tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42078043132948564272024-02-20T20:15:36.867-08:00marthateresajust a girl. blogging about her husband, dog, and adventures in the way too far north.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.comBlogger312125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-44072030808532564212015-08-14T17:53:00.004-07:002015-08-14T17:53:49.370-07:00the one about the girl, and the wedding, and the dress, and the love.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-d_UapU7eak83CKSpAgu2Y1-PWpH9chUgfEHVtDLljQZ8NLlQs3zlKuiYzNi-3r0M1yFmObNogK_9frB5ZcN-iGoF6x-7hbyVcnDAH00WriCMZ_6mNPikJXZfYvMPyFKODVXS5DBjGPE/s1600/IMG_1150-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-d_UapU7eak83CKSpAgu2Y1-PWpH9chUgfEHVtDLljQZ8NLlQs3zlKuiYzNi-3r0M1yFmObNogK_9frB5ZcN-iGoF6x-7hbyVcnDAH00WriCMZ_6mNPikJXZfYvMPyFKODVXS5DBjGPE/s320/IMG_1150-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo creds: Nigel Fubara</td></tr>
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i went to NOLA to my girl's wedding.<br />
it was better than your wedding.<br />
it was better than my wedding.<br />
it was better than everyone's wedding put together.<br />
the end.<br />
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i admit i've gotten a little cagey about spilling my life out here in the open. it's because i'm savoring each moment too much and i don't want to give any of it away. i don't want to share. so the following isn't a share, it s a public service announcement that no one should bother getting married ever again because my girl just crushed your wedding.<br />
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here's why:<br />
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1. Take 25 years worth of devoted friendships, <br />2. Add two huge, loving, laughing families<br />
3. Stir in horse drawn carriages, fireworks, jazz bands, dancing, and delicious food<br />
...annnnd, you still only managed to cover Friday.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtY62EHO1-mOfdrxSOxDqm0d2zZze4zgE1VpueE60aLNoJF9IwjISOKHMpqKrigRDHO2GEdaVmRNDBl5HpwxRNGAlZHYrjG86FXnjDRDh8XVP6tQskYYD0zs1synXTIcSnpMQ-YvXc9M/s1600/IMG_0973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtY62EHO1-mOfdrxSOxDqm0d2zZze4zgE1VpueE60aLNoJF9IwjISOKHMpqKrigRDHO2GEdaVmRNDBl5HpwxRNGAlZHYrjG86FXnjDRDh8XVP6tQskYYD0zs1synXTIcSnpMQ-YvXc9M/s320/IMG_0973.jpg" width="201" /></a>i believe the mark of a person's character is who they draw to them, who becomes loyal to them, and the amount of love and devotion with which they cultivate those relationships. when you find those magnetic, truly loyal people, you can't help but fall in love with them as individuals and as a couple when they finally get around to getting married.<br />
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the wedding was so spectacularly beautiful because each of them possesses such a radiant soul that they draw the most wonderful people around them--people who embraced each other from the get go like lifelong friends even if it had been 3.5 minutes. people who laugh loud and celebrate each moment.<br />
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such joy. seriously such joy surrounded these two.<br />
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and then you add NOLA into the mix, with its heady feel of jazz, history, mystique and strength, warmth, humidity, and architecture. its cemeteries call to you, its balconies beckon and its beat carries you until you are sure that the city has claimed your very being and won't give it up.<br />
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anyways, her wedding killed all other weddings. everyone else's weddings were already crying their final tears in a corner gasping for air when she put on that red Vera Wang and buried them all with no remorse.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-45987274826341131302015-07-28T13:52:00.001-07:002015-07-28T13:52:22.824-07:00palabras.and when we moved past the fear, expectations, and insecurity<br />
i saw your heart open, your eyes unguarded<br />
felt the rush of loyalty, love, trust and faith.<br />
i knew that a little of you would never be enough<br />
to fill the portion of my life you claimed.<br />
because when all this fades,<br />
when the tangible no longer matters,<br />
when the hereafter comes,<br />
my only demand from you is this:<br />
that your soul knows mine.<br />
<br />marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-82477960806390458122015-04-22T18:14:00.001-07:002015-04-22T18:14:41.522-07:00a confession.i used to write prolifically. here, in the poetry journal, in my head in the car, in the shower--no matter. there was this constant stream of inner dialogue that seemed to have its own built in subwoofer--loud and heavy. the beat of the words drove the way i structured my days, the way i thought about people and places.<br />
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then, a while back, i got a little lost, a little tempest in a tea-pot-ee and more than a little out of sorts with myself and generally with everyone who loved me and who i loved. and either out of spite or out of fear of what that inner thumping would say, i stopped writing. the reality is that i had this epic and glorious picture in my head of what 35 would look like. it involved big cities, jet setting to pristine beaches, warm open air cafes, the swirl of foreign tongues, and additional pages in my passport filled with work visas and travel adventures. <br />
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while i have some of that still, i begrudged the rest of it. so much so that i left my precious words alone for four whole years. enter my own personal denial of all things.<br />
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until a while back, when someone jarred me loose out off my high horse. when i metaphorically picked myself up again, i got a little indignant, then repentant, then humble, because here's the thing: i travel a lot. i get to sit with my best friends on pristine beaches. i spent a week this past fall posted up on a cafe porch in latin america, falling in love again with spanish. i make deliberate, real, quality time for the people i love without hesitation or concern. this weekend, i will be in san francisco smothering my girl's baby with kisses. end of next month in portland at my goddaughter's christening. my passport--it's full of stamps and visas. so what the fuck have i been i so out of sorts about? <br />
<br />
and now four years later i finally understand. this feeling, this emptiness, this dull constant ache in the back of my chest, i suspect it's homesickness. unfortunately, i am not quite sure WHERE home is (if that needs clarifying you probably shouldn't be reading my blog) so much as I know WHO home is and it is missing you that makes being so far away up here hard.<br />
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home isn't a single person to me. it never has been and as much as i love my husband, that is not what i ask of him. home is the feeling of my soul reconnecting with those who see me for who i am without condition or expectation of anything other than truth. home is the purity of those moments, the purity of my love for those people. and home with them happens regardless of physical location, temperature or language.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-8736024048979483452015-01-05T17:01:00.001-08:002015-01-05T17:01:16.639-08:00on resolving no more resolutions<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFJ9R9CmND2m0BD8wsE2cl0mpJfS_A1CHiW5KHdYAtWi5nwZ6QuGM1497SYioKILzHRaey5nC1hY4FgujJ5ogN7ozjix4Datj2c8q6UY_D8WQr2KpeP0dOclb9PzQGPf_BPr_1DnWNq8/s1600/IMG-20150105-WA0000.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFJ9R9CmND2m0BD8wsE2cl0mpJfS_A1CHiW5KHdYAtWi5nwZ6QuGM1497SYioKILzHRaey5nC1hY4FgujJ5ogN7ozjix4Datj2c8q6UY_D8WQr2KpeP0dOclb9PzQGPf_BPr_1DnWNq8/s1600/IMG-20150105-WA0000.jpeg" height="400" width="225" /></a>For Christmas we got a new thermostat, you know, one of the ones that has the receiver you place outside and then you can see what the temperature is from the climate controlled enclave of your kitchen. <br /><br />every time i look at the little screen i feel this nostalgia for places i have traveled and lived where instead of looking at a screen i walked onto a veranda, breathed in the air with my whole being, opened my arms wide and felt the weather the way some people say a morning prayer. <br /><br />at any rate, i looked at the screen today and it said 3F and i felt myself deflate. it's no secret my soul lies in warmer climes. i made this new years resolution to be more positive about being in a cold climate (and go to the gym, but let's not kid ourselves about that one). yes, i hear you tropical peanut gallery, quit your snickering and buy me a plane ticket already. <br /><br />snark and sarcasm aside, clearly the weather gods were attempting to make the resolution work because the drive from the house to work was beautiful--a rainbow sky in pastels against the crystalline white of the horfrost covering each tree branch and leaf. from work the fog was rolling back across the ice filled inlet. it was so peaceful, so gentle and serene. <br /><br />so not like the last three hours when the fog came back and it is has been gloomy and doomy outside. <br /><br />i can see no other lesson from this dreary turn of events than that making resolutions is as futile as my use of the word "never" (which invariably comes back to haunt me).</div>
