A Few Weeks Later...

How well do we know our family's past, history and heritage? My grandmother Doris Hamblin passed away last week and though, of course, it is a very sad occasion for the family I know she is in a better place. She struggled for the last 10 years or so with Alzheimer's and found daily life very challenging as most of the wiring that guides her (and our) every day activities had all but vanished... I can't imagine how difficult it was for her. What was so enlightening though was how she was able to hold on to memories from long ago - growing up on the farm with her brothers and sisters, and hanging out with friends at the lake. I loved seeing her black and white pictures, the old school bathing suits and poses... and knowing that we share something more than genetics... Having lived in many different countries and in different societies/cultures... I know that all across the board humans feel the same emotions.. seems very clear and obvious but.. sometimes it's not. It's neat to think about her growing up with her group of friends, going to the lake, joking around... and that there is an interconnectedness there with my life and my friends. So... as I was saying at the beginning.. how well do we know our own history? There are so many stories that make us who we are... so much to explore.

On another note, we just got back from a trip to Thessaloniki where we ate too much, drank too much, and second-hand smoked too much... there is no respect for non-smokers here, which is very sad because kids are exposed to it relentlessly. I'll have to snap some pics of the play/daycare place next to my gym... there is a cloud of smoke hanging in there that never dissipates. It's disgusting. Not much else is new here, we are trying to figure out when the season will be over for Steve and hopefully find a few days to visit an island and soak up some sun before we head home. They need to win on Saturday or they're relegated to play downs... which would be a catastropha! because it would most likely mean that everyone is out of luck for the last four paychecks, doh. We're looking forward to Easter - it's the biggest holiday in Greece and we hear the festivities are not to be missed. Apparently the spit is fired up around 7am on Sunday, and the poor little lamby is roasted all day long. It may push me over the edge to vegetarianism. A bientot...

This week...

Sugar cookie self-portraits

HELLO! There's not too much news to report, life in Greece is slow and fairly uneventful... I've gotten back in the swing of things with yoga, cooking .. and eating. What is it with the magnetic impulse between me and the kitchen? I know it increases with boredom and especially with idleness... I miss having a library here, if there were a library down the block I would migrate there. Speaking of books, I went to buy a french paperback this morning, and... they wanted 15 euros from me! No no no.... for a 200 page paperback, that was the thickest I could find for the least amout of beans. So.. the net will have to do I suppose. Here is the latest chocolate wisdom we have unwrapped, and a few old pics. Cheers ")

LOVE IS A SPONTANEOUS GRASS, NOT A GARDEN PLANT.

THE IDEAL HUSBAND IS UNMARRIED.

THE HEART HAS ITS REASONS WHICH REASON DOES NOT KNOW.

Some pics from Prague and Vienna

Me and Wendy....
Sipping some healing sulphur water at Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Me and Marie

Me and Doug outside the Hofburg in the Heldenplatz... just in front of the statue you see in the next pic...
March 1938

Back to ... reality?

I'm back from Vienna and Prague, home from vacation and back to... work? Hmm.. I don't think so. Anyways, I had an awesome trip. I flew into Vienna and took the bus to Prague (40 euros round trip, very good deal) to visit a friend from last years team in Southern France... We relived the fabulous times we had with our team and our outstanding coach... how we miss the French! Just kidding. They're not all bad... ahem, umm anyways, it was great. We ate a lot, and I mean a LOT, drank, went to the gym a few times and cruised around Prague. My french was rusty, as was hers, so we invented a handful of new mots, all of which I'm too ashamed to share... very ridiculous. So after five days I took off back to Vienna where I met up with an oooold friend from Gonzaga who just moved there, Doug Griffin. We had lunch and caught up on the last seven years, had some Czech spirits and a beer in the Heldenplatz in front of the Imperial Palace in Wien (where, as Doug pointed out, 70 years ago Hitler stood to announce it's "annexation" of Austria, Anschluss), sat out a rainstorm in the city's oldest cafe (so they say) and ??? reminisced. Next on the program was visiting Chris and Marie-eve, also friends who I met last year in Cannes, in Amstetten. He is playing vball there and she is long distance with her MBA program, so they are both busy busy. I was only there for two days, and we did much of the same - eating, drinking, laughing.. that sort 'o' thing. It was great as well. Then back to Athens on Saturday where two lovely surprises were waiting for me: warm weather and Steve.. yay... The last few days here have been super warm, upwards of 20... very nice. I don't have too much on the agenda now, getting through some thick books, new culinary adventures, yoga and waiting to hear about school. I have my fingers crossed for City Planning at the University of Manitoba.. hopefully I hear something soon. One more thing to share - Steve has a super-fan from last year in Cagliari, Sardinia... she is Buddhist and claims to have known Steve in another life and has given him a bunch of Buddhist paraphernalia .. random, but anyways, she sent him a package for his birthday with a bunch of stuff, including: a messenger bag, a small stuffed animal, several printouts of Buddhist teachings and words of wisdom, chocolates (Bacios), and stuff to make lasagna!! Bechamel sauce, tomato sauce, lasagna noodles and instructions. My point is that I ate a chocolate! No, and it came, as they all do, with a fortune. Read, and learn. Synonymous with Buddhist teaching? Not sure...

FOR EVERY WOMAN THERE IS A SEDUCER. HER HAPPINESS LIES IN HER MEETING HIM.