Did you ever stop to notice

Happy Earth Day

Great River Energy just moved in to their new building this month, and it is a couple blocks from my hotel. I can actually see it out my window. This building is supposed to be [one of] the 'greenest buildings' in the country.



The windmill rotates to face whichever direction the wind is blowing. Sometimes, I'm entertained by the simplest things.

For anyone thinking I'm going soft, then enjoy the comments section from the State-Journal Register's article on Earth Day, today. Once again, the genius' in central Illinois shine bright.

All we want is life beyond the thunderdome

I went to my first Twins game today. The [Hubert H. Humphrey] Metrodome was not as impressive as I imagined. Afterall, this is the facility which beat the Cardinals in the '87 series (not necessarily the Twins, themselves). It's kind of a strange place for a ballgame, and it was my first indoors baseball game. I'm not too familiar with the Twins or the Indians, and I'm not much of a fan of American League ball. I'm disappointed I couldn't have seen Torii Hunter play here (I guess on that note, Kirby Puckett would have been cool to see, too). However, the game went 10 innings, and it got exciting after the 8th. There was a spectacular diving catch by the Twins new center-fielder, and it will probably be a webgem on ESPN tonight. The Twins ended up winning 2-1. It was kind of weird to see the team take the field like they just won the pennant.

The Twins are building a new ballpark across town. It's going to be open-air, and not even with a retractable roof! That's genius with the weather up here. Not even close to a sell-out crowd, so I may go to more games before I get released from here.

I know not everybody has got a body like you

This story was on stltoday.com a few days ago, but internet connectivity in my hotel pretty much sucks. So, I may be posting infrequently unless I figure out something else.



But, this dog is an amazing story, and she came through the St. Louis Airport a few days ago. I highly recommend watching the video in the Post-Dispatch story or her own website.

We've been through it all

Happy Anniversary to Mom & Dad.

27 years.

(no, I'm not a bastard; well... not exactly)

Also, Happy Anniversary for Kristi, Mike, Jennifer and me.

She saw me walking down the streets of your fine city

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I'm now in Minneapolis (or rather Maple Grove, MN). It appears I may be working here for the next three months (but then, always subject to change). This is my first visit to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Please feel free to offer any suggestions if you have any experience in the area.

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Since Kristi has not had any updates recently, I'll let you know both kids are adjusting fine to the move. She's been busy, but Grandma Simpson is helping out.

Just when things went right

We're home, and Matt & Addi became U.S. citizens about 2:30 AM CDT this morning. I don't have any pics to post right now (we didn't take many, so I'll let their mommy post some first).

Kristi gave me the choice of which one I wanted to hold on the plane, and I either picked good or Uncle Steve is awesome. I took Addi for the flight and got her asleep right before we boarded the plane. She slept about 4 of the 4 1/2 hour flight. A few times she'd wake up, but she went back to sleep very quickly. She woke up as soon as we landed in Chicago, and I welcomed her to America. She slept through the entire descent. Kristi wasn't so lucky with Matt. He maybe slept 1/2 hour of the flight, and that was pretty restless.

I took a picture of Kristi with them in immigration, and we thought I was going to get arrested. A customs officer yelled, "PHOTO!" and came running at me to delete the pic from my camera. I thought it might be okay since I was standing by the baggage carousel away from the customs stations. I was wrong. So, no picture of them becoming citizens.

We left O'Hare after 3:00 AM, and I drove most of the way. Kristi's car is really small for me, and I had to have her finish the drive from Lincoln. I was sore and exhausted from the cramped driving conditions. They both slept most of the way, except Addi did wake up crying once.

I slept about two hours this morning, and I didn't even hear our parents come in. I'll stick around for a while, and then I'll go back home to St. Louis tonight. I had two voice-mails from yesterday telling me I've been deployed to work again. I called my boss this morning, and I'm apparently leaving on Sunday to work an old storm in Minneapolis.

Got a ticket for my destination

**Updated**

I realized I hadn't posted any pics of Matt and Addi from this trip.


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I also want to show off Addi's cute shoes. This is what she was wearing when her foster family dropped her off.
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Can you see how long are Matt's eyelashes?
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We're heading home this evening, and it will be a long night of waiting at the airport, first plane ride ever flying to Chicago, muddling through immigration and customs, experiencing the weather of the Windy City at 2:30 AM, and first ever rides in car seats home to Springfield. Tomorrow, I'll be wrangling Wrigley while they all try to get used to one another.
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See you all tomorrow, stateside.