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marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-5331909080452767592014-10-27T11:41:00.002-07:002014-10-27T11:41:54.289-07:00flashes of red and greennope. not christmas, yet.<br />
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first, some background: i am a lucid dreamer and have been since i was a child. i'm sure there's plenty of psychoanalysis to be had there, but not today. 9 out of 10 times i know i am dreaming and make more-or-less aware choices that change the course of my dreams. almost never do i awake from a dream not knowing what is real. i'm sure that would terrify me.<br />
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this weekend i dreamt of a tornado. i was living with vin diesel and paul walker in the third story of an uber modern condo dwelling all wood, concrete and glass on the edge of a small city, nestled in a cloud forest. our days were filled with riding around in old cars on back mountain roads and laughter.<br />
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one stormy evening i had gone to the adjacent building, curled up in a window with drink in hand feeling pensive. it was eerie outside and i felt anxious--the deep foreboding dread form of anxious, a constant low hum of warning. i was transfixed on the horizon, the clouds moved strangely over the tree tops and there was a flash of red light. the lucid part of my brain started mumbling about where this dream was going with its flashing red lights, perhaps aliens? <br />
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the tree tops swirled and i, waiting as though sitting on nails, drained the glass unable to shift my gaze. The sky flashed red again, then took on a greenish hue and within seconds the rain came--striking the window sideways. lucid-brain screamed out that it knew what this was and i yelled at people to take cover as i sprinted ruing the glass building with each slow-motion step.<br />
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No sooner had i crossed the bridge into our building and yelled the word tornado than the house imploded. crystals of glass like snow reflecting the green hue swirled around me as the world darkened. i awoke in rubble to the silence that always follows a catastrophe, too late to have saved either of them and perhaps unwittingly, too late to save myself.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-52336538884742876082014-10-21T14:11:00.002-07:002014-10-21T14:11:33.791-07:00time flies.it's been too long. i know. i wish there was some justifiable excuse for never posting the pictures from quito, or not telling you about all the wonderful visitors we had or depriving you of stories of neah's adventures. if i weren't nearly so grump-tastic about the sun disappearing faster by the day, i might tell you about epic and ongoing conversations with our wonderful friends about the zombie-apocalypse, intimacy, the nature of prayer and meditation and which gun is best to not get eaten by a bear. <br />
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instead, as we near four years here, i'll tell you that some days i actually want it to snow...because there is something soft and calming about the way the snow falls, dampening sound. i'll tell you that in the dead of winter, when it's bone dry out, i love the squeaking Styrofoam sound that fresh snow makes crushed beneath shoes. i'll tell you that i like to stand in the window at night and watch it fall--silent, unaffected. i'll tell you that i do actually like the warm orange glow the lights cast upon it in the dark.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgARH8JO_GvwYSc5-JvzA5o6VG7lQJAG6cGD1OYFOY3X0Yf6aXiU9HmtyPTvCWEvDUvUtRYkxJSraH7asBmCrli-nyxT4wnREX3TJxm7nG-udCW5fP61JVaMaoKxz5Wy1dlUOEkl28c5dU/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgARH8JO_GvwYSc5-JvzA5o6VG7lQJAG6cGD1OYFOY3X0Yf6aXiU9HmtyPTvCWEvDUvUtRYkxJSraH7asBmCrli-nyxT4wnREX3TJxm7nG-udCW5fP61JVaMaoKxz5Wy1dlUOEkl28c5dU/s1600/Untitled.png" /></a>i'll also tell you that i think i forgot to bring my soul back from this beach two weeks ago. it has been whispering long distance poetry ever since, communing with muses who apparently don't like the cold since they'd been silent for so long. <br />
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my soul got stuck in haifa for a while once too..years in fact. i don't want you to think that i mind--it's like instant travel without the hassle--to feel so completely somewhere else. so for now, when i close my eyes to seek serenity, this is where i end up.<br />
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and i'll tell you that it is the relentless pursuit of betterment rather than perfection that should drive us, fuel our minds and warm our hearts as the winter draws nearer. marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-60913208461643198152014-01-14T17:51:00.003-08:002014-01-14T17:51:17.923-08:00New Year AdventuresI promise you things and then i don't provide. It's a fatal flaw. For example, i promised you this blog about new year antics in ecuador last week and it just didn't happen. sorry.<br />
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But, here it is, as the snow falls and a lone raven surfs the winds outside my completely bleary, basically dark window at 430pm. sorry, nora, needed a brain break...going back to work soon!<br />
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Last year for NYE <a href="http://martha-teresa.blogspot.com/2013/01/ilovevacation.html">we were in Patong</a> of the coast of Thailand watching thousands of chinese lanterns sail into the Thai sky full of wishes and dreams. This year, we were in transit from the thermal pools through the weaver-ville of Peguche to Hacienda Pinsaqui for the feast and party thrown by the Freile family. <br />
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Here a list of things we learned:<br />
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<strong>1. The old year has widows.</strong> Not just any widows, cross dressing men widows who you have to pay (because they run a rope across the highway) as a toll to celebrate the passing of their husbands. They talk shit, get a head start on the drinking and sing songs.<br />
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The slightly tamer version are the little extortionist children who set theirs up every ten feet. you go through A LOT of small change that way.<br />
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<strong>2. The Vaca Loca (crazy cow) is not in fact a real cow</strong>, but your host under a tent covered with fireworks who runs around trying not to catch on fire. I stress this because i was confused for quite a while (read: over an hour, serious lost in translation moment) about if this cow was real, what the implications for animal rights were in ecuador, and finally how the hell no one got hurt. obviously, this makes WAY more sense, dude, tent enough explosives to kill himself:<br />
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<strong>3. Ecuadorians like to burn things.</strong> namely people. people they really don't like, people they do like, effigies. the effigies ride around on cars to prevent the widows from extracting their tolls. still haven't figured out why they cremate people they like, but makes for a great bonfire (which one's husband will then jump over to cleanse his new year and in the process nearly burn his shoes off):<br />
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<strong>4. Finally, they like to run things up greased poles.</strong> <br />
I imagine this is akin to our throwin a greased watermelon in the deep end of the pool during fourth of July pig-pickins. minus the live chicken in the wooden box. the disaster that was raising this thing went on for longer than we were there and finally resulted in the long wooden stick being shortened as it could not be raised with the two ladders and 50 bosses all providing instructions on how to get it up. insert your own joke here.<br />
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Truly though, it was wonderful. An absolute adventure and probably one of our favorite days of the trip.<br />
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So here's to the widows, the chickens, the vacas, and our new friends....<br />
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Happy New Year Y'all.<br />
