coal?

i think this was in west virginia.

made me chuckle; i'm pretty sure that the new language miranda and i are learning in central Asia doesn't have any words, or phrases, resembling the term 'carbon neutral.'

and even if there were some similar words, it would probably take a pretty substantial backstory to get the meaning across. (because pretty much, where we live, people are more concerned about having some sort of means to avoid freezing to death than being too concerned about the size of their carbon footprint. which, arguably, is absolutely fine.)

i gotta say that was pretty cool to see piles of the black rocks over on this side of the world though.

and everything you heard in the news about the weather in chicago is true... yesterday it was sunny in the afternoon, beautiful really, then a quick flurry blew in and dusted the place down. as i sit here now, it's about 14 outside (which earlier made for a QUICK, hurried walk through the target(s) parking lot to get in that door...)

forever a native.

had to switch out our CA plates to be able to get local insurance and drive our car (in preparation for our big trip in a couple days).

can't say it was a completely joyful exercise.

nothing wrong with having NC plates, but, well, i'm just not used to it all yet (and not excited about slowly losing my ties to my state). i still have my CDL, though, which doesn't expire for another year. (phew!)

yeah, all of this is pretty petty. but after living overseas for over 5 years of your life, your roots, and the connections to them, become a little more meaningful...

happy birthday to me...(and micah)

another year, another rejoice-in-my-aging day.

i share my birthday with my brother in law (though he's a few years behind...), so we celebrated together, which was cool. AND- miranda made a cheesecake from scratch again. stinkin' good stuff.

don't really feel all that older, still kind of forget that i'm in my 30's... not that i want to be younger or anything; feel real good about where i'm at and all that i've been able to do. but yeah, just don't really think about it.

anywho, hope everyone's enjoying the Christmas season; miranda and i are having a great time...

surprise #2 - GB in SC!


couldn't believe it when i heard it - they just built a brand new gordon biersch in myrtle beach, not an hour from where my in-laws live (and where we're spending most of our time during this quick visit to the States). SWEET.

we hit it on friday for a little pre-birthday dinner; got a free entree and upped my 'visited list' (think it's number 16). good times...

sky blue in NC

last time it was the lakers, this time it's the tarheels... had some friends send us to a game last night, and was able to see psycho-t break the all-time scoring record at UNC.

unreal to be back in the States for the holidays; it's only been a couple days since we've landed, so i still have these moments where i'm not quite sure where i am or what's really going on around me...

a new mosque,


it's near the center of town, and we've watched its progression - from barely being worked on this summer to frantic construction now to get it done before the thick of winter...

and some roof work.
there's a lot of construction going on in our town, actually. most locals have a lot to say about how nobody has any money, yet on every street it seems someone is having a new front gate welded together, getting their roof fixed, or throwing up a new roof altogether.

we've have had a good last few weeks, even if they've been a little full. between work, making all the preparations for winter, celebrating holidays with friends and getting ready for a substantial trip, there's been much to do. yet, because officially there's no thanksgiving/christmas here, there's also no black friday doorbusters (or cyber monday second pickings) - again we miss out on Americana, arguably at it's finest. not that i'm dying to make endless laps around parking lots or anything...

winter.