Conversations from the Road

Scene: Lance is driving and Kristin is reading the Lonely Planet Guide for Namibia.

Kristin: Y'know I really feel sorry for all the FAO families in Europe. They don't have half the opportunities for interesting illnesses that we do.

Lance: Like what?

Kristin: Plague.

Lance: Which one?

Kristin: "The."

Yeah, I crack myself up.

Hello from Namibia!

Hey Everyone,
Lance and I are in Windhoek, Namibia for a couple of days. He is doing the embassy thing and I am on the hunt for fabrics... and information about these ladies:Post Note Note: I did not take this picture. But I hope to get the opportunity soon!!!

Happy Friday America!

In honor of the Ides of March... I give you an entry from the Ides of December.

Whoa yeah. I'm kinda tired right now. It was a big, busy, beautiful weekend. But not one with a lot of sleep so I was kinda dreading doing the write-up for the blog. And then discovered that we had a very similar weekend in December which never got published. Wahoo! December truly is a month for gifts. The following was called: "Waiting For The Dough" and was written on the early morning side of an all-nighter.

Hey Everyone,

It is 3 am and I am baking chocolate raspberry muffins for a holiday goody exchange in a few hours. Who needs sleep when you have chocolate?!? While waiting for the current batch I'm catching up on a few missing blog entries. And, as I seem to have forgotten where I put my long term memory, I'm starting with today.

Today was boring. Housework, paperwork and laundry. Yucko.

That is until the very fun Christmas party at the Ambassador's residence. The turnout was really good and there was a mix of Americans from different agencies. Dress code was "holiday causal" so EVERY OTHER PERSON SEEMED TO BE WEARING A RED COLLARED, THREE BUTTON SHIRT. People seemed to have a nice time. We closed with some caroling around the baby grand with the ambassador's wife dimming the lights as we sang Silent Night. A pretty neat effect actually. We said our thank yous and good byes and headed happily home...

... where Lance and I had our own mini party with some friends and a little game called Rockband until 2 in the morning.

Tons o' fun as always though I was totally stumped by a Black Sabbath song. This was a big surprise because Ozzy is like my "brother from another mother" because we have very similar vocal ranges. But this one just killed me. Practice, practice, practice. Maybe I should decorate the wall with a few rubber bats for a little inspiration. Don't laugh, I had one on my wall in high school. Good times.

Lance rocked the house as usual. He plays lead guitar and can almost max the game when playing the really challenging stuff. If this whole Army thing doesn't work out I def see him going pro. Perhaps starting small in Europe then taking America by storm. Like Herman's Hermits.

So hours later I kicked everyone out at 0200 and started baking. And here I am still. I can hear Lance playing a video game in the other room and the kitten is passed out on the couch. What a silly kitten to be sleeping at night.

Two dozen chocolate raspberry muffins done. Two dozen to go.

***

Photos from the Goody Exchange at Adrianne's house several hours later. They are blurry and I am unrepentant because, dammit, I got the muffins done and even put on makeup in time for the party.
***
So that was December. This weekend was strikingly similar, culminating in a "There's a White Elephant in Your Pantry Party" at our house. Basically, everyone made food from what they had in their pantry and thought they would never get around to using. As you may recall, I shipped way too much food: http://00readysetgo00.blogspot.com/2008/03/full-kitchen.html

It was awesome!!!! So many goodies. Me, being the big fan of moderation that I am, made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, sugar cookies, oatmeal/craisin cookies, rice pudding and these peach pastry things. Many pantry items out of my home and into other peoples' tummies so I'm happy.

And all this is after playing Rockband with OUR VERY VERY GOOD FRIENDS, THE AMAZING AND ASTONISHING, JUST FLEW IN FROM NEW YORK CITY AND BOY ARE THEIR ARMS TIRED, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN GIVE IT UP FOR ....KIM AND LUKE!!!!!!!!!Guess who was whining about not being mentioned by name in the last blog entry?

Every instance of poor grammar in this entry was just to tick their English Major @sses off and had nothing to do with my refusal to google Strunk & White.