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marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-61658815844147646932014-01-08T13:56:00.002-08:002014-01-08T13:56:36.636-08:00Vacation part II (of probably III)we left off our story with adam not dying on the precipitous descent from above Banos, Ecuador.<br />
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from Banos, we headed over to Puyo and Tena on the edge of the Amazon--an area called Oriente. We stayed on the Rio Napo river which is the longest navigable tributary of the Amazon. It was as you would expect humid, mosquito filled, and a hut at the lodge we stayed at was home to a large tarantula. Ugh. See all previous posts regarding my feelings about spiders.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7rCpM5OOMkrSo1GRqQAMSOBhbpeEnc8jxIphgZ8rIzQi9LQYy32uUoCJW7EPDR8q2nglyboG4IfdI3_qUwCTYtGmen1NgVf-fjJCUtfcF7qSgH0R66T6qZID6-n8ct5oSkqgc0G58Ko/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7rCpM5OOMkrSo1GRqQAMSOBhbpeEnc8jxIphgZ8rIzQi9LQYy32uUoCJW7EPDR8q2nglyboG4IfdI3_qUwCTYtGmen1NgVf-fjJCUtfcF7qSgH0R66T6qZID6-n8ct5oSkqgc0G58Ko/s1600/10.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXcdqqWLYCf-vAA1dEcgSpJINa8-2z1EB58HPggXIuwqHqK5OB7eyN145WrDymv5Q6Ey6qmJ8CPlBljRuXR5TDSPMG6mq9iEve9T7HksOKaYxKo8aNOoc04CGF1TUO5Moy_xXViK6fVg0/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXcdqqWLYCf-vAA1dEcgSpJINa8-2z1EB58HPggXIuwqHqK5OB7eyN145WrDymv5Q6Ey6qmJ8CPlBljRuXR5TDSPMG6mq9iEve9T7HksOKaYxKo8aNOoc04CGF1TUO5Moy_xXViK6fVg0/s1600/11.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>Truthfully, a lot of this part of the trip was not exactly what we had in mind...rather than hash that shit out, here are some pictures of a part we both really enjoyed--white water rafting on the Jactunyacu River with our river guide Cesar (who, as it turns out, was the son of our driver and neither knew until the night before the other one was part our trip!) Total small world syndrome. It was quite the adventure floating down the river, watching people bathe and pan for gold along the edge with rock walls covered in orchids lining the edge of the river. From those walls, our safety kayaker, Diego, plucked this orchid for me:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHisbBKCsaG5_HlO3G-La8GfilMcgGijiXSOEe5XQHT4ZTJ6tOhMpwfo_TyjZkMvdbApopkXItgiew8IG_symXYwxecqmPaeHgshVOtXi7KG56GrsarFQLdBL1dH2vo0X7wChA0zBfAAs/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHisbBKCsaG5_HlO3G-La8GfilMcgGijiXSOEe5XQHT4ZTJ6tOhMpwfo_TyjZkMvdbApopkXItgiew8IG_symXYwxecqmPaeHgshVOtXi7KG56GrsarFQLdBL1dH2vo0X7wChA0zBfAAs/s1600/12.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRi5q1TAjJ0hCJiJi4AXtShNKD3KCGVopRocWhkCYcacROJ8AF_6fC7avkJcT5Iweu4nTe6TnttC-dYiDNvRm2zCgPOFokm77pabeEmxRdT6Gtyww-qo_x0iPtkZwmJ_5pLiS_JlY6oc/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRi5q1TAjJ0hCJiJi4AXtShNKD3KCGVopRocWhkCYcacROJ8AF_6fC7avkJcT5Iweu4nTe6TnttC-dYiDNvRm2zCgPOFokm77pabeEmxRdT6Gtyww-qo_x0iPtkZwmJ_5pLiS_JlY6oc/s1600/13.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>We then drove thousands of feet back up into the Andes to go to the Termas de Pappallacta. LOVE ME SOME THERMAL BATHS. We soaked a bit, ate delicious food, and hiked up a hill behind the termas to get back into nature again. There's a public area and the hotel area and the hotel area is MUCH nicer.<br /><br />The next day, we headed north, past Quito and beginning the northern part of the adventure. It was New Year's Eve. there will be no discussion of that here. NYE gets its own blog post. Suffice to say it was a riot. We stopped along the way in Peguche to see some weavers and buy hand made textiles and presents. it took great restraint to not purchase every rug in sight.<br /><br />This is Hacienda Pinsaqui, where we spent the night, where Simon Bolivar brokered peace between Columbia and Ecuador, and where i want to live when i grow up:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijunvhL7jNLGkm0RScx_IHH2W9d-Z7d9ewR_BtYyqISDg2eBCDLaI9CFOF4xU-wl50iJYRFh6Pefe1XsYZZZE1TXX8xwyxWqbvtXmDo0dHVtgc-s-V2wsybq0tf2CrveWUPRMqfTdyCbk/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijunvhL7jNLGkm0RScx_IHH2W9d-Z7d9ewR_BtYyqISDg2eBCDLaI9CFOF4xU-wl50iJYRFh6Pefe1XsYZZZE1TXX8xwyxWqbvtXmDo0dHVtgc-s-V2wsybq0tf2CrveWUPRMqfTdyCbk/s1600/15.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1MZc96-0v-uQJ5HfV1YlIZLbP3auQv0eMYWzTzaa9WYcy9fJP5IVyLUkg9d8nCyIG2OEpfZOQ8LX3E0kBDaYu-ubnXacyrzG2P-IL5WgxmhbIhnUangKBBeAYPHK6VhiFP5q8wpWXNU/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1MZc96-0v-uQJ5HfV1YlIZLbP3auQv0eMYWzTzaa9WYcy9fJP5IVyLUkg9d8nCyIG2OEpfZOQ8LX3E0kBDaYu-ubnXacyrzG2P-IL5WgxmhbIhnUangKBBeAYPHK6VhiFP5q8wpWXNU/s1600/17.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Like i said...all about Hacienda Pinsaqui and NYE in another post. Having survived festivities, we headed up to a crater lake. Please note the altitude listed and let me clarify for you that hiking at this altitude is not like hiking in Anchorage or anywhere in Washington, unless you are going up Rainier. It hits you in a different way, a way that says you are clearly a lazy human who forgot to go to the gym for the six months before this trip and should be damn glad she didn't try to hike the Inca Trail in Peru in this lazy a$$ condition. PS--especially with that pesky respiratory infection she picked up the week before leaving Anchorage and for which she was huffing on an inhaler most of the trip.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hats in the Otavalo Market.</td></tr>
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After not dying on the hike, we went to Otavalo and bartered our way into more art before heading back to Quito. By bartering, i mean cutting everything down by 60% and refusing to pay more than half the original asking price. period. Like 175 worth of something shouldn't be more than 75. wish i could do this in america, too. hear me now Target, hear me now.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-19227115832904626362014-01-07T17:29:00.004-08:002014-01-07T17:29:30.751-08:00Vacation--blog one of god only knows.This is a multi-part blog...best to stretch out the interesting stuff :)<br />
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It is winter and i hates-es the winter. <br />
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So, we did what we always do--spend xmas eve with the family in Seattle and then flee somewhere that i can't complain about being cold. This year, it was Ecuador, chosen in part because it had the cheapest tickets in south america, in part because of its diverse climates, and in part because i was desperately craving a spanish speaking environment. let's face it. i belong in south america. seriously. can someone tell adam to work on that?!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HnyXmHFxK_F4RQDzlQq7DgWXriPcl_aaqeUfX7VUyecotqoqczipPHTd5MVmHpRdMkSzQPfYIElEjk4Vr5ANmwGEcTYKBkSjL0KfMQX9B4xpaw8Ea2oFeadfKlYscHpeuuq5FCG4A6g/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HnyXmHFxK_F4RQDzlQq7DgWXriPcl_aaqeUfX7VUyecotqoqczipPHTd5MVmHpRdMkSzQPfYIElEjk4Vr5ANmwGEcTYKBkSjL0KfMQX9B4xpaw8Ea2oFeadfKlYscHpeuuq5FCG4A6g/s1600/1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>after a grueling trip down (17hrs from anc) and an overnight in the most expensive hotel airport in south america (costa del sol in lima) we arrived in quito where we had this awesome looking bathroom at <a href="http://cafecultura.com/">Cafe Cultura</a>. The hotel is a converted mansion in the Mariscal Sucre disctrict of Quito--known as a tourist haven and much safer feeling than the old city, where creeptastic men crept by us and an old woman in a car gestured at me to keep a close eye on a 20-something with a backpack who we had been watching after his third pass by us.<br />
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as you can tell from the story of the lady in the car, most of the people we met were invariably kind and helpful. <br />
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i didn't want to translate for days on end, so we had arranged for a tour through Ecuador Adventures (Detour in the US). the tour was a 7 day multisport tour that would take us around the Andes and Amazon. while things in Ecuador appear close, the roads make it so that even things a seemingly short distance take longer to get to than expected.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTagj7k_RTRnbjjqdT4HBNABQWoWPThZNidtcBqelGJNrz9sXvJwfEO1u9AxB5sZnG6uF9LMmUOGpp1NYdGt-S751oxdEHGRog7xNqRew4pOziQgmPeUdtnUBsEsjCwsd3MS0P-J9_BkU/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTagj7k_RTRnbjjqdT4HBNABQWoWPThZNidtcBqelGJNrz9sXvJwfEO1u9AxB5sZnG6uF9LMmUOGpp1NYdGt-S751oxdEHGRog7xNqRew4pOziQgmPeUdtnUBsEsjCwsd3MS0P-J9_BkU/s1600/3.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZzZEoKU1jWUi6mQXdWtluhq_JmERdlsD0z05jp0NG3wRv1S16WdRjF72VAJdVVoUe4vQ8WHVKbjwdkqpORxTRp4AajrL7PDXrm0Ayffy8XP1MwlQrGnyauuHEVxytHPCHQp4vYtXqVLg/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZzZEoKU1jWUi6mQXdWtluhq_JmERdlsD0z05jp0NG3wRv1S16WdRjF72VAJdVVoUe4vQ8WHVKbjwdkqpORxTRp4AajrL7PDXrm0Ayffy8XP1MwlQrGnyauuHEVxytHPCHQp4vYtXqVLg/s1600/2.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>The first day we rode in the van out of Quito south towards the volcano called Cotopaxi. The views were really stunning and we worked on settling in to our nearly 9,000 ft. elevation. it was windier than we expected, but warm to us despite it being "freezing" by ecuadorian standards. that evening we arrived at the Hacienda Porvenir to rest and go horseback riding. Click on photos to make them bigger. yes, we dressed up in the outfits with ponchos. it was super dorky. and super warm. more importantly super warm because the wind was just ripping. the horses only had one speed and so the ponchos spared us from freezing to death while avoiding "brave cattle" aka bulls with horns wandering through the hills you see in the background.</div>
