21st Century...huh?

Well, I have finally joined the ranks of millions who own iPods. Chuck bought me an iPod Shuffle today because he was tired of hearing me complain about my old MP3 player that only has 20 songs on it which I have been listening to over and over for about 2 years!! I haven't used my new toy yet, but I am planning a LONG run at Forbidden Drive tomorrow, so I'll certainly get to try it out...how exciting!

I'm Really Going!

Wow...it is really official!! I just purchased my ticket to Istanbul! I can't believe that I am actually going to Turkey! How totally exciting!

I am on a flight leaving on the 8th (my 2 year anniversary) arriving in Istanbul on the 9th and leaving there and getting home on the 15th. This is pretty crazy, too...on the 15th, I leave Istanbul at 1:55pm and arrive home at 10:32 pm. Impossible since my entire trip will take 15 hours and 37 minutes!! which means that in "Sarah-Land" on that day, I am going to be getting home at 3:30 in the morning! Oh, the JET LAG! :) I can't wait! :)

I will be spreading more good news in times to come, I am sure...but for now..it's really real! I'm headed to Istanbul. Hooray!

Busy, busy, busy...

As the new semester begins to come into view, I find myself immersed in the plethora of meetings, talks, workshops, and preparation of Professional Development Week!!! I am currently awaiting 3:30 to go over to my afternoon meeting of the minds, so to speak! I will be back tomorrow to have another meeting about Istanbul. I have received confirmation of my hotel reservation and expect to purchase my plane ticket relatively soon...just waiting for some fund$ to come my way.

I'm sure that I will have more interesting things to report after my meeting tomorrow...but I did get some interesting books and language CD's for Christmas that I will be continuing to put into good use over the next several months. Now all we have to do is keep the Bird Flu out of Istanbul! Don't worry mom...I'll walk around with a gas-mask on if I have to.

Thanks again to my family for coming out to visit over the holidays. It was excellent.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well, I know that I have been a bit lax in my contributions to the site, here...but it has been a tad bit busy around these parts. The 'rents have come and gone...and the visit was great. We had a wonderful time playing cards, visiting the new and improved Camden city Aquarium, going to the Art Museum, and eating, eating, eating!!! It really was grand to have the family (although we were missing Aaron, Liz, and Emma) out for the holidays. Who knows where we will end up next year! :) Only time will tell!

Last night, we went to the waterfront to watch the fireworks. They were beautiful, although I should have taken earplugs...holy LOUD! :) Tonight, we are just relaxing at home enjoying Chuck's last few days off and getting ready to head back to the grindstone! We hope that everyone across the nation had a fun and safe holiday season. See you all soon!!

Christmas guests begin to arrive...

Well, although I have not seen them yet, my sister and Scott got into town last night! They are staying with his mom in Fort Washington. I will be seeing them and Mom and Dad tomorrow, so I'm putting the final touches on my house (cleaning, I mean!)!!

I am also finished with my semester! As of 5 minutes ago! I just finished grading my final final and am about to leave my office, not to return until 2006!!! Wow, you know we'll all be writing the wrong date on everything! Anyway...it has been an interesting semester. The next one will prove to be even more so! I'm sure that it will be great. I'm already looking forward to it.

The Amazing Race

While I am not typically a fan of reality TV shows...I was interested in the finale of one this season. The Amazing Race. Really, I was only interested for one reason. One of the families that was competing are relatives of mine. My mom's cousin's kids were competing. I am posting this message just after the final episode....turns out....they WON! Wow. I guess that makes me not-so-famous by association, eh? How crazy though to watch them win that thing. Apparently, in Cincinnati, the family was getting together every week at a bar to watch the episodes! Today, my mom and dad drove down from Michigan to be there for the finale. How great that they were able to spend the time there with everyone, including my 80 year old Grandmom!!! Go Grams!

Congrats go out to the Linz's...you guys ROCK!!!

Turkey Update

Ok...well...we had a meeting on Tuesday regarding the upcoming Turkey Trip! I'm currently getting very excited about going, despite the fact that the cost is going to set me back a bit for the year! Honestly it is worth it.

