We can finally say we are leaving for Europe this month. It's been over a year since I've been on a trip, and I have been feeling the drag for awhile now. There was a four day stint to New York over the summer, but that was so quick and it's just a train ride from DC and I've been there enough that it doesn't feel like it should count as a trip.
When I say I haven't been anywhere, I mean I have barely left Capitol Hill since January, when I started working from home full-time due to office renovations. In fact, I've barely ventured past a six block radius except to go to the ballpark, which isn't much farther. To think this is how most people live makes me sad and explains a lot about the state of America. But we've been trying to save up for the three week trip to Europe, so that's the trade-off. I'm already starting to think of spring trips because I don't want to go six months without traveling again. This particular trip to Europe is more expensive than our usual trips given the nature of the trip (a school anniversary) and the length. It is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Miami University Dolibois European Center in Luxembourg, where I spent my junior year of college, and there is a week-long celebration full of activities for all alumni. Since we will be close (enough), I am also visiting a friend in Austria whom I haven't seen in ten years.
I have a box that I add to when I think of something to pack for the trip. It currently has a Stephen Strasburg bobblehead (when we went to Luxembourg the last time, we met the school director who had Nationals stuff in his office from when he lived in DC, so it's for him), a pair of long underwear (it will still be warm here but cold in Salzburg, so I don't want to forget), sweats to sleep in, papers from my photography class so I can review when I am shooting), and my journal from my year in Luxembourg - I am going to write in the last few empty pages about our week and all of our school activities. I won't put the regular travel stuff like electricity adapters and passports and stuff - I have a permanent travel drawer for that kind of thing.
I had two classmates over earlier this summer who are also going to the anniversary, and we will meet up for dinner at Chris's Indian restaurant in a couple of weeks. We also went to the Luxembourg embassy last month for a special school reception, where we met people from other classes who are also going to the anniversary. They say that 700 people registered for the trip, so it's going to be quite the week in Luxembourg. We have been amped for the trip since it was announced in December. That's when I bought my plane tickets, and I am pretty sure I was one of the first to register. There is nothing that I've done in my life that was more important to where I am today.
It's been one hot summer, and the tomatoes haven't done as well as last year. Sure, I've gotten my fill already, but I can't say I'm not disappointed. The beefsteaks were small and sometimes flavorless. I got two purple cherokee before the plants contracted some disease and stopped producing fruit. The best were the pineapple heirlooms, which were sweet and beautiful and the appropriate size. It was too hot for my bell peppers for most of the summer - to date we've had one, but there are three or four growing right now and a lot of blossoms. The weather was great for jalapenos, however, and we have an abundance of them.
Right now I am working on a countertop/table/shelving unit for the kitchen using scrap wood leftover from garden planning. A friend brought me more wood than I can use for the garden beds and planter boxes, so I'm using it in another way. From what I can tell on Pinterest, reclaimed wood is all the rage, and I am more than happy to reuse and recycle when possible. In fact, I demand it. Chris hates it because I save every jar and can I am able to for use in other ways. He just doesn't like to wash them.
I sat every scrap material out to see what I could come up with. I want to make something I can be proud of, not like my half-assed garden bench, which isn't bad. It's just very simple and unfinished for the indoors. Which was the point, really. But this table I am making is going to have a hinged top with a little storage space inside that I will use for dry goods. We really need the counter space because cooking is difficult with the space we have. The sink is in the middle of the counter, which is an obstacle to food prep. So I've been trying to create space in unusual ways. Right now, most of the parts are laying on newspaper in the kitchen waiting for paint to dry.
Speaking of paint drying and watching it, I watched a bunch of woodworking videos last night to try to figure out how to put hinges on the table top. It's more complicated than I thought. Not hard, just a little more involved than simply screwing on a hinge, mostly because of the way the table top will overhang the base of the table. Yeah, the videos were as boring as my description here. And why does every man in a woodworking video have the same mustache?