When marimba rhythms start to play

The marimba is the national instrument of Guatemala. This is a short video of the marimba group at the Hotel Posada in Antigua. Their instruments were made of ants wood. It was around the corner from our table in the restaurant, but the kids slept through the music. However, while we were waiting for our shuttle driver, I was 'swaying' with with Addi around the courtyard to one of their songs.

This is a marimba/xylophone made with jade keys at the Jade, S.A. factory.

Served out his time, became a circus clown

I thought this was funny. We passed this clown on a motorcycle in Guatemela City on the way to Antigua.



He actually arrived at Mayan Plaza the same time that we did.

We didn't talk to him or see him again, but you don't see that everyday. He probably would've creeped the kids out. I've never been freaked out by clowns, but I will admit there is something odd about a lot of them (i.e.: John Wayne Gacy).

Comos los que usa el ranchero

Kristi and I took Matt and Addi to Antigua, which is about 45 minutes southwest of Guatemala City. Antigua is the ancient (and colonial) capital of Guatemala. Earthquakes and volcanoes necessitated the need to move the capital to Guatemala City. Antigua was originally called Santo Domingo, but the name changed to litteraly mean "antique" after the capital was moved. Please keep in mind most of the photos were taken while pushing Matt in his stroller across cobblestone streets and cobblestone sidewalks. They both were very good in their strollers the entire day, but these were not the best conditions to take good photos. Also, since I am limited in my time, this is a very long post.
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Through the streets of Guatemala City (and past the first hotel we stayed in August)...
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... and the countryside.
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Arrival in Antigua.
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First stop on the tour. One of the oldest and most important churches in Guatemala. The fusion of Christianity and Mayan tradition is reflected upon the reliefs and stuatuary on the building. The design of west to east facade has something to do with Mayan beliefs with the sun. The tall statue in the archway over the main entrance is the Virgin Mary, the most sacred saint in Central America. Abover her is an etched relief of God. There are other various saints depicted, but please don't expect me to remember them all from this tour.
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The nave of the church.
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All of the churches have some pretty detailed (and gorey) depictions of saints and Christ. This is actually a depiction of Jesus in his tomb. The lighting was difficult in the dark alcove and the bright sunlight from the entrance.
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This is the main square known as Mayan Plaza, or Royal Plaza. It's not so much a tribute to the Mexican superculture, but mayan means royal. The water comes from the women's breasts because they feed the world ...or something like that. I couldn't understand everything the guide explained (maybe Kristi understood what he was talking about).
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Next stop on the tour was the House of Jorge Posada. Actually, it's the Hotel Posada De Don Rodrigo (the Yankees catcher was my mnemonic aid for remembering the name of the hotel). Beautiful spot, and this is where we came back at the end of the tours to eat a late lunch. I had a Chile Rellenos that was outstanding, with Moza cervezas from Guatemala. The food was excellent, and the salsa was just the perfect hot for me. The rooftop patio view could see all over the rest of the city.

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Walking down the street after leaving the Hotel Posada (you can see our guide's head in the lower left corner).

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Apparently, this is the most famous view from Antigua, and it is used in all of their magazine and tourism promos. I've seen some of them and my pic doesn't come anywhere close to looking as nice.

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This is the entrance to the old convent. Once you (that is the nuns) went in, you never came out. When the convent bought the land to the right of this arch, they built the archway as a bridge to the new property.

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Nuestra Senora de la Merced. This is the main church of the convent. It is the most popular church in the country for Guatemalans to get married (Americans go to Casa Santo Domingo). The interesting tidbit I picked up about the elaborate relief on the facade is the use of images of corn. With the Mayan fusion into Christianity, corn replaced the origin of man from dust, because Mayans believed corn to be sacred (but I believe they enjoyed to eat it rather than Hindu belief with cows).

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This is one of the entrances to where the bodies are buried beneath the church. I understand they aren't all that elaborate crypts, so you really are walking across their graves.
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Some street views. A lot of Americans own these homes.
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This is the workshop for the jade factory of Jade, S.A. (the official jade producer of Guatemala). They also have an informational seminar, a museum (with free coffee), and a very nice jewelry boutique. I never knew so much about jade before, but apparently the Chinese are cheaters. Guatemala is where to find the really good stuff.
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Casa Santo Domingo. This place convinced me that I need to come back here to stay and see more of the area and the country... or do nothing. With only 25 guest rooms and a spectacular setting, it is actually quite affordable.

