I'm not sure if all of Vienna is getting snow, or just where my school is located, we're a little bit higher up. CRAZY! October? Snow? This is so not Dubai...

No more Tin Tan!

2009-10-14T11:44:00.002+04:00

I am officially NOT allowed back to Tin Tan, or whatever it's called, on the weeknights. Last night I met some friends at this pizza place (the best we've found so far in Vienna!) near my house, they had dinner, I drank wine. I am on a very strict budget... Then we decided to go to the Mexican place for a drink, which turned into way more than one, included free shots of tequila with the bartender, Luis, our best friend, and something that lit on fire and lots of delicious wine... Ugh.

I was running around the ring this morning at 5:00 wishing I made more responsible choices on school nights... shots? Really? Oh, and I tried to make a mixed vegetable soup, it was terrible. Vegetables need to live separately in my soup.

Really???

2009-10-13T20:07:00.003+04:00

So, after the world's SLOWEST mover, coincidentally paid by the hour, finally gets my washer and dryer all hooked up, I was SO excited to get started that I just poured in the soap and pushed few random buttons in German and it just started right up! I forgot to put clothes in... and it automatically locks and there is no way to open the door. Annoying! Oh well, I am making some dinner, drinking some wine and sitting at the computer while I wait. I'd be doing the same thing with or without clothes in there I guess...

I was laughing earlier today, I was sitting at work talking with this guy I work with and he just says, so, people are talking, they are saying you have no furniture, do you want a bed? I just started laughing. Who is talking about my lack of furniture? I certainly haven't had anyone over to see my empty apartment! It just cracks me up, I cannot believe I have been living like this for over a month! And, to be honest, I don't even care. Sure furniture would be nice, but if I could chose one thing to be working out a little differently right now in my life, furniture would have nothing to do with it.

I can't believe I will be in SF and Seattle in about a week, crazy! I'm excited to get out of here for a while. It is absolutely FREEZING cold. They're predicting snow on Thursday and Friday. I'm running with the cross country team Friday afternoon, so that will be fun! I also think I'm going to join the random Prater guys soccer team. Should be interesting!

U2

2009-10-05T00:22:00.001+04:00

One more thing... today I bought U2 tickets. Seems like a pretty normal fun thing to do. Did I mention the concert is August 30, 2010?

Perfect Fall Day...

2009-10-04T23:35:00.005+04:00

Last night we found a little piece of Dubai in Vienna. And, by Dubai, I mean overpriced martinis, some swanky dressed people (and me in my long sleeve t-shirt, jeans, boots and an orange scarf), delicious food and lots of people to look at. There wasn't a spritzer in sight...

This morning Steph and I met on the tram and went out to the Prater for a 16km run. I felt pretty good, but right towards the end, maybe the last 2kms or so, I got totally light headed and my eyes were doing that thing where you can see fine, then tunnel vision, then all black then fine again. Annoying. It also hurt to breathe a little, reminded me a bit of Dubai when I had bronchitis year round. I have run a ton since I've been here, but I haven't really been keeping up with long runs. The last couple weekends I've gotten in an hour and a half or maybe two hours; it's weird to think that while I was living in Dubai, I ran 27 - 36+ kms every friday. I don't know if I need to run that much here, but I would like to start running a bit longer on the weekends. Anyways, the Prater was gorgeous.! There is this long street lined with trees and all the leaves were changing, it was just beautiful. We grabbed a McDonald's ice cream cone for the tram ride home, the perfect recovery food and so good! We decided that we should continue to take advantage of the perfect fall day and head out to Grinzing.

This first picture cracks me up, it's right next to the tram stop. I see it every day on my way to work. It's an advertisement for a vacation in the US. Right, cowboys...

Right when we walked off the tram I could tell I was going to LOVE Grinzing. There is one main street that was lined with outdoor places to sit and enjoy wine, coffee, food, whatever...

This stand totally reminded me of Oktoberfest and they sold the sugared nuts that I LOVE so much! Steph gave me some from her recent trip to Oktoberfest, but of course I ate them all that second. I am so happy I have more!

There were wines growing everywhere! We were on a mission to find Pumpkin Soup and were stopping at every restaurant and asking if they had it, this one didn't so we just kept on walking.

This place has Pumpkin Soup!

Here we are with our perfect fall meal... Sturm for Steph and a spritzer for me, Pumpkin Soup and we shared the house plate of meats and cheeses... so good!

This is the place that we stopped to have apple strudel and one more drink... two, met my limit. Although, living in Vienna two doesn't seem as much like a limit as a daily requirement for life here!

It was such a great day! I did spend the whole run thinking about Andrew and trying to figure it out, or not really figure anything out, it was just all I could think about. Which just drives me crazy, I wish I could just turn my brain off sometimes! The rest of the day was just perfect. I still have a hard time believing that this is where I LIVE, not vacation, but this is regular life. Grinzing is about 15 minutes from my house, that is crazy. It is like a cute little vacation town and it's right here in Vienna.

I really think fall is my favorite time of year. The weather has been amazing and the leaves are changing, and to be honest, I think one of the best parts is pulling out all my fall clothes that I haven't worn for years and wearing jeans and boots again...

Missing Dubai...

2009-10-03T15:38:00.002+04:00

I went out and played a little pick up soccer at the Prater last night, I was the only girl and the only English speaker, but my German has improved dramatically over the last few weeks and I'm pretty sure what they were saying the whole time was how awesome I was. Ha! I got home and immediately e-mailed my coaches in Dubai asking them to come to Vienna and start a team... Playing was really fun, but it made me miss The Dubai Heat Ladies... It was so great to have a team and a coach and be a bit competitive in something. I'm sorta feeling like I'm losing in life right now, so it'd be great to have a team where we could be winning. The girls in Dubai are also doing, or did, a soccer boot camp... I'm jealous, in that, I kind of hate you way.

When I was working at DAA it sometimes felt a bit claustrophobic to work, live and socialize with all the same people, but the last couple weeks I would have given anything to be back in my dorm life housing across the street from work surrounded by people. I love Vienna and my apartment, but it definitely feels lonely. I invited myself over to Steph's for dinner last night I just couldn't stand the thought of going home to an empty, unfurnished apartment. Life without credit cards is no fun. I also waited too long trying to figure out what I was going to do for Christmas and now the tickets are so expensive I can't afford to fly home. It'll be interesting to be here... it's supposed to be an amazing place with all the Christmas markets and all that.

I'm missing parts of Dubai life, but can't imagine a better place to spend Fall, it's my favorite time of year. I'm coaching a soccer tournament and right now we're between games, the weather is amazing, clear blue skies and school is basically a super cute small town surrounded by woods and vineyards. It really couldn't be prettier. I am currently obsessing about pumpkin soup. It is so delicious! I just asked Steph if she wanted to go out walking in the vineyards tomorrow and then stop and eat pumpkin soup and drink wine.

I guess I'll be back in Dubai soon enough... less than 8 weeks and I'll be laying in the sun after eating a huge slice of carrot cake, but who's counting...!

Voluntary... Who knew?

2009-09-28T00:26:00.002+04:00

At some point in biology I vaguely remember learning something about voluntary and involuntary muscles, i.e. your heart pumps without you actually making a conscious decision to tell it to pump. I used to think that breathing was involuntary too, but apparently I was wrong.

When Trevor and I broke up years ago I remember thinking I was going to die, crying, being hysterical and drinking and shopping way too much. This time the dying, crying, hysterical parts are all there, but I've added in gasping for air, because somehow my lungs have forgotten that they're supposed to be breathing. I guess I did learn a few things from all this, breathing is actually voluntary, pigeons make me hyperventilate, Poland is a dumb country and lastly, I thought I would never have to go through anything as awful as that first time you get your heart broken and the fun part about life is, I do get to go through it again and it actually can be worse than the first time around. That's fun.

It hasn't gotten any easier in the last week, in fact, it doesn't seem possible, but I actually feel worse about it now that I did a week ago. I keep telling myself that it's better to be alone then with someone who doesn't think you're good enough and doesn't want to be with you, but clearly in my irrational state, I could care less about that.

Some days are like that...

