Paella! Spain 2011

Here are the paella chefs, Loida and Antonita, with their culinary creation. Paella is a seafood and rice dish and the most popular meal in Spain. I love the shrimp, but not the heads. I decapitate them and give the heads to Antonita, who like the suck the brains, etc. out.

This is a rabbit and seafood paella. Grandpa Antonio (Antonita's dad), who sat across from me at lunch, got the rabbit skull, teeth still attached. He happily scooped out the insides with a spoon...yum!

Europe Trip '11 "The Good, The Bad, and the Ridiculous"

Thanks to Brent's many frequent flier miles, and kind friends who took us in, we were able to go to Europe this summer. The trip was 99% fabulous, and the highlight of each country was seeing friends! So topping the "Good" list was Fabienne (below) with her daughter Axelle. Fabienne lived with us one summer when she was 17. Ethan was 3 and Analise was 1 at the time. I was limited by a neck injury and she was an incredible help to me. It was so special to see her again after 15 years, and meet her husband Matthieu, and daughter, Axelle. Matthieu told the story of meeting Fabienne and all the blessings she has brought into his life....It was like a fairy tale with a good ending AND miracles included. Just thinking of them makes me happy ( = Good things about Rome: Espresso (adjectives fail me), gelato, pizza, pancetta, the list goes on.
Ditto for the chocolate and crepes in Paris!

The foto below is of Adrian with his parents. We met him 3 years ago in Spain. He was a student then. It was wonderful to see him again, this time in Switzerland at Villigen conv, now on the Swiss staff. ( =

Europe Trip '11 "The Bad"

The bad things about our trip mostly involved, Surprise!, TRANSPORTATION.

• Thanks to US airways, as I flew to Barcelona, my suitcase was on a plane bound for Zurich. We were reunited 48 hours later. In the mean time we were fortunately staying with kind friends who let me borrow clothes, underwear, a toothbrush, and other slightly necessary things ( =


• We loved everything about Rome except for the lack of bathrooms and the smell of the subways


• We flew (Not So) Easy Jet from Barcelona to Portugal and back. They try to scam you into checking all your baggage then charge you a fortune for it. Ethan got to stuff his suitcase in a little tiny metal frame and take it out again 4 times ( = I took a foto of him and Brent trying to get the suitcase out on the 3rd go around. He had to do it twice at the Lisbon ticket counter because the lady insisted he put it in, then "wasn't looking", so made him do it again!


• If I ever felt the need to rant, it was at the Philadelphia airport. The airport food there made me sick going over to Europe. On the way back, the agricultural inspection people took away the gluten free food I had packed in Spain for the 3 flights home. First I objected and made a fuss, then I got so frustrated I started to cry, which REALLY mortified my children ( Brent was on a plane bound for India at that point). Oh well, they have embarrassed me a few times too!
  

Europe Trip '11 "The Ridiculous"

Now for the Ridiculous ( mostly involving, ahem, restrooms and related subjects):





1) Paying to Pee in Paris. A large bladder would be a distinct advantage for any European traveler since public restrooms are few and far between. We did find this restroom in a park, which Analise claimed was discriminatory since they charged more for stalls than for urinals!





2)Likewise in Rome, if you need to answer the call of nature you must hunt for a bar or cafe, then politely buy something if they let you use the facilities. This ended up costing way more than the stalls in Paris since I purchased an orange soda for 3.50 Euros, or about 8 bucks...choke cough.





3)Isn't Paris supposed to be known as the "City of Lights"? Well, from our balcony, it looked like Paris is the City of Pigeon Poo. The neighbors liked to feed pigeons apparently, and everytime we stepped out, a cloud of pigeons took flight leaving their gifts behind!





4) So, hope your not tired of this subject, the best is yet to come! While we were at Lisbon for preps, we were served snails. Analise and I politely refused. Ethan was trying to be more cosmopolitan, so he dug in, no holds barred. After devouring a plateful, someone explained to him that you need to clean the bits of dangling excrement off the end of each snail before you eat it.......he didn't want any more after that!

Family Fotos 10-10

Greetings to all our friends from the Richtsmeier Family Brent and Aundrea

Ethan, age 17, Senior

Analise, age 15, Sophomore

Korea, August 2010

I got to go with Brent on a business trip to Korea last week. He has been going regularly for 6 years now, so it's good I finally know what he's talking about! Below are Kyung Nam and Kyung Hee, a Korean couple we met 20 years ago when Kyung Nam was going to San Diego State. That was before we or they had kids. They moved around the US for schooling and finally went back to Korea about 6 years ago. I had not seen them for about 16 years! Kyung Hee took me shopping, sightseeing, etc etc. They took us to a Korean BBQ restaurant (below) which was fun and very tasty! Korean's are legendary for hospitality and they are no exception. She would not let me pay for anything! This is Mabel Jacobs and Reh, two very cute ladies that took me shopping in Seoul! Mabel's sister Ruth is our good friend and lives nearby us, so we have met her before when she visited Ruth. Mabel has been in Korea since 1977! She speaks Korean fluently and definately knows her way around the markets! It was raining and about 90 degrees the day we went shopping. The weather was like a big steamy shower outdoors....I did sweat a bit!

This is Sunday morning at the Kim's house. Mrs. Kim is Kyung Hee's sister. The Park family is also pictured, and their daughter, Chi heh, in front of Brent and I, translated for us. She has excellent English! Afterwards, we ate a home made Korean feast that was delicious!

Pool/yard remodel Spring '10

We hired a crew to remodelled our pool and backyard this spring. New plaster in the pool, raised spa, stacked rock on raised walls. Same rock on retaining wall, firepit etc. Cut and stained cement to match the rock. Lately I've been having fun planting succulents in the new planter behind the pool. Succulents don't require much water, look the same year round, and don't drop leaves in the pool!

Here is the "before" picture....Spa is same level as the pool.