State Fair of Texas

Guess we're gonna have to miss the State Fair of Texas this year. bummer. Saw on my computer the video of the human cannonball on Dallasnews.com. I'm sure the kids would love to have seen that in person. We were reading the 1000 Places to See Before You Die book last weekend and the Texas State Fair is one of them. Been there, done that, and wish we were there this year. If you go, enjoy a corny dog for us and maybe a funnel cake too!

We digress

On Friday we decided that we would do a quick camping trip over Saturday night. We planned to leave around noon on Saturday due to some morning committments. The kids were really excited, DA enthused, I was along for the ride. We got the car all packed and headed out at 2:00 (no surprise it took longer to pack than we planned for). We immediately pull in to the store to buy gas. I hurried inside to pay while DA quickly pumped the gas. Upon leaving, I noticed that DA has parked the car at a funny and awkward angle in front of the door. I get inside and notice he has a horrified look on his face - he has just pumped unleaded gas into our diesel tank!!! The car is stopped. wont move an inch. We have been driving this car for months, we are not new to the country, we can read the "diesel fuel only" sign and still digressed back to our American roots when in a rush.
The kids and I ended up walking home with them dragging their heels all the way. DA called the service people and was told they would tow the car to the house and then come pick it up on Monday to be repaired. When the tow truck arrived (very timely I must say. Normally you can wait hours on a tow truck.) DA was so flustered that he entered the car on the wrong side, much to the dismay of the tow truck driver and he could hardly understand the guy since he has such a strong accent. It looked like we were newbies in the country! he told DA that another place could pump it and have it drivable later on Saturday so that is what he did. They pumped $100 of unleaded out of the engine and then he bought deisel fuel to fill up the tank. Remarkably, he was back home by 4:45. We DID end up getting to go on our camping trip - leaving at 5:00. First thing DA did upon leaving the neighborhood, drive on the wrong side of the road. I offered to drive since we were headed toward another disaster, but he pulled himself together. Had to change to a local camp ground since we were running so late, but it was in a beautiful area and we were able to set up camp in time to cook dinner before it got dark. Oh cooking you ask - since I am so talented in that area - it was over a one burner flame in a tiny pot. Cooks one serving at a time. For breakfast it took about an hour to fix scrambled eggs and bacon. Made me appreciate my faulty oven and hob at the house.

In Search of Mary Magdalene

Mom and Dad recently came over for a visit. This was their first time oversees and Dad’s first plane trip. They did great, but Dad kept a close eye out for any unusual terrorist like behaviors on the plane. I don’t think he slept a wink on entire flight.

The day after they arrived, Dad and I headed to the south of France to the region of Provence. We were in search of Mary Magdalene. Dad’s hobby (or obsession) is to understand the historical Mary, the Magdalene. It is believed that 12 years after Christ’s crucifixion, Mary landed in the town now known as Saintes Maries de la Mer. We traced her travels to St Maximim, and St. Baume. After the trip, I have no doubt that she was there and that her grave is at the cathedral in St. Maximim.



This was not your traditional vacation. We were on a quest. I could write about this trip for days, but I will let you read about it when Dad’s book is published. There were many highlights on this trip. Seeing the Crypt of Mary Magdalene at St Maximum was incredible, and staying at the Hotellerie de la Sainte Baume which is run by the Benedictine Nuns was great (except when one of the nuns gave me the evil nun stare for thinking I took her picture). Visiting the Grotto (cave) at St. Baume was a great walk; the grotto has been turned into a place of worship so you don’t really get the atmosphere of being in a cave. It is believe Mary spent the last years of her life in the cave. If she did, she was in pretty good shape because it is a serious hike.


There were two things that really stand above the rest. The first was the hike to the top of the mountain at St. Baume. It was a tough hike, but the summit was incredible. The second is seeing Dad at the beach. We were on a quest and we found something – just not Mary Magdalene. All beaches in France are "clothing optional," and in this case most of the women opted not to wear tops. It was a serious “American country boy in Europe” shocking moment.
- D.A.