2009-09-21T20:14:00.002+04:00

So, I woke up yesterday feeling pretty good; I went on a great long run, the kind I used to do in Dubai and it felt awesome, a friend from Dubai was arriving later that afternoon, a trip to Warsaw the following weekend and life just seemed like it was moving along. Then it all sort of screeched to a halt when Andrew called on Skype from Australia to break up with me. Surprised? So was I. So, the day didn't turn out quite as planned.

I was trying to figure out if I should write this in here or not, but I'm realizing that this whole blog thing is great, it really is a record of the ups and downs in my life. Thing is, I'm sick of the downs and I'm tired of life being hard. I keep thinking at some point things are supposed to work out, and if you would have asked me a week ago, I would have told you they finally where working out. Who knew? Now, the goal is about 5 seconds without some sort of breakdown. I'm in survival mode.

Flying by...

2009-09-08T16:38:00.002+04:00

Time is moving way too fast! In many ways I want life to hurry up so I can... fill in the blank... get to SF for Jen's wedding and SEA to see my family, to Dubai for Thanksgiving, to December because my mom's coming, then I realize, wait, life is good now too, slow down! Steph said something the other day like we're just wishing our lives away... I don't want to do that.

Andrew came back into town last week, it was great, we just went to dinner outside right on the river, walked around town, got some ice cream and then happened to wander right into a huge wine festival. Andrew made me order our wine in German. I eventually did it, but got so nervous! Then we walked to my new apartment so I could show it to him. He took a picture of me and it looked like one of those pictures all my friends have been posting of their kid's first day of school. Ha! I left the next morning for the 8th Grade Fall trip, of course I was crying hysterically when I had to say goodbye and then the whole bus ride to school. I'm sure people thought I was crazy. Oh well, for all I know they were all discussing it in German right in front of me...

The fall trip was in Schladming, Austria. It was really great, of course I would have rather been in Vienna with Andrew, but what could I do? We did some hiking, swimming and an indoor ropes course that I was able to complete, but I have the most massive bruise on my arm, I'm not even sure how it got there. All fun, and in my opinion, slightly dangerous... but maybe that's the American in me. It was fun to be around the kids outside of school and also nice to spend some time with the 8th Grade teachers.

I got back on Friday night, Steph and I stayed in and were, shocking, on our computers, drinking wine and just chatting till all hours. It's ridiculous, that is all we do! We got up Saturday morning and had a great day, we went out for sushi and then down to the Naschmarket, met another friend for coffee, walked over to buy a vaccuum and then came home and got ready to go over to a friend's house for a little get together. It was such a fun day/night. The next day we got up and went for a long run in the Prater and then out to a really delicious brunch. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up, doing laundry, cooking and just sort of hanging out at the house. It was really nice!

Now, it's back to work, soccer and rushed life, this week is open house too. I hired some movers to come move my boxes tomorrow night, I am just now realizing that I'm moving out (sad) to an empty apartment with no internet. I hope it's not torture! I'm going to go try to set up a time to do internet as soon as possible, but a friend of mine just said she had to wait a few weeks! Ahhh!

My weekend schedule is pretty crazy.
Sept 12/13 hiking and hut camping
Sept 18/19 Soccer tournament
Sept 24 - 27 Warsaw, Poland
Oct 3 Budapest (soccer)
Oct 10/11 Graz, half marathon
Oct 22 - 31 SF and Seattle
Nov 12 - 14 Munich (Soccer)
Nov 26 - 30 Dubai
Dec 4 - 19 Mom's visit to Vienna

I'm exhausted just looking at that... I'm going to wake up and it'll be 2010!

Roller Coaster...

2009-09-01T15:27:00.004+04:00

It seems like life just keeps getting better... then worse, then better again.... It's a bit of a rollercoaster. Speaking of, I'm supposed to be reading this book called The Roller Coaster Years, which is basically about parenting middle schoolers. The thing is I don't think the ups and downs of life ever stop, they just change. And, knowing myself the highs are high and the lows are low, I haven't really ever been able to meet the gentle rolling slopes type of life. Ahhh, what fun would that be anyways? Andrew arrived on Friday, I managed to get us to/from the airport with no major problems, it was really fun to be in Vienna with him, we met some friends of mine at the festival thing at the Rathous for dinner/drinks, which sadly closed yesterday. While we were at the airport I saw a sign for Starbucks, so of course we had to go, it's like I've been brainwashed by that place, I see the green little sign and NEED a latte, it's not even like I want it, I must have it in order for life to go on. Highlights of our trip... to start with it was the "real nice Avis guy" who gave us a printout to our hotel, only for us to arrive out in some suburb of Berlin to a neighborhood home, oops, there's two streets with the same name. Fortunately we were eventually able to find our hotel, right near the prostitutes, nope, I'm not kidding... it was hilarious. I must say, I did ask Andrew what type of place are we staying and if it's by the hour... I slept while we drove to Poznan, Poland the next morning at 5:30 or so, then we met up with some of Andrew's friends at our hotel, which was great, for breakfast and then went to the World Cup Rowing. I'd never been to anything like that before. We spent both Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon watching the races, sitting in the sun, laying on the grass, it was great! After the races we grabbed lunch at the old square, went back to the hotel to relax and then met up again for dinner and drinks one night and then to watch the local soccer team and then dinner and drinks. I broke my two drink limit one night, only to find that it was pointless, I ordered a vodka soda and ended up with a large glass of straight vodka, I was home and asleep within the hour... The old square was beautiful, but there was this very large bra thing with a life size Arab man hanging from it like it was a parachute. Weird. We went out to this bar on Sunday night where all the rowers were, it was a pretty hilarious scene. While we were standing there this guy bit into his glass and a big chunk broke off in his mouth, I looked down at my foot a bit later and somehow the glass ended up in my foot and there was blood everywhere, nice. As I was attempting to get the glass out, I cut my finger. Genius. I left that night at midnight on a shuttle bus to the Berlin Airport, caught a 6:00am flight back to Vienna and had to go straight to work... then soccer practice, then picked up my keys to my new apartment. It was so nice when I finally got home, Steph was making dinner. Seriously, I may never leave even though I have a place of my own... Andrew gets back here tonight and then I leave in the morning for our 8th Grade Fall trip. I guess it's supposed to be raining, so I need to rethink my packing. Ugh. Part of me wishes I could somehow get out of the whole thing but that's not possible...

Busy...

2009-08-28T00:27:00.002+04:00

I can't quite keep up with life right now. I'm running around trying to do about a zillion more things than what I have time to do. I rented a car tonight so I can pick Andrew up at the airport in the morning and as I was driving back into town I was using all my best justification skills to try to figure out a way that I could buy a car... it's completely NOT in my budget and unnecessary, but I sure want one! I was thinking about possibly buying a vespa or something like it in the spring, then I could at least get to/from work without having to sit on gross dirty cloth bus seats. Speaking of budget... our school gives us the option to work with a financial advisor, according to him, I could be out of debt, including the stupid student loans, in less than five years. It makes NO sense to me, but now there's a plan. So, well see how that goes...

Soccer has been great. The kids are cute and we just decided to have a HUGE team and not do any cuts, which will be interesting when I have 20+ kids and only me for practices. I guess I'll just have to become super strict and organized. Wait, that's already how I am with middle schoolers...

I can't wait for Andrew to get here tomorrow, I work all day and then we fly out at night to go to Poznan, Poland for the weekend. Fun! I get to add a country to the places I've been...

So, we live here...

2009-08-23T22:07:00.003+04:00

Another great day... but before I get to that... We had our first day with kids on Thursday, it went great! Class sizes seem small, most around 15 kids, teachers seemed relaxed, kids happy. Ahhh, such a great environment! Friday was good too, it's nice to start getting back into work and have a job that I actually really care about. I knew I was unhappy the last couple of years, but now that I am away from it and in a school that is so awesome, I can really see how draining it was and how much it affected my whole life. I almost feel like a different person.

I looked at a few apartments on Friday night, I loved one of the places, but am not sure about the location. It's fine for getting to work, there's definitely some bars and restaurants that look fun within walking distance, but then again... it's right near the Gurtel, great for public transport and if you need a prostitute, they're right there too... So, we'll see. I'm going to see 3 other places on Monday. One of them is in the perfect location and seems like it would be great, but the kitchen is "old" and I'm not real sure what that means. I'd really like to get a place but am actually a little scared to move out of Steph's place, I'm really worried I'll be lonely and also that all of a sudden I'll realize that I live here, this is my life, and that might freak me out.

