A Day of Hibernation

So I returned from Phily to DC with a minimum of traffic on Saturday afternoon. A small post-Christmas miracle..... I spent some time panicked about how much I need to do in my small condo (exploding with post-Sudan stuff and Christmas trimmings) and decided to avoid by hiding in my room reading under a book in my blissfully comfortable bed. (Though it was a bit different to not have my sister's Bernese Mountain Dog trying to sleep on me each night....)

Today though, I returned to industriousness and work up early. Though CBS Sunday Morning sucked me in, I rallied and took my dog for a long walk in Rock Creek park. Unfortunately she has no water boundaries and despite my best on-again/off-again leash efforts, she outwitted me and managed to get in to the coldest and most polluted waterway in the DC metro area. Hmm.

Back at the ranch, and after a bath for the pooch, I got to work. Now, four loads of laundry, one grocery shopping trip, a pot of chili, and a massive cleaning spree later, I'm chillin' and constructing the "to do" list for tomorrow. Starting with "Swim in the New Year"......

More soon
Jane

Almost 2008!!

Hi everyone,

It's Friday the 28th! I'm still in Philadelphia with the fam. On the 26th we had a non-tearful (though I did well up a bit) reunion with my sister Molly and her husband and two kids who I haven't seen for over a year. It was great!! Though, as you can imagine, 4 kids under 10 who want to open presents can be a bit crazy!! Anyway, it's good to have the Strachan sisters together...

Christmas was good. Lots of presents to open, lots of shrieking when my nieces opened their dream presents (for Paige it was a talking parrot (electronic--not real) and for Zoe it was an acoustic guitar). All of us got presents we like...and some that may see the store again. But, as the old adage says, it's the thought that counts....and there was a lot of thinking.

Anyway--tomorrow it's back to Silver Spring. I've got to get my sh** together before I'm back at work on 1/2. Let's see...that means cleaning up, finishing the unpacking, switching my clothes from summer to winter....and starting the exercise regimen again! There is Swim in the New Year with my Terrapin Masters team and other swimmers. And since I haven't seen most of them since August that should be fun but I've got to get on the treadmill and bike again too!! And of course--I can't neglect Lily!! To compensate for being gone for so long, she's getting some nice walks! So as long as the weather stays tolerable, she'll get a nice run outside and the treadmill will wait!!

Anyway--no New Year's plans yet...anyone have any ideas?!?!?!

Love ya,
Jane

Bad Santa!

Hi all,

It's 7:13 in the a.m., my belly's growling for shredded wheat, and I need to take Lily for a walk and then head off to work. (We did take a nice long walk last night though so I might go short this a.m.!!). But I thought I'd take a minute to say that to those of you, and there are many, to whom I have not called or written in a while, I'm sorry. Things were crazy in the few weeks before I left Khartoum and since I've been back, time has been busy or I've been asleep. I was hoping to get a lot done last night but after my walk with Lily I just ate dinner and pooped out. My main goal today is to get to the post office to send the present that one of my Khartoum colleagues sent back for his son!!


So, no one's getting holiday cards this year, many of you won't get anything in the mail from me until after the holidays when I have time to write cards and go to the post office. It's a busy time for all, and for some, this posting will be impersonal and insufficient. But, even if I don't write or call, I do think about you, your spouses and kids (as applicable of course!) all of the time.

So please know that even if I don't have a chance to talk to you before Christmas, or maybe even right after, I'm sending you my warmest holiday greetings and a huge hug. I'd love to talk to you...and I'll call....soon.

Miss you!
Hugs and kisses to all,
Jane
(and Lily)

Settling in and back to the grind

So I've been back for a few days and am settling in. I picked up Lily on Monday night. She seemed excited to see me, but not excited to leave Kasey and her family! When I opened the car door, she looked at it and ran back to Kasey's front door. Hmmm. I'm starting to get a complex!! She did remember which door was ours though, so that was good. And she seemed to perk up when I took her for a walk yesterday morning.

Last night we went for a walk with her friend Moose--a newfoundland--and she was pretty happy about that. My new, svelte, highly-exercised dog will have some adjusting to do!!

