2 Little Bugs

COVID 19

2021-11-13T10:50:00.003-05:00

I decided that I needed to write about Covid 19 because in 20 years K will not remember all of the craziness that has gone on. Some thing are already starting to fade from my memory as hard as that is to believe. In January of 2020 my friend Suzanne and I went to Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Singapore. A few people asked if we were worried about the new Corona Virus in China but since were were not going to mainland China we were not worried. Our first stop was Vietnam and all was well, we went from there to Cambodia and returned back to Vietnam. When our driver picked us up he asked us to wear a mask. Suzanne flew home and I went on to Hong Kong. Things escalated quickly while I was in Hong Kong and there was a distinct fear in the air. When I arrived at the Peninsula Hotel they checked my temperature and everyone was wearing masks. During my stay the pool closed, the spa closed and all but 2 restaurants in the hotel closed. In Hong Kong everyone was wearing masks but there were none to be found in any stores. Luckily the hotel had some. From Hong Kong I went to Singapore where the situation was similar. The weather was warmer so it was possible to be outside which made things less stressful. My temperature was taken every morning at breakfast and I had room service or ate by the pool the rest of the time. The Singapore newspaper gave detailed information on every case of Covid including the age, sex and pre-existing conditions of the person with Covid. They also gave the outcome of each case. I continued to follow the Covid updates in the Singapore newspaper when I got home, it was like watching a train wreck. When I arrived in LA in February no questions were asked about when I had been and I was not asked to quarantine.

Shortly after I got home, the fear of Corona Virus started to emerge in the US as a few cases were reported. A friend from CA advised me to buy water, wipes, paper towels, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies. I went to Target and stocked up, feeling a little foolish. Little did I know that these items would not be available for over a year. Grocery shelves would soon became bare. Over the next year other items because difficult to find, butter, meat and other basic items. A year and half later the US experienced a supply chain crisis and many items were backordered. At this time it is unclear what the issue was. Supposedly ships from China were stuck in the harbors because there were no truck drivers to deliver the products.

From February to March of 2020 cases of Covid continued to spread throughout the world. Italy became a hot spot, possibly because of workers from China. K came home for spring break in mid March. Some universities had already announced that they would be closed for the rest of the year and classes would go online via zoom. SMU said that they would give the students an extra two weeks off and resume classes. This was not to be and they ended up closing for the rest of the school year and moving the student's belongings into storage. K and I drove to Palm Beach for spring break. Our plans were to spend time with her cousin, Harry, but on our way down he called and said he was heading home early. The beaches had just been closed. Our hotel was open but as were we there restaurants closed and were offering take out only. Our hotel restaurant was still open but the day we left breakfast was to go only. Stores started to close when were we there and there was an eerie quiet throughout Palm Beach. We had planned to stop in Gainsville on the way home but drove strait home. We were in our Tesla and no fast food restaurants were open so we went to the bathroom at gas stations. There was a restaurant with a table set up selling Bloody Mary's and other drinks. Curbside would become popular during Covid and we became very spoiled being able to pick up food at high end restaurants like Umi and Chops among other favorites.

When we got home everything had closed. Grocery stores were open and that was all. There was no traffic on the streets and I wandered around in my pajamas like a zombie all day. I finally decided I needed to get dressed and start organizing and cleaning my house. This was a common theme with everyone stuck at home. This continued through the summer. At the grocery store people were wearing masks, gloves and were instructed to stay 6 feet apart. Grocery aisles were supposed to be one way but people did not follow this directive. Most businesses remained closed for the remainder of 2020 and we remained in quarantine for the rest of the year. People worked remotely and classes were held remotely. Zoom became a very popular word.

K took several classes remotely over the summer since there was nothing going on and it put her in a good position to graduate on time. I took K back to school in August and it was the first time we had done anything since March. It was such an odd, scary feeling to be around people. Move in was so easy because the people who moved K's stuff out had moved it all back in and it was waiting for us when we arrived. Moving was socially distanced and allowed move in times were very spread out so there were not the typical crowds. It felt so strange and scary to eat in restaurants and go into stores. The hotel experience was very different. Room service was left outside of our door. There was no maid services. Towels and robes were frayed because of the huge financial hit that the hotel industry had taken. Although K was back on campus her classes were still taught via zoom. At Thanksgiving she came home and stayed home until January. She attended her last couple of weeks of class via zoom from her bedroom and took her exams from home. We did go to Cabo for Christmas since it was one of the few places open to Americans. K took a Jan term class from home and went back to campus in mid January. Most of her classes remained online.