Saturday was relaxing, just spent the day debating the big issues in life, should I go to Hawaii for Christmas? Cut my hair? You know, the important things. Then we ended up having this crazy night out. We hadn't really gone out in Vienna yet, so we made plans to meet up with one of Steph's friends (note to self, don't agree to meet someone at a U bahn station... you must be more specific) and had a drink at some bar. Then we went and tried to find this bar that some friends were at and a guy from school was playing in a band, but we couldn't find it. Probably because I wrote down the wrong number address... and we ended up at this little Mexican bar. The bartender decided he wanted to be our new best friend and the best way to do that is to give us endless free shots and samples of all the mixed drinks he was making. We were not loving Luis this morning! When we left the bar I insisted that I knew how to get home. Well, I was totally wrong. We ended up very far away from home at a McDonald's eating ice cream and french fries... we took a taxi home.

Sunday was hilarious. We woke up and were just laughing about the previous night. Clearly my two drink limit was forgotten. Our neighbor, Chris, knocked on our door and invited us to go sailing. We ended up throwing on some clothes and had an awesome day. First we grabbed some pizza and ate it on a park bench, then we sailed, then drinks on a pier and then we wandered back to the area where I thought I lost my phone the night before, and we found it! Yeah! So, back to the sailing part... I would not say I'd make a great sailor. I had no idea what I was doing and was convinced that I was about to be knocked out at any moment, or do something wrong and tip the boat. When we got back to the apartment, Steph was laughing and said something about how I didn't speak the whole time. Well, no, I was concentrating on not killing us. After we sailed for about an hour, we went and grabbed a drink at this great little place and sat on a pier with our feet in the water and just relaxed. It was great! While we were sitting on the bench eating lunch in front of this beautiful church Steph just said, so, we live here now....

and, I couldn't be happier!

Teacher Union

2009-08-19T17:16:00.005+04:00

So, now that I'm finally at a school that I probably won't need a union, I have one. Last year, when I desperately needed one, nope, nothing... The committee members offered to take out all the new staff memberst today. Did I mention it lasted about an hour and a half and it was at the closest heurigen and they bought us lunch and drinks? How are we expected to work after a few glasses of wine/beer/etc.? And, to make it even more interesting, I have a "coaches meeting" at the same place in about 15 minutes. How is it possible that during the work day I'm going to exceed my general 2 drink daily limit... what I'd like to do is go to sleep, in fact I'm a bit worried that might be exactly what happens at the table... or on the bus. Ha!

Sometimes you just have to give up...

2009-08-16T16:50:00.002+04:00

I'm currently supposed to be at an all staff start of the year potluck, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I just couldn't get there... Well, actually it's entirely my fault, I left the house without a map, the phone number to the place I was going, and just got ridiculously hot wandering around looking for the bus stop and after about 40 minutes of that, I just decided that even if I eventually found the bus stop and made it to the thing, I'd be in such a bad mood I would be no fun. Not the best first impression for all the new people I have to meet. But, I suppose not showing up isn't any better. Whatever, now I'm back home and can have some time to get things done. I'm feeling a bit anti-social anyways. I'm really tired of all the planned get togethers and getting to know new people and introducing yourself and where you're from and how did I like Dubai, and did you have to cover up, did you learn Arabic, and on and on. Oh, and I'm not any better, I feel like I'm practically interrogating people when I ask them about their lives too... Ugh. Part of me just wants to fast forward 3 or 4 weeks.

Work has been amazing. Every day I keep waiting for someone to yell at me, or make me feel bad about something, give me some completely random task, or just say or do something designed to intimidate me, but so far nothing even remotely close to that has happened. Instead, everyone has been great. I feel like this job is going to be a ton of work and lots of outside school hours, but I feel like I'm ready to actually work as a counselor again. I decided to coach soccer, which I've never done before, but should be fun. Between soccer, the fall trip, October break and this assessment conference I have to attend, it seems like my life is pretty much planned out through mid-November, then it's Thanksgiving, my mom's here for a little over two weeks and then Christmas Break. I have a feeling time is just going to fly by! I'm really excited to have seasons again and I can't wait for the Christmas markets, I remember really enjoying them when I went in Germany.

Still no luck with the apartment search. I am staying with my friend Steph who also moved here from Dubai. I love where she lives, both the apartment and the location, so now I think my standards are a bit too high. I want exactly this... I've figured out a few things, there is no way I can live in a studio apartment and it has to be bigger than 50 square meters, I would actually prefer at least 60. Location is really important too. I have been looking on this website, it's all in German, so I have to go through, do the search, figure out where it is on this map and then look at the pictures and if I like it, copy and paste the information into Babelfish and then figure out what it says. It takes about 10 minutes to look at one apartment. It's such a process, and it's just annoying and expensive. They have all these first and last month rent, deposit, realtor fees and a zillion other things, so in the end I somehow need to have close to 6000 Euros to get into some of these apartments. That is ridiculous! I'm trying not to get too stressed about it, but I know I'll feel better if I could just find a place.

Each week I am slowly adding in different things that I need to be doing in hopes that I don't completely overwhelm myself. Two weeks ago I started with work, then added in the gym last week and now this week I'm adding in my German CD's/lessons at home. I wanted to take a class, but I think I'll have to wait until I figure out what my schedule is with soccer and everything else. It's hilarious when we try to speak German, people look at us like we're crazy and they have no idea what we are saying. We just keep trying, sitting there with our little German phrasebooks... it's actually pretty hilarious. I keep thinking I'll have to eventually pick it up!

Dubai vs. Vienna

2009-08-07T00:25:00.002+04:00

Well, not that they are competing, but there are definitely some differences that are hilarious. First of all, I joined a Wellness Lifestyle Center, or something like that, which is code for "I pay too much for the gym." and while we were on the tour we looked into the sauna and saw a completely naked guy. Uh, no thanks! Then, after I went to spinning we decided to shower at the gym and everyone was just running around naked and sitting on the furniture and I was freaking out and trying to just stare straight ahead with complete tunnel vision. While, in Dubai there was a sign that said "Nudity is not permitted". I think I was a bit more comfortable in that setting! Earlier in the week we were out to dinner at this really cute Italian brick oven pizza place that is right down the street and instead of it being unlicensed, there was a family having dinner with a bottle of whiskey on the table, the mom and dad were drinking that while the teenage son was drinking HUGE beers. Oh, did I mention the waiter and the guy making the pizzas were also drinking tall glasses of whiskey on ice that were big enough to look like ice tea. Prost! I'm not sure if it would be considered a point for or against Vienna... but I have MASSIVE blisters covering my heels because I think I've walked somewhere around a million miles in the last couple of weeks, it is unreal!

Work started today, should be interesting! Tomorrow we have a city tour and dinner at the Rathous, I also am going to look at another apartment. I have had zero luck so far, but just got an e-mail from one of the places that I looked at that says the mom, who is making the final decision, wants to talk to me. I'm not sure there's a better renter than me, one person, female, non-smoker, no pets... Ugh. I hope I get it.

Dubai? Vienna? Hood River?

2009-08-03T17:03:00.002+04:00

Where do I want to be? That is the question. Driving into Hood River this summer, I wanted to move back home, walking around the cobblestone streets and seeing the beautiful old buildings make me excited about living in Vienna, then sitting in Lime Tree drinking a latte, eating carrot cake and spending the weekend with Andrew makes Dubai seem like the only place I want to live. So, where does that leave me? Well, not too hard to figure out I guess, my job is in Vienna, so I guess that´s what wins for now...

I just flew back to Vienna from a long weekend in Dubai. I was so happy to see Andrew, we didn´t do much. We went and saw The Hangover and I don´t think I stopped laughing for more than 5 minutes through the whole movie and I think we spent the next three days talking about it. Hilarious. It was so ugly, there was some sort of dust storm somewhere and the air was just hazy and sandy and well, just awful. Every time I would get close to the front door and ready to walk out I found myself taking a deep breath and preparing myself for both the heat and the humidity. Blah. I definitely don´t miss that part of Dubai at all! So, I sold my car to Andrew and the whole thing is just falling apart, since he´s bought it he´s had to put in a new fuel pump, it currently needs to go in because it just shuts off while the car is driving (apparently the brakes don´t work that well when that happens) and then when we got in the car yesterday and he went to change gears, the gear shift thing just completely fell apart in his hand. Nice. I don´t feel terrible about that at all. Really, the car was perfect when I had it... must be something he´s doing. Ha!