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These are the ruins of the old church at Santo Domingo. The hills beyond were beautiful to see, and our guide told me they are surrounded by coffee plantations. You can rent a horse to ride through the plantations, and tour from the fields through the factory. I'm guessing it's a more thorough tour than a day at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.
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Everything salvageable from the old church is used in the hotel.
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My favorite part about all of the buildings (villas) in Antigua are the various nooks and passageways. It's amazing how they can fit such variety of atmospheres into these spaces.

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This is the best view of the Volcano of Water (Volcano de Agua) we had for the day. It rests to the south of the city, and the Volcano of Fire (Fuego) is to the west. Fuego is still an active volcano, and you can hike up to touch the lava with a stick. Agua is so named because of the rivers that come down and flood the plantations (it is now dormant). Guatemala has several volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and Antigua sits in a bowl surrounded by volcanoes and mountains.
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A traditional indian market. We skipped it and went back to Hotel Posada for lunch before we left.

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The weather, in short, was incredible. We got hot walking around (and pushing the strollers), but whenever we stopped to rest the cool Pacific breeze would be refreshing. The weather/temperature stays like that pretty much the year round. I didn't see one air conditioning unit, and I believe I wouldn't even miss it if I stayed.

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Yes, I want to go back. There were so many other places around town that I would like to see, and most of the country is easily accessible from Antigua. I needed to get out of Guatemala City to realize I actually like this country.

Well I asked the judge now when's my time up

For all of you who fell for being Rickrolled, here is Addi's actual passport photo.

I would move heaven and earth

I went with Kristi and both children to the embassy for Matt's appointment this morning. We had hoped to have Addi's appointment rolled into the same time, but there were still a couple of obstacles. One of the problems was Addi needed a final doctor's check-up before she could get her pink slip. In order to still try and get her in today, her facilitator and I took her to the doctor's office across the street and got in right away (we were rushing to get this done before Kristi was called to her interview for Matt). Addi checked out fine and the doctor was very friendly, and he offered any help while we are staying here.

But, before we went to the doctor's office, we had to get a passport photo for Addi. We walked down a back alley behind the embassy and ducked into a small photo shop (a 5' X 8' studio and a similar sized waiting room). While I was holding Addi in the seat the radio was playing Rick Astley (Together Forever). I thought it was funny to be in a back-alley shop in a third-world country and jamming to Rick Astley. It also reminded me of the current phenomenon called Rickrolling.

Here's a link to Addi's new passport photo.

Although we had Addi's medical finished in time, we were not able to get Addi's appointment this morning. The embassy did indicate they should get us in early next week, so we're hoping for Monday. We're supposed to leave late Wednesday night, so anytime by the end of Tuesday will work for us (we have to pick-up paperwork from the embassy on the following business day after an appointment).

Cameras were not allowed this morning (no battery operated devices), so no other new pics for now.

All along the south-bound odyssey

I just finished 26 hours of nearly constant travelling, and we have arrived safe in Guate. Follow me through my day.
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Here, I am leaving Augusta, GA at 5:40 AM EDT.
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I pass through Atlanta, GA at 8:00 AM EDT. If you look at the full size photo you can see the windows blown of the Westin Hotel (in the center of the pic) from the tornado 2 1/2 weeks ago.
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Then through Chattanooga at 10:00 AM EDT.
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I arrive in Nashville, TN at 11:00 AM CDT. I meet MC for lunch at the always fantastic Pancake Pantry. I actually had the lunch, for once, and it was just as good as their breakfast.
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I pass over the flooded Ohio River at 2:30 PM CDT. It's probably a mile past its banks into Kentucky.

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I arrive home in St. Louis at 5:00 PM CDT. I spent about an hour and a half unloading my work car, finishing some paperwork, showering, and packing a new bag. Then off in my car by 6:45.
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I made it to Springfield, IL at 8:20 PM CDT. I had to run a few errands, and then I made it to Kristi's around 9:00. (I realize the picture is blurry - not a steady night shot, but the bright light at the top of the pic is the state capitol dome).

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We get to O'Hare International Airport by 12:30 AM CDT, and we were checked in through security by 1:15 AM. Just in time to catch a light nap before our 3:15 AM flight.

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The flight hit some bad weather, so we didn't get our breakfast. I was able to sleep uncomfortably through most of the bad weather, and then I woke up and watched The Game Plan. Arrived at our hotel at 7:15 AM CST.

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Kristi is taking a nap before Addi gets here, and I'm wide awake.

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More to come...