In Jan of 2021 the vaccine became available. I spent a lot of time trying to find a vaccine and finally a friend told me about a hospital where they were available. I immediately signed up and planned a trip to Palm Beach. I did get horrible heart burn for four months after the vaccine and still don't know if it is related. K got her vaccine in the spring. Many Americans are opposed to the vaccine and a large percentage of the population is not vaccinated. There was no spring break and school ended early. During the summer K took another online class and had an internship that she was able to do remotely. Italy opened up to Americans and we took a three week trip to Italy.

K went back to school in August and classes were in person. Are things back to normal? It is hard to tell. Supposedly the vaccine keeps people from getting so sick and being hospitalized but doesn't stop the spread. There is a new variant of Covid that is even more contagious. Now a booster shot is required which I am on the fence about. I know a lot of people who have gotten Covid, some have been sicker than others. I don't know anyone personally who has died but there have been there have been over 5 million deaths. It is now November 2021 with almost two years in and currently there is no end in sight. I have had 6 Covid tests. Three were required for travel, one required by my dentist and two because I wasn't feeling well. Having a swab jammed up your nose is pretty uncomfortable! K and I still wear masks to be careful. So many Americans are opposed to masks. Wearing a mask when working out is rough! We can now easily buy now masks, gloves, wipes and all the things things that were previously unavailable.We are looking froward to celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with friends and family this year.

One of the saddest things about Covid has been people in the hospital not being able to have visitors. I had a friend who died alone in the hospital. Another's friends mother had a stroke and my friend could not go visit her in the hospital. She was then moved to a rehab facility and was not allowed visitors. My friend could not even get anyone on the phone to find out how her mother was doing. So sad.

That's a Wrap

2019-06-08T12:58:00.001-04:00

That's a wrap and she is off to SMU in the fall!

Baccalaureate and awards ceremony. Gold Eagle honor roll for K. Straight A's!!!!

Fun party with friends and relatives

No great graduation pics because we were so far away.

Celebrated with cousins

Cabo

2019-03-24T12:16:00.002-04:00

Our last spring break of high school, such a bittersweet time. We wanted a relaxing trip so we went to Cabo and stayed at Esperenza. It did not disappoint! Our room was beautiful with a fabulous view. We had perfect weather and got lots of fun. We ate our fill of yummy Mexican food!

Beautiful view from our room

The restaurant gave us after dinner drinks. I should have known something was up because they were served in skull shaped glasses. We didn't realize they contained alcohol. We were both about sick! Poor K's head was spinning.

Lounging by the pool on the fun side of the wall!

Lunch by the pool was so good

We mostly hung out at our resort but we did go to Flora Farms one day and had the best meal I've had in a long time!

Fiesta one night at our hotel

Corona severed in a cute cactus glass

Met this fun family from Atlanta

Our hotel had a decoration on the beach every day. This one was for Women's Day.

Friends from Dallas joined us

Fun fire pit at our hotel

K in her SMU t-shirt

That's a wrap!

Last Christmas

2019-01-26T18:09:00.001-05:00

Since this was K's last Christmas in high school we decided to go big! She may want to stay home for the holidays when she is in college next year.

We decided to to to French Polynesia with a stop in California. Any stop in California requires at least one stop at In and Out Burger. In this case 2 stops because I had to bribe K to go back to the airport to look for my Kindle. We didn't find it so we had to make a Christmas Eve stop at the mall to buy books. She was a good sport.

We spent the first night at the Bay Club in Newport Beach and watched the boat parade. Actually, K watched tv and my friend Stacy and I watched the boat parade. The next night we moved up to Pelican Hill. We had a beautiful room with a fireplace and we relaxed and really enjoyed just hanging out. We went to Stacy's for Christmas Eve and had a great time. Wonderful food, singing and games.

Christmas night we were off to Tahiti after Japanese BBQ.

Moorea was our first stop in French Polynesia. We had an over water villa that had a view of Tahiti.

Breakfast on our balcony.