Vienna...

2009-07-27T13:58:00.003+04:00

So, I finally made it! Ok, the last few days at home... rafting was amazing, Teri was the BEST river guide ever. Our meals were delicious, everything was premade and ready, we had wine, coffee delicious food, perfect weather and it was great quality time with my HR people from way back when I first moved there... can´t wait to do it again next summer! We did some wine tasting and one last dinner at 6th Street. PERFECT! I just had a little bit of time in Portland, I ran a zillion errands, saw some friends and got on a plane.

Vienna has been better than I expected. It is exactly what I had in mind when I thought about international teaching. I have walked a million miles, gone to cafe's, farmers markets, museums, beer gardens, rode on the famous ferris wheel, walked through an amusement park, eaten pork and drank spritzers. I also met another one of the new teachers, so that's been really nice to have someone to do these things with!

My second day here I toured all over the city looking for a place to live. I walked into one apartment and realized that I know where I want to live, 1st district, but how can I ever afford it! And, the commute to work might be LONG. Who knows... I'm currently staying at a friend's house while I look for a place to live. I'm so thankful! I'm not sure exactly what I would be doing if it wasn't for her! She arrives on Wednesday, it'll be so much more fun when she gets here! I'm leaving for Dubai the same day though, I guess that will give her a chance to settle in a bit. I can't believe work starts August 6th! That seems way too soon. Especially when I have no place to live. Oh well, I'm sure it will work out!

Sad. Happy. Excited. Blah.

2009-07-18T06:33:00.002+04:00

This summer is just a crazy roller coaster. I'm so excited to get out to HR right now so we can get ready for our rafting trip and I'm sad that the rafting trip is here because it means the end of my time home is here too. I hardly slept at all last night, I'm pretty sure it's because I'm getting all anxious about leaving, or maybe it was the free Grey's Anatomy episodes. Whenever I know it's almost time to go, I just want to leave and not have that waiting around time. Not that it would matter one way or another, because no matter how long I have, it'd always be those last few days that I go a little crazy. Same thing with car rides too, it's those last 20 minutes that always drive me crazy.

Final countdown...

2009-07-17T01:00:00.002+04:00

Had a great time down at the beach, yesterday was a big goodbye day. No fun! I left the beach in the morning and had to say goodbye to my sister and her family, went out to lunch with the Lam's, (aka nanny family) and saw them for the last time and then went out to sushi and a few drinks to say goodbye to Portland friends. Blah. There are so many parts of living abroad I love, then I get back here and want to be here too. Well, not exactly want to be here to stay, but I miss people!

My mom and I just had to drive all the way down to Salem to get my police report and birth certificate apositled. Do you know what the means? Me neither, but it sure is an annoying, complicated process. Tonight is my goodbye to family evening. Tomorrow I leave for rafting, it is supposed to be hot and I'm sure we'll have a great time! And, I'll get to go to HR one last time... I love it there!

Less than 10 days left!

2009-07-13T08:46:00.002+04:00

Time has been flying by! Quick run down, I was in Portland for a few days, caught up with some friends, had a birthday celebration that included watching some friends have a karaoke kind of night, family wedding, my Dad got VERY sick, and of course is fine now, went to the beach for Gavin's birthday and 4th of July, back to PDX for a few days, then out to HR, wine tasting yesterday and now in PDX for the night and then back to the beach for a few days, then a rafting trip, then off to Vienna on the 21st.... Relaxing, right?

Ahhh! It has been so busy, fun but hectic. Let's see, some highlights, I pulled into HR and realized I could move back to the states in one second if I knew I could find a job and live there again, Pacific Way Cafe and Bakery in Gearhart really is the best place ever. Seeing my neice and nephews is SO fun and even though I am slightly bias, they are possibly the cutest kids in the world! I am loving all the fresh fruit and wine. Somehow wine tasting during the day turned into me wearing a toilet paper veil and pretending it was my bachelorette party, and me climbing on high roadside signs, who is this person I've turned into? Ha!

And... sadly I DO NOT have time to see and talk to everyone that I want to see. It's so sad and time just goes by too fast!

HOME!

2009-06-27T00:01:00.002+04:00

It's been a really busy week! My last day in Dubai was spent rushing around and then doing a bunch of last minute packing and cleaning. We did manage to go out for dinner and relax a little before I caught my 3:00am flight to SFO, stopping in Beijing along the way. I managed to sleep almost the entire way, I woke up long enough to get some smoggy pictures of the Beijing airport and worry that they would quarantine me because of the swine flu, I don't have it, but I was sure I had a high temperature because fortunately the chronic bronchitis is back.

I landed in SF and Erin picked me up, we had the perfect CA day, we went out to lunch, did a little shopping, played with the kids in the backyard and had a great BBQ when Ricardo got home. Of course we had some wine too. It was the PERFECT first day back. The next day was nice too, I went for an awesome run, walked into town for some coffee, had some time to walk around and talk and then I went back to the airport to meet up with some college friends to fly down to San Diego for Jen's bachelorette party. It was amazing! There was about 15 of us, we stayed at the Hard Rock in the Gas lamp district, went out for great meals, fun outdoor night clubish places, laid by the pool, went to this pool party called Intervention, where I was called a "prude" by one of the guys we met because I was sitting there reading my book, he clearly didn't understand how important the Vampire books are... It was so nice to be able to drink good wine, be outside, not be dressed up and hanging out in 5 star hotels. The pool was actually perfect too because it has been so hot in Dubai that we haven't been able to do much outside. It was funny though, I thought I wasn't doing too bad with jet lag and staying awake and all that, but then on Monday, when we were laying by the pool, all of a sudden I sort of just woke up and realized where I was and finally felt normal...

I flew up to Portland and my mom picked me up, I finally got my luggage that had been lost the whole 5 days, when I arrived that night. I was lucky I had packed a pretty random assortment of clothes that somehow managed to last me through the weekend. I did actually have to buy a new swimsuit, but I needed one anyways. Mom and I went out for mexican food and the next morning Katie picked me up and she drove me up to my sister's house. We arrived around 2:00 and I was SO happy to see them! We have had such a great couple of days, running has been awesome, the kids have been so fun to be around and seeing Eric and Kristin has been great! We went to a farmers market and an outdoor concert at the apple orchard last night, it was perfect! My friend Shane came over bearing NW wine, so I was thrilled to sit around drinking that! It was cute, well, probably a bad choice of words, but Ella and Gavin were so excited about having someone here, they just kept running down the stairs, claiming they were having bad dreams, on and on, but they were so cute I could hardly contain myself. Part of me just wanted to let them stay up, but I didn't. When Kristin and Eric got home, they were still up though. Oops. Then Shane and I went out to some bar and got some bar food and drinks, it was exactly the type of place that doesn't exist in Dubai, so I loved it!

Now, I'm sitting here and waiting for my friends to pick me up and we are heading down to Portland for a birthday celebration and apparently there is some organic beerfest thing. How Portland. I'm hoping they'll be serving some wine too!

I love being home! But, I do miss my friends and life in Dubai too...

Last day!

2009-06-17T10:40:00.002+04:00

The last week has flown by! Last minute errands ended in hysterical crying, I'm not sure why it continues to surprise me how poorly organized some things are here and that everything will take about 10 times longer than I think it will and not end in the desired result. I sold my car and before we took it in to pass inspection and transfer the registration, the fuel pump conveniently broke. Of course, I just cried about that too. Let's see what else made me cry, I guess the list is probably too long to type in. Today I have to finish packing and then clean my apartment, then I think we'll go to dinner and have one more night in Dubai before I leave at 3:00am for my flight to SF. Last night I went to one of my favorite wine bars with a girlfriend of mine and it was ladies night, and hilarious. If any guy in Dubai is looking for trashy dressed British girls, I'm pretty sure they are all at Oeno on Tuesday nights. I exaggerate a little... we had so much fun though drinking awesome wine and eating delicious cheese, my two favorite things. I can't believe I'll be in the US of A in about 37 hours...

Is it really over?

