July 16
We had such a good time the night before that most of us slept late on Tuesday morning. I say most, but not me. I was up early as always so I went out and read on the patio. By the time we all finally made it down for breakfast, they were closing the place up. We were the last ones there and there wasn’t much food left.
Continue reading “Crete Trip July 2024 – Part 2”Prologue
It’d been a while since the folks had seen Monki and she had seen them outside of a video screen. Sure, we facetime’d regularly, but nothing beats actual face time. Since we didn’t know what Rasa’s vacation schedule was going to be like this summer, it seemed better all-around for them to come this way. So they made plans to head out over the summer to celebrate Monki’s birthday with her.
Continue reading “Crete Trip July 2024 – Part 1”
This was a big weekend. Saturday, June 1, was both World Children’s Day and Monki had a guitar “concert.” Then, Sunday, was Father’s Day here in Lithuania. Plus, it was also the first day of Lithuanian summer. So, as I say, it was packed.
Continue reading “Ouch – Father/Kid’s Day 2024”
A mere 7 months after our last Con, here we were again, doing it all over. The more things change, the more they stay the same, right? Only this time, the Con was happening the weekend after instruction ended for the semester, but since I had to be there early, that meant I needed to get all my classwork done ahead of time and the last meeting in two different classes had to be cancelled.
One of the advantages about buying the place where we already lived is that we wouldn’t have to move. At least you’d think that, right? The only thing that would change is who got the rent money at the end of the month and we wouldn’t have to ask permission if we wanted to change something or get a cat (which we did: Hi Duke!)
Except… except when you own the place, all of a sudden, all of the things you’d been complaining about during your years of renting were now under your control. You could, for example, take down and get rid of the dirty, broken window shades. Or toss away the shelves you didn’t like.
Continue reading “Adventures in Renovations “
Well, here we are, the last day of the year, and I’m trying to write an end of year wrap-up. So far it’s not going well. I’ve started a few times and it’s just not coming to me. Which may be part of the problem. It seems that in the last few years, I’ve forgotten how to write. I can sum up adventures, sure, and I’ve had a few this year, but writing anything with substance, like fiction or even this introspective wrap-up of what happened in the past 12 months is just a bit blocked.
Continue reading “Saying goodbye to 2023”
Back in January, when I was in London with Lin, we were lucky enough to attend an after-show party of Mother Goose, the Panto with Ian McKellan. It was a ton of fun and on the way home, Lin asked me if I didn’t miss it. I replied that I did, but I really didn’t want to go back to it full-time. It was fine to enjoy it piecemeal, every now and again.
Continue reading “Comic Con Baltics – 2023 Edition”
It’s been a helluva month. When August ended, we literally had no idea what was coming next. Seriously. Waking up on the morning of August 31, we really didn’t know what the future was going to hold for us. All we knew for sure was that Rasa had her PhD defense coming up on the 21st of September, and that was causing enough stress on its own.
Continue reading “September”Wednesday – July 19
We slept late (well, later than we usually slept) and made our way down to the included breakfast buffet, which was only available from 9-11am. It was typical fare, except they had bacon, which Monki has recently discovered, so she was rather excited to pile it high on her plate. They also had smoked bacon, which I was sure was raw, but Rasa insisted it wasn’t. It still took me two days to try it.
Continue reading “Šventoji – Summer 2023 – Part 2”
We needed a vacation, this much was certain. So far, we’d been having a summer of uncertainties. We had been looking for a place to buy, but prices were soaring, way above what they should have been, so we were stuck in a holding pattern there. Rasa was working on finishing the details for her defense of her dissertation and Monki had graduated from first grade, but now we were looking at different summer camps and things for her to keep her occupied for the summer.
Continue reading “Šventoji – Summer 2023 – Part 1”
It’s fascinating watching your little one grow up. I know I’m not unique in this, all parents have gone through it but as this is my first time to experience it, and Monki’s first time to live through it, I find it endlessly enlightening.
We’ve been having a bit of a time here at Chez Greenspon. We’re all fine, or at least we will be, but there are a number of factors inducing stress for all of us. Nothing beyond the normal stress of living, but things which could be easily dealt with singly tend to get exponentially harder when compounded.
January 24 – New and Old things, New and Old Friends…
We got up late on Tuesday morning, but that was okay, we were already sorted for theatre for the evening – but more on that in a minute. Needing sustenance, Lin suggested a place called “Today Bread” for our morning’s brunch (yes, we’d gotten up that late!). To be fair, this wasn’t generally my kind of place. This is the kind of place where everything is produced on the premises and it felt a bit “hipsterish” for me upon entering, but hey, I’ll give anything a shot (remember my “capacity to enjoy absolutely everything”).
January 21 – Once more unto the Breach
Weirdly, in past times, this is where my trip would start. I would arrive in London for a week of theatre and museums and being able to understand what I overhear on public transport and in coffee shops. This time, I had two weeks of travel behind me so I felt like I was at a slight disadvantage energy-wise.
Lin, however, was not to be deterred!
January 16 – Magic!
To be perfectly honest, today was one of the big highlights of the trip, something I had been looking forward to with much anticipation. Today was the day Troy was coming to get me and we were going to Disneyland!
We’d discussed this over the past few months, me explaining I really wanted to see Star Wars and Avengers stuff and anything else would be a bonus. He agreed. We decided on getting a 1-day, park hopper pass (the two things were in different parks) and then we figured that the 17th of January, the day after the MLK holiday, would be ideal (and also, the least expensive) day to go.
Of course, once we knew the dates, I contacted a few friends to see if there was anything else we could do. For example, Troy had never been to the Magic Castle, so I called my friend Michael, who’s a member, and asked if he was free to join us. He was. So we made plans.
And now the day was finally here!
Continue reading “January 2023 Part Three (Jan 16-Jan 18)”
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 