My brother Dan is visiting us from Wisconsin.  This is my brother Dan.

He doesn’t usually look this spastic, but I thought I’d take advantage of the control I have of him via my blog, so this is how you get to see him.  With the Crazy in his eye.

I’ve taken some leave so I can do some sightseeing with him and it’s been nice to have been able to have some long conversations that we don’t get to have because of our distance.  One of the topics that has come up a few times is my blog; more specifically, my lack of blogging.  I have had a hard time the last few months? years? with finding stuff to write about because there is so much that is off-limits - and when work and personal issues are off the table, that doesn’t leave much to write about.

So forgive me.  But accept, as part of my apology, the following post to show that I do have good intentions on posting more often than I actually do.  See, I write half-posts and then save them to finish later and then never get back to them.  I have about 10 in my queue of drafts, including this one.  According to my sidebar, the below was “Last edited by Karyn on September 29, 2008 at 11:17 pm,” and in it I discuss some of the things I’ve picked up as I’ve lived in Spain as my own kind of souveniers.

I’m not a spoon collector, and our collection of shot glasses just sits behind a glass door.  I knew when we came to Spain that I wanted to leave with something different than the usual collectibles.

When my mom and dad came to visit early this last year, we went to Sevilla - that’d be pronounced Seh-VEE-yah, not Sevilllllllll - and visited the Alcázar.  (Did I really never post pictures??? Don’t worry, we just went yesterday and I got more pictures that I will post…um…soon.) On our way out toward the cathedral, there was an artist making small, beautiful watercolor paintings.  Some were of the arabesque designs while others were of the narrow side streets that meander behind the scenes around the square.

I loved her stuff, but we were in a rush and I don’t like making hasty purchases, no matter what B may say.  So I went on and we finished our day and left the cathedral as it closed. Ever since, I’d regretted not buying any of the pretty paintings, and then I went back to Sevilla 6 months later and passed her again - that time I bought several and I am so happy.

I got them framed and matted in 3 red frames and they look so pretty hanging over my dining room table.

This mirror was bought at a semi-annual craft fair on base.  It was made by nuns in “La Cartuja”, an incredible convent I pass when I drive to Gibraltar.  I should take a picture someday…

And these are for deviled eggs.  The Spanish have a lot of this kind of pottery, but most of it is too much for me.  These are a little less heavy and they’re functional if I ever decide to make deviled eggs again.

We’ve also picked up a few other small things - a thrown mug and a vase from Porches, Portugal; a framed set of vintage-designed Spanish postcards; a couple of cazuelas; and, of course, no one can leave Spain without an assortment of Sherry wines and vinegars.

It’s been an interesting 3 years living here, and while I’m very much looking forward to moving in July, this is - whether we’ve loved it or not - home.

1. Carpet :: Shag
2. William :: Shatner
3. Oh! :: Ho ho
4. Board game :: Sequence
5. Sunlight :: Warm
6. Delay :: Rain
7. Winner :: Red
8. Concubine :: Morocco
9. Comatose :: Yes
10. Satisfy :: Snickers

1. Be mine :: Glitter
2. Ecstatic :: Glitter
3. Orderly :: Books
4. Sebastian :: Crab
5. Sore :: Tailbone
6. Don’t need :: Glitter
7. Rockstar :: Glitter
8. Tinfoil :: Glitter
9. Addiction :: Glitter
10. Where? :: Everywhere!

{click on any photo for a larger version}

We got back today from a very exciting trip to Berlin, Germany that Anja qualified to compete in with the European Forces Swim League Championship meet.

I will certainly blog again soon about the rest of the trip, after my cholesterol levels go back down after the obscene amounts of bratwurst I consumed over the last 5 days.  For now, though, it’s all about Anja!

As I mentioned briefly a few posts ago, Anja qualified for Champs during the meet she swam in in Naples, Italy.  She qualified on her own for two events, the 50 meter freestyle (she had to swim it in under 49.55 seconds) and the 50 meter backstroke (she had to swim that in under 59.89 seconds).  A third event, the 100 meter freestyle, she missed by something like 2 seconds but was pulled up to participate in (1:55.99), so she had 3 individual events to compete in for this meet.

For the first time since she’s been competing in these meets, she said she got nervous before her first 2 events, both freestyles.  This was also her first time competing in a 50 meter pool which is considerably different than the 25 meter pools she’s swum in throughout the season.  As she waited for the 100m free to start, she was being a dork and swinging her arms and whoops, wouldn’t you know my daughter fell in while they were on the blocks.  Fortunately, they’re allowed one false start so she wasn’t disqualified.

Going to the blocks for her first event - Anja was in lane 3 (the lanes were numbered incorrectly, she’s in the actual lane 3 which was marked lane 2).

Swimmers, take your mark…

Go!

She ended up tied for 8th place in her heat, which was 16th or 17th overall, but the most important part for us was that she improved on her personal best time - the achievement we’ve always told her to strive for.

There’s video, too!

It’s kind of hard to ensure good coverage when you’re trying to watch the race out of one eye, but B did a better job than I did on the 100m free, huh?  I have no pictures but he has video!

You must pay attention to the announcer at the :36 mark…we all got a good laugh out of that.

Next was her 50 meter backstroke, her final - and favorite - event.  This time, unlike the previous 2 events, she finally had her familiar look of concentration and I could tell she was in The Zone.

For this event, she was in lane 4 (marked as lane 3 below).

She got a good, solid start which was a big improvement from her last couple of meets where her arms were already flailing well before she got into the right position to start using them.

She was looking strong, but the girl in lane 6 was stronger and had about a body’s length lead on her to start.

But she never gave up, and her stamina stayed with her to the end and she ended up first in her heat!  When combined with the 2nd heat (the faster of the 2 heats), she ended up 7th.  7th in all of the girls in the league aged 8 & under - which is quite a lot considering there were 18 teams competing - was so much better than we ever hoped for.  Even better was that she cut off almost 6 seconds from her personal best time

And that video…

There was an article in Stars & Stripes newspaper about the meet that you (but not we) can read here: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=123&article=60589&source=rss

All in all, it was a fantastic meet and we couldn’t be any prouder of how well she has done this season.  Now she gets some well-deserved time off and we will see if she wants to continue until we leave here…assuming, of course, we actually get our orders to leave here…

Am I the only one who feels the need to bathe every time I read anything about the California octuplets?  I just feel so dirty when I read things like, “A Californian woman who gave birth to octuplets has been showered with book and TV offers, the woman’s newly-hired publicist has said.”