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The following day took us through the Cotopaxi national park...where we rode bicycles (me for about 2 mi and Adam for 5 or so) through the park. The scenery was stunning with vast expanses of paramo (high altitude meadows like tundra) below.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cotopaxi National Park</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmiIIuKVToD_2BlCFfKt8Whw7PWKfzVLMZykKtM7k6RpF5Dyffn4W1HVLD5Dgdh_YOga1Hj1eiKHHcpRqhdnFj51fQsQhM1AZGjTZjJO9kkuGWd5RwAXOXb_npIONL664WAyq7ksWx5Q/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmiIIuKVToD_2BlCFfKt8Whw7PWKfzVLMZykKtM7k6RpF5Dyffn4W1HVLD5Dgdh_YOga1Hj1eiKHHcpRqhdnFj51fQsQhM1AZGjTZjJO9kkuGWd5RwAXOXb_npIONL664WAyq7ksWx5Q/s1600/6.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Once we were back in the car...we headed south towards Banos. enroute we got to see a delicacy of Ecuadorian cuisine....also called your local pet guinea pig. no. neither of us ate it. <br /><br />How can you? it probably has a name, like, piggie, or squeek, or something. almost made me vegetarian again. almost.<br /><br />However, then we got to Banos and i was safe from the little guys haunting my dreams while we checked out this church of a virgen of the waters who performs miracles..lots of miracles, saving people from overturned cars, stopping volcanoes, making waterfalls restart after earthquakes. the thing about miracles is that if you are the one who saw it it is always true and if you didn't see it...well, then you didn't see it.</div>
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Following our visit to Banos, we stayed at Hacienda Leito in the mountains. the following day, adam biked down the mountain with Santiago, our guide, pissing off horses and donkeys alike as he rode down over 3,000 feet. The photo below is not only the way adam biked down, its a super pretty pic of Banos. please note drugs were required to keep me calm while he sped down the cobblestones at 35km an hour. seriously. we clocked it with the car. <br />
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marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-38670741199419771942013-12-11T16:10:00.002-08:002013-12-11T16:10:57.331-08:00radio silence.i know. it's been three months. i haven't had anything to say even though plenty was happening. <br />
we were here and there and everywhere. even that sounds totally unentertaining. let's start over.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTRyn5RssxVjTlbyVZAQpGIzUgYj1FJTrr8w-xWf_L5HS4U8M8APEZNaS9tbv66hYT694aySlPvXMhpwAfuFCcsM6XZ7N4SaUtGwKNCfvA5G08E2paIDLwcQE23t2bv-NUw_DCAv9VUQ/s1600/tansik+women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTRyn5RssxVjTlbyVZAQpGIzUgYj1FJTrr8w-xWf_L5HS4U8M8APEZNaS9tbv66hYT694aySlPvXMhpwAfuFCcsM6XZ7N4SaUtGwKNCfvA5G08E2paIDLwcQE23t2bv-NUw_DCAv9VUQ/s320/tansik+women.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are the women of my family. Doing what we do...at home, down south, in ATL.</td></tr>
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I am a mere few thousand miles away from crossing into the MVP Gold Status on Alaska. I have never wanted anything so badly for reasons I cannot explain because this new luggage tag and special boarding powers will result in little tangible benefit. But let me tell you, I will manage it. Adam once alleged that he was MVP Gold. (To be clear: HE IS NOT BUT LIES AND TELLS EVERYONE HE IS). He says that it means that when you get off the plane there is a gold plated litter waiting to carry you to baggage claim, that you are fanned with peacock feather palm leaves on the plane, and that if you ordered orange juice it would be squeezed freshly and served in a chalice. Ok, he might have only said the first one and that you get a crown, but I think the point is the same. i NEED this. Like Q needs drugs and neah needs pig ears. MUST HAVE GOLD.<br />
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While speaking about Neah must haves, winter came late here, but despite that we have gone through like 72 booties for the Neah dog. She needs these because she is an athlete. A runner. She can't help it and so she ends up with bloody paws from running on ice if she doesn't wear booties. Dog booties are expensive--new pet peeve for sure. The "disposable booties" were no more than velcro anklets ten minutes after she began running. One day, i'm just going to spend all day writing reviews of dog booties. The new ones are dope, they look like anklet booties and have a felty material on the bottom so she can get better traction....she's fast. let me tell you. five points to the pimp dog shoes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3yhjzrKUrFyNwN6fujvgbB-YYzLxv0AcOVnm3xooEnRLtCAYMJ4wftO2v70iic3J5NOGl7EsQaIxc3wa6LyeZcYCVl0tfGFNQM1YCUh-2mzwRBVxMIUZFWl8OA8yXuNjzX1PhJ7c3Ok/s1600/neds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3yhjzrKUrFyNwN6fujvgbB-YYzLxv0AcOVnm3xooEnRLtCAYMJ4wftO2v70iic3J5NOGl7EsQaIxc3wa6LyeZcYCVl0tfGFNQM1YCUh-2mzwRBVxMIUZFWl8OA8yXuNjzX1PhJ7c3Ok/s320/neds.jpg" width="320" /></a>Travelling for work is wonderful. Well, not the part where i want to bang my head on things because of irrational behavior, or the part where my flights get delayed, but definitely the part where upgrades are free and i get to see my girls.<br />
<br />
Last week, i spent with Ms. Mossayeb and Ms. Molai in Palm Springs and San Fran, respectively. It was Ms. Molai's birfday. There was Karaoke, a comedy show, delicious food, sightseeing, stairmaster, and LOTS of laughter.<br />
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I know, you are starting to think that i only blog about adventures with this girl, but the truth is that i just save up so that i sound like i have this fascinating adventurous life that is really just a series of lucky breaks.<br />
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T minus two weeks till America del sur!!<br />
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marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-22241744348451663592013-08-23T17:24:00.000-07:002013-08-23T17:24:16.737-07:00H to the awaii<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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First...in case you didn't know...i love that this woman met me in Maui and that she rolled up in this PIMP mobile:<br />
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and you better believe those men RAN to help her get out of the car and lei-her.<br />
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It's been months in the making, this little adventure of ours, the one where we run away, leave loved ones at home and pretend that the world has rolled back to 2005 and we are on the beach in Eilat sipping limonanas. Except now, make that virgin pina-coladas and we are almost a decade older, she's a decade more buff, and i am a decade more sleep deprived.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65objHvOXV0W_y0d42EExLhTPpeFFbgWH7FRgVDZAxJiJGPyG8PnqAicj4_HYcNV444XOTXDX4YGnWUe1sHVWx_SOdweHhLcC5rYh_S8ggKSo7LJKFh7hDWbIQysZ8qLeVsDkmcfR7GI/s1600/turtle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65objHvOXV0W_y0d42EExLhTPpeFFbgWH7FRgVDZAxJiJGPyG8PnqAicj4_HYcNV444XOTXDX4YGnWUe1sHVWx_SOdweHhLcC5rYh_S8ggKSo7LJKFh7hDWbIQysZ8qLeVsDkmcfR7GI/s320/turtle.jpg" width="320" /></a>there was a shark attack the day we arrived about a half mile down the beach. it's been all over cnn, so you probably saw that the young lady didn't make it. it gave us a little perspective about how lucky we've been--literally through wars with rockets, moves back to the US, and marriages. it also made us a little more skeptical of getting in the water to see the sea turtle who makes his home off our beach by that reef just off the end of my feet.<br />
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we explored the island, hiking with Hike Maui to a 480 foot waterfall near Hana you see in the top picture. i should clarify, she RAN the 4 mile hike about three times while i meandered, shaking trees to get guava and foraging for passion fruit and ginger flowers to suck like the honeysuckle of my childhood summers.<br />