On to another even more spectacular over water villa in Bora Bora.

Relaxation room after massages

Beautiful pool

Ray feeding

Coffee table in our room with top that slides off to feed the fish

These pictures do not do our room justice!

Breakfast delivered in a canoe.

Ceviche making lessons. So yummy!

We also went on a cruise that went to several smaller islands.

Lots of chickens on the grounds of hotel in Moorea

Several lizards lived in our room.

This is the extent of what there is to buy in French Polynesia. Every thing is imported. Food was very expensive and not great.

We spent the last night in Tahiti. This was a wedding that was spectacular. This picture does not do it just. The singing was beautiful.

Watching the sunset in the bar, K ordered milk and got a very strange look.

My download got jumbled. Moorea.

Bora Bora

A ride in the canoe while we were waiting for breakfast to be set up.

Final night in Tahiti.

A Summer of Cable Cars and Hiking

2018-11-11T13:22:00.000-05:00

This is long overdue! K is slogging through her senior year. College applications are finished and we are anxiously waiting. In the meantime, I need to catch up on this blog, so here is what we did over the summer. We looked at a lot of colleges but I really didn't take any pictures.

We went hiking in Italy, France and Switzerland with cousins and friends. We stopped in NYC for a couple of nights and then flew to London for a couple of nights. Then we flew to Zurich and took a train to a small town called Chur. The next day we took the Bernini Express to meet the group in Milan. The Bernini Express was scenic and pretty but pretty much like every other Swiss train we have been on. Is there is Swiss train that doesn't go through beautiful areas? Is there a part of Switzerland that isn't beautiful?

Meeting in Milan went smoothly. I actually had an afternoon to shop before everyone arrived! We picked up cars and headed into the mountains. Our first stop was Courmayeur, a beautiful and quaint mountain town. It is on the Italian side of Mont Blanc.

Our next stop was Annecy for a start leg of the Tour de France. We stopped in Megeve for lunch but our friends decided to skip lunch and head to Annecy. It was a good thing because our 2 hotel rooms were really just one room with a wall. We stayed in Megeve. Had the best lunch ever! Found a charming hotel. Even better news, there is a new Four Seasons in Megeve. Had we known we would have stayed there but it was a bit out of the way. We did have an unbelievable sushi dinner there.

Then it was on to Bourg St Maurice for a finish leg of the Tour de France. Another cable car ride to keep the kids entertained before the race. Our hotel room had a view of the hotel gardens.

Then it was on to Chamonix on the French side of Mont Blanc. Definitely a high point of the trip. Great food. There was a restaurant across the street from our hotel that had the best breakfast and bakery. We went up the Aiguille du Midi which was a very scary cable car ride. K and I braved The Void which was up even higher and we stepped into a glass box on the side on the mountain. It was very disorienting!

Next stop was Zermatt Switzerland. Our itinerary was a loop from Milan to Milan. We loved our hotel in Zermatt! We had traditional fondue and K ate lots of rosti. We went on a hike but did not have great weather that day but it was still fun!

Next stop was planes, trains and automobiles. We went to Mureen which can only be reached by cable car. It wasn't clear when the cable car stopped running so we were rushed and would have loved to have spent more time in Kandersteg where we stopped along the way. Turns out the Murren cable car runs until midnight. We took a cable car in Kandersteg and then hiked to a lake. It was a beautiful hike and we passed lots of cows and we rewarded with a yummy lunch. Really wanted to ride the mountain coaster but were afraid we would miss our cable car. Soit was on to Murren, nothing like dragging your luggage on a cable car and having to change cable cars to reach a car free village. It was worth the work! We had views of the Jungfrau and Eiger. We took a cable car (again!) up and hiked down with a stop for lunch.

It was time to head back to Milan but we broke the trip up with a stop in Ascona on Lake Maggiore. Our hotel had beautiful lake views and the kids were happy because there was a pool. The following day on the way to Milan we stopped in Como for a boat tour of the lake, drinks at the Villa d'Este and dinner. Great way to end the trip!

Then is was time to say good bye. K and I flew to Naples and went to Capri for a week for some R and R (after all that hiking!) We ate, we shopped, we ate, we lounged in the sun, we had dinner with a fabulous view of the blood moon, we shopped some more and ate some more. Loved our hotel!!!!