2009-06-10T11:29:00.002+04:00

The last couple weeks have flown by... the highlights, parties were fun, goodbyes are awful, fractured a few ribs, cried a little, or a lot, whatever, packed some boxes, had a few days off work, drank some wine... figured some things out, didn't figure some other things out. Just another high/low life in Dubai kind of deal. I cannot believe I'm actually moving. I have both loved and hated this place, highlights would include the people I've met, places I've traveled, soccer team and running club and just living like I'm on vacation. Two years was too fast and too slow all at once. I'm happy that I came and sad to be leaving. I can't wait to have a new job. I definitely lost all motivation to work and hardly even recognize myself professionally. Fortunatley I get to start again in a couple months. Huh, I'll have to work again, interesting. I have one week left in Dubai, a spa day, soccer game, who knows what else. I didn't know it was possible to be so happy and so sad about the exact same thing. Life. Crazy.

It's about time...

2009-05-26T10:38:00.002+04:00

So, last night I just got so sad. Sad about leaving, sad about packing, sad about trying to figure it all out. But, this morning, I just sort of decided there's no time for that. Today I have, arranged for my transcripts to be sent to Vienna, sent off a copy of my teaching license, figured out most of my shipping stuff, or at least figured out what I need to do, I have boxes on the way and really just finally gotten it in my head that whether or not I want to move, it's happening 3 weeks from tomorrow. Crazy.

The last week or so has been really busy. We went to a rooftop bar on Sunday for Kim's birthday and a different one on Wednesday for Mark's birthday and a different one on Thursday for our Elementary School end of year party. It was a pretty busy week. The weekend was nice, we spent some time relaxing during the days, I went to Lime Tree and sat by the pool all day on Friday, Saturday just sort of lounged around and then drove around the Palm near Atlantis. Sunday was great too, a few of us met and had a spa/pool/lunch day. It was amazing and so relaxing. This week I'm heading to this all you can Sushi/Sake night, then a brunchish thing on Friday afternoon, then our "Sophomore Dinner" on Friday evening. It should be interesting if nothing else!

Now, it's back to work and sorting out life. Not that fun.

Just another day in paradise...

2009-05-17T14:48:00.005+04:00

Last week flew by, as usual. I can't remember what all I did, probably spent half the time thinking about all the things I "should" be doing. Like maybe packing, figuring out shipping, maybe buying plane tickets to get home, to Vienna, selling my car, all the other random things I have... maybe figuring out my banking crisis. I am seriously living my life in denial that I have 31 days to figure it all out. All of my things are going to end up in boxes and in some apartment with the hope that someone will ship it all to me once I get to Vienna... whatever. For some reason I can't be bothered to figure anything out about it. This weekend was fun, went out with some friends for happy hour and laughed while this British girl did a photo shoot, it wasn't a real photo shoot just her randomly posing while her friends took pictures, no we weren't at some cool bar, we were at this smoky, random pub like place filled with 40 year old British guys. Fun. Friday was a pretty lazy day until I went to this bachelorette party that I was worried about, but if you took a way a few games and things that totally made me freak out and get all weird and embarrassed, it was great. We were at these beach apartments that the school has, somehow I'd never seen them before and they are awesome, and then we were picked up by a hummer thing and then went to a few different places. It was fun, but completely embarrassing to be those girls, you've all seen them, dressed up, wearing random tiaras and coming out of a limoish thing, everyone is staring, blah, blah, blah. I did "forget" my princess tiara, and by princess I mean Disney characters... The bachelorette had to do random tasks and it was my job to get photos and now need to put together a scrapbook thing. We'll see how that goes. This week is a busy one, two birthdays, a work end of year happy hour and... then a three day weekend. YEAH! It's so annoying, work plans things and it's like I don't even want to go because I think it's so awful here and you never know if something weird will happen and I don't know, this place has made me crazy. I'm always just waiting for the next worst thing to happen. Yet, even when I'm waiting for it, it surprises me. 31 more days...

The art of relaxation...

2009-05-10T07:45:00.002+04:00

So, I've never been one to take naps, sleep in past 7:00, or spend more than one second doing nothing. Instead, I want to be doing something, or at least planning what I'm doing next. Apparently not anymore. And, I've skipped running club for the past two weeks. What is going on?

Time is moving way too fast, I've been busy doing everything and nothing all at once. Last weekend I had a little dorm life flashback, had some friends over for wine, went down to another friend's for more wine, came home, spent half the next day lounging around. I was planning on staying in that night, but somehow ended up drinking martinis at 1897, this smoky, overpriced bar at the mall that for some reason I really like and then going over to a different friend's dorm, I mean apartment, to have a few bottles of wine and some Arz. The next day I went to the mall to help someone find some black shoes, I think we went to 187 different stores and eventually found a pair, it was hard not to laugh, but I'm not sure he found it that funny. It's that thing that when you're looking for something specific, you can't find it, but when you're not looking for anything you somehow find everything you didn't even know you were looking for. The next week flew by, went to a friend's for dinner, I think we ate at 5:30, the early bird special, which I love, the teacher schedule is great! Another night I went to Old Town, which was really nice, we were in one of the apartments and it was just so Dubai, from one window you could see a view of the apartments, the lights, the fancy water fountain and all that, then if you turned and looked in the other direction there was this huge construction site and cranes and just two opposite worlds. I really like the area though. I think if I were staying I'd want to live there, or JBR, just because of the access to the beach, but anyways, we ended up staying up way too late and I had to drag myself to work the next day. A bunch of us did a Friday Brunch at this place Yalumba, and everything about it was great. They, Friday Brunches, are really the most random thing ever and you really can't explain them. We were greeted with a glass of champagne, served food, or you could go up to the buffet and there was anything you could ask for. Then somehow dancing at 3:45 seems like the best idea ever. By the end of the night I was drinking beer. That's not what I do, or well, I guess it is. I think we were home and asleep before 10. The other exciting news for the weekend was that I borrowed Stealing Home from a friend, I LOVE that movie! Yesterday I, once again, did nothing until maybe 3:00, well, I did manage to eat some breakfast watch part of an AFL game, I could even tell you a few of the rules..., went out to lunch, back to the mall for more shopping, then, just because I'm reliving college, I had to get a juice club like drink. Then I went to soccer, which just about killed me, I'm not sure what our coach was doing to us, our "warm up/conditioning" was exhausting.

Now, it's back to work. I am determined to have a good day at work. We'll see if it happens. This week is more of the same, dinner at a friend's, soccer game, then Charlie's Angel's shooting club night on Thursday and "Hen Party" on Friday. It really never ends.

Austria, well, my German is awesome. I'm just picking it up so quickly. Whatever, I think I am just refusing to even try because admitting to myself that I need to learn German is kind of an indication that I am soon going to be living in Austria, which honestly almost causes me to hyperventilate. But, as I learned years ago, if you do hyperventilate and pass out, your breathing does actually return to normal and you don't die. Unless of course you're driving a car or in some other dangerous place when you pass out...

Slow down? Speed up?

2009-04-27T14:55:00.002+04:00

My visit with Katie was amazing! I was so happy to be around someone who knows me so well, and loves me anyways... and brought me my favorite NW wine. We did tons of different Dubaish things, we did a few all you cans, the souks, I sent her out on a ladies night, desert safari and we went and stayed at this great beach resort in Fujairah. We ate at Lime Tree a few times, she went to the beach and she even convinced me to do Ski Dubai. It was so fun! And, I loved that she met my friends here and saw this place. I was cracking up when I got home from work yesterday, my apartment was filled with the top 10 things to buy in Dubai... there were spices, pashminas, perfume and not just in small quantities, I was wondering it she'd make it through customs. It's a bit crazy here, but I love it. I"ll post some pictures, or at least I'll try.

We won our soccer game this week, which was awesome. I'm so glad most of the team showed up and we all worked hard, and look at that, we had a win...

It's getting so close to the end of my Dubai life, and I really like my Dubai life. I'm hoping the Vienna life is just as good, maybe even better? Who knows... I do know that I am completely unable to commit to a ticket home at this point, I wonder if that's because I don't know if I'll ever come back. Who knew that would make me sad? Weird. Basically, as per usual, I want what I can't have, time to slow down so I can enjoy my last bit of time here and then I want it to speed up so I can start my new job.

Dubai, Dubai, Dubai...

2009-04-16T09:58:00.006+04:00

Syma's birthday dinner at Barasti... where else?

