criplomats

I just posted photos last week of Flavia living her best life, but she turned the tables on us this week. Tuesday she stopped eating and got very weak. On the fifth day she ate a tiny bit of tuna and she’s eaten a little bit this morning (and seemed a little perkier), but she’s lost weight and has been lethargic. I stayed home with her Wednesday and the vet came to give her fluids. We’ve been watching her closely and just hope she either pulls through or doesn’t suffer. She’s 19 and a half.

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with Lea and Jose and another co-worker Rachel late Thursday afternoon – delicious food and good company! My green bean casserole turned out pretty well despite not having those crispy fried onions in a can (I can’t believe I didn’t bring any back with me).

Saturday I met Lea for lunch at an Italian place we like near the cemetery. It was a beautiful day outside, but it’s really starting to warm up.

John and I finally watched “Barbie” last night and really enjoyed it. It’s clever. We also watched the newest episodes of “The Crown” and are also occasionally watching “Santa Evita.” I finished “Enough” and then read the fourth book in the “Thursday Murder Club” series – they are cute and an easy read. I picked “Tom Lake” for our next book club, so went back through it this morning to refresh my memory of it – I think it will prompt me to re-read “Our Town,” since it plays such a big part in the book.

Here’s hoping little Flavia continues to improve.

We hosted a consular leadership conference in Buenos Aires this week, with over 40 people coming to town. While it was held at a nearby hotel, I had the chance to see many old friends. Last Sunday, I met Karen W for brunch at Marti, then John and I hosted around 20 friends for a happy hour at our house. It was great to see so many familiar faces! After happy hour, we met the rest of the group at an Italian restaurant near Recoleta Cemetery for a kick-off dinner. I did not participate in the conference itself, and stayed in the office. We had a few of the VIPs come to the embassy for a tour and a presentation of some of the innovations my group is doing (they were impressed!). Later in the week, I met up for the group at an outdoor happy hour at the racetrack (no races going on). Saturday, I picked up four of the conference-goers and we spent the day in San Telmo and Palermo. They enjoyed seeing different parts of the city, and it was a gorgeous day to be out and about.

John and I started watching “Rabbit Hole,” with Keifer Southerland. I stopped reading “Surrounded by Idiots,” and started Cassidy Hutchinson’s “Enough,” about her time in the Trump administration (it’s riveting).

Today is the presidential runoff here in Argentina and the city seems pretty quiet. John and I walked down to the street to La Morena for lunch – they have tasty empanada!

Here are a couple of photos of Flavia living her best life!

Spring is really here now – the jacarandas are starting to bloom and the weather has been crazy. It stormed all afternoon and evening Friday (postponing a much-anticipated Taylor Swift concert) – I loved the rain because we were snugly tucked inside for the Veterans’ Day holiday.

Last Sunday I went to our new, small book club at the very fancy brunch at the Alvear Hotel – a fun venue to discuss “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.” While the book wasn’t really my cup of tea, it was a fun outing with friends.

Yesterday was busy running errands and it was nice to have Thai food delivered in the evening. We’ve been watching “Dopesick” with Michael Keaton and we are really riveted by it (what a horrible, horrible story of greed). I enjoyed reading “Phil,” an unauthorized biography of the golfing great, this week, and just started a new book, “Surrounded by Idiots” – it’s not as pessimistic as it sounds!

John freaked a lot of folks out on Halloween with his devil eyes! It was fun to watch people start to chat with him then scream when they really looked at his eyes! The embassy does a big trick-or-treating event for the kids and all the sections decorate – it was a fun afternoon!

Monday night John and I stayed up “late” and went to see a German quartet at Teatro Colon. It was our first time seeing an event at the theatre and it was lovely. For one thing, the seats are comfortable with lots of legroom – hoorah! And the place was packed, even for a Monday night 8PM performance.

The weather was so strange this week – it got really chilly and WINDY on Wednesday. The next day it poured all day and evening, which was unfortunate because we were hosting the deputy chiefs of mission from all over South America. John went to the airport to pick up the Director General of the Foreign Service in the morning, then had an evening event at Bosch Palace with the attendees. Friday my former boss and friend Angela left the conference to spend the day with us in the consular section. She and I went to brunch on Saturday and spent the day shopping in Recoleta and Palermo. It was great to see her and catch up – we talked non-stop for the entire day!

Friday night was the Marine Ball – there was a nice sit-down dinner at a hotel downtown with the traditional Marine ceremony (that always makes me cry). We had a good time, but scooted out when the music started at midnight!

And…drum roll! Last night we went to Madre Rojas with Lea and Jose to celebrate John’s 60th birthday – happy birthday, John!

I’ll leave you with two more Halloween photos!