I'll post pics here when I finish. At the rate I am going, that will be a week. It's hard for paint to dry in a humid subtropical climate. At least this will give me something to put energy into while I wait for September 26th to come.
When I say I haven't been anywhere, I mean I have barely left Capitol Hill since January, when I started working from home full-time due to office renovations. In fact, I've barely ventured past a six block radius except to go to the ballpark, which isn't much farther. To think this is how most people live makes me sad and explains a lot about the state of America. But we've been trying to save up for the three week trip to Europe, so that's the trade-off. I'm already starting to think of spring trips because I don't want to go six months without traveling again. This particular trip to Europe is more expensive than our usual trips given the nature of the trip (a school anniversary) and the length. It is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Miami University Dolibois European Center in Luxembourg, where I spent my junior year of college, and there is a week-long celebration full of activities for all alumni. Since we will be close (enough), I am also visiting a friend in Austria whom I haven't seen in ten years.
I have a box that I add to when I think of something to pack for the trip. It currently has a Stephen Strasburg bobblehead (when we went to Luxembourg the last time, we met the school director who had Nationals stuff in his office from when he lived in DC, so it's for him), a pair of long underwear (it will still be warm here but cold in Salzburg, so I don't want to forget), sweats to sleep in, papers from my photography class so I can review when I am shooting), and my journal from my year in Luxembourg - I am going to write in the last few empty pages about our week and all of our school activities. I won't put the regular travel stuff like electricity adapters and passports and stuff - I have a permanent travel drawer for that kind of thing.
I had two classmates over earlier this summer who are also going to the anniversary, and we will meet up for dinner at Chris's Indian restaurant in a couple of weeks. We also went to the Luxembourg embassy last month for a special school reception, where we met people from other classes who are also going to the anniversary. They say that 700 people registered for the trip, so it's going to be quite the week in Luxembourg. We have been amped for the trip since it was announced in December. That's when I bought my plane tickets, and I am pretty sure I was one of the first to register. There is nothing that I've done in my life that was more important to where I am today.
It's been one hot summer, and the tomatoes haven't done as well as last year. Sure, I've gotten my fill already, but I can't say I'm not disappointed. The beefsteaks were small and sometimes flavorless. I got two purple cherokee before the plants contracted some disease and stopped producing fruit. The best were the pineapple heirlooms, which were sweet and beautiful and the appropriate size. It was too hot for my bell peppers for most of the summer - to date we've had one, but there are three or four growing right now and a lot of blossoms. The weather was great for jalapenos, however, and we have an abundance of them.
Right now I am working on a countertop/table/shelving unit for the kitchen using scrap wood leftover from garden planning. A friend brought me more wood than I can use for the garden beds and planter boxes, so I'm using it in another way. From what I can tell on Pinterest, reclaimed wood is all the rage, and I am more than happy to reuse and recycle when possible. In fact, I demand it. Chris hates it because I save every jar and can I am able to for use in other ways. He just doesn't like to wash them.
I sat every scrap material out to see what I could come up with. I want to make something I can be proud of, not like my half-assed garden bench, which isn't bad. It's just very simple and unfinished for the indoors. Which was the point, really. But this table I am making is going to have a hinged top with a little storage space inside that I will use for dry goods. We really need the counter space because cooking is difficult with the space we have. The sink is in the middle of the counter, which is an obstacle to food prep. So I've been trying to create space in unusual ways. Right now, most of the parts are laying on newspaper in the kitchen waiting for paint to dry.
Speaking of paint drying and watching it, I watched a bunch of woodworking videos last night to try to figure out how to put hinges on the table top. It's more complicated than I thought. Not hard, just a little more involved than simply screwing on a hinge, mostly because of the way the table top will overhang the base of the table. Yeah, the videos were as boring as my description here. And why does every man in a woodworking video have the same mustache?
I'll post pics here when I finish. At the rate I am going, that will be a week. It's hard for paint to dry in a humid subtropical climate. At least this will give me something to put energy into while I wait for September 26th to come.
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