Rugbys Coming Home!

Anyone know the song by Hermes and the House Band - Rugbys Coming Home? Every time I think of going home that song pops in my head!

And why is it in my head?

Only because I booked a flight to Michigan! I am taking 11 days this summer in mid-August and going to Michigan to visit the family and hopefully get a tan! =) Plus a ton of errands - eye exam, dentist, teeth cleaning, doctor, hair cut......my first two days have already been booked solid with appointments! Should be some good fun and relaxing before my budget process starts kicking my butt!

My Mom called the other day. My Grandparents are in the process of moving from the house where they have lived for 40+ years and into an apartment. With this many years in one place they have accumulated a LOT of belongings which just will not fit into a 2 bedroom apartment. While going through the cedar chest with my Grandma, they came across an old quilt which had never been finished - the front was sewn, but no backing and fill. My Grandmother said to toss it, but my mother thought to ask my Grandfather if he knew where it came from (there was only a tag on it saying 'To Robert XXXXX and his bride on their wedding day') My Grandfather knew right away 'It was given to us on our wedding day by my Great-Aunt who hand sewed it all together' He asked if my Mother wanted it, and she said no, but that she knew someone who would.......ME!! Of course I want it! I already am the owner of one of the worlds most ugliest quilts....also one of the warmest, which was hand sewn by my Great-Grandmother for my Dad when he was a little boy! My Grandmother also used to knit a lot when she was younger....due to shoulder replacement, declining eye sight and arthritis (and a variety of other "complaints") she no longer does so.....I've put my request in for her knitting needles and any yarn she might have around (probably acrylic, but perfect for making little turtles for my aunt's doctor practice!) we will see if my needle collection increases any!

Eeek!! Turtles! A while back Reecie over at X'Xxxxx posted a pattern on making turtles. I made a few up and asked my Aunt who is a Pediatrician if she would like some to give out to kids on the Peds Floor at the hospital. She said yes, so now I need to get my act together and start cranking those turtles out! A perfect way to bust through my acrylic stash and use up the smaller scraps!

I have been testing a pattern of a Shawl for Melissa - I am almost finished - working on the edging around. I have loved the pattern, and love how my shawl has turned out!

I am flying back to Belgium today and I should have at least 2 weeks before I need to come back to Zürich - can we hear a big WOO HOO? WOOOOO HOOOOO! Hopefully I can get caught up on my to-do list....Two weeks at home should allow me to complete it....I hope!! =)

My sister is still waiting to have her baby.....one day soon I should be announcing that Baby Girl has arrived and that I am once again an Aunt.

My poor nephew....he is being sorely outnumbered! He has one sister and soon 3 girl cousins on my side and 3 girl cousins from his Dad's sister! Of course being the only boy he is the spoiled one! =) When I told him that I was coming home and asked him what he wanted to do with me, his reply was 'Go to Target and Toy-R-US'!

Football mania continues.....

This is such great fun! After watching Argentina win last week I was back rooting for them again on Friday! Myself and Zori left work early to go watch the match.....what a match it was! For those of you who missed the match (even if you are not big into football (soccer) I would HIGHLY suggest that you watch the highlights that FIFA has posted on their web site! Here is a link http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/news/index.html click on Video -> Watch the highlights located on the right side of the screen, and select the Argentina vs Serbia-Montenegro game! What amazing goals! Oh yeah, the final score was SM 0 and Argentina.......6!!!!!!!!! And while you are there, you should check out the US versus Italy highlights...After drawing (what they call a tie in fottball) we are still in the running to be able to go on in the next round! Go USA! Vamos Argentina!!

After watching the first USA match where we lost 0-3 against the Czech Repulbic I really did not hold out much hope for my team to make it. Lets be honest, the US is NOT a football orientated country....American Football for sure, but Soccer? Not a chance! Lots of little kids play football in America until they realize about ager 10 or 12 that the 'American' sports are the place where the fame and the money is! Little do they realize that football stars are idolized outside of the US. Take a look at Ronhaldino from Brazil, David Beckham from the UK....and of course the greats like Pele and Maradona. Off that soap box! But what an awesome performance against a world-class team like Italy! After three red cards and the US playing 9 men versus 10 for the second half of the game, the US team showed what team-work and pure American grit and determination can achieve. while a win would have been icing on the cake, a draw allows America to stay in the running with Italy needing to beat the Czech Republic and America to win their next match against Ghana.

