Oct 31, 2008

I need some new shoes

I tend to ponder and dream a lot, probably too much if you ask some. Most of the times when I am quiet I am thinking of useless facts and things. Some people see my quietness as cold and distant, b/c I do tend to be two sides of a coin at times. But that would be another post some day. Anyway, here is what I have been thinking about over the last couple days.

It is no secret that I like to travel and go. Plus I have been slightly aggravated that we couldn't travel anymore this year. It just isn't worth the risk of Nikki not being allowed back in the country, plus she needs to properly finish her term here. I came to grips with this fact awhile ago, but I needed something to put it over the top for me. So finally to the point of this post. I took a second to roughly figure up how many miles I will have traveled by the end of the year.

I will have traveled a little over 54,000 miles. Enough to circle the equator 2+ times.

OK, I can move on to my next quiet thinking moment.

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Oct 28, 2008

Sleet and Snow

Nothing like a wintery mix in October. Spain seems so far away right now.

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Oct 24, 2008

Birthday Fixins

We went out for dinner and a play on Wednesday, so last night I decide I would do a little relaxing by cooking.

3 different kinds of wings - Fried/Baked Asian Sweet and Spicy, Baked Caribbean, and a Fried/Baked Smokey Regular style. Made my own blue cheese dip to go with it. Delicious.

I taxed our 1 oven pan to the max, so I think we will have to bid it farewell. Wings are really cheap here. I bought about 40 wings, drumsticks and legs for under $3. No one seems to eat them here.

Anyway, all good.

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Oct 23, 2008

32

Made it through another year. Looks like they are starting to really fly by now. I have been thinking about what I wanted to post about my life over the last few weeks and I can't say I have any more structure than my normal ramblings.
On her birthday, Amanda talked about how blessed she has been. I think it is easy to get busy and forget to take a minute to reflect on the blessings of a year. So I am taking a cue from you little sis.
The year started off great with a surprise party last year from friends in Charlotte. I told Nikki last night I would give anything to see the people that sat around that table today. Most were from the office and this year has really reinforced how much those guys and gals have been my family over the last few years. Birthdays aren't the same unless we are making cards on Vinnies' napkins for people. At that time, we knew the fun was about to start with our anticipation of moving to London. Timing for a move was perfect in my personal life, b/c there wasn't a better person to experience all of this with than Nicole and I wouldn't or couldn't have made this far without her. We are truly 2 peas in a pod. Christmas last year was one of my favorites ever. Getting to see Amanda's kids grow up is a lot of fun and we can't wait to see them this year. A new tradition was started with x-mas with Nikki's family. I don't think I have ever felt as welcomed as I have with them. And this year we get to experience a new kitchen. Woohoo. The momentum picked up on the move shortly after x-mas. For some reason, I enjoyed the insanity of it all. So we set up temp shop here and then started our travels. There have been a lot of good memories created this year with our new adventures. Crufts Dog show, Dublin, Scotland, New England, the British Open, England day trips, Egypt, Portugal and more of Spain were all new to us and we had a blast. Throw in some return trips to Paris, New York, Greece and around London and it is amazing that we fit as much in to a year. The best part of these trips were the ones that we had friends and family on. Rachel, Amanda/Glenn, and Cary/Justin made our journeys oh so much sweeter and there is still time if anyone wants to return for some more fun. I also got to see or hear from some old friends and made a couple new ones, which was a pleasant surprise. Almost 75% of my last year has been spent abroad. Like I said I am glad I have Nikki here with me to help me through the struggles, but talking with the people back home has also made it easier. I know I live a privileged life and how hard I have worked to enjoy the trips, concerts, shows and just life in general. But on my day I do want to say thanks to all the people that surround me that truly enrich my life and make this road I am on oh some more much enjoyable.
As much as I like to reflect, I also love to dream (probably more if you ask Nikki). Moving back is approaching. We'll also get to see a historic appointment, if all goes right, in the next few months. The holidays, as I mentioned, will be wonderful. We have already laid out the groundwork for about 5 trips next year. Details are available for anyone that would want to come along. I want to spend more time with friends and family in my next year. It'll be fun to get back to sharing our sorted tales. Plus it will be nice to get back to some American work. So I don't see any let up in my next year, but it all looks exciting.
This year has been a great one, even with all the draining situations. But I can't wait to see the next couple chapters in my life, b/c they appear quite bright.
See you all soon and we'll have some good times when I do.
daron

