Aruba!

Tom and I spent a week with my folks, my sister and her fiance in Aruba. Mostly it was a kick back week of sleeping in late, swimming, and family time. Thanks to mom Kaminski for planning almost all of the logistics.

The sun is intense there, so I protected my pasty white goodness with SPF 40 and a safari hat. I'm unfortunately still suffering from my internal balance being off due to the rough ocean kayaking, but I'm sure it will correct itself soon.

Tom and I celebrated a belated 4th anniversary at Pinchos Bar and Grill. The restaurant is on a pier built just for them. They had a good menu and the setting was amazing. It was pretty cool to eat at an open air restaurant. I was even tempted enough by their menu to partake in some fish and steak.































Tom and I did two excursions, kayaking to De Palm Island, and a snorkeling tour. Tom flipped out of his kayak and when I realized it was happening, I abandoned ship and paddled hard to get away!














It was beautiful once we reached the island but we had to paddle straight into headwinds on the bay to get back to shelter.

We also did a snorkel trip to the Antilla ship wreck. It was pretty cool to snorkel over an abandoned shipwreck. We also enjoyed a local cocktail the green iguana.
















Here was the view from the plane as we landed in Texas:















We're now back into reality, and Tom's sister is showing up with our niece and twin nephews tomorrow. Kiddie patrol will be in full force.

Procrastination

I'm procrastinating working on performance reviews, so here's some new stuff for y'all.

Fall is here in Portland, and it's been sunny but cold. No serious rain (yet)! I've been able to see Mt. Hood the last few days and even caught a clear view of St. Helen's in it's entirety.

I've finally gotten back into running. After I tore my ACL and MCL, I was pretty fearful of running on it. Insert mental image of death clench on the handlebars the first time they put me on it. I've been running since then regularly, but not very far or fast. I found a great running site where they provide programs to help you build toward your goals. I just finished one of the 5K programs. Yay me!

Lots of vacation coming up through the end of the year:
Aruba
Sister-in-law and brother-in-law coming to Portland
Thanksgiving
A week in Whitefish, MT
Christmas
Cabin rental on Mt. Hood

I caught most of the debate tonight. I have to say that I'm feeling pretty excited about the upcoming election. I've been really disappointed with the Bush administration and I'm hopeful for change. Get out and vote or if you're an Oregonian, make sure you mail in your ballot!

Habanero Peppers

This is what an eye looks like that comes in contact with a habanero pepper:

I had just chopped and deseeded 5 habanero peppers and made the mistake of rubbing my eye. Before I knew it, my whole eye area had become inflamed up to my eyebrow. I don't recommend it!