D.A. the Sailor

Recently I was invited to participate in the Skandia Cowes Regatta. It the largest and oldest sailing regatta event in the world. There are over 2,000 boats that participate in this week long event. I had only been on a sailboat once before and that was in Hawaii where I just a paying passenger. This was an actual sailboat race and I was one of the crew. I was on a 40.7 foot Beneteau yacht, manned by a 10 man crew. The race lasted about three hours. It was a blast. I can easily see how a sailor could become very addicted. I was responsible for manning one of the winches when we tacked or jibbed. This means that when we turned I either loosened my rope (sheet) or tighten the sheet. This is all I knew how to do and the extent of my sailor vocabulary. Impressed????

Something happened on one of the jibs. I don’t know what went wrong, but the serious sailors started yelling commands and for all I knew they could have been speaking Russian (I normally would have used "German" here, but I actually can now understand some German). I finally yelled back, “do you want me to pull the red rope or the blue rope.” He politely said, “Red”. I am not sure if this was a coincidence, but on the next tack, they put me in a new spot and I nearly went overboard.

We came in 23rd out of about 70 boats. The crew was great and very patient. We were in the top 10 coming into the final turn for home. We took a bad angle and then two or three boats took our wind and the next thing you know we were in 23rd. There were some professional crews and some incredible boats. I got some great pictures and can’t wait to do it again.

Sunday events in England

Today was a beautiful day. The skies were clear and blue and the air was fairly warm. We had lunch outside at a friends house at a "welcome the new preacher from church" party.
I was a little nervous all afternoon though. Not because of the party, but because I sent my precious 12 year old son into the city with 70 other kids for a church youth event. 12 years old! in London! without his parents! riding the train and tube (subway) and going on a photo scavenger hunt. I was very nervous. He had his cell phone and money and I knew he could read the train schedule and get back to our village if he needed to by himself. I told him if he got lost, "Just get back to Waterloo station. You know how to get home from there." At 4:30 the phone rang and it was him. I could hear crazy noise in the background. He was just calling to say Hi and that they were having fun. Probably all the kids had their cell phones out and he felt like he "needed" to call someone too. Fortunately they arrived safely back at the local train station and reported that they had a blast. I think it was the most fun he's had in a while. His favorite story being that they had to find someone who would take a picture with them while they were all picking their noses. They found 2 bus drivers who agreed and they got bonus points for having found 2 volunteers. LOVELY.
Then while I had all that on my mind, B came home from her horse back riding session and told me she was thrown off the horse!!!! now for any of you who know her bike riding-wreck-broken leg ordeal where she wouldn't get back on a bike for years, you know this had the potential of being a horseback riding career ending event. DA reported that her fall was softened by a little horse manure and she popped right up and back onto the horse and finished her lessons. whew. She handled her first fall exactly as she should, getting right back into the saddle. Albeit, a little stinky and dirty!
For any of you who have heard of the foot-mouth disease that is making all the headlines in England, we live smack in the middle of it all. We have to serlize our feet both coming and going to the stables. We've heard it may affect our travel to the States that we are living in this zone, so just hope for our sakes that it doesnt. The kids are really looking forward to traveling home for Christmas and I dont want a little foot-mouth disease to mess up the trip.
Hope your Sunday afternoon was a little more relaxing.

Camping on the Jurassic Coast of England

(this took place in July - forgot to publish it!)

While B & B were off having a mother/daughter weekend, L and I headed to the southern coast of England. With the beach only two hours away, we thought this would be perfect time to lie on the beach and enjoy the July sun. We have also wanted to start doing more camping and hiking and the Jurassic Coast seemed like the perfect location to start our English camping life.