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we at delicious food, basked in the warm sun, laughed and laughed, and all too soon it was over and seemed, at least for me, like a five day dream.<br />
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marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-8721735067284679892013-07-29T14:59:00.002-07:002013-07-29T14:59:20.179-07:00Love me mountainsWe went to Denali National Park and went flight seeing....could have touched the mountain we flew so close to the North face....but looking the opposite direction, the colors were INCREDIBLE.<br />
No doctoring done, i swear.<br />
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marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-36134858775350489232013-07-09T19:05:00.000-07:002013-07-09T19:05:00.885-07:00a flying leap off the blog bandwagon<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
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blogging, fail.<br />
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i would love to pretend that the reason i haven't been blogging is because we haven't been doing anything, that i have been lazily lying around at home, that i have been soaking in the sun. Truly, for most of June, i was soaking in the sun--here in Anchorage--i know, it's hard to believe i am saying that.<br />
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The last weekend in June i needed to attend a meeting in Seattle, so i called up Court, demanded she let me crash on her couch and soaked up her amazing spirit for two days. she always has couches that demand visitors love them. we reminisced about dus moving in unexpectedly five years ago and how lucky we've been since then. we walked around capitol hill and found this guy spread out in the window, inhibitionless.<br />
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by the way, if reincarnation exists--which i doubt--this wouldn't be so bad.<br />
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the thing about summer is it always makes me a little nostalgic. i find myself seeking out old friends, strengthening old bonds, making sure the little pieces of me that were left around the world are still with their rightful owners. it fills up my heart and sets me at peace. but it's a tricky beast, nostalgia, because you have to remember your choices, reaffirm and own them. <br />
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so, here's to the summer of my reconnection....and if you have a little piece of my heart that hasn't touched base in a while--give a girl some love.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-88889226518879170222013-05-14T22:22:00.004-07:002013-05-14T22:22:56.311-07:00dear n.k. you created a monster.<br />
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Dear N.K.:<br />
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You came to visit and she loved you will all 55lbs of allergy inducing fluff she had. You taught her a new trick, to shake; and while she pretended she didn't get it, I would like to present you with a story adam just told me:<br />
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Lately, at night Neah has been getting up at 3:30am and whining. While i pretend to ignore her, adam takes her downstairs, checks to see that she doesn't want to go outside, that she has food and water and then gives up and comes back to bed. She wanders to his side of the bed, whimpers in the dark, and then this happens:<br />
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yeah, seriously, she puts her paw up in the air and holds her hand out like she wants a treat. he reaches out his hand and she puts her paw in it and stares intently and expectantly at him, and whines.<br />
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You've created a shaking, treat wanting, middle of the night monster.<br />
just thought you should know.<br />
<br />
us.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-57125693176427987232013-05-03T19:22:00.000-07:002013-05-03T19:22:05.493-07:00Reasons for spare keys, a list<ol>
<li>When you are sick your brain doesn't function, you are a keyless idiot;</li>
<li>When you husband is in Fairbanks all day, he can't help said keyless idiot;</li>
<li>When you spare key keeper is in Denver, he can't help either;</li>
<li>When you gave the last spare key to the cleaning lady and she hid it somewhere you can't find, calling her names doesn't make you less of a keyless idiot;</li>
<li>When you take your key off your key chain so your AWESOME house guests can use it and then forget to put it back in the right place, you, yourself, sick girl, completed the prerequisites for the title of keyless idiot.</li>
</ol>
<br />
In case it wasn't self-evident, I locked myself out of the house. It was a particularly genius move, since I left the garage entry door unlocked the first time I went out and then deliberately went back to lock it. Brilliant. Worse yet, was that I didn't realize it until I was at my office to grab documents for a mediation and couldn't figure out which key unlocked the door because i usually gauge it in relation to the house key. See number one above.<br />
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This leaves me, however, with time to kill now that the legal part of my brain turned off and I am unable to enter the house until Adam gets back from square-banks in like an hour. <br />
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Have I told you yet that our old plasma TV died? Adam says it was because it didn't like having to play the Vampire Diaries, but i told him that was just an ugly thing to say---Damon is eye-candy, so clearly that show isn't to blame. Anyways, this resulted in a near death experience for Devin, who had to help Adam lift the 400 lb contraption off the wall. The next day, I come home and it is dismantled and Adam is staring at lots of tiny white little fuses, making noises that I could have sworn sounded like angsty squeeks (but he would deny--insert martha melodrama comment here) about not being able to tell on site if they were blown. You see, the internets--all of them--had told us that when there was a "pop" followed by "no picture but sound" on one's "plasma" it meant that some board or fuse in the back XSUS or YSUS something had blown out. guess you need a fuse tester or something. <br />
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Anyways, the end result was me sitting on the floor in fred meyer, then best buy, then walmart, then target staring at TVs which basically have NO difference at all scrutinizing the resolution when my face is three inches from it (rather than the ten feet it is at home) and reading specs about refresh rates and blah blah blah. So, there's a new TV, which is the largest that will fit on the wall (because god forbid we don't get the biggest one that will fit) and it somehow connected itself to the internet--genius smart TV. Please feel free to come ooh and aaah at the TV (and its warranty plan). oh yea, but i can't go watch it because---ready for it--i'm locked out.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-7597061031181183032013-04-27T11:59:00.000-07:002013-04-27T11:59:06.400-07:00the one where company is allergic to the dog....she wants so badly for them to love her. she can hardly stand it, trying her best to win their affection with gifts of stuffed animals and attempts at cuddles. you can see the confusion in her eyes when these efforts don't elicit the kind of love she had hoped, her crushed heart as she walks away. its official. neah is in love with devin and neda, and sadly, they are both allergic to her. <br />
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which of course means that the only place in the world she wants to be is:<br />
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on top of neda. poor woman.<br />
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I've had a couple great weeks of seeing people i adore. i am fairly certain that there is a direct correlation between this seeing of people i love and the cessation of nail chewing (read devouring) that has occurred. while adam may find this a tenuous connection at best, i am pretty certain it means that either (1) everyone we know needs to live in alaska or (2) i need a teleporter. feel free to register your vote in the comments. alternatively, i am open to other suggestions.<br />
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<br />marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-46162991248253743842013-04-14T22:11:00.003-07:002013-04-14T22:11:49.913-07:00travelling--aka adventures in disaster--aka why i hate american airlines.i've been on the move a lot lately. so has adam. its been ten days since i have seen him in fact.<br />
i fled alaska in search of warmer weather (and a deponent), but it just followed me to the midwest.<br />