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Oct 21, 2008

Sunday Menu

Sliced, Seared Duck Breast with a Cherry, Brandy Sauce
Lentils mixture with shallots, garlic, carrots, and celery
Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I think Nikki is hoping I stay unencumbered (bored) with work so that I continue my culinary experiments. I do quite a bit when I am busy with work also, but I get more ideas when my mind isn't trying to remember how many mils there are in 2 inches or some other similar noggin filler.

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Quote for the Week

"I told him he had a choice. I was either going to work or make the sandwiches (for my lunch), but I wasn't going to do both."

I love some of the things I hear. Hopefully I will remmber to post more.

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Oct 16, 2008

Nicole - Brighton

Nikki is off on a field trip today and it reminded me that I have neglected posting her last trip. She went down to Brighton on one of her first Saturday's in school with the Exchange Program class. She liked the area a bunch and made a couple friends, if I remember correctly their names are Ashley and Catt. It was a good day out for her and I am sure she enjoyed having a break from my nonsense.







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Weekend Soups

Yep I am bored. So this weekend I decided to see if I could cook 2 soups at once (or close to it) with my limited cookware. Here was the light menu:

Turkey, Shrimp and Greens Gumbo
Salmon, Corn and Potato Chowder

Soups are one of my things I love to do and the official taster loved them both. It appears that we are going to have a Southern Office Lunch courtesy of me in the near future. That should be entertaining, so stay tuned.

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Oct 13, 2008

Lemurs

Easily our favorite part of the zoo was a walk through ringed tail lemur exhibit. The pen holds 18 male lemurs that appear to not worry much about the people walking through. Lemurs have some of the best mannerisms of any animals, so this was a special treat for us. We could have sat in there with them for hours. Take a second a blow up the second to last picture. There are a couple things wrong with the picture. I knew the lemur would look like a kid cutting up in a picture, but I missed what the guy was doing. Such little characters and so much fun. Nikki and both imagined what Coop would think having one around the house. I have always imagined Cooper with a spider monkey riding on his back and aggravating him, but now it might have to be a lemur to lounge around with. Don't worry Coop(if you have learned to read while at Justin's) no lemurs are coming home with us. We had a great time and it was a perfect weekend to kick off some birthday celebrating (early) with a great girl.








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Whipsnade Zoological Park

If you know me for any time at all, you'll realize how much I love animals and how they tend to relax me. Part 1 of my birthday (hint, hint) gift from Nikki was a trip to the zoo slightly north of London. It is a little cumbersome getting there and back (bus, tube, train, cab, zoo, bus, bus, train, tube, bus), but it is well worth it and we had great weather.
The park was the first of its type in Europe and it sits on 600 acres overlooking a scenic valley, see the penguin pics for the view. The park itself reminded me of the one in Asheboro (which I want to take Dekan/Kaylie to next year Amanda), but this one was probably a little better. They had all your typical animals and most could be viewed with ease. Some were quite lazy and enjoying the sun. The cheetahs didn't cooperate much, shucks because they were beautiful. The park lets wallabies, small deer and maras run free (see pic of them with Nikki). They had tons of maras. The maras just hung out wherever they wanted. I think the zoo has taken pride with perserving different types of Rhinos in the past. They definitely had the most I had seen anywhere. Also they had quite a few babies of many types. Look at the closeup at the Rhino, I wish the baby would have stuck its head out a bit. The giraffe baby was a nervous type, only 6 weeks old. The first Rhino chased the small train we were on. And the elephant was just running from parent to parent. Yep relaxing and enjoyable.
All in all we had a great, stress free day out. I have one more post of a special exhibit they have at the zoo to post in a second.


















