8 posts tagged “rome”

wohoo!!  I've been so busy since the last update...India, France, Italy----wow!!  I walked and walked and walked in all three places.  I also ate and ate and ate.  :)  It was hard to choose healthy when it was restaraunt/hotel meals for every single meal for 20 straight days.  Let me just say that in France and Italy it seems that their idea of breakfast is a pastry of some sort---mostly with chocolate.  While my taste buds were happy I worried about my waist line.

Okay, when I last posted it was just after the Holidays and I was looking forward to my trip....I weighed in at 153.8.  Now, here it is four weeks later, and I've vacationed all around the world, walked on soil that was tread upon by Ceasar, Augusta, Caligula, and Pompeiians.  I ate pasta and pastries to my hearts content.  I walked until I thought my unconditioned calf muscles would seize up and collapse on me.  I gained weight.  Not much but it was still a gain and it was enough to make my over all trend go up instead of down.  Thie morning when I stood on the scale I weighed in at----154.0.

Back to oatmeal for breakfast and fruits and veggies for snacks.  Back to more water and less soda.  I need to start some sort of exercise, too.

I'm not unhappy.  I just need to re-focus and get back to the 'plan'...only 23 poiunds to go to reach 'goal' but only 15 pounds to go to be 'really happy'. 

Just a quick drop in to let everyone know that we have completed our time in Paris and are now finishing day two in Rome.  Tomorrow is a day trip to Pompeii and Saturday will be the Colosseum (I know it is misspelled, but I do not know how to spell it the Roman way), the Parthenon (another misspelling I am sure) and Vatican City\Sistine Chapel.  Wohoo!!!  We have been busy busy busy, but have managed some down time, too.  We have not managed any night life as our days are so crammed pack busy we collapse into bed by 9:00 each night.

Paris was wonderful.  We took over 600 pictures, there would have been more, but I managed to lose the extra battery that we bought for the trip.  It is either buried deeply in the luggage, in the airport at Hyderabad (we had to do some suitcase juggling that included emptying the camera bag), or it is on the Air India plane. 

This evening we were strolling back to our hotel after a day full of shopping and basic site seeing.  I spotted an old cemetery and told Chris I thought it would be cool to check it out.  He rolled his eyes at my fasination with old cemeteries but agreed to go check it out with me.  Turns out it was part of a museum and the head stones I was seeing from the street were actually from the 1st and 2nd century.  We spent at least two hours there strolling among the gardens where the ancient Romans used to stroll.  There was a kitty cat there that totally reminded me of Deeg and Diblet!  He was a playful kitty, too.  He would not let us touch him, but he followed us around and climbed all over the statues---he even climbed down into one of the sarcophoguses (I am sure I misspelled that one, too).  I took pictures so when I get home I can write to Deeg and Diblet to tell them about their long distance cousin and his antics with the strange Americans that kept calling him *kitty*...I am not sure what the Italian word for kitty\cat is but I am sure it is not kitty.  LOL

Okay, gotta go, I am on a pay per hour computer and my time is just about up.  When I get more time I have a lot of stories and pictures to share.

We are leaving in less than 14 hours for our trip to Hyderabad, India followed by four days each in Paris and Rome. We won't be back home until late January 27th.  I have no idea how often I'll be able to check in and share stories and/or pictures. But I will as often as I can.

I'm so excited---I'm supposed to be working, but random thoughts keep going through my head making concentrating on work a near impossibility.  I'm so scatterbrained, too.  The closer it comes to actually finishing up and leaving the worse I'm getting.  I keep thinking of things I might need---but we are running out of room.  I keep thinking of things I didn't write down to tell my Mom.  I didn't write anything down because Tressa was going to be able to stay.  Now Michael is coming home sooner than expected so now not only will Mom be coming in semi-blind, but I'll be coming home to no Tressa and Xavier. 

I contacted the school and told them we'd be gone and gave them emergency names and numbers.
I've paid the bills and put them in a stack with a Post-it asking they make it to the mail on Friday (not before because then we'd bounce stuff).
PassPort, tickets, driver's liscense: with/in my purse
Laptop and mouse---well, I'm still using them. 

Okay...gotta go finish packing....

Scatterbrain: OUT!!  :^)

We will be leaving on Wednesday January 9th arriving in Hyderabad at midnight Thursday/Friday.  We have the weekend to site see.  It is still up in the air whether or not there will be anyone in the office on Monday as after we had our flights and hotels booked is when they told us that Monday the 14th is some Holiday.  While in Hyderabad FactSet is putting us up at the Hyderabad Marriott

We leave Hyderabad early in the morning on Saturday the 19th arriving in Paris mid-morning.  We will be staying at the Hotel St. Christophe
On Tuesday the 22nd we will take a tour of three different castles in the Loire Valley.  We are also talking about seeing a show at the Moulin Rouge or another more upscale place.

On Wednesday the 23rd we leave Paris and fly to Rome.  We will be staying at the Hotel Diocleziano . We plan on seeing The Coloseum and Vatican City--among tons of other things while we are there. 

On Sunday the 27th we will fly from Rome to Paris; Paris to Newark, NJ; and finally on to Birmingham.  We will be back here at the house around midnight Sunday/Monday.

I'm so excited.  This is really going to happen!!

