criplomats

Another photo from last weekend in Hot Springs

This morning has been cool and rainy – a welcome break from the heat. It’s also been a pretty lazy morning, which I’ve really enjoyed. John is in El Paso cycling with his new buddies and I’ve been piddling around the house, slowly getting ready to have friends over for dinner tonight.

I flew back from Hot Springs last Sunday and it’s been go, go, go ever since. Our manager was away from the office this week, so Pam and I were holding down the fort, and it kept  us really busy. I did prisoner visits on Tuesday – juveniles and an adult. The week was full of prisoners, and destitute and injured Americans.

The week was also filled with meetings – housing board, 4th of July party planning, etc. I went with the housing board to look at several new houses that are being added to the pool, including one in our neighborhood.

Friday I met a new incoming officer in El Paso and went with her to her DCL appointment at the bridge, then got her settled in her house, took her to lunch, then finished up at work.

Yesterday I worked during the morning while John was biking, then took Kerry, the new officer, and her niece to the El Paso airport so the niece could fly back to NY. Kerry and I stopped at Walmart on the way home, and by the time I got home, it was time to go to Meghan’s house for a small gathering – nice and relaxing after a busy week.

John and I did have some down time – we had our massages on Tuesday night, then watched one of the X-Files movies, “I Want to Believe” on Friday night. Fun!

Click to see photos from Hot Springs last weekend or photos from DC.

With James and David

After a great week in DC, I’m en route to Juarez via Hot Springs – and boy, is it hot and humid here!

My favorite cousins David and James were both in Hot Springs (David from Diego Garcia, James and Mary Beth from San Antonio), so I was quite happy to be able to see them. David and Alison had a small BBQ at their beautiful lake house, so we spent the afternoon yakking and eating. Later in the evening, we took the boat out for an evening cruise – really lovely. I was also very happy to see David’s old friend Lon, who I hadn’t see in ages. To see the two of them together just cracks me up.

The class in DC was very good – glad I was able to go. One of the more interesting things we did in class was to go to the DC morgue one afternoon, and the best part of that was listening to a grief counselor talk about dealing with families of the deceased. The whole class was about working with American citizens overseas.

Jim, Mary and I had drinks on Tuesday night with our friend/colleague/mentor Dean at Circle Bistro. It was great to see him – he always has good advice and he still has that mischievous smile! We were also happy to have a delicious dinner with our good friend Stephen on Monday night, too!

Wednesday night I was on my own, so I walked over the Key Bridge from the hotel and walked around Georgetown, shopping and sightseeing. I picked up some delicious Indian food and beat the rain to get back to the hotel to enjoy it.

Thursday was my favorite – Harry’s for dinner with Jim and Mary. I had my typical fare: martini, Cesar salad and twin tenderloins. Yum, yum.

So that’s the week – I’ll head out of Hot Springs later this afternoon. I’m anxious to get home to see John and Flavia!

Stephen, Mary and Jim

I left Juarez on Sunday morning to come to DC for a consular class. Long day of airplanes, but made it just fine. I’m excited to be in the class, and especially excited to spend time with my A-100 classmates Jim and Mary – we got together last night to catch up, and will spending a lot of time together this week.

The week at work was busy, due to high passport demand, but John and I relaxed after work Tuesday night with a massage (ahhhh!). We also watched “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Blood Simple” and part of “The Company” – all good. And of course, I watched the men’s French Open final on Sunday.

Went to a baby shower that was actually fun (!) on Wednesday night for a girl in our office.

John took me to dinner at Corralito’s Friday night for a good dinner out. Otherwise it was a pretty low-key week. John is keeping up the cycling!

Texas Canyon in AZ

John and I were invited to attend a Foreign Service recruiting event in Scottsdale, Arizona, this week. John was up for a road trip, so we left early Tuesday morning and headed out for our 7+ hour drive. The event was in the late afternoon, and it was a lot of fun. There were close to 150 people there. We were on a panel with our friend Dink, who ran our orientation program while we were back in DC. It was great to see him and have dinner with him afterward.

We drove back home the next day, not in as much of a hurry going home. We stopped in Texas Canyon (above) for a photo op – it was so pretty with these huge rocks. We also went to a cheesey road side attraction called “The Thing” that John has been wanting to do since we first saw a billboard for it in NM. And we had a delicious lunch just over the AZ-NM border.

We started the week with book club Monday night at our house – we read Jeffrey Davidow’s ”The Bear and the Porcupine,” about Amb. Davidow’s experiences as ambassador to Mexico. We had a great discussion.

The rest of the week was pretty low-key. Last Sunday night, we watched “Rachel Getting Married,” which was pretty good. We started “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” last night.

I just spent a lazy morning watching the men’s championship of the French Open.

John continues to ride bikes with his new El Paso buddies on Saturday and Sunday mornings – he’s really enjoying it!