I use commas with reckless abandonment for joy and punishment. This is why I will never win an argument with Lance, which we are having right now and for the record I am totally right.

So now you're all caught up. Go tell compliment your housemate on something. If you do not have a housemate, this would be one of those times when your life is a little easier than it is for the rest of us and you may gloat.

The Rather Funny and Mostly Acurate Story of the 3D Fish-Etched Crystal Paperweight with Beveled Edges.

(This is the entry I wrote on March 3rd but then stuff happened and it didn't seem appropriate to post. "Game on" as they say.)

***

Okay, I'm guessing your not in the mood for a drawn out explanation (with full orchestration and three part harmony) for this blog's recent inertia. Suffice to say we have been busy and Kristin has been putting all of her creative energy into quilting endeavors.

And when I say all of my energy, I am not just switching to the first person singular here people. I mean most mornings I get up, get presentable, teach an in-home quilt class, each lunch, teach another class or write up a new class, watch an episode of Battlestar Galactica or two and ... research a quilt technique until 1am. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Except tonight I'm not sleepy so here we are again.

How've ya been?

And the kids?

That snow in the Northeast is really something isn't it?

Yulp, honey butter is one of the greatest flavor combinations known to man.

So glad you brought up the honey butter because it gives me the opportunity to give you a little insight into our life here in Gabs. Specifically, our evil evil friends. I am going to tell you the story of the 3D Fish-Etched Crystal Paperweight with Beveled Edges that looks a little something like this:

So around Christmas, some of our friends, The Wilsons, hosted a White Elephant Gift Exchange party. The idea was you wrapped up something you wanted to get rid of but thought might have some value to someone. People open the gift then have the option of keeping it or "stealing" someone else's opened gift. Tons o'fun.

Lance and I took 24 boxes of Jello Pudding and "Toilet Paper from the United States of America." Both were big hits. I walked away with a bag of novelty drinking straws and Lance left without his 3D Fish-Etched Crystal Paperweight with Beveled Edges because we left it next to the 3D Jesus-Etched Crystal Paperweight with Beveled Edges that was in the host's bookcase. Think about it. They belong together.

I thought so at least. Several weeks later the hostess discovers the extra item, ignores the appropriateness of the pairing and conspires with a third friend to sneak the fishes back into our house while we are out of the country. Embassy housing security is really brought into question at this point but I digress.

We return, discover it and sneak it into the accomplice’s freezer not realizing that her husband was just on his way to make a iced beverage.

He discovered The 3D Fish-Etched Crystal Paperweight with Beveled Edges and lamely put in my purse. I discovered it, left it in their bathroom, they discovered it and handed it to me in the dark then ran/drove away.

Yes, this is what we do for fun in Botswana. Little jealous aren't ya?

I then left it in the crystal shower soap dish of our very good friends, Thom and Debra, who at the time feeding us a wonderful dinner of pancakes for Fat Tuesday. Thom said it was a Lutheran thing. Pancakes for dinner = nice religion and nice people. So I left them nice "Thank You" gift.

All that was to basically explain that we do not want to have the 3D Fish-Etched Crystal Paperweight with Beveled Edges and are just trying to share it with our dearest friends! But this is to no avail.

(Remember the Honey Butter. It’s a story about Honey Butter. Sort of.)

So last Friday night, the Embassy Marines are hosting a chili cookoff. I didn't have time for chili (teaching like mad and I hadn't gotten the scheduling rhythm yet) so I made corn bread muffins with, you guessed it, honey butter. The ambassador gives out the award for best chili and announces that there is a surprise award to be given for best side dish.

You see what's coming don't you. I .... did not.

So he announces I'm the winner and I go up to say, "Thanks" or whatever and he (remember this is the American Ambassador to Botswana and the entire embassy staff and their families are present) hands me a gift bag that feels mighty heavy.

I look inside and see the 3d Fish-Etched Crystal Paperweight with Beveled Edges. And then I see Thom and Debra, laughing their sneaky asses off.

I think I yelped. There might have been foot stomping though no one dares to confirm this. The next morning Thom posted this on his Facebook page:

"Thom now knows what is needed for the perfect practical joke:
6 marines, 10 pots of chili, and an Ambassador."