As many of you know in January the company my husband and I work for is sending us to Hyderabad, India to do some extra training.  On our way back home we will be stopping in Paris for an extra week to take a long overdue honeymoon/vacation.  (Married 15 years in March 2008)  We will be gone from January 9th and not getting home until nearly midnight on the 27th.  While we are in India the time difference will be about 11.5 hours (noon at home will be 11:30 at night in India).  When we are in Paris the difference will be 7 hours (noon=7:00 at night).

Jordan has just turned 12.  My parents are coming to stay with him while we are gone so he can go to school.  Should we plan on trying to call and talk with him everyday or do you think an every other day (or maybe even every third day) would be okay?  I know that when Jordan is visiting his grandparents we will go two or three days w/o talking to him---but then at the most he is only two hours away.  It looks like calling while in India won't be that big of a deal; I can call him first thing in the morning for me, and it will be suppertime for him.  It will be while we are in Paris/Rome that the time difference will create a bigger challenge.  The 'Mom' in me wants to talk to him everyday.  I'm not sure that it will be completely possible though, as he will be in school during the times it would be easiest for us to call.

What have you done when/if you've been away on a business trip?  How often did you touch base with your child?

YAY!!!

I'm so excited.  It is looking more and more real as time goes on.  Things look like they may really and truly happen.  The tickets to and from Hyderabad have been bought and reservations made at the Marriott in Hyderabad have been made.  We fly out on Wednesday, January 9th, arrive in Hyderabad on Friday the 11th.  We stay in India for a week, working and doing some sightseeing.  Then on Saturday the 19th we fly to Paris.  We have yet to settle our itinerary for the week in/around Paris.  We leave France on Sunday the 27th arriving home late that night.

We will be going to the Loire Valley and doing a tour of some castles and such.  After a day or two there we will hop a plane to Athens and spend time there before flying back to Paris and getting on the plane to come home.  We are thinking about cutting the visits in the Loire Valley and Athens back a day each so we can get some time in Rome, too.  But, that will depend on money and whether we want to 'leisurely' enjoy two places or be a bit more hurried and see three.  This is a trip of a lifetime for both of us.  We want to do it right and see all we can, but not feel rushed and stressed while doing it.

WOW!!  I find it hard to believe that this is actually happening.  I think I've been in semi-denial...afraid of getting too excited for fear that the trip would not happen.  At least now I know that I will at the very least be going to India. 

Now to start planning what needs to be bought before the trip.  New luggage is practically a given.  A new memory card and a new battery for the camera.  Time for this planner to start a list.  LOL!!

Chris is in Atlanta for a class on SQL.  He won't be back until Friday.  His plane lands in Birmingham at 5:30-ish.  Which means that I will be driving in Birmingham during Friday rush hour.  I'm already paniced at the thought.  Traffic scars the be-jesus out of me.  I wonder how it would go over if I left the house an hour earlier than I really needed to.  Then I could sit in the airport and read and/or people watch until his plane lands.  I'm seriously thinking about it.  Then as soon as his plane lands and I see him, I'll pop some sort of 'nerve pill' so I can pass out in the car before we even leave the parking lot.  That way I won't be subjected to Chris's driving and all the traffic.

What is it with cool/cold temps that bring out the lady bugs?  Today's high is going to be in the low-mid 50's with a freeze watch out for tonight.  The house is filled with lady bugs.  There is at least a dozen on my window and several crawling around on the ceiling.  weird.

Plans for India and our vacation have changed a little.  We are still going to India in January.  Now we are planning on leaving a few days early to get in some sight seeing time in Hyderabad.  Then instead of going to Amsterdam we will be going through Paris.  Neither one of us is that big on Paris so we will be leaving Paris practically immediately upon deplanning.  We will be going to the Loire Valley and doing a tour of some castles and such.  After a day or two there we will hop a plane to Athens and spend time there before flying back to Paris and getting on the plane to come home.  We are thinking about cutting the visits in the Loire Valley and Athens back a day each so we can get some time in Rome, too.  But, that will depend on money and whether we want to 'leisurely' enjoy two places or be a bit more hurried and see three.  This is a trip of a lifetime for both of us.  We want to do it right and see all we can, but not feel rushed and stressed while doing it.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner!  Christmas is only 48 days away.  We are going to my in-laws for both.  I asked my mother-in-law if I could cook the Thanksgiving dinner and she said we'd share the responsiblity.  I'm still trying to decide on a 'final' menu.  Christmas will be fun with Loretta and Caroline both here.  I bet Chris will have tons of fun with his Santa Suit this year.  Yay!  I can't wait to start putting out my decorations.

Jordan's turning 12 on Monday.  whoa.  12.  dang!  Where'd my baby go?  I suggested to him this morning that he might want to wear long sleeves as it would be chilly all day.  His response was that he'd just wear short sleeves and a jacket as none of his long sleeved shirts are 'cool'.  So, now, in order for my kid to be warm this winter I have to take him to a store and let him pick out what shirts he deems as 'cool'.  Well guess what?  He just sealed his birthday presents!  LOL!!  SpiderMan 3 on BlueRay, the trilogy of the Golden Compass books, and some long sleeved shirts.

Okay, I should be working.  back at it!