Well, being back in Dubai after a break is always a little bittersweet. It's nice to be home and sleep in your bed and see your friends, but then, there's that whole work thing. BLAH. Every day I think, ok, today is totally going to be better. Then I get here and one more completely insane thing happens and I think, I'm shocked, and then I'm annoyed that I'm shocked. Ok, done with the complaining for now.

It's actually been really nice to be back. The first day I ran some errands, cleaned, grocery shopped, cooked food for the week, drank a couple of bottles of wine with a girlfriend and then had some Arz, I mean, what more can I ask for? The next day was a typical Dubai day. Heather and I tried to go to the Syrian Consulate to figure out how to get a tourist visa, of course many of the consulates were open, but... the Syrian one was closed. Typical.

Then I met Mark at Lime Tree, Heather eventually joined us, and we sat around drinking coffee and talking for hours. Later that evening I went to Syma's birthday dinner at Barasti. I loved that I could sit outside in a strapless dress and flip flops and not be freezing, well, not till the end of the night at least!

The work week was short, only 4 days, but still seemed to drag on and on. Soccer was pretty awful too. We lost, which is never fun, but something about it was off. I think next week will be better. I also did something weird to my foot. I ran about15kms last night and it was fine during the run, but about an hour later, it hurt to put any weight on it. This morning it's hurting a ton. I thought about going in to get it looked at, but decided I don't want to because they might tell me something I don't want to know.

Katie flew in last night, which I am totally excited about! Judging by the amount of luggage she brought, I think she might actually be moving here. I shouldn't complain though, because in that luggage is magazines, cliff bars and most importantly, she smuggled in one of my favorite NW wines, Syncline, Subduction Red. YEAH! I'm so excited for her to see this place and meet the people I'm always talking about. I'm so excited it's almost the weekend! 4 and a half more hours...

Family Vacation...

2009-04-13T14:53:00.002+04:00

Pictures soon... it's not working. Surprising!

Last summer I mentioned to my brother that I was planning on going to the Philippines in April, he decided he wanted to come too. While we were in Whistler, my sister overheard us talking and asked if she could come along too... To put it simply, it was the trip of a lifetime.

I wasn't sure what to expect and up until the week before when Kristin organized, well, pretty much everything, I hadn't done anything more than buy my plane ticket. Nina, Michael's girlfriend, also decided to come. We all arrived separately in Manila on April 2, 3 and 4th. We had a pretty busy trip... we spent some time touring Manila, hired two drivers to take us to where my dad was born and the rice terraces and finally to a beach resort on Busuanga Island.

Georgie Porgie took us on a tour in Manila and was just cracking me up, he was an interesting guy to say the least. We went to a couple of different parks, saw some churches, went into some museum like places and he serenaded us while playing the piano. He would often pull out some random props and I was even a rice princess for a while. Good times!

Nina arrived that night and once again, I found myself enjoying dinner at a mall, even in Manila. Dinner was great, we ordered way too much traditional food and relaxed and talked. It felt so good to see my brother, Nina and my sister! And, pretty surreal, I mean, here we were, just sitting in the Philippines, eating dinner and planning out how we were going to get up to Binalonan, where my dad was born. Normal, right?

We ended up hiring a driver and set off the next day at 6:00am. In the original plan we were going to go to the rice fields on the first day, then stay the night in Bagio and then head to Binalonan the next day. Long story short, we spent a zillion hours in the car, somehow got turned around and ended up going to Binalonan first. It took a few tries, but we eventually found the church my dad was baptized in and we walked around, took some pictures and then Kristin just started talking to people around there and next thing you know we were driving all over, the drivers were hopping out of the car, showing the baptism certificate and a recent picture of my Grandma to people and after a few trips of back and forth and up and down the streets, we found ourselves at the house where our Great Aunt lived. It was amazing! They even had some pictures of my Grandma, one from when she was very young, and then another one from when she visited in 1976. I could hardly believe it! We sent our driver and my brother to go and pick up Tita, another relative and she came and talked with us and showed us around the house and the Mango trees out back. We drank some soda and ate some crackers. It was just amazing, I couldn't believe that we had actually found our family! Kristin was pretty convinced we were going to find them the whole time, but I really didn't think we would. While we were at the house and sitting around, you could almost picture my Grandma being there and also why she has her house organized the way it is at home, and the dishes she has are so similar to the ones we were using, it was just crazy.

After a while we decided it was time to go and we headed off to Bagio. Of course the roads were windy and tons of stop and go traffic and all different modes of transportation, lots of the roads were blocked off, and it just took forever to get anywhere. Eventually we arrived in Bagio; after we checked in we walked around a bit and then hopped in a cab and found this pizza place to eat. The food was delicious. We walked out of the restaurant and the city was just crowded, seemed a bit dodgey and dark. I was reminded once again how unfair it is that boys are boys, I don't think my brother thought one time, huh, I wonder if I'll get whisked away... We made it back to the hotel and had another early start the next day to get to the rice terraces.

The road to Banaue was ridiculously windy and the driver was going a zillion miles an hour. Nina and I were both feeling pretty sick, Kristin was smart and had taken some medication, but the drive seemed like it was forever. We eventually made it and it was totally worth it, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. We took a zillion pictures and then got back in the car for the drive back to Manila. I think we were in the car for 20+ hours in two days and went only about 17 kilometers, or at least that's how it felt!

After what is probably considered typical travel delays, we made it to the the Coral Bay Resort we were staying at and it was amazing! Kristin did an awesome job finding all the places, booking the tickets, well, you know she is the oldest, it's like her role, right? We arrived in the evening for our first of many delicious buffet meals. Again, I moved out of the stated and now continually eat all I can eat. It's ridiculous. The buffet included lobster, fresh whole fish and other delicious things. The room was nice, there wasn't air conditioning and the bathroom flooded, which was annoying, but what can you do. Kristin saw a cockroach, but I never did. Lucky me! We got a second fan for the next couple nights, but I was still HOT and also getting eaten alive by these tiny little bugs. I couldn't stand the sight of my own legs by the time I got home. We spent the entire days outside laying on these lounge chairs, I was balancing on a windsurfing board for quite a while, we kayaked, snorkeled, it was AWESOME! I couldn't believe the color of the water or the coral reef. I thought about diving but just didn't have the energy. Next time... and, there will be a next time!

It took us a zillion years to get back to Manila, and really, by the time we were there I was just ready to get back to Dubai. We got to the hotel, I changed my flight to that night, I love Emirates by the way, and then Kristin and I had yet one more buffet dinner. We met my brother and Nina at the hotel bar where Kristin and I had the $10 Wine Buffet. Which was hilarious, they just hand you a glass and tell you a bit about the wines they have selected, I think there were 4 reds and 4 whites and then you can just help yourself. Dangerous! And actually, it ended up being almost necessary, when I got to the airport I was almost completely out of pesos and didn't have enough money to pay the departure fee, which was the equivalent of $12. The ATM's weren't working, right, both of them, and there was not an exchange place there that would take UAE dirhams. Very convenient. I literally walked around for 25 minutes begging people for money. I could not believe it, in the beginning I was telling people the whole situation and asking them for money and just basically talking to much. By the end, I was just walking up to strangers and saying, hi, can I have some money for the departure fee, I don't have any and my plane is leaving in 45 minutes. Pathetic.

The flight was fine, and to be honest, I was just happy I managed to get myself on the plane. I arrived home at 5:30ish in the morning and was home, went for a quick run, showered, finished unpacking, laundry and did my grocery shopping and food prep for the week by 10:00. It was a very busy morning. Then, a girlfriend of mine came over around 3:00 and we opened a few bottles of wine and just talked. I love living in vacation land...

Soccer Party...

2009-04-01T10:39:00.012+04:00

This is an old one that I forgot to post...

I'm likely going to drive myself insane trying to upload pictures and write today, the internet is not working, as usual. What I can't figure out, is why it is acceptable to anyone in this school that the internet never works and that they think it's just fine to lie about the reasons why it's not working. Or, write us some ridiculously long e-mail that is trying to make it sound so technical that we can't understand what the problem is. This place makes me crazy. It's really my own fault, I just can't seem to accept that nothing here (work or Dubai in general) really works the way it should work, it doesn't make sense and there will always be a more logical and obvious way of doing things than what is actually happening... I must be having one of those Dubai days. And, sadly, I think I'm going to miss this place. I can't figure out if I want things to just hurry up or slow down. Indecisive, how unlike me...