Logan and I camped and cooked all our food at the campsite. U.K. campsites are not that different than in the U.S.. You get an extremely diverse mix people. You had families who looked like they had been there a long time, a group of ex-military guys, several all guy tents, and the English version of rednecks. There was one girl who apparently had been told she needed to wear boots for their camping trip. She had on four inch, high heel, white patent, over the knee boots. It coordinated very well with her white halter top and tattoos. Everyone was very nice and mostly just did their own thing.

L and I started Saturday morning being going on a long hike. We walked about seven miles and ended the hike on top of the highest point in the area. We got tired of zig zagging up the mountain, so for the last half a mile or so we just went straight up. For the first time L seemed to have more endurance and beat me to top and led all the way back.

After a nap, which I desperately needed, we headed to beach. It was packed. We put down our towels and headed for the water.... running out as quickly as we had run in. The water was absolutely freezing. It was so cold L wouldn’t even go in. Some of the people would wade in a little ways, but most just played on the beach. L ended up going to the arcade and I took another nap on beach dreaming of the heat on the beach in Destin last summer.

It was a fun weekend and we plan to do more camping. We want to go into the Lake District in England and into the highlands of Scotland. This will be wild camping in the forest, not at a campsite, but we are running out of time this summer. It is already starting to cool down. I am not sure we ever had a summer.

observations of an American child in England...

B's observations for the week...
Sept 9 - Driving through our village there is a small round a bout. As we drove through it, the car in front of us started backing up (dangerous!), having not turned correctly to go through the round a bout. B's comment from the back seat, "Americans". After I laughed I asked why she thought that. She said Americans never drive right in England.
true, very true

Sept 10 -As we are riding our bike through the neighborhood she says as she points to a house, "American's must live in that house."
"Why do you say that?" I ask.
"Because they have a sprinkler watering their grass. English people dont have sprinklers!"
I have no idea if that is true or not, but I have to admit I havent seen a sprinkler system since last year in Texas. Funny that she noticed it too and assumed they MUST be American.

Sept 13 - "Mom, I think it's time we stop riding our bikes to school. It's too cold in the morning." What!!?!!! Never thought I'd hear that in September.

Sept 14 - last but not least, yesterday I went to the local Costco (1 hour away) and did some shopping. There are a few American foods I can buy there. After opening the cupboards this morning, both the kids were so excited. Upon seeing a box of Snickers bars, B asked, "where did all the American food come from?" Never thought Snickers bar and a box of Oreos would represent all of America's food, or wait, maybe it does....

back to posting

ok, ok, I went on summer vacation too. Just couldnt find time to post durning those long, lazy, cool summer days. Now, school has started and life is back on a schedule. We had a great summer, although not nearly long enough. So far, we have hosted 8 sets of visitors and have genuinely enjoyed every visit. I got a little distracted by hosting and forgot to stay on schedule with my posting. I'll do better now.
We traveled to some fun places of which I will write more later. The weather in England was unseasonably cold this summer. I have worn shorts maybe 8 times. It rained a ton and just never warmed up. Even the locals have commented on how summer never really arrived. Speaking to a lady who has spent more than 40 years enduring Texas summers - it was pretty pleasant! Although I do hate that we never got a tan - another reason to leave the shorts in the closet. We loved leaving the windows open every day and eating outside on the patio. We comment EVERY day what a joy it is to be outside WITHOUT mesquitos. It really makes such a difference to be rid of those pesky bugs.
Even now we have to wear a jacket in the mornings because it is so cool (highs in mid 60s). The days are getting shorter too. It is now dark by 8:00pm.
School is totally different being able to start the year with everyone else. Being a newcomer in the middle of the year was a complete bummer. We know our way around and arent so green. I've even offered to be a "buddy" to a new family. Amazing how far we have come since January. B is happy to go to school - huge difference from dragging her into school for months. L is ok with school too. His favorite class is Digital animation. He made the cross country team and told me today he ran 3K. I said 'how far is that'. His answer,"I dont know". We need to make the metric conversion for track or else he may unknowingly sign up for a 10 mile run.
We ride our bikes to and from school now which cuts about 45 min off both the morning and afternoon "school runs" - no tardies yet, yeah!. DA bought me a new bike for our commutes. It is sweet, but he laughs at my "comfort" bike. Sits upright and looks like an ol' lady bike. Now he can kid me right back when I laugh at his scooter. I even have a little basket on the front to carry groceries in.
I have tried to expand my baking experiences by using my weird oven. I baked some banana nut bread for a meeting this morning. I was so proud - looked and smelled so good - only to cut it at the meeting and realize the center was uncooked.!! ackkkkk! If I ever learn to cook here, it will be a miracle.

