lady & sons

our fun activity for the day was going to savannah to walk streets and enjoy some good southern food. we enjoyed a veterans day parade and i took a picture of J with some veterans riding in an old jeep for his dad since he restores jeeps. we then wandered around using our GPS which guided us to The Lady & Sons where we had some good southern cookin'. i just love a piece of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy with collard greens.

amelia island

we headed to the beach today and enjoyed the cooler weather. pabu thoroughly enjoyed the cool air as he ran around with J chasing after birds and getting all sandy. we're going to miss trips to Amelia Island! it seemed like not too long ago that we were here in our bathing suits and enjoying the warm breeze as we read.

Singapore Triathlon

my sis A competed in her first triathlon after not having competed for almost 10 years and she did amazing! i am so proud of her. she came in fourth place! it was the first time for her to swim in the ocean so it was a bit daunting for her but she recovered and passed several women in the running event. congratulations!!

born into brothels

http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/bornintobrothels/

recently we watched Born into Brothels, a more than touching film about a british-born photographer who immersed herself in the lives of children from the red light district of Sonagachi in Calcutta. moving to say the least, she equips the children with cameras as she teaches them the art of photography in the impoverished neighborhood they live in. what becomes remarkable is how with the camera in their hands, they gain a new vigor for life as they photograph their surroundings. what they photograph ultimately becomes the story of their life. as they gain hope through their art work they desire more and more to leave the brothels for a better life. what becomes immensely beautiful about the documentary is how their art work not only touches people all over the world but brings a type of beauty to the extreme poverty they live in where hope is hard to grasp.

a wonderful documentary and makes me want to return to india soon!

Hi from Newberg

Hi all, I'm here in newberg visiting fam...

uyuni and beyond...

now here's a great memory of A and i in bolivia. the setting: the little town of uyuni where the temperature was 14F. walking around in the cold at night and heading to bed at the insane hour of 7 p.m.!

rain and more rain...

i'm sure my reader audience has not missed my absence from blogging! it has been over three months since i last wrote and a lot of changes have occurred.

today is an appropriate day for blogging since as i look out our large living room windows i see a torrential downpour. no morning run this morning. about a month ago the locals told us the mosquitoes get to the point of being insanely annoying. that time has come. upon waking up at 6 a.m. to take the pooch outside to do his business i realize it is pouring down rain and it will not let up in the next minute or two to save my messy morning hairdo. i grab the one umbrella in the house, slip into john's running shoes and my rain jacket and take the pooch out. i'm sure i looked quite hilarious because of the fact i had to jump around to keep the mosquitoes from biting my legs, as i had on shorts. plus, keep the umbrella over the pooch and keep myself dry. i came back inside with a soaking wet pooch and 20 bonus mosquito bites!

on another note, J's garden is thriving and we ate our first cherry tomatoes this week!

"West Bank Story"

this ought to be a good laugh! a review to come soon...





http://www.westbankstory.com/index.html

il qahira...

this picture reminds me so much of my time in egypt. one of my friends lived in a poor section of town and i would visit her and her family from time to time. i loved going to her neighborhood since there was so much visual stimuli. i would always pick up my vegetables and cheese here since they were fresher than close to where i lived. at night it was even more chaotic with the good and the bad smells, insane traffic, tons of people, and more. you have to love it!

Pabu...

we have had Pabu one week now and he is doing so well! he does lots of little naps and here he is taking a snooze with a stuffed dog that i think reminds him of his mother. we also realized J and Pabu share the same birthday!

Happy Birthday To You!

one of the best trips i have ever taken was with my sis A to Thailand. what wonderful memories...

eating fresh oysters, bushwhacking our way to a deserted beach, loads of sun, kayaking, elephant rides, hiking, u-ing, orchid farms, long talks, crazy bus ride stories, Patpong at 2 a.m., more long talks, lots of laughing, snorkling, eating tons of Italian food, Ko Phi Phi, the ATM incident, talking about OJ, buying pearls, Suk 11, to bed at 3 a.m., kickin' new years party, Abercrombie skirts, DVDs and the police, temples, the hill tribes, time wasted at the Myanmar embassy, the crazy taxi ride to the bus station, nail biting, custom fit suits, rock climbing, boat rides, and the great companionship of a best friend! I love you A and Happy Birthday to you in Zurich!

one time tonight...!

waking up 4 times in one night to take Pabu to the bathroom was fine the first night. he is now waking up less and so i am in a deeper sleep, thus making me feel as though i am sleep walking as i take him outside to do his business. i'm finding myself having very active and completely wild dreams. last night one of my wild dreams took place in Bolivia during new years. somehow mom and dad with S were there and were at a full moon rave party dancing with locals. then A and i show up and we're all surprised and happy we somehow managed to all be together on new years eve which hasn't happened since we were in high school. the second part to my dream was A and i trying to set up our tent in the back yard of some random persons mud house during a revolution in Bolivia. could it get any wilder or exciting?! tonight Pabu slept for 6 hours straight! he and J fell asleep on the couch together before we put him to bed. they both fell asleep so fast and a loud thump couldn't have woken the two of them up.

why...?

Kareem Raheem/Reuters

"there was never a good war or a bad peace" - B. Franklin

it's hard to know where to go from here when when numbers are at 300,000 for Iraqi casualties and American casualities at over 3,000.

a sweet indulgence...

is he cute or what?! this little boy, now a man, has been wonderful for the past few days with the new addition of Pabu to our family. he has never been a lover of dogs like myself but knew some day we'd have a little pooch running around our home. thank you J for indulging me.

Pabu!

welcome the newest member of our family! Pabu!