The family is growing

I'm listening to the new Fleet Fox album, per Swedlund's suggestion, as I write this. Shannon and I watched Superbad tonight and now we"re sitting on the couch looking at our laptops. Colfax is sitting next to Shannon. His front paws are curled up under him and his eyes are closed. He has no idea that tomorrow his whole world will change. We've decided to adopt another cat, a kitten to be exact. We are a little concerned that Colfax won't like the new kitty but the whole reason we're getting another cat is because he seems bored. It seems to make sense to us that he needs a buddy. We'll soon see. I just hope he doesn't beat up him up too much.

Life has been tolerable lately. We played some poker, I got a new suit, I played squash. As you can see I don't really have anything interesting to share, and unfortunately that's why the blog has been neglected. I go to work and then to German class, and on the weekends I hangout with Shannon and usually drink with our friends. Apparenlty tomorrow we are going to a bar where everything is made of ice, the bar, the cups, everything. How obnoxious does that sound?

Shannon and I went to Rome last weekend. I liked Rome, but summer is the wrong time to go. It was too hot and there were too many tourists. But the Amitriciano (pasta dish made with tomatoes and bacon) was so good. And so was the pizza, and the salami, and the cold red wine. For some reason this is the only pic I could get blogger to upload. But its a good one.

June

Oh god I never thought I would let it go this long.  For some reason I haven't felt like posting.  Most probably because after I get home from work the last thing I want to do is use my brain to pull some patterns out of the chaos.  But here's basically what"s been going on out here in June:

Shannon has been traveling a whole bunch.  First she went to Madrid and then to Amman.  I got to go on my first business trip ever to Barcelona which was rad.  I participated in a sailing regata.

My fancy international law firm rented approximately twelve boats and put teams of us lawyers out there with a spanish skipper.  As you can see I had one of the better looking crews.  The girl in front is from the Amsterdam office and in the back is from London.  The crazy thing was we thought we were going on some sort of pleasure cruise but really ended up racing.  It was a riot. I worked me ass off cranking the crank.  We got third place.  I even got a medal.  That night in Barcelona we had a fancy dinner at the zoo and the President of the International Court of Justice spoke to us.  She really didn"t have much to say.  

Last weekend we went rafting which was cold.  This weekend we are throwing a baby shower for our friend Emily.  I followed the directions on the back of a can of Rosarita refried beans this morning and ended up with a highly satisfying chili relleno breakfast casserole.  More soon.  I promise. Here"s a picture of my feet in the Meditteranean as a parting gift.

"The easy one"

Zack used to always call Shannon's sister Lisa the "easy one" and lord, it has never been more true.  She's been here visiting us with her Dad and Dad's new wife for a week now.  On the night she arrived, before the old folks came, we took her out to a very fancy Italian dinner.  The three of us shared two bottles of wine and ate sparsely.  Then we found a great little karaoke bar and started drinking half liter starbrno's (It's beer from Czechland).  Then she starts making eyes at this douche bag in a tight shirt singing something totally corny like Matchcrotch 20.  Next thing you know he's walking over to the table and they're chatting it up.  He leaves for a minute and I tell her, jokingly, that she's got fifteen minutes to makeout with the guy because we're leaving, it's late at this point and we're all drunk.  No problem she says and now she's over there by the bar talking to him and his buddy who she is told is horny.  No she says to the first guy I'm for you.  Next thing I know douchey has delivered fresh drinks to Shannon and me, and we didn't even want more drinks we were drunk.  Then all of a sudden she's out the front door tonguing the guy.  She comes back smiling from ear to ear. He has a girlfriend she says.  I ask her what his name is.  Marcus or Marco...she laughs.  We all walk back home and Lisa's not feeling good.  She starts puking into the toilet and passes out next to the toilet.  Shannon insists that she put herself in bed, but Lisa cannot be reached she is passed out.  Amazing, 20 hours in town and she has madeout with some Austrian dude and passed out next to our toilet.  

But this is even better...

Last night we all, including the oldfolks now, go to the Ambassador's residence for the cooking class (the ambassador's residence is currently vacant).  It's us and this nice cute couple from the Embassy and the cook, Fabian.  Fabian has a girlfriend they live on the edge of town with their 3 great Danes.  He's barefoot in the kitchen his hair pulled back in a ponytail, he's unkempt wearing cargo shorts, his teeth are kind of funky, but he's cool and has a funny accent.  We go through all of the ambassador's beer and then four bottles of wine.  We cook an awesome pork roast with dumplings and slaw.  Really really really good.  Next think we know Lisa is missing...and so is the cook.  This happens a few more times while we are all cleaning up. Then as we are getting into the car she's making out with the cook in the glow of the brake lights. Her dad is in the way back of the SUV and has the best view.  Amazing.

Quick Update

I'm in the middle of a Salamone visit to Vienna.  I think I can tell that my ass is a little bigger than before they came.  We have eaten everything.  Lisa brought donuts from NY to get us started off right.  And then some boiled beef, dumplings and roasted pork, pizza, middle eastern, schnitzel, more pizza.  Right now its 7:30 in the morning and everyone has gotten up early so that we can all go to breakfast together at a French place we love.  They serve amazing croissants and marmelade and honey, oh lord.  Tonight we are going to a cooking class at the Ambassador's residence.  Apparently there is no Ambassador right now but they still have a full-time cook on staff so he's been giving cooking classes to the embassy folks.   We went last week and had a nice time.  We cooked up a whole mess of food and then sat down at the big formal dining table and used the fancy plates and silverware.  

New toy

My beautiful new macbook came in the mail today.  Shannon saw the glee on my face as I was opening it, sneered and said, "it"s not even your birthday."  No, she's right, this thing is way cooler than anything I've ever got for my birthday.   I would say more but I'm tired.  It's been a long week but there is good news: tomorrow is a random Austrian holiday.  So as long as Colfax is cool with it I'm going to sleep in tomorrow.   

Things have been great lately, and I have no doubt that the change in the weather has played a huge role. We've been spending a lot of time outside in the sun. This is a picture of Shannon and I in Munich. That was two weekends ago. We got shown around by a couple how had lived there for several years. Europe is always great for those moments when you say to yourself: wait why don't we do this in the States? Munich's example of this is the Biergarten concept. I'm sure you are all familiar with the concept and application of the Biergarten in some form but Munich"s biergartens are ridiculous. Munich has beauftiful huge parks and in the middle of every one I went to there was a Biergarten with pic-nic tables and a booth selling locally brewed Liter-sized beers. They are incredibly popular in Munich. It's the thing to do. If it's nice you go to the park, take a walk, and drink a beer. This is called gemutlichkeit in German. The German's claim the work has no translation but it basically translates to relax, get drunk, and enjoy yourself. Which I did over and over again in Munich. I don't know why we don't do this in the States. Phoenix, for example is filled with Parks and there isn't one that wouldn't benefit from a Biergarten.

On the way home from Munich we took a drive through a section of the Alps south of Salzburg. Totally ridiculous. So stunningly beautiful that I find myself drawn to them more everytime I see them. There's something about Europe. I love the ruggedness of the mountains in the US West, and the Alps don"t have that but they have majesty. They're flawless. Too bad I don't have a picture of that huh. Well next time.

This weekend we might go to Madrid if everything goes well. I want to see a bullfight. I must admit I couldn't careless if the bulls suffer. I am under no allusion that the beef I eat comes from cows who had pleasant experiences.

Okay so that's it for now except I am happy to report that I ordered a new MacBook which should arrive soon, which I hope leads to more posting.