Foster Pets

2018-04-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

We have had so many foster pets, I have lost count. The kittens, especially, have been too many to count. Lots of dogs with medical issues.

Antwon an older guy with skin issues

Lunchbox, a puppy with a broken paw who constantly kept us entertained!

Luke who was adopted and went missing for over a year. He was finally found and this picture was taken of him when I picked him up form the shelter he had been taken to.

One of the many kittens

Ollie, a 13 year old blind and deaf guy who is about as sweet as they come.

Evie, K's favorite. We cared for her until she recovered from mange.

Beegee. A sweet guy who was wild while he was at the shelter and had been overlooked for months. He calmed down and became a snuggly guy at our house and was adopted within a week!

Prom

2018-04-22T11:17:00.000-04:00

K said that the after party was more fun than prom. She liked being with a smaller group of just her friends. I don't have any pictures of her date (who is just a friend) because they met at prom and another boy who was also meeting his date at prom picked her up. Logistics are different when kids live far from school in opposite directions.

Spring 2018

2018-04-11T11:12:00.000-04:00

This spring (Junior Year) seems to be all about studying, studying for the ACT, babysitting and practicing piano. We did take a short trip to Chicago for winter break and for spring break we went to NYC, London and Ireland.

Our two night stop in NYC was brief and very cold. A warm bowl of ramen helped K get through the day.

In London we spent an interesting afternoon at the Churchill war rooms.

We were then onto the most amazing place in Ireland called Ballyfin. The weather did not co-operate and we had to cancel our falconry and shooting plans. We spent most of our time by the fire, reading and eating cookies. No complaints!

We did lots of touring in Dublin and a highlight was the library at Trinity College Dublin.

Winter Wedding

2018-04-08T11:01:00.000-04:00

K's cousin Richard and sweet Anna Gayle got married on New Year's Eve. It was a beautiful night and a beautiful wedding. It was extremely cold and snow started falling just before midnight.

Frances and Kathleen giving a rehearsal dinner speech

Nana, Vicky and Harrison

K, Anna Gayle, Richard and me. I'm very short!

Anna Gayle's family

Cutting the cake.

Another Summer Trip

2017-10-01T14:19:00.001-04:00

K worked at New Horizons again this summer, a camp for underserved children. She really enjoys it. She also wanted to attend a drawing class so we decided on a class at Oxford. We flew to New York and spent the night and took a morning flight to London. Best decision ever! We got on the plane, had breakfast and watched movies all day and arrived in London in the early evening. We got to our hotel and had dinner and woke up the next day feeling great! It helped that we were in the upper deck of a 747 so it was almost like having our own plane. I'm so sad that those planes are going away.

It was so hot in NYC. We walked around a bit and ended up having dinner at Gramercy Tavern, always one of my favorites!

Living the dream

I decided to try a kind of hipster hotel. What can I say? I am definitely not a hipster!

Dinner at Sexy Fish. Disappointing.

Hotel basement.

Hotel bowling alley.

Hotel movie theatre.

Rooftop garden. Now this I liked!!!

White garden at Kensington Palace. So beautiful. We saw the Princess Diana dresses. I loved the exhibit. We also saw the Queen's gifts at Buckingham Palace. The Queen gets a lot of gifts!

While K was in her drawing class I took a walking tour of Oxford. Amazing architecture and history.

I also went to the Oxford Botanical gardens which were lush and beautiful.

Dinner one night at a restaurant on the river where the punts launch. It was really fun to sit and watch them. We finally had decent weather.

On our final day in Oxford we went to Blenhiem Palace. I would love to go back and spend more time. It is truly beautiful and the grounds are amazing. We took a tour in a covered gold cart and learned so much about the Palace and the grounds.

We went back to London and the went out to Richmond to spend the day. We had lunch at Petersham Gardens which was just amazing. The food was wonderful and the setting was stunning.

On our return trip to London we stayed at the Berkeley Hotel. We loved their stunning afternoon tea.

Then we made a stop in Paris for four nights. After being in cold, crowded London it really seemed like we were on vacation. The weather was perfect! Although the summer vacation had not started yet the city did not seem at all crowded. We did try to go to the Catacombs and the line was hundreds of people. Next time will will get tickets in advance.