But... back to the important stuff. I haven't posted any pictures in forever, I keep meaning to, but like I said, the internet is just not cooperating. Here's a bunch from the soccer party. In our defense, we were up running a race really early that morning, and the wine was so reasonable priced who could resist? And, what I love about the party in general is that it was an all league soccer party, but we went ahead and sat in our little towel hut cabana thing completely across from everyone else, and I'm pretty sure I did not speak to one person that wasn't on our team. This time we did manage to do something away from Barasti... I went ahead and left out the photos from the little market and the champagne when I got home... ridiculous.

Look, my eyes are still open...

And this is how the night ended... sort of... some went to Burger King, some went to another bar... no more photos...

Trying to slow down...

2009-03-28T12:22:00.002+04:00

It's been a really busy month!

My mom came for about 10 days, we had a great time! I loved coming home and having her there. We kept pretty busy, we went to the beach, Abu Dhabi to see the mosque and Emirates Palace for lunch, Musandam dhow cruise, dinner cruise on the creek, tea at the Ritz, the weekend in Dibba, I really can't remember what else, but it was fun! I was so sad that she had to leave.

Soccer has been fun, we moved to a different division, which is better because it's harder, but we don't win all the time, and I like winning, well actually, I just hate losing. Some of the girls on the team have started coming to running club, which makes it more fun and we ran a 10k at Barasti yesterday morning. I've pretty much given up on my goal to do a pull up, I think it might actually be impossible unless I manage to lose about 65 pounds, which just doesn't seem reasonable.

This weekend is exhausting, I had a wine and cheese thing on Thursday, race on Friday morning, soccer thing last night and then heading to Abu Dhabi for the Coldplay concert in a few hours. I almost want to just stay home and catch up on some sleep and get ready for the week, but I'm sure that's not what's going to happen, I think there are 25 of us heading down in a school bus, should be interesting. I hope it doesn't rain. It was POURING at our soccer pool party last night, we ended up sitting in the towel hut thing most of the night. We took some pictures and we all look just great...

Work is still awful, I keep counting down the days until it's over, but don't want it to be over all at once. Makes no sense, but when does anything ever make sense. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do about housing in Vienna, one second I'm convinced I should fly there just to check things out, the next I want to just take one of the apartments they are suggesting for me, and then two minutes later I'm looking up all the different districts in Vienna and deciding that I will just get a one month rental and decide once I get there. Who knows.

Wednesday nights have turned into these hilarious "girls nights" which really just means a girlfriend and I pick a location and occasionally invite others to join us for wine, saltinis and long discussions about nothing. This week we went to three different places, the last one was like being in a normal bar at home, there was live music and normal people, no suits, no guys explaining to us how great they are, or how much money they make.

I was just on the phone forever talking to my sister trying to figure out our trip to the Philippines. For some reason I am having an impossible time trying to figure anything out, it's like I've never traveled before. We're leaving in less than a week and really have nothing planned yet. And, as usual, we can't seem to get in touch with my brother, I'm hoping we see him while we're there...

Work = BLAH, Dubai = Awesome

2009-02-28T16:28:00.002+04:00

So, I thought about walking into the superintendent's office and quitting this week. Then I realized my mom would be here in a week and I have tickets to the Philippines to meet my brother and sister, so it would be pretty inconvenient to no longer have a place to live here... Whatever, 3 months and 11 days to go. I think I'll make it.

Another great week, a few of us went to the James Blunt concert, which was awesome! It was a perfect night and seemed like such a normal thing to do. I'm now listening exclusively to his newer cd, I think I'm the only person I know that can listen to the same exact song or artist nonstop for days and not get tired of it. I'm sure it will end up driving my neighbors crazy...

The next day I took a personal day to go watch tennis, which I did and it was great! The morning started off a bit frustrating; when I reregistered my car the other day, I had to pay a speeding ticket that wasn't even really me, it was one of those photo tickets and it was a different license plate, but, you have to pay and then go to the traffic department headquarters in Deira to get reimbursed. Horrible place to drive, I ended up missing the exit and literally ended up in Sharjah, a different Emirate because there are no exits... I had planned on running that errand quick and then taking a taxi to tennis, but by the time I got back to Dubai, I just decided to drive to tennis and worry about getting my car home later. Like I said, I was pretty agitated by the time I got there and parking was a disaster, so I just drove up over a curb and parked, basically in a construction site and headed straight to a happy hour to wait for my friends to arrive. We had great seats; it was so much fun watching tennis and taking breaks to go grab some food or drinks and hang out for a bit.

The next morning I thought it would be a good idea to basically run clear across town to get my car. I didn't know exactly how to get there without going on Sheik Zayed, so I just ran for about 2 1/2 hours in the general direction and then hailed a taxi to take me the rest of the way. I was happy to see that my car was still there, it wouldn't have shocked me at all if it was gone. The rest of the day was relaxing. I had a hair appointment, organized my closet and went grocery shopping. Exciting. Although, the night did end with martinis, an argument with some random guy and a taxi home from the mall. I got up and ran with some girls from soccer this morning and spent the rest of the day cooking for the week and doing laundry... just another day in paradise.

Perfect weekend...

2009-02-22T15:06:00.003+04:00

Yet another great weekend! I had one main goal for the weekend, to lay at the beach and get a tan. Mission accomplished... This weekend was the RAK 1/2 marathon and I haven't been running that well lately, so I wasn't really looking forward to it, but a couple of girls from my soccer team and I headed out to RAK Thursday after work so we wouldn't have to get up at 4:30 or whatever, in order to get to the race on time. We arrived to the hotel and ate a buffet dinner and had a glass of wine, uh really? We got up the next morning, it was a great race, I was happy with my time, not my best, but better than the last one I did, so that was good. Some other girls from soccer and work also ran the race and then we all went to my running clubs brunch at this golf course, it was great! We sat around, talked, ate and just relaxed. We stopped at Barracuda (tax free alcohol... and you don't need a liquor license) on the way home and loaded up on wine. I had tickets to the Women's Tennis Semi-Finals that night, so a friend of mine and I went and watched Serena vs. Venus. Venus won, it was a great match, Venus eventually won the tie breaker at the end. We were sitting next to the world's most annoying kids, they were probably12 or 13 and I'm sure their parents were there, across the stadium, and happy to not be sitting with them. We met some more friends at Irish Village for a while and then headed home. Of course I stayed up late talking on the phone when I got home, but still managed to get up before 7:00 the next morning. I went over to the gym for day one of Operation Pull up. I don't even want to talk about how poorly that went! I then headed to the beach from 9:00 - 6:00, it was a gorgeous day! The only time I left was to grab a soy latte and a piece of delicious carrot cake. What a rough day! The whole day felt like a vacation, I ended the evening by inviting over some friends, a few bottles of wine and bags of popcorn later, I should have gone to sleep. Instead, I called one of my best friends from home and she asked me to be in her wedding. So, perfect ending to a perfect weekend. And, I did get that tan...

Wadi Bih Relay

2009-02-16T14:38:00.004+04:00

I started off the weekend with pink champagne and a staff Valentines Day party, next I ran the Wadi Bih Relay Race with nine friends from work and then camped another night with some other friends. What a fun weekend!

The relay was awesome! We were divided into teams of five and had two 4 x 4's and we headed off around 6:30 to start the 75km relay race. There were about 13 legs and each person had to run a minimum of 12 km's. I had never been to Wadi Bih before, it was gorgeous! We had camped on the beach the night before and it was ridiculously windy and my tent was just smashing up against me all night long. I hardly slept at all, annoying. The legs all varied in distance and incline, everyone did an amazing job!

