The first thing on today's agenda is to send some mad birthday love to a very special person back stateside.
Happy Birthday to our niece. We love you and miss you much.
At Lincoln Park Zoo...out with her cool Aunt and Uncle!
So after last week's blog about skiing, I decided it might be a good idea to purchase a helmet just in case the ski gods weren't as forgiving when we go to Zermatt in a month. Safety and Frattiness are of the utmost importance.
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| Thinking about conquering the slopes and being Fratty |
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| Is wondering why she married her husband |
Since my intensive Germany class came to an end last friday, I've technically been on vacation from my vacation. I'm not sure what one calls a vacation from sabbatical, so I'm going with vacation from vacation. So during that time I've been watching live feeds from the Senate floor on CNN. While it's been interesting, it's also been very frustrating. All I wanted to see was the cloture vote and the actual live debate and vote for the START treaty. I guess what made it real frustrating is that I actually went out and reviewed the Treaty highlights in preparation of the debate and instead of a vote I watched a few senators stand up and deliberate about Judges and the ACLU. From my limited understanding of senate procedures, this was a classic case of filibuster. Three hours later, I understand why things, sometimes, don't get done in Washington.
What does the START treaty have to do with me and Zurich? Well like congress, I am accountable to people; family, friends, and especially my wife. Similar to the senate, I toss around a few ideas to get feedback and funding and then I vote on what I want to do. Recently I tossed a few ideas out about traveling...Dublin, Edinburgh, Moscow, Bangkok, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Rome, Florence, Milan, London....the people (the wife) have spoken, all the locations (Amsterdam by the slimmest of margins) were approved while Moscow and Bangkok didn't make the cut this round. Something about my sense of adventure and traveling alone, corruption (i.e. winter olympics and world cup) and the movie Brokedown Palace were too much to overcome. So I booked my flights to London, Dublin, and Amsterdam and will take the four hour train up to Edinburgh, Scotland after traveling from Dublin to London. An old friend from college, Fratty Matty, suggested that I do an author tour for James Joyce and Oscar Wilde while in Ireland...Done and Done. Just need to grab me some Joyce and Wilde and hibernate at my Starbuck's office for a few weeks.
On the topic of flights, the in-laws are arriving in Zurich at 8:08am from Hotlanta. (I later found that it was pushed back to 8:11)
e.g. Los Angeles, LX1279, LX016, Swiss
Daily view , Last update: 07:41:24
| 07:45 | 08:08 | DL 066 | ATLANTA Hartsfield Intl. | 2 | |
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The code share flights written in italics are operated by the airlines written in non italics. |
As you can see, their flight is delayed, but Delta 66 should be on the ground in less than 30 minutes. On Thursday, same flight #, our little brother and his wonderful Idahoan girlfriend arrive and our holiday can officially start. Can't forget that we also have to skype with my parents as well. Holiday meaning opening gifts and drinking and consuming copious amounts of vino and local gastronomy!
Speaking of Idaho, did you know that Idaho is one of the
FOUR fastest growing states in the union? Yes, I'm up on my Census too, 308.7 million strong!
In preparation for the Holidays we continued our tradition of purchasing a WEINACHT (Xmas) Tree.
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| The Ten Year Old...while her dad loads up the Tree |
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| This Ten Year sold us our tree...no joke |
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| STREEEEEEETCH |
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Our Happy Family
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....and Chocolate treats!
So from our family to yours. We wish you a very Happy Holiday Season and may all your chocolatey dreams come true!
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| Taking the tree home on the tram...random guy wants to be in our diverse family |
P.S, enjoy the attached pictures. Random shots that didn't quite make the blog thus far.
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| Fondue with my classmate and her husband |
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| Fondue...yummy |
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| Still haven't attended Karaoke. |
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| HauptBahnhof Xmas Market. Swarovski Tree, Bling Bling |
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| Bling Bling |
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| HauptBahnhof, I have no clue |
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| Gondola at Flumserberg |
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| Mere Mortals! |
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| Nice view at Flumserberg |
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| Taylor getting fitted for Ski Boots |
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| No plowing or salt. Ridiculous |
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| Look at that uphill slope, no ice, no shoveling |
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| Slip and slide...look at that slide mark in the center right |
Mark Fratty Matty as envious! I've never been, but all I know who have been to Dublin adore it. It's one of those magical cities. As for reading Joyce at the coffee shop, I might suggest Finnegan's Wake over Ulysses. Both are great, but I don't know if either could qualify for "short coffee shop reads." Enjoy!
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