We stayed at the Bristol, an oasis of calm.

K loves the hotel cat.

Fabulous food!

Love this sculpture.

I want to live here!

After a long layover in NY our flight was delayed because this "emotional support" dog did not want to sit in coach. Can't say I blame her!

Kyoto

2017-07-04T12:29:00.000-04:00

We were sad to leave Tokyo but our next four days in Kyoto were very interesting and gave us real insight into traditional Japanese culture. We visited many shrines and did a lot of hiking which we always enjoy!

Our "city view" for our room at the Four Seasons in Kyoto. Little disappointing!

The hotel had a geisha perform evening.

She stopped by our table as we were eating dinner. She was so cute!

More ramen for K

Wagyu steak for me. Not so great.

The outdoor dining area at the hotel was really peaceful and lovely.

There were people in waders every morning cleaning out the pond.

The hotel had interesting flower arrangements.

We loved the Arashiyoma Bamboo Forest. Although it was very crowded, it was so lovely and peaceful.

Our next stop was the Iwatayama Monkey Park. It was an enjoyable hike up a hill to the 100 Japanese Macaques.

You go inside this structure to feed the monkeys who are on the outside.

View of Kyoto from the park.

Our next stop was the Golden Temple. The top two floors of the temple are covered in gold leaf and there is a zephyr on the top. It was my favorite.

The Shimogamo shrine was really nice because it was not crowded. There is a beauty shrine where when you pay 800 yen and then take a wooden paddle of a face and put make up on it to resemble how you would like to look. We couldn't figure out how it worked so we are looking the same as usual.

Sweet Ayano was helping us even when she wasn't with us. She booked a table at AWOMB. It was a set price, fixed menu. The food was good. We were not sure what all we were eating but it was so yummy and artfully presented.

K hanging out in our hotel room. The room really was lovely!

They put a rock outside of your room if they were servicing the room.

On our last day we visited the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine. I loved this shrine. There are many statues of foxed who are messengers to god. This was originally a shire to the god of rice but is now a shrine to the god of business.

There are over 10,000 vermillion Inari Tori that lead up to the top of Fushimi. They date from 711 AD.

The higher up the mountain the less crowded it became.

Would love to know what this sign says.

After our long hike we headed to the Nishiki Market for a late lunch.

There was lots of good shopping in the area around the market.

Our final dinner was quite an experience. So much fun and we enjoyed our ramen!

Flower arrangement on the room service table.

So sad to be leaving Kyoto. I even think the signs in the train station were pretty. The train station had lots of great food options and of course was so clean!

Back home. Bert eating the treat that Ayano's cat sent him. Such a fun trip!!!

Tokyo

2017-07-01T17:23:00.001-04:00

Our trip to Japan was so much fun! It was way beyond my expectations!! Tokyo is an amazing city. I couldn't believe how clean it was-I felt like I could lick the subway seats (I didn't!). The people are so nice and our trip was extra special because we spent lots of time with Ayano who was our exchange student a few years ago. She is so sweet. She took us to the most delicious restaurants, arranged tickets and tours for us and made our trip so enjoyable and fun! While we were in Tokyo we spent a lot of time eating and shopping!

This was my favorite meal (although we had so many great meals it was hard to choose. This dinner was thinly sliced beef that we got to grill ourselves. It was accompanied by vegetables and dipping sauce. One thing that I thought was interesting about a lot of the places where we ate, the restaurants were on the upper floors of high rise buildings so in addition to great food we got a great view!

Morning trip to the fish market. We planned to get up to go to the tuna auction and although I was awake at 4AM I didn't feel like standing in line for a few hours.

Hachiko. The dog who waited for his master. That movie makes me so sad!

We loved our visit to the cat cafe. The cats were so chill.

And then we stopped for an afternoon snack.

This was my favorite shopping place in Tokyo. It is a new mall called Ginza Six. We stayed in the Ginza part of town. I really liked it, it reminded me of the upper east side of NYC. There were lots of shopping and many good restaurants.

This art installation is amazing!

I was obsessed with the toilets! This one had a place to put your baby.

Ayano's mother works at the DIET which is like the Capitol in Washington. She arranged a private tour for us which was really interesting and fun!

We met the congressman (or whatever it is called in Japan) who Ayano's mother works for. We got to have tea with him. I liked is life sized poster of himself he had on his door.