After the race, we had a brunch at the Golden Tulip, a hotel that was right there. It was the strangest thing, we were all sitting around the table, talking, eating lunch, having fun and out of nowhere, all of a sudden, some people were all set to leave and they were going to move stuff around and ahhhh, it was crazy. I was in no way prepared to make a decision if I was staying or going that fast, fortunately neither was a friend of mine. We decided to sit, relax, finish our lunches and then decide if we would go home or meet our other friends to camp another night. Fortunately my friend Jess called out to me as I was walking out to make sure all my things were in the correct vehicle and asked what was going on, or she may have been left behind. Weird. Anyways, when I got back to the brunch, I grabbed a glass of wine and we sat on some lounge chairs to figure out what we wanted to do. We ended up deciding to camp another night. We met up with our friends who had come from Dubai that morning and done some 4 x 4 stuff, all in Jeeps, made me miss mine! We found a great camping spot and just had a perfect relaxing evening. It was a really great group of people and we hung out, talked, , drank some wine played games and ate smores... delicious!

I'm working on getting some pictures up, it really was gorgeous!

I am really going to miss weekends like this when I move to Vienna. It was really fun to talk with Steph that night, she'll be moving to Vienna too. I can't wait!

5 B's...

2009-02-08T18:47:00.002+04:00

So, last year around this time I started with the 3 B's, Beach, Barasti, Brunch. Well, apparently these days it's Barasti, Barasti, Brunch, Barasti and then Beach... The weather is still pretty cool, for Dubai standards anyways, but we did head out to the beach all afternoon on Saturday and it really made me sad to think about leaving Dubai. There won't be a lot of beach time in Vienna! I am super excited that a girlfriend of mine just accepted a position at a different school in Vienna. It will be SOOOO great to have someone else to figure out the city with. I was cracking up because before she had officially been offered or accepted the position we were discussing shipping options and other details, like cross country skiing, soccer teams, how we should probably think about learning German. Now it's a reality and I couldn't be happier! I want to hurry up and get to Vienna and at the same time I want to have lots of time here. It's nice to want things that you can't have...

Oman... Why has it taken me so long?

2009-02-03T09:32:00.010+04:00

A friend and I went camping last weekend, it was so great! I had a horrible week at work, I just cannot believe I still manage to feel bad about things. It's just so messed up here. Anyways, I decided to call in sick to work on Thursday, I've been feeling run down and just couldn't take another day. Of course, I ended up actually feeling sick and sleeping all the way till noon and almost decided not to go camping, but with a crazy weekend schedule for the next seven weeks, it seemed like the last chance to make it to Muscat before I moved to Vienna. Crazy. There are so many things I think I may not have time to do. We were supposed to leave right after work, so 4ish, but we were operating on Mark standard time, so I think we ended up getting on the road around 5:30. I didn't help things along that well either, we were just about to leave and he says, do you have your passport? Glad he thought of that. We had a few minor problems at the border, apparently you are just supposed to know that you stop at this random, tiny hut like building in order to get an exit stamp and then drive to the Oman border and cross over and stand in this line, then that one and on and on and on... long story short we ended up setting up our tents at around 3:00am. Since I am suddenly addicted to vampire books, I read till 4:00 or so and then fell asleep. The next morning we woke up and headed to Wadi Sham. With my excellent navigation skills, since I declared that I was an Omani road expert, we made it there without too many problems. We had a quick lunch of tuna sandwhiches and then set out on our hike in the Wadi Sham. The weather was perfect for a hike, warm in the sun, nice in the shade and still warm enough for a swim at the end. Well, I didn't swim, but more on that later.

This was the start of the hike

So, this is where Mark was able to swim to this awesome area, waterfall, through a little cavelike thing and all that. Oh, the benefits of being a male. I'm not sure how I haven't figured out that I have to have a one piece swimsuit and board shorts in order to feel comfortable, well, I guess somewhat comfortable, in the Middle East. Well, actually, that's not true, in Dubai anything is fine, but I should know that in Oman, in a public place, I need to dress conservatively. I guess that's how that goes.

Swimming area

My Omani friends

View of the gulf

Camping on the beach

The beach was perfect for camping, we just sat around, I read my Vampire book, watched that crazy electric blue thing that was happening with the waves, had a fire, drank some wine. Very relaxing. We got up the next morning, found our way to Muscat fairly easily, went to the palace area, walked through the souk and then had some lunch. Perfect.

Palace area in Muscat

We left Muscat and headed home. While some people would be annoyed about having to wait at the border, I was happy because it meant I could read more of my book. The drive home was much faster than the drive there. We're now pretty much experts and could get back there easily... Right.

This weekend should be fun, it's a friend's birthday and we're going to a brunch and then possibly some 4 x 4 activities in the desert on Saturday, or the park, beach something fun and outside. The next little bit is crazy busy. Camping and a relay race the weekend of the 13th, half marathon on the 20th in RAK, James Blunt concert and tennis match the next weekend, then my mom comes for the next two weekends... Busy! I'm hoping to get in Stairway to Heaven hike but it may be too hot by the time I have time...

Ready for something new...

2009-01-26T13:55:00.002+04:00

While it may seem like life is so exciting and there's tons going on... but all of a sudden I am bored. Not that this is new, but going to work is just mindless and boring and irritating, today I spent half the day organizing letters to send home that promotes a program that I don't even care about, yet it took up my time. BORING. I swear, this job is making my brain shrink. Everything else is the same, running, soccer, tutoring, cold days, I mean, not that it's not fun, just a ton of the same old thing. There are some fun things coming up, I'm trying to pull it together enough to go camping this weekend, but the warnings of flash flooding has me a bit worried. Then there's a birthday brunch, two races in a row, one actually looks really fun, it's this camping the night before then a relay run through a Wadi apparently it's straight up the first half and straight down the second, we'll see how that goes, and then a half marathon. I'm really hoping to go to the post office and pick up a package today. They called yesterday, which is weird, and said they had something for me. In the past, I've received a slip and then bring it in. I have that Dubai feeling that I'll get down there and it will be disastrous. I am really excited to get to a place, Vienna, where daily life is not such a challenge. It's funny, here, there's a leak in the ceiling, or your plumbing stops working, or the roads are flooded and you really can't give it a second thought, it's just the way it is. Annoying! Somehow, I still really like it here... thing is, I can't figure out how I'll ever be able to live at home again, if I'm feeling a bit bored here, I can't imagine how I would feel at home! I bought a few Lonely Planet books and have been reading all about Eastern Europe, which will be so great to visit! A friend of mine is interviewing for the same school I will be at next year, I would LOVE to know somebody there!

Marathon. Everest Base Camp. Marathon. DONE

2009-01-18T09:10:00.002+04:00

I think I may have just completed the most active seven weeks of my life. I ran the Lisbon Marathon, hiked to Everest Base camp and just ran the Dubai Marathon on Friday. I think I was in a daze most of last week, trying to recover from the freezing cold weather and freaking out about the marathon that was only days away. At different points during the Everest trek, I was actually talking to my legs and willing them to keep going. Now, I think they (my legs) are rebelling... they don't want to do anything. The marathon was awesome, I got my best time by nearly 20 minutes, and finished at 3:46. It was way better than what I was hoping for. On Thursday afternoon, I was sitting at work and decided I would look at those pace charts that probably most runners use and just write down where I should be at the 5km, 10km, all the way to the end if I wanted to finish in under 4:00 hours. I didn't really think it would do any good, but it was frustrating to me that I would train with people that could finish marathons under 4:00, but couldn't quite get there myself so I thought I'd try it. Well, needless to say, I probably should have tried that a while ago. The weather was perfect, I felt great and although my knee starting hurting at about 32km, the race felt relatively easy, I usually hit the point in the run where I start thinking about how it's still over an hour to the end, and I'm tired and why did I even sign up for this... that didn't happen this time. It was nice because it started in the dark, so I was pretty confused for the first half an hour or so, then it was an out and back course and by the time you are starting to get bored, you started to see people coming towards you, which is nice and then you're headed back to the start, so it all seemed, well, pretty ok. Some friends who ran a different race that day came and watched at the 28km and it was awesome to see them and then there were some people at the end too, all in all, great day! We went to Barasti for a tuna burger and bloody mary and a bit of sunshine. I loved it! The whole weekend was great. I didn't do much the rest of the day, ordered in drank some wine and then got up early the next day for a massage, sports day at the park and an awesome BBQ at a girfriend's house. I am loving Dubai these days! I have soccer practice tonight and I'm just not so sure my legs are up for it! Running for a bit yesterday was pretty hard, but I'm sure it'll be fine tonight... I'm also wondering if I'll ever get better, I have been sick for nearly four months. At this point I have to make sure I take small bites of food and swallow really fast or I can't breathe. That's convenient.