before i get into the long story of Murphy, his #(*$(&#_ laws, and my flight schedule, let me first tell you that one of my favorite artists is Pablo Picasso. in particular, i love his blue period. love might be an understatement, i would cover the walls of the house with it, hibernate in it, mourn in it, and generally have a totally overblown emo-reaction to it. i get lost in brush strokes, blending techniques, and line/structure.<br />
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then i pine for the fact that i used to live in cities with incredible art museums, operas, plays, and architecture. the art institute of chicago is truly lovely. i wished i had more hours and less jet lag as i stood there.<br />
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anyways. the point of this blog is actually the story of how much i hate both American Airlines and United. I should have known the whole trip was going to go sideways on me when i arrived at the anchorage airport and discovered a troop of 6-10 year old cheerleaders and their yoga-pant wearing, leopard print carry-on dragging mothers at my gate. Flight number one was therefore a red eye with screaming mothers and their terrible daughters. <br />
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gratefully, flight two passed uneventfully. i spent the weekend in chicago, soaking up the city, breathing in all those things i talked about above that fill me with life, joy and creativity. the last night i went to check in to my flight to wichita and discovered that i didn't have a flight to wichita. i had a flight to tulsa. ok. great. except i don't want to go to tulsa and i had a flight to wichita two days before. so i call american. i'm on hold for half an hour which they sort out what happened. seriously. they keep coming on every five minutes to tell me they are working on it. you know its bad when it takes half an hour to sort out and when they come back they tell you that you will just have two departures and they will sort it out at the airport. great.<br />
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flight three: didn't exist, then did, just grateful it took off....since every flight after it out of o'hare got delayed by HOURS. See, the thing is that i forgot that wichita is in kansas and it is FLAT there. Flat, but warm the first day i am in town--i run around in a t-shirt and work from my hotel room. Day two a huge storm front comes through "winter storm wanda" and my 70 degree weather drops 30 degrees in an hour.<br />
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its mid day tuesday, so i decide to reconfirm my early flight out the next morning--its bright and early so that i can get back into anchorage at a decent hour. only, when i log in, i don't have a flight from wichita anymore. i only have a flight from chicago to anchorage. Yup. that's right. they somehow deleted my flight out. Back on the phone with American--this time it only takes 25 minutes to sort it out. Flight four, fail number one.<br />
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Remember that winter storm, here we go.....By the time i am done with the deposition Tuesday evening and trying to eat dinner, flight four blows up AGAIN. my 6am flight out is cancelled--bring on the ice storm. i'm in applebees, on the phone with American again....and yes, its another an hour. no more direct flight home, we are going through Chicago (we=me and my new attitude problem). Flight four, fail number two.<br />
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Flash forward to the next morning, Wed. at 7am. Beep Beep goes the phone. Flight four, fail number three. DELAY sufficient to miss the flight to Anchorage. So, its early, i call American again. Here's where i get really angry. After holding for half an hour, someone comes on, gets all my information, and the decides my itinerary is too complicated and throws me to the back of the queue. Not even kidding. so i hold, the next person comes on, and it happens again, she throws me to the back of the queue after hearing where i'm going. the coversation went "hold one second for me....*music* thank you for calling American Airlines, your call will be answered in the order it was received in roughly 45 minutes". HOLY #)(*&$#)$, are you kidding me?!?! i am livid.<br />
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so i get in the car (once i remove the layer of ice off it with my credit card, swearing the whole time) and drive to the airport (still swearing), where i manage to abandon my cell phone and gloves at the rental car desk for half an hour (panicked swearing). anyways, i finally get up to the counter and the lovely girl there (i mean this, she is the only part of American that doesn't suck) reworked my flights and hooked me up with first class from minneapolis home. oh yeah, now the route is dallas minneapolis anchorage. I breathe for the first time in hours and go to find food (swearing ceases and i return to polite ma'am-ing of people). two hours later phone goes BEEP BEEP. Flight four, fail four. Back to the ticket counter where some asshole guy cops an attitude with me--wrong thing to do. i explain in no uncertain terms that i don't care how he does it, but that i was done flying american and he needed to get me out of there NOW. AND, just so we are clear, i don't give a shit about the weather, i get that delays happen, what i have a problem with is the incredibly awful customer service of american airlines. Sure enough, United to Denver and then anchorage direct. Okay. flight four might happen after all.<br />
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I'm going to fast forward through the delay, some guy's oxygen tank beeping like a mack truck backing up for twenty minutes, some guy on the plane making fart noises at a baby for another twenty minutes, and people singing barney and just tell you that i made it to Denver, where i have never been more grateful to see an airport with more than 5 gates. I eat a yummy dinner at some french place. I head to the gate and the flight is boarding, all seems to be going well. i get in line and then the inevitable happens. "ladies and gentlemen on the flight to anchorage, we do not seem to have a captain for this flight. We are going to postpone boarding while we sort this out." Flight five, mini-fail. how do you not have a pilot? seriously? two hours later, United locates a captain and i am finally on my way home, praying to God, Satan, Barbie, anyone, that the plane doesn't crash.<br />
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i can say with absolute sincerity, i have never been happier to arrive in anchorage. ever. Also, i now have two travel rules: 1. NO AMERICAN AIRLINES. 2. NO MIDWEST EVER AGAIN.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-10090034811175494852013-03-15T22:14:00.001-07:002013-03-15T22:14:52.968-07:007am Airplane EtiquetteThere is something simultaneously empowering and debilitating about getting up at 5:30am to catch a flight to Fairbanks where the trusted phone assures me it is -11C. What it was definitely not was an experience, the second in as many weeks, where i felt like being nice to strangers halfway through my first cup of coffee.<br />
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I wandered onto the plane and sat down next to an octogenarian and her fifty something year old daughter. the old lady peered up at me with the evil eye, as if my having the window seat was somehow eroding her joy and as if i had beaten her with a club and taken it. Not to be daunted by this evil eye at the crack of dawn, i politely smiled and said good morning, refusing to let my business day tripper swagger be tainted by this woman.<br />
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The next blow to my fragile ego came when i turned on the light to do the cross-word however. I could swear that the old lady not only gave me the stink-eye but actually tsked at me! who does that??<br />
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So, i am making some rules and you should all feel free to add to the list. here's the shit you have no business doing to other people on airplanes:<br />
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<ol>
<li>glaring at people for existing. bad call. if it weren't the fast, i might just hit you. </li>
<li>tsk at me because i use my american-given right (since freedoms and rights are interchangeable around here) turn on the light on the plane. </li>
<li>touch people. no one did that to me. but i am pretty sure it should be a rule. unless they are very attractive, consenting, adult (q, i'm talking to you), and married to you if you are married.</li>
<li>drop your seat back at the exact same moment the flight attendant hands out drinks in the row behind you. yes. you in 7d--you are either evil or evil. either way--i am talking to you. thiiiiiiiis close to a lap full of someone else's drink thanks to you. nothing ruins business swag like drink covered pants in a city without a decent mall.</li>
<li>sticking your entire body in front of the window for 20 minutes. share the window people, you don't need to try to lean out it to see. i mean, i am not asking for you to tell me if you see moose, i would just like to know there's land out there. </li>