It looks like, if/when I hear back from the hotel, I may be staying with one of my colleagues at the Hali Hotel in Istanbul. It is a quaint Bed and Breakfast style hotel that has a view of the Bosporus and the minarets of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque! Absolutely beautiful! And CHEAP! :):) Here's the site:

www.halihotel.com

I have yet to find a flight out, but I think waiting until the first of the year is a good idea. If anyone knows of a travel agent friend that can find us a deal, please let me know. I will probably be travelling, at least TO Turkey, with my "roomate", although I think she is planning to stay there a while longer than me.

The schedule for our trip generally includes morning lectures from scholars in Turkey regarding the art, history, culture, and literature of Turkey (both modern and historical). The afternoons are for field study, where we will go into the city (on our own or with a guide) in order to experience the culture. At that time, we'll also have on site lectures. The whole thing ends with a large dinner and a last day field trip to the baths at Bursa - which is around the other side of the Sea of Marmara. (I still have so much to learn about the city!!!)

I am looking forward to the end of the semester so that I can start focusing on next semesters classes and spending my spare time learning more about Turkey! It's very exciting, and I'll keep everyone posted on more updates!!!

Oh, Christmas Town

This is the Christmas town that Chuck bought me as a pre-Christmas-Christmas gift. It has a lighthouse that has a spinning red light that you can see in the top photo. It's so nice to have it all lit up at night!! I know that it's a little cheesy, but it's fun!!!

Elwood and Tuga

So, I just had to pose these two photos of Elwood and Tuga "spooning" in front of the fire the other night. Are they the happiest cats you ever did see? Jake was nearby, straddling the back of the couch! (see his photo on the green chair in the archives!) Just had to post this!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

It's official! Christmas is upon us! Here is our tree, complete with three cats curled up underneath it. What they are really doing is stealthy surveilance. See, as soon as Mom and Dad went to bed last night, the three bozos proceeded to knock about 5 different ornaments off the tree. Inlcuding the pickle ornament, which thankfully did not break! I have been begging Chuck to get me a tree topper, but I haven't found one yet that I like. For now...mom and dad will appreciate this...my kitty cat that I made in Kindergarten graces the top of our tree! You can just make it out at the top of the tree in the picture!

Can't wait for the family to arrive out here in exactly 3 weeks! Hooray!

Baby Jake!

Ok...this photo is so funny! I finally dug out my digital camera and put some fresh batteries in it. Lo and behold, there were some really old photos on it. This one is Jake, just a few days after we rescued him from the pound!! Yes, the giant cat that you see lower on this page! What a ham he is! Currently, the loony cat is in hiding from Chuck and me. We started giving him his medication, which he REALLY doesn't like...so he has taken to hiding under the bed whenever we start looking for him. I'm hoping that the vet has other ideas about how to get him to take his meds! We'll see!

Class of '96

Ok...so here we are...From left to right:

Walter, Amy, Me, Karyn, Craig, and Ryan.

SHS Class of '96! Go SPARTANS!

Turkey Day Recap

Well...Turkey Day is passed and Chuck and I have returned home from our trip. Right back into the swing of things, we're both back in school today after a few hours respite at home! It was such a WONDERFUL trip home! We got the chance to spend a lot of time with Aaron, Liz, and Emma, which was fantastic. Not to mention Mom and Dad. We ate LOTS of food...I'm going to be running off the pounds for weeks!! :) But, it was all worth it.

Mom managed to get Chuck out of bed at 5:30am on Friday to go shopping...this is twice now that she has done this! Truly an amazing feat, and evidence of how much Chuck likes his mother-in-law! We did catch some good deals and spent a bit of cash-ola. Not too much, but enough to get started on the Christmas holiday shopping! The rest of mine will be done online! :)

Saturday night was bar night. Chuck and I met up with Karyn and Eric to hit the Box Bar in Plymouth for a little high school reunion!! It was really wonderful to see Walter, Barks, Ryan, Becky, Amy, and Dave and meet everyone's spouses. Wow...I cannot believe that it has been 10 years since we were all together in school. We had a few drinks and a lot of laughs that night. It was really fun. I'll try to post a photo of the gang when I get a chance.

Molly stopped by on Sunday morning for brunch before we had to get to the airport. That was also a really nice visit. I'm very glad that she was able to make it out to the house, even if she almost didn't make it back home! We had to jump start her car before she could leave! :)

All in all, it was a fantastic trip home. Now we can start getting ready for Mom, Dad, Julie, and Scott to come out here in about 3 weeks for Christmas! :) Hooray! Can't wait!