Can we do it? I think that anything is possible for the Red, White and Blue!

Here are a few shots of the next American soccer stand out...granted the world will need to wait about 13 years before he hits the international scene, but he will be there...if his Aunt Kim has anything to say about it! *grin*


     


And just so she won't feel left out, I present to you Princess Megan....or as she will often tell you....."I'm not Megan...I'm Princess Cinderella!"

  

Pictures, pictures everywhere

Well I've been very bad about blogging, and very bad about pictures in general! So to modify that one.... (Not the best pictures, but they are something!)

First up, a picture of me and Russ when he came to Brussels a few weeks back to visit:

Next a picture of me and Zori taken that same night:


Finally a picture of the inside of the Cathedral at Bath - it was very pretty!

I am moving today....offices that is! And to add some salt into the wound of moving, this is a move back to the office that I just left a few months back! And to add to the moving saga, should I decide to stay in Belgium instead of moving to Zurich, I will need to move into a different office since I will be a manager then and maagers get their own office instead of sharing with another person! Argh! I might as well not unpack my moving boxes me thinks! *grin*

Weather, football and General updates

Its a heat wave folks! What a& gorgeous weekend that we had here in Brussels, and it looks like it is going to continue - woo hoo!! The temperature yesterday here was a whopping 84° F....I'm sure many of you are thinking - bah! 84° is nothing! But for a country whose average temperature at this time of year is 67°, its a heat wave! Sunny blue skies instead of gray rain....what a great change! I spent most of the weekend in bars and on terraces.

Yes, I just said that I spent the weekend in bars and terraces! Why you ask? Well simple, its the World Cup! I adore soccer, and this years World Cup looks to be like an exciting few weeks of soccer, soccer and more soccer...or as they properly say it in Europe, Football! The opening games have already shown that this years cup should involve more goals and excitement as countries battle it out for the right to brag that they have the world's best football team! I will be leaving work as soon as possible tonight as the US is playing against Czech Republic! Go USA!!!

Vik - you will be glad to note that to the Argentina versus Ivory Coast I proudly wore the Argentina Jersey as I sat next to Zori cheering on the team! And I must say that even though he did not play, number 8 is cute!!¨ *grin*

My friends yesterday had decided that I would be rooting for Serbia-Montenegro before the game started, and of course they were right! I'm sad that they lost to Holland - they played a much better second half than the first half! Two more games to go though - will be tough on who to root for - them or Argentina! Hmm....who has the cuter team? *grin*

I have finally gotten around to mailing out all of my outstanding packages for swaps etc. I am so happy to have that off my back - yes, I was slacking but it was impossible to get to the Post Office. Hopefully everyone has gotten their packages by now....will have to check with them and see!

On the Yarn front - I have been working on testing a shawl pattern of Melissa's. It is going fairly well so far. I am using some sport weight pinky yarn that I bought a while back in Ireland. I had thought to make a blanket using it, but realized that I probably would not have enough , so this project has turned out perfect to use it for!

Have a great week everyone!!

I really AM still alive!

Hey everyone!

Yes, its me! Your favorite globe trotter! I am still alive and kicking!

It continues to be crazy here. I am travelling 100% for work right now with visits to Brussels and my belongings on the weekends! I've been bitching about living in hotels, but I guess that I am lucky to have a job and extremely lucky to be living in Europe! But even realizing that I am blessed, I still think that it is fair that I am bitching about living out of hotels....I zould be bitching just the same if I was living in Chicago and having to commute to Detroit and stay in hotels their all week!

I am still in negotiations over my promotion and location....once thats finalized, the travelling etc should hopefully calm down some! It will have to otherwise I will go insane!

I am back to Zurich on Monday and it looks like I will be staying next weekend there as well! Kim is having a housewarming party so I am going to attend that and beg a sofa space off of her! :) Although since she has threatened me with bodily harm if I even think of going back to Brussels and missing her party, I don't think that I will have to be begging too hard! *grin*

I finished a doily this week in Zurich, along with having my boucle wrap finally almost done - a few more repeats and it should be long enough! I've decided that it is just not for me, so I am now trying to decide if either of my Grandmothers will ike it....I am sure that they will like it for the fact that I made it, but I am not sure if they will like it for themselves to use! Will think on it for a while!

How is everyone else doing? I am giving up on bloglines....I have an insane number of blogs to read - will try to get back into blog reading and catch up on everyones lives - miss you all!!!