We went to an area called Roppongi for dinner one night. I loved the crystal guy on the ceiling and the food was great as usual.

This spider sculpture is so interesting. It is called Mama because she has eggs in her belly.

See the eggs.

A great view of the Tokyo Tower. We went up in it one day and it gives you a great perspective of what a huge city Tokyo is.

One afternoon we went to a traditional tea ceremony. We had not had lunch and were expecting traditional tea snacks. I don't know where I got that idea since we were in Tokyo, not London.

We got 3 little beans and also got to eat the tea leaves.

Also 3 water chestnuts and a little fish.

We spent a day with Rena who is an exchange who stayed with another family in Atlanta. She is so sweet. We shopped and ate. Had pizza and then met Ayano and another exchange student and went to the Ramen Museum.

Ramen Museum.

Really cute and really good ramen.

We met Ayano's cat who is so funny. He was eating a smelly snack out of a squeeze tube.

One of my favorite things was the food halls in the basement of the stores. This was the one at Ginza Six.

Ayano and K went to Disney Sea one day and I stayed behind and shopped. Not quite sure what this was!

Our hotel lobby.

Dinner with Ayano's mother. The food was so amazing!!!

Stopped by the food hall at Ginza Six to pick up some cat tongue cookies but the line was an hour long! Everyone waiting in line was so calm and polite.

We couldn't wait to go to Ayano's favorite spicy ramen noodle place. Very, very spicy!!!!!

Afterwards we had Ice Monster. It was so good!!!

I loved the subways in Tokyo. They are so clean and once you get the hang of it they are really easy. Our hotel had a subway station in the basement. A great feature is if you are struggling suddenly a door pops open and smiling face pops out and helps you! The first time it scared but this time we were so happy to see the smiling, helpful face!

Also in the basement of our hotel was the pastry kitchen with large window so you could watch the pastry chefs at work.

K loved this drink.

Dinner at Gonpachi with ayano and her mom. It was so good with a great view. Ayano used to work here.

More toilet obsession.

The food at our hotel was really good! And there was a Starbucks across the street.

Ramen vending machine. K and I agreed that this was our favorite meal. They gave us a bib and a hair band to hold our hair back.

Meiji Shrine. We kept the shrines and museums to a minimum when we were in Tokyo. I did enjoy the Edo museum but the girls could not get out of there soon enough!

There are vending machines everywhere. Even beer vending machines. And you can use your subway pass at vending machines.

One of my other favorite things was simple syrup everywhere! Why don't we have this? It is a Starbucks and all of the coffee places we visited. My other favorite thing (I didn't get a picture) was the parking lots. They suck your car in the stack it up like a rubics cube.

Loved the subways. This is the guy with the white gloves who gently shoves everyone onto the train.

Another great meal with another great view.

Ghibli Museum was such a fun afternoon. We were so lucky that Ayano's mom got us tickets. They are very hard to get and sell out in advance. The museum was in a suburb and it interesting getting to see other parts of Tokyo.

Our hotel room had a great view!

Our room overlooked the DIET where Ayano's mother works

We loved our 10 days in Tokyo and were so sad to go!

Seventeen and Spring Break!

2017-03-19T13:42:00.004-04:00

K's seventeenth birthday was uneventful because it fell during a week when she had several tests and a term paper due. Seems like all she does these days is study. She did get her hair done as her birthday present of choice and it turned out so pretty!

Our spring break was right after her birthday and we went to CA for spring break. We spent 3 nights in Laguna in a beautiful ocean view room. It was so cold we enjoyed the beach from our room. We did see lots of friends and went to a sea lion sanctuary. Then we headed up to LA. The weather improved and we were able to get some pool time in and spent a day in Malibu. Harrison was in town doing some campus mission work at UCLA so we got to hang out with him in the evening.

Room with a view

A day in Malibu. Lunch at Nobu.

Dinner with Harrison. Lots of props! Good food and a fun evening.

Poolside at the Peninsula.

Got home and picked up this little cutie for foster. He had been begging me to take him home every time i passed his run, How could I resist those eyes??? He is the sweetest little guy.