Sigh.

We have since set a plan into motion that will soon have the 3D Fish-Etched Crystal Paperweight with Beveled Edges in someone's house other than ours'. That's all I'm saying at this point.

So that is our life in Gabs. Lance researches Africa, I do quilting classes, and forces align to give us tacky home accessories. All is well.

Who watches the Watchmen? We did on Sunday afternoon.

Hey All,

First and foremost, the service for Daniel was great. People told jokes, a guy played Jimmy Hendricks on guitar and, of course, there was a quilt or two hanging around. Now this is not as good as the "greatest memorial service ever" which had quilters, motorcycle dudes in leather and a pan flutist. That was really something! Wish it wouldn't have been necessary of course but darnit, if you gotta have one of these things its nice to go eclectic and really reflect the person's tastes.

As such, Lance and I have decided that if we ever need of a memorial service then someone needs to come dressed as a superhero. I'll let you guys work the details out amongst yourselves. Just let us know when you come to a consensus.

Speaking of superheros. Lance and I and nine of our closest friends saw Watchmen this weekend!
The movie that everyone said would never happen, happened in a big and beautiful way.

Note: if you have not read the comic book (or graphic novel... whatever) and don't particularly like dark movies, skip it. If you did read Watchmen at some point... then I'm preaching to the choir and what do you mean you've only seen it twice since it opened on Friday???

But if you didn't read it and think that "Superhero Movies" have gotten a little ridiculous in the past few years, (Spiderman III, Superman and Xmen III, I'm looking at you) see this movie for a good wake up. That's what the original comic was meant to be, a frank look at what the world would be like if were really were people who dressed up in costume and did heroic things. People are saved by people who need saving sort of thing. To steal a line one of the characters, "Why are so few of us left active, happy and without personality disorders?"

Oh, and it was a possibly crazy Englishman's 1980s response to the cold war and game theory gone arry. : ) Here is a link to the first page: http://www.scottdstrader.com/blog/ether_archives/000249.html

So that was Sunday afternoon. That morning and that evening in to the weeee hours of Monday, I worked on a new quilt class to be taught Monday morning. HAND PIECING, omg. The class went fine but I think I'll stick to machine piecing for my personal stuff.

Lance has discovered that colleges are a little more flexible with their deadlines if you don't need financial aid. As such he has been filling out applications and writing personal statements for Ohio University, Indiana University, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins. All look like they would be in good quilting locations so I'm game for whatever. Lance has already been accepted to the Navel Post Graduate School in Monterey... which would be wonderful... but he is interested in a civilian education so will probably go somewhere else. Maybe. Who knows! More info as it comes in.

Speaking of quilting, I need to get to work before the sun goes down. Colors change color in crappy embassy housing light.

: )
Kristin

going to be another day or so

Hi Everyone. This is Kristin and I'm back to good health. Thanks to everyone for checking in.

Things are well, I wrote a pretty funny entry last night about an amazing practical joke that was played on me ... but the power went out and I didn't get it posted. Saved it though and I'll post in in a few days.

I'm holding off because a friend of mine here in Botswana died unexpectedly of a heart attack yesterday. He was just 39 (dammit.) and is survived by a wife a two kids. His name was Daniel and he was a military brat, went to high school in California, loved comic books and co-owned and did marvelous work at the local quilt shop. So yeah, we had a lot to joke about.

You can see his Africas at http://www.kalahariquilts.com He was doing some really amazing work with his computer and fusing fabric which isn't posted but he was really on to something.

He and his wife, Jenny, have been infinitely generous and let me teach classes at their store. Daniel lent me great comics and Jenny would roll her eyes and smile. I just got him and Lance talking and had high hopes that the four of us would start hanging out. They were suppose to come over with the kids tonight for tacos.

So I'm not going to post anything for a day or two. It just doesn't feel right. Sorry for the downer note. Go get your collective cholesterol checked, take a stress test, go for a walk around the block and don't smoke. I'll post again when things clear up a little.