The Normandy Beaches

L and I took a father and son trip down to France to see the Normandy Beaches. It was a guided and tour and we can pretty much tell you anything you need to know about the D-Day invasion. We saw and did it all. We visited all five of the landing beaches spending most of our time at Omaha and Utah Beaches, Pegasus Bridge, the US War Cemetery, Pointe Du Hoc, and St. Mere Eglise. If these place don’t ring a bell, watch the movie The Longest Day.

We also spent one day visiting Mont St. Michel. This is one of my favorite spots in the world. It is amazing. The monks moved out in 2002 so it has lost a little bit. When they were there you could hear their singing all over the island. When the fog sets in it would be pretty eerie.

It is amazing that there is so much evidence of WWII all around. There are still 18 inch guns just sitting out in the fields. You still see the craters creating from bombings, and there are pill bunkers everywhere. Some of the other highlights of the trip included L liking goose liver pate. Of course, I didn’t tell him what he was eating.

All the museums were really good and very hands on, we sat in tanks, climbed down in bunkers, walked on the beaches, and the best thing of all was just spending time with L.

D.A. In Germany

Several weeks ago, I got the opportunity to go to Munich with a few on my co-workers. The COO, whom I support, lives just outside of Munich and he and his wife were our hosts and our tour guides. I arrived ahead of the others and spent the first day touring Dachau Concentration Camp. I was very glad I went, however, it was quite depressing. It is amazing that one set of human beings can do something so terrible to another group.

The following day was the direct opposite. Munich was fantastic. The people are so nice and seem to have so much fun in everything they do. We toured the city of Munich and saw some great sites. We went to one of the famous Biergartens. They were having a traditional music festival so there were lots of people dressed in their traditional clothing. Very festive.

We stayed in the town of Starnberg. There is a beautiful lake of the same name. This is the lake where King Ludwig mysteriously drown. One of the highlights of the trip was riding in a cab going over 210 kilometer an hour (140 mph) in a Mercedes on the way back to the airport. It was a beautiful part of the world and I look forward to going back – maybe Oktoberfest next year.

Update from D.A.

It has been a while since I posted anything. First, I want to thank Eric O. for for being the only one who defended me when Bridget posted the picture of me on my scooter. With only one gear and a top speed of 55 mph it is a long way from the Harley-Davidson that Eric, Scott B. and tour have toured around Northern New Mexico and Colorado. It gets me to and from the train station and it gets 65 miles to the gallon which is important when gas is $8 a gallon.


Each June a group of some of my closest friends spend a long weekend fishing in New Mexico. This has been a tradition since 1989. This year is only the second trip I have missed. I want the guys to know that I was thinking of them and was with them in spirit.


Work is going great. The honeymoon period is over and I am now into the daily routine. We are making great progress, but it is never as fast as you want it. The people are great and my team is coming together. I am still under-staffed but hopefully I can get that fixed in the next few months. I have had my friends from Navigator/Hitachi helping out with the technology side of my responsibilities. They have been great.



It is an exciting time to be at Barclays. We are in the middle of an acquisition - the hostile kind. We are trying to buy ABN AMBRO, but the Royal Bank of Scotland is trying to buy them under a hostile approach. This will be the largest banking acquisition in history. There will be books written about this. It has been a great first six months. It has flown by and I truly feel like we have taken advantage of this time.