<li>what am i missing folks??</li>
</ol>
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<br />marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-582150350117855112013-03-06T22:36:00.000-08:002013-03-06T22:36:54.590-08:00its the introspective time of year<br />
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it is baha'i fast month. for reference see previous blogs <a href="http://martha-teresa.blogspot.com/2012/03/fasting-day-4.html">here </a>and <a href="http://martha-teresa.blogspot.com/2011/03/fastingready-set.html">here</a> and <a href="http://martha-teresa.blogspot.com/2010/03/lessons-i-seem-to-forget-yearly.html">here</a>. no food or drink from sunrise to sunset. i try not to swear as much. this year, i have found myself having an easier go of it than before. i'm not really hungry, nor am i having the 2 pm crash. i didn't have the awful caffeine headaches. none of the eating the most enormous dinner i can find!<br />
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i have however been more than a little introspective. i find myself spending a lot of time thinking about who i am in my head, my past, my current life--trying to discern if i am still the same girl i believe i am. in my head, i am always the girl in the picture--lost in the adventure, constantly changing smells, sounds, faces and places, pushing to understand more, feel more, be more. the nomad part of me calmed down while we were in thailand and i felt like i exhaled for the first time in a long time.<br />
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so the question becomes goals and how to maintain that peace--when we are so far away from our friends and loved ones. part of that has been taking more time for spiritual things. part of that has been getting more exercise. part of that has been remembering who i want to be and being that person--fearless and strong.<br />
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so, here's to this time of year when i can see clearly, believe clearly and reconnect with my soul.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-90273448753486422322013-01-18T00:31:00.001-08:002013-01-18T00:31:15.420-08:00oliphantslove oliphants. the art kind and the real ones.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkplYwjifWca71xWpj2Jk9HrSakUcHwvZCodVj0os7p9lUn8sUJuTqoktXbS-YW87KhS7TlV778rEUFG8W2oEty6bf58x9kf34FcTdw96_5CVVGKaHIxUSLiYvwyf_r1ZYM4LIAi34X8w/s1600/oli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkplYwjifWca71xWpj2Jk9HrSakUcHwvZCodVj0os7p9lUn8sUJuTqoktXbS-YW87KhS7TlV778rEUFG8W2oEty6bf58x9kf34FcTdw96_5CVVGKaHIxUSLiYvwyf_r1ZYM4LIAi34X8w/s640/oli.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
and oliphants love sugarcane.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8k0tcxKbpcl4ogARHvnt5MgR4TtICqChbsplsPycDaDydImbnMPMHP38ywAiO8-N9uAx9Y9IZB-hJvFWzov-i-4qPfoci93OGu4-XOfwBQIW983BAxIQ6v6dRI8XJvbZkhOtJb_R7ac/s1600/adam+and+oli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8k0tcxKbpcl4ogARHvnt5MgR4TtICqChbsplsPycDaDydImbnMPMHP38ywAiO8-N9uAx9Y9IZB-hJvFWzov-i-4qPfoci93OGu4-XOfwBQIW983BAxIQ6v6dRI8XJvbZkhOtJb_R7ac/s640/adam+and+oli.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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and saying hello!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWObzuobC_F53tKVkA-Lf4l125kyQw4XJtkJlNJxnu2FB99W0bzSAItSBa7krSi51BP6mBIhxUB8ekrAIYmlafDA07g_T4Z85QmBZXtQdG2YoWmwAQojU6ryfMj4kLoe0-kPr0NUzn7jc/s1600/oliphant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWObzuobC_F53tKVkA-Lf4l125kyQw4XJtkJlNJxnu2FB99W0bzSAItSBa7krSi51BP6mBIhxUB8ekrAIYmlafDA07g_T4Z85QmBZXtQdG2YoWmwAQojU6ryfMj4kLoe0-kPr0NUzn7jc/s640/oliphant.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-42795079627037544682013-01-13T14:26:00.000-08:002013-01-13T14:26:01.301-08:00if it has eight eyes, it should die.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5DUBAfnhGh9Ni4DQn2I6MfWcbLi8ZMSjjkYRZsxtM8TnzY40EHG_f0f-AGHQ1JWd0-ssGb2uzRM3lMibmILYnC2T3tZPZCkvfgIhB1gwkRGP7JStJ8K5DdkAGwNBYLAfW7ZLN8RWW5Q/s1600/waterfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5DUBAfnhGh9Ni4DQn2I6MfWcbLi8ZMSjjkYRZsxtM8TnzY40EHG_f0f-AGHQ1JWd0-ssGb2uzRM3lMibmILYnC2T3tZPZCkvfgIhB1gwkRGP7JStJ8K5DdkAGwNBYLAfW7ZLN8RWW5Q/s640/waterfall.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
So i love Thailand because it is beautiful, and warm, and my skin doesn't feel all pins and needles from being too dry.<br />
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I love Thailand because the people are kind. PS--let's have a chat TSA in Seattle about not being assholes for no good reason, read no reason, on a sunday morning. PPS--why is everyone in the seattle airport a grump-tastic mess?<br />
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I love Thailand because i can eat a full meal for like $2.50 cents in the north. and eat more than my share of green curry i did.<br />
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I love Thailand because i can swim without feeling like i might die of hypothermia either in or after getting out of the water.<br />
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I love Thailand because i can find anything i could ever need in a market if i am willing to brave weekend craziness.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwTt2jMW0hYdiwL2tYq5PPsCrQNK9XeZpSefg6H9biL0JOgmhNDJLUkePEjArQopjbSjH4gNHadF1nfXyXELrAro_dQEPO6THWB4YLKKPTH-kdxasXIwCFqryauQ7RAk7SuWvnVAgwN2I/s1600/pider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwTt2jMW0hYdiwL2tYq5PPsCrQNK9XeZpSefg6H9biL0JOgmhNDJLUkePEjArQopjbSjH4gNHadF1nfXyXELrAro_dQEPO6THWB4YLKKPTH-kdxasXIwCFqryauQ7RAk7SuWvnVAgwN2I/s320/pider.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">huntsman--the size of my hand.</td></tr>
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<br />I do not love thailand for these guys:<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nqz_M2eLjpK38B4gEhNWzbbEeJXUia4gi6iG-yIiSaV_jYfezt5ROjNUMG30yWVr__tCwXUxz0PSt6CwqhFPfot-OYdbdUmHwcuIhHHW4I3vjFY3gM58GQMLm2AMghL-LhbylCHFsXw/s1600/orb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nqz_M2eLjpK38B4gEhNWzbbEeJXUia4gi6iG-yIiSaV_jYfezt5ROjNUMG30yWVr__tCwXUxz0PSt6CwqhFPfot-OYdbdUmHwcuIhHHW4I3vjFY3gM58GQMLm2AMghL-LhbylCHFsXw/s320/orb.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">orb weaver (we think)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nqz_M2eLjpK38B4gEhNWzbbEeJXUia4gi6iG-yIiSaV_jYfezt5ROjNUMG30yWVr__tCwXUxz0PSt6CwqhFPfot-OYdbdUmHwcuIhHHW4I3vjFY3gM58GQMLm2AMghL-LhbylCHFsXw/s1600/orb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nqz_M2eLjpK38B4gEhNWzbbEeJXUia4gi6iG-yIiSaV_jYfezt5ROjNUMG30yWVr__tCwXUxz0PSt6CwqhFPfot-OYdbdUmHwcuIhHHW4I3vjFY3gM58GQMLm2AMghL-LhbylCHFsXw/s1600/orb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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Anyone who knows my husband knows he likes to set the spiders free when we find them in the house. I, on the other hand, am pretty sure setting them free means they are going to return in my bed and eat me. therefore, all spiders should die--the sneaky bastards. so, when adam came into our treehouse in the Mae Taeng valley wilderness and announced that there was a huge spider in the bathroom, you have to understand i was legitimately concerned. he never, ever, calls spiders huge--even the orb weaver we saw earlier in the day that was like coffee cup sized. define huge, i said. huge, said adam with a serious look on his face, hunting for something i had hoped would be used to kill the "huge" spider. instead, he picked up the camera (again, not a good sign) and my slipper (gifted to me by emma who stole it from some hotel and the current prized possession) and headed back to the adjoining outdoor bathroom. a flash and some banging ensued and adam returned to tell me he had scared it away. "it jumped out the back wall."<br />
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number one---WTF. since when do spiders the size of a chihuahua jump out a hole in the wall.<br />
number two--the answer to where was it happened to be, oh right by the toilet.<br />
number three--congratulations, instead of killing the spider, you now get to watch me pee for the rest of our stay in case the dog/spider returns.<br />
number four--the next day at breakfast, he tells everyone how he had no idea where it went. nice. good job lying to your wife. uck.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-76949573813559683182013-01-10T15:39:00.002-08:002013-01-10T15:39:45.244-08:00i.love.vacation.<br />
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this post could alternatively be titled:<br />
1. i.love.the.warm.;<br />
2. adam lives in the pool; or<br />
3. it was all good until the spider showed up.<br />
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for the record: i love the Andaman sea. I am pretty sure i could just be a sea gypsy, floating to my heart's content and living off coconuts and fish i caught with a spear.<br />