End of 2016

2016-12-31T11:56:00.000-05:00

November and December flew by! We had 20 people for Thanksgiving and have had 4 parties since then. We decided to stay home for Thanksgiving and Christmas with our million dollar cat. Bert has made a miraculous recovery and we are enjoying every moment with him.

K skated with these fun cute girls!

Fostered this little cutie who was obsessed with our gerbil.

Bert relaxing.

We thought that because we had so much experience with diabetic cats we would foster this cat. We have new appreciation for how sweet and tolerant Bert was with his shots and blood sugar curves. Miller is plotting to kill us.

More skating and overpriced hot chocolate.

Had Christmas dinner with our favorite family who seem like they should be our family!

K is smitten with this little foster puppy! She is such a gentle, sweet soul.

Happy New Year!!!!

Fall Catch Up

2016-10-23T17:22:00.004-04:00

Fall has mostly been studying and babysitting, a cute foster beagle, more studying, homecoming, more studying and a trip to Dallas to visit friends and tour SMU.

Happy Birthday Bert!

2016-09-30T14:02:00.000-04:00

Bert turned 14!!!! He had a rough summer. We have been unable to control his diabetes and his blood sugar has been high all summer even though his insulin has been increased. He spent 3 weeks in the ICU at UGA while we were gone. He had radiation to his pituitary gland because the doctor thought that a tumor on his pituitary glad had caused Bert to have acromegaly and that was why his blood sugar was so high. I'm discouraged because the radiation did not seem to help and we are still struggling to get his blood sugar down. He continues to be a great cat and has a great attitude. He throughly enjoyed his birthday party!!! Emma, Sophie and Abby came to help celebrate!

Edit: Three years later Bert is almost 17 and his blood sugar is completely normal! It took a couple of months for it to return to normal but the radiation worked and he is a happy, healthy guy!

Back to school

2016-09-21T14:28:00.000-04:00

First day of 10th grade. Hard to believe! These two went to kindergarten together!

Summer Vacation Part Three

2016-09-20T13:40:00.000-04:00

We were using miles for our trip and because we changed plans a couple of times we ended up an extra week after leaving Capri. We took the train to Milan and picked up a car and drove to Lugano. We took advantage of the time we had to look at a small university in Lugano, Franklin University. K decided that the school is too small for her. Her high school class is over 300 and this school is only 500 people. We drove from Lugano to Megeve, France to see a leg of the Tour de France. I decided that we would drive over the mountains because I was nervous about going through the Mont Blanc tunnel. It was a long day but the drive was spectacular. We got stuck in Tour de France traffic-something I had not accounted for and a 5 hour drive turned into an 8 hour drive. From Megeve and we drove to Lyon in search of paintings and then worked our way to Venice, via Turin, for our flight home.

The top of the mountain. Moments before we saw a sheepherder with beautiful long horn sheep. Still kicking myself for not getting a picture.

Once we finally got to our hotel we were shocked to see that the team from Astana was staying in our hotel! How cool is that???

I love the food in Europe but sometimes I get a tired of the lack of variety. I was happily surprised to see fajitas on the menu. The green beans and corn were interesting. Overall, they were really good!

Lining up for the parade at the start of the Tour de France.

Love the Madeline pan and the guy standing in the bag of flour.

Staging area for the racers and their support teams.

Megeve is a very sweet little town. And you know how I love a French pharmacy.

The people sitting on the ground are watching the Tour de France on a big screen.

Views from our hotel room in Venice.

Views while having dinner

Water taxi on the way to the airport.

Capri

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We continued on to Capri for a few days. More eating and shopping. Perfect weather and wonderful food and wine! And more aperols!!

I think K (who doesn't like to shop!) had had enough!

So sad to say good bye to Capri and Bev.

Summer Vacation-Part 2

2016-09-14T13:35:00.000-04:00

We turned in our rental car in Como and got on a train to Naples. BFF Bev from Chicago met us and the next day a driver picked us up to go to Positano. Bev had been in the UK and requested that we not see any castles or go to any museums. So shopping and eating it was!

We took a cooking class in Ravello

Larry Elison's helicopter landing on his yacht

K finds animal friends wherever she goes

Bev's new favorite drink

Breakfast was served on our terrace every morning

Bev bought so much stuff she had to buy another suitcase

We took the boat to Amalfi one day

View from where we had lunch

Breakfast in our hotel

View looking up from our hotel

Loved the kitchen in our hotel. Beautiful tiles.

