There Are No Words

Amazing photo of Sammy J. DingDong courtesy of the lovely Miss Erika Carrillo.


I knew this was going to be the worst part, giving my baby boy of 10 years to Dave's sister and her kids. When we called this morning to arrange a drop-off time, Dave's sister said, "you better bring him over soon or Dex (our nephew) is going to get a hernia he is so excited". The kids have been counting down the days, which makes me feel like Sammy will be so loved.

Plus something tells me Dave's sis and her hubby are a little more lax on the "dogs on furniture rules" than we are, which will make Sam VERY happy since he tends to rub said *rules* in our faces anyway (re: pile of hair on the couch cushion when we come home from work). Plus look at this pic from when Dave dropped him off, come on - so cute:


I'm sure some of you out there think that I am a horrible irresponsible parent, maybe true - but that is a topic unto itself. I am perhaps over-dramatizing a bit, that dog would go home with anyone who offered him a Slim Jim. When we went to South America for 6 weeks, two Canadian strangers came and stayed at our house with him and I think he was disappointed when we returned and they left. Plus, Dave's sis and her hubby are awesome, they hike and camp. Sam will get all the love, walks, and attention he needs!

OK I hope I am done bursting into tears when I think of his little puppy face (for the time being). Salt Lake is beautiful right now and Dave's mom's wedding went off without a hitch. Time for hanging with the nephews, hiking (Mount Olympus), and hopefully some relaxing before the flight on Monday!!!!

Angora Lake in June with Lots of Snow - Great Hike

My Life in 3 Bags; and Other Reasons Why I Am Too Old for a Futon

Well here it is, the next 2 years of my life in 3 very heavy, overstuffed bags. Dave is running about the same--two huge bags and a laptop bag. There are like 3 other backpacks stuffed in the green one, as I will be needing all sizes of travel accoutrements.

I only had one moment of near tears where I couldn't fit everything I wanted to bring into my bags. Shi-, mother effer. OK take a step back, breathe, make piles again, sort.......maybe all those t-shirts are not necessary (must think cold and rain). I ditched the summer stuff in lieu of a sweater dress. I also didn't bring my wetsuit, which I might regret if a trip to the surf beaches of San Sebastian occurs.

I couldn't compromise on the running gear, 2 pairs of running shoes are required for the weather there. Putting a dry foot into a wet shoe is horrifying. Rotation of at least 2 pairs is necessary.

On another note, we got rid of the futon we bought like 10 years ago from my lovely friends RY and HY (when they moved to Sweden). We "sold" it during our awesomely successful FREE FOR ALL yard sale; trashy - but effective.

Sure Dave, we can carry the futon out of the house, no problem. OMG I jacked myself big time and was a miserable byotch the next day because I couldn't move my upper body--even after like 6 Advil and 6 Tylenol. Idiot.

Well, we got the tenants in, sold the Subaru, and are in Tahoe. Time for a nice long hike with Sammy. The next step of the journey puts us in Salt Lake City, then on to LONDON!

Post-Wankerfest Clean Up

You asked for it! By popular demand, here is the video of my beautiful kitchen post-Wankerfest. Thanks to Jeff S. for taking the viedo. It took some scrubbing on Sunday to get this cleaned up. The backyard was even worse. I think Sammy ate about 1,000 pizza crusts in his efforts to help clean up. He napped all day on Sunday........

As far as the post-party report, we collectively consumed:

- 37 bottles of wine

- Close to 15 gallons of beer

- 1 case of Coors Light (insulting M.C. and K.F.)

- 12 pizzas

- Several salads (I lost count, people brough so many goodies!)

- 2 baguettes

- A crapload of various cheeses and salamis

- 4 bags of chips

- 2 bags of pistachios

That is what you get when you invite 70 athletes over to your house for a party. I love every (apparently hungry) one of you!

It is funny how in anticipation of leaving, I realize how amazing my friends and life are here. I just rarely stop for a second and appreciate it all. But that is why everyone should travel, you develop that appreciation for your own backyard!

Or, I will realize that Europe is really better and I will never come home......we'll see.

Book Club Books

A few people have asked me to post a list of books that my book club has read. Well, here it is (I may have forgotten a few). I starred the books I really liked. In October (pre-elections), we don't read a book and instead read the voters guide and discuss the politicians and propositions, which is yet another reason why I love my book club - opinionated, brilliant women.

An Inconvenient Truth – Al Gore

At Home: A Short History of a Private Life – Bill Bryson

Beautiful Boy - David Sheff

Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese*

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim – David Sedaris

Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert

Fair Game - Valerie Plume

Five Love Languages – Gary Chapman

Freakanomics - Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner*

The Glass Castle – Jeanette Wallis

Half the Sky - Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn*

I know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou

Little Bee – Chris Cleave

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez*

Loving Frank – Nancy Horan*

Madonna’s of Leningrad - Debra Dean*

Medium Raw – Anthony Bourdain

Memory Keepers Daughter – Kim Edwards

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides*

Million Little Pieces – James Frey

Molokai – Alan Brennert

Mudbound - Hillary Jordan* (a lot like The Help though)

Outliers: The Story of Success – Malcolm Gladwell*

Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollan

People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks*

Sarah’s Key – Tatiana De Rosnay

Shanghai Girls – Lisa See

Snow Falling on Cedars – David Guterson

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Lisa See*

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak*

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

The Help – Katheryn Sockett*

The Hummingbird’s Daughter - Luis Alberto Urrea*

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

The Middle Place – Kelly Corrigan

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court – Jefferey Toobin

The Shack – William Young

Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortenson

Tortilla Curtain – T.C. Boyle

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand*

We Are All the Same – Jim Wooten

What is the What - Valentino Achak

Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy, and Stupid – Denis Leary

Bum Voyage Everyone

Well here we go. The party is over and the house is cleaned up. I may have to post the video of how dirty it was (the house, not the party you pervs). Thank you to everyone that came by!!!!! I hope you had as much fun as I did. Time for packing and preparing now. I guess this is when it starts feeling real.

Keep up with us here at this blog. I hope to post pics and general BS about our life over in London. Please email me/comment with any travel suggestions, cool stuff to do, and info about your upcoming visits to see us (hint-hint).

Things I am excited for:
Friends to visit!
Traveling
New running routes
The Olympics
Simpler lifestyle (no car, no yard)

Things I am going to miss:
Friends
Skiing in Tahoe
Farmshare
Bookclub (sorry, but mine is so awesome)
And most of all SAMMY, my running/walking partner and sweet boy for 11 years. He will be spoiled and happy in his new home with Dave's sister, I'm sure.

I must give a shout-out to my awesome team at Insignia. Their support of this journey has been unbelievable. I will be working part time remotely from London, and everyone has bent over backwards to help me. I feel so blessed and lucky to be able to continue on at the London office (aka. our flat).

More to come!