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<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/417979_10152376381650223_2046513364_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>As many of you know, on xmas day we left seattle for a stint in thailand. teh trip was well needed because we discovered around thanksgiving that i was going to be laid off from Liberty. the hunt for a new gig is in progress. So, off to se asia we went and we were lucky to have the gracious hospitality of a friend from law school, abe. he did his best to keep adam from being molested by lady boys and me from getting run over by vehicles in the street.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Jesus rays on A Buddhist temple?" queried Adam.</td></tr>
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Bangkok is a large bustling city that only partially ever feels like southeast Asia to me....it just lacks the grit of Manila and has instead way too many old white men accompanied by too young Thai women. Clearly, white exploitation of former colonies is still alive and kicking. Never-the-less, i love Thai architecture and its Buddhist sentimentality. outside every building is a household shrine to which offerings of fanta, juice, and sweet pastries are in a never ending supply. Seems the universe has a sweet tooth. The other thing that always strikes me is the combination of old and new, ornate and modern, a juxtaposition without moderation or middle ground.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/417979_10152376381650223_2046513364_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" class="spotlight" height="300" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/417979_10152376381650223_2046513364_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bang Pa-In Summer Palace</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ayyuthaya</td></tr>
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We traveled around quite a bit this trip. After visiting Ayyuthaya and the Summer Palace, we went down south to Phuket for New Years. <br />
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Truthfully, we were staying in Patong, which i will never do again. it was too touristy for my tastes, but did make for memorable new years eve--thousands of people on the beach, lighting off lanterns, sending their hopes skyward for the new year.<br />
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We set off ours and i was surprised to find that my hopes didn't rest on a new job or the dog not acting like an idiot--i'm going to not tell you my wish, but you should know that my lantern floated highest in the sky as it went off into the distance. <br />
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My heart felt full and calm. We headed the next day off to the north--out 60 km north of Chaing Mai to somewhere up a tree. Seriously.<br />
<span id="goog_1050090445"></span><span id="goog_1050090446">More pictures of that and a top ten list in the next post :)</span>marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-6583472776894011712012-12-12T23:43:00.001-08:002012-12-12T23:43:23.032-08:00oh yeah, i have a blog...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, i am a lax blogger. actually, i just haven't had much to say and adam keeps kidnapping my computer to go work on the weekends. but in way of an apology...here's neah playing in our new foot of snow.<br />
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we are getting ready for the trip to thailand. i'm so excited to see abe, emma, and sarun (joe--who i went to school with about a decade ago). i think the break to the warm will do my soul some good. this winter has been very cold and not snowy--bad for winter sports.<br />
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in other news, adam's bowling is going well. insert big lebowski joke here. and we joined the gym, which has a sauna i like to warm up in. i have not yet managed to get over the abject nakedness of the women wandering around the locker room yet though. i am glad that so many women over 50 are comfortable with their bodies, but seriously, i do not need to see it.<br />
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so, that's the news! love from snowy cold, not quite north pole :)marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-27088635697413273542012-11-11T22:21:00.001-08:002012-11-11T22:22:13.574-08:00whispers of winterthe days are getting shorter. the sun sets well before we come home from work and is just barely up as we head out. soon, it won't rise before midday. i have been trying desperately to generate the motivation to get up early and head to the gym for an early morning, anti-arm flab, workout and sauna before starting work. needless to say, this is proving tricky.<br />
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more importantly, it appears winter is upon us because everyone is driving like idiots--snow tires not on, quick stops fail often. neah and i were almost hit on our way to the holy day tonight. stopped at a corner facing west and getting ready to turn south, one of the cars coming from the south in the northbound lane (this reminding you of a fifth grade word problem yet) slammed on brakes and in an attempt to not rear end the other cars came careening towards us--only to be stopped (and us saved) by the pole that holds the stoplights about four feet to my right. ugh. dear idiot with the big truck....please please do the speed limit and remember its icy...we'd like to live another day...thanks, EVERYONE.<br />
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Been trying out some new recipes....so the roast<br />
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is from those adventures. neah was very intrigued---perhaps too intrigued because her tummy doesn't seem to like us tonight. </div>
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It has been nice to have some friends over for dinner and kinect and feel like we are settling into this house. neah has been great about the new people, only barking for a minute or two before warily wandering around until peanut butter pretzels stealthily appear in new hands and the intrusion into her space is forgiven. </div>
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<br />marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207804313294856427.post-91987738822422523162012-10-28T23:46:00.002-07:002012-10-28T23:46:54.400-07:00a ghostly hiking storyso, adam and matt went hiking the other night. it was dark. when they got home, adam told me the following story:<br />
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they drove the spiffy new ride up to far north bicentennial park (about five miles away), unloaded the neah, and headed up under the setting sun. they turned off the main trail after a couple miles and onto a side one (read: game path) and got to a point where the trail crossed an iced over swamp. by this time it was dark/twilight/vampire hunting hour and they decided that crossing the ice swamp in the dark, foggy mist probably wasn't the funnest plan. so they stopped and stood around as one is want to do next to an ice swamp, when the neah monster began barking into the dark.<br />
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matt and adam were annoyed at her disruption of the peace for a few minutes. she continued barking. simultaneously, the boys realized that <i style="font-weight: bold;">perhaps </i>she was actually barking at something. they slowly turned in the direction of her furor and stared into the darkness. after close to a minute, they saw what neah did--a dark moving shadow out over the swamp. adam turned to matt and asked "did you see that?!" to which matt replied "yes". "is it moving," adam asked. "yes," matt replied.<br />
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in the following 20 seconds, adam fumbled, reaching for the bear spray--only to realize he couldn't reach it in gloves (20F) and pulled the gloves off frantically. matt pulled the head lamps out of the back pack. the 20 seconds felt like minutes as they prepared for the shadow. they turned the head lamps on and peered into the darkness toward the shadow.....<br />
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turns out, neah, the still barking protector, isn't an idiot, there was a large shaped object looking at them in the dark. the bear slowly moved away into the shadows, eyes still fixed on the three of them.<br />
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just kidding. they still couldn't tell what the hell it was because of the mist...but they could see its eyes shining in the dark---and based on its height there's a 95% change it was in fact a bear. and as it moved away, all they could see was still the amorphous shadow with gleaming eyes creeping into the dark.<br />
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here's to neah, the Protector, who kept them from getting eaten.marhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05885288183575990910noreply@blogger.com1