Brief Stop in Como

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We were so sad to have to say good bye to Switzerland. I had to figure out where would be the easiest place to drop our day. I originally thought we would drop it in Milan but in doing some research I found I could drop the car in Como. I figured that would be much easier to do than trying to find my way around Milan. And who doesn't like lunch at Villa d'Este! The drive from St. Mortiz was mountainous but easy peasy. I almost felt like I was cheating with an automatic and navigation. Remembering back to 10 years ago when we drove manual transmission cars and read maps while driving around Europe.

Lunch at Villa d'Este did not disappoint. The weather did not co-operate.

St Moritz

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Our final stop in Switzerland was St. Moritz. We had planned lots of hiking but the weather did not co-operate. We spent a day shopping and eating and took a bus to a town called Soglio, one of the most beautiful small towns in Switzerland.

Kite surfing in St. Mortiz

Cozy flambee dinner on a cold, rainy night

Bus ride to Soglio. Our bus driver had impressive driving skills. Our hotel room came with bus passes.

We stopped for lunch in Soglio and our restaurant had the most amazing garden. There were a pair of these amazing trees.

It was a cold, rainy day in Soglio.

Lucerne

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We continued on to Lucerne. The nice thing about traveling around Switzerland was that our drives were less than two hours. It was really hot in Lucerne! I think it must have been unusually hot because our hotel did not have AC. We had a couple of adventurous days. On the first day we did Fox Trails again. We did it last year in Zurich. You follow the trail of a fox around the city. It really is hard if you are not at all familiar with the city. We met a group of wood carvers from Lichtenstein who were also doing the train so we teamed up with them. The next day we went to Mt. Pilatus. We took a boat to a cog wheel train which took us to the top of the mountain. From the we hiked a wild flower trail that went to the very top of the mountain. It was really fun. There were hundreds of different flowers that were labeled. To get back down we took a cable car. It stopped half way down and we rode a summer bob sled and then continued onto another cable car. Finally, we took a bus to get back to our hotel.

The woodcarvers

Boat to the cog wheel train

Cog wheel train

Top of Mt Pilatus wild flower trail

That red speck over there is the cog wheel train. Amazing Swiss engineering.

Cable car on the way down.

Summer bob sled ride

They attach you to cable and you get pulled back up the mountain at the end of the bob sled ride. Loved going by the cows and listening to their bells.

Grindlewald

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Our next stop was Grindlewald. This is a great place to stay in order to take the train to the Jungfrau Joch (the highest point in Europe). The train ride to the top is only 2 hours from Grindlewald.

We stopped for lunch in Interlaken on the way from Monreux. This river really is this color! All of the lakes and rivers that we saw were this amazing shade of green.

The view from our hotel in Grindlewald.

Train ride on the way to the Jungfrau Joch. The green was so lush and as your looked out you could see lots of ski area. I really wish that we would have hiked part of the way down.

We had lunch at the top and I had this special beer hell. Not bad!

There was a lot of snow at the top and it was really cold. This was a tough trip to pack for but I was so glad we had our puffer coats.

This an ice cave at the top also. The floors are ice, I thought for sure I was going to fall and break something.

Polar bears and penguins.

One night when we set out for dinner we noticed a festival going on. It was all locals-no tourists, except us. We ended up spending the evening, listening to music and eating and drinking. It was a beautiful, fun, very unexpected evening.

Montreux

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Our second stop was Montreux. We had a room with an incredible view of the lake. The main reason we went to Montreux was to take the Chocolate Train that leaves from Montreux and stops in Gruyere and Broc. The Chocolate Train did not disappoint and K declared that it was one of her favorite things on our trip.

Views of the lake from our room in Montreux.

The charming town of Gruyere. Our stop here included a tour of a cheese making factory.

We had lunch in Grueyre. K out ordered me and had delicious pasta arrabiata. I had never had raclette so decided to give it a try. They brought out this thing that was kind of like a curling iron but 100 times hotter. The heat coming off of the thing was about to kill us! I was then given a bowl of boiled potatoes, onions and pickles to dip in the cheese. I can say I have tried raceltte.

The chocolate train was a vintage train that was so cute and the ride was scenic and relaxing.