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Oct 11, 2008

Finally, Something to Cheer About!!!


Don't ask what happened to the colors here. Something is up with my upload of the image.

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Oct 8, 2008

Hey Grandpa, what's fer supper

So since I lost the thousands of pictures I was planning on posting, I need a new idea or to get out and take some more pictures. Traveling is one of the biggest things that relaxes me. Another is cooking. I can't say I am all that great at it, but I do love to get in the kitchen to experiment. Most of the time I combine recipes or mimic things that I see on TV. So from time to time I might share what I cooked recently with you.
I miss my cookware from home and my little buddy sitting there waiting for something to possibly hit the floor. But it is fun to get in there with my 2 pots and griddle and see what all I can still make here. Here is the menu from last night:
- Crushed almond coated trout fillets, slightly fried then baked.
- The trout was on a bed of onions, peppers, olives, capers, garlic, and a 4 herb butter/white wine sauce
- Diced carrots and zucchini grilled then simmered in a mint/basil red wine vinegar
- Thick sliced potatoes and boiled then fried (perfect)
- KFC style cole slaw
- and a bought Toffee Cheesecake
Yep, I am bragging on this dinner. It was one of the better ones and especially for about 40 minutes worth of work. I usually don't go that far with the amount of ingredients, but it was well worth it. Might not offer Nikki much, but I do have the cooking part handled. She is pretty good at it also. Until next time.

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Oct 6, 2008

So What's Up?

- I have been in a deadline push since we returned from our trip South. I thought I wrapped the majority of my part on the 2 prison competitions in the UK Wednesday, then Friday, and even received a call to help out on Sunday. But today it has been submitted to the Government and I am moving on to the next projects. I can't say I found working on a project here as rewarding as I did in the States. Maybe it is because I am missing the quality staff in Charlotte.
- Nikki started school last week, after an orientation week and such. I believe all of her class scheduling has settled down and she believes she is going to enjoy it all. But it is going to be a tough 3 months. Judging by the amount of books and papers in the Studio, I think she is well prepared for the term.
- Weather has already turned here. Low 40s when we woke this morning and we had a cold, windy, dreary rain yesterday. Chances are it will be that way until May. I guess people just get used to that expense in order to live in a quality city like London. I can't say I am use to it, but May to Sept might be ok here, if I had more of my belongings and few of the old friends here.
- Politics? It has been interesting to see how people here view our Presidential Election versus views from home. I am trying to find a good quote about how Palin is viewed here from a paper yesterday, but I am struggling. Quite funny, and not all that flattering. We have been watching the debates and been able to keep up with it all enough from here. At least Tina Fey has the opportunity to say what I hope everyone is thinking. Hopefully there will be some good news come November. Our votes are already in.
- Sports? I am still smiling about the Cubs and it looks like my NFL team might be starting to heat up (after another win or so, I might start saying their name again) along with a good start from my adopted team, Carolina. Maybe I will have some more sports to occupy the rest of our time here. MSU? well, not much to say there this year, but they can still cause a little havoc with some teams if they can sustain an offense.

Besides all of that, I am just counting the days. December 20th, we will be in Charlotte. Can't wait to see all our family and friends over the Holidays.

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Oct 5, 2008

Ding Dong the Cubs are Gone!!!

What a Destiny of Failure. The second best feeling in baseball is when the Cubs trip up (again) when it is suppose to be "their year". How many times have people heard this in the 100 years since they won a World Series? I called them the Yankees of the Midwest this year, because they are trying to buy a title by spending $20 - 40 mil more than teams they compete with in their own division. I guess that just buys you some more booing fans. Swept out of the playoffs 2 years in a row. Pitiful. At least the Cubs fans have somewhere close they can go see 10 titles won since they last were able to touch a trophy. Heck, they probably didn't even have a trophy back then. See you next year chumps.



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