FUN NEWS!!!

NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT!! Man, you know it's bad when you have to follow every conversation that begins with, "Hey, I have some great news..." with that prior sentance. No, the good and fun news is that I am going to be seeing Coldplay when they come to Philly in April! :):):) Yippee. I may be inviting a friend, as Chuck is not really into concerts or Coldplay, so I am presently accepting bribes and gifts of clothing or chocolate!!! I really wanted to see them when they were here a few months ago, which would have been a great, intimate little show, but I'll settle for this! :)

All is well otherwise, I took a run this morning...brrr...it was a tad bit nippy out there. But, it was good to get out and run. I find that my seasonal affective disorder is in high gear, craving sugar and fatty food, so running is a moral imperative!

That's it for now...c-y'all!

Update...

Well...it was a quick week...very busy at work. Jake's visit to the vet yeilded good results on his tests. He has no infections and seems perfectly healthy. Unfortunately, that confirms our fears that he is a BASKET-CASE! :) They have actually prescribed us valium for our cat! Can you believe this? It's what they call a "weening" dose. You start him on a large dose and then ween him off over a month long period. Insane, but we're hoping that it just calms him down so that he can enjoy life a little more without the paranoia!

Chuck and I went to his little sister Jill's play last night. Very cute. Her school does a program called Theater Week, and a teacher takes them through a play in 4 days! They start on Monday and perform it Friday night! This includes 1st-8th graders (Jill's in the 8th). It was actually really good too! It was a pleasant surprise considering the length of time that they actually practiced the whole thing!

Winter has finally come to the mid-Atlantic. No snow yet, but chilly temperatures. Makes running outside a dreadful thought for me who hates the cold. I have been doing it though! I actually ran 5.5 on Tuesday, 4 Thursday, and plan to jet out sometime today for at least another 4. We'll see how it goes!

That's it from here...hope all is well across the nation!

Jake's Visit to the Vet

Jake had a traumatic evening last night! We had to take him to the Vet...oh, how he loves it! Despite having a blood test done, he is recovering well and is back home safe and happy with Tuga and Elwood. Hopefully, we will get some positive results back from the Vet tomorrow morning and he will be healthy. That is really the extent of the excitement around our house over the last couple of days!

We're getting ready to head to Michigan for Thanksgiving! It should be a wonderful trip as we get to see the family, Karyn and Eric, and hopefully a few other long-lost friends at the bar night! Can't wait to get out there and PARTY!

AM I INSANE

This is a message to all the athletes.

Aaron is crazy! Aaron is nuts!

I have started training for the Chicago marathon. Apparently I have a horrible memory of what I felt like after my first marathon.

So, I will invite you all to join me in pain, agony and overwhelming accomplishment this spring in downtown Chicago and if any of you are stupid enough to run with me start training and keep me posted on your progress.

ultrasound

Liz and I will be visiting the doctor tomorrow to find out the sex of our new bambino. It's exciting and I feel a little anxious. I think Emma is starting to figure out that something is different. She will pat Liz's tummy and say "baby". I don't know how she figures these things out but it sure is cute. Also, Emma has a new phrase - "Hey, Baby". I'm proud to say that I taught it to her although I can't take the credit (she tends to pick it up on the first try). She tried it out in public the other day. Shouting very authoritatively at one of the staff at the nursing home ..."HEY BABY!!" Everyone laughed hysterically as the young lady was taken off guard and blushed immediately.

I have to say that parenthood is the most amazing experience of my life.

Fallingwater

For our one year anniversary, Chuck and I decided to take a weekend trip to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Western Pennsylvania. Here we are with the house in the back. It was a beautiful trip...we stayed in a nice Bed and Breakfast, had dinner at a few interesting places, bought some wine from a local vineyard, and toured two of FLW's homes in the area. Both were incredible!

Our Family

Top: Jake...yes, he lays like that on his own all the time...and the moose was already there before I took the photo...strange animal.

Middle: The Baby...Tuga...again, she does this on her own...she also likes to drink out of the running sink.

Bottom: The Eldest...Elwood...the pretty boy. He really is one of the prettiest cats I have ever seen...but NOISY!!!! He meows like no other!

There they are...our "kids."