My adjusting is going well. I've been busy with little task and haven't relaly managed to put my luggage away, get out the wrapping paper, etc. Tonight might be my only chance to do that!! But it's nice to be home and sort of nice to be back at the office. Somethings never change....but rumors are afoot of people leaving, changes within, etc. So maybe 2008 will bring new and exciting opportunities!!

So, just a quick update!! I'm off to Baltimore on Friday for a much needed haircut (it's been 5 months!) and then to Phily on Saturday for the week. I'm sure I'll be on again, but just in case, have a great holiday wherever you are!!!

Love,
Jane

I'm home

I got home last night and had a great meal of veggies, veggies, veggies. Today it was in to the vast world of Target and Old Navy. And tomorrow first the mall, and then I'm picking up Lily!!! Yeah!

Talk to you soon,
Jane

Homeward Bound

Hi all,

I'm at the lounge in Schipol airport in Amsterdam. This is my first induction in to winter weather. I'm looking out over the KLM planes at a cold and foggy Amsterdam. Yesterday when I left Khartoum it was still in the 90's...though it didn't feel as hot as I think that should feel. But now we're fully in to the cold weather. And Christmas! Decorations are everywhere, there are KLM ornaments, little dutch white and blue ornaments, and trees...but no carols.

So I'm halfway home....arriving tonight--dinnertime--in DC! Yeah!! Then just a week of work and then some vacation with the family for Christmas. Looking forward to it!!

Talk to you soon,
Jane

(Movies watched so far: Stardust, Death at a Funeral)

Cairo, Part Two

So the last two days we were in Cairo we had a bit of time to run around and see things. So We went to the pyramids at Giza....great in their sheer scope, but it's disappointing that the government of Egypt doesn't take better care to protect the site itself or the area around it. But here are some photos nonetheless.

Then we went to Coptic Cairo--or old Cairo--which was really interesting and much less overwhelming that a lot of Cairo--mostly because streets were blocked off so you could actually move around.

We had a chance to see the Citadel and some of the old mosques in "Islamic Cairo" though there was much more to see than we could get to in a day. And finally, a quick stop in the National Museum to see King Tutankhamen's tomb treasures.

I'll write about the trip a bit more but as I'm leaving Khartoum I'm running out of time!! So I just wanted to post a few pictures to tempt your taste buds.

More soon,
Jane













Jane in front of all three of the larger pyramids of Giza (though there are an additional 6 smaller ones)













From left to right: Anita, me, Sureka, Mickey and Tiare (in front) pose for the cameras. We're just missing a few of our team members---but you're looking at the masterminds behind the USG's humanitarian response in Darfur.













Two of the large pyramids. You can't really get the scope from these pictures, but as you've seen from other photos I'm sure, each rock is massive.













A dome in Coptic Cairo as the sun starts setting....



















Fireworks over Cairo that I could see from my hotel room. It was the last night of the Cairo film festival. I could see the red carpet from my room!!













Well, I can't figure out how to turn this picture, but this is one of the minarets from an old mosque. The mosques in Cairo were absolutely gorgeous. Especially compared to those in Khartoum that are essentially plain concrete painting a heinous green color.

More photos from Cairo

Here's the view from my hotel room at The Sofitel Gezirah













Above is some of Cairo......












.....and there's the view of the Nile and more of Cairo

Cairo, Part One

Hi everyone,

I'm in Cairo this week for a work retreat. No seriously, we are working. Today we hit it 8:30-4. But we got a lot crammed in during that time!!! Here are a few photos on the drive from the airport to our hotel...


This is the facade of a building we passed. There were a ton of these on this building....it's unclear what building it was !!!













Most of the time we were on this elevated highway---charging over nice looking streets. Later I realized that traffic is actually worse than Khartoum!!!!

The guys in the truck below were actually sitting around a bowl of food and eating while we were zooming down the street!!!



I have some other good ones....but it's late here.....I'll post them later....


In other news, I asked for Christmas lists from my family. This is my youngest niece's list:
a life size stuffed zebra
a dog (real, lap size)
a parrot
an iphone
a koala
a baby sister !!!!( she is tired of being the youngest)
a platypus webkinz
and finally- magic wishing powder

Do you just love it?!?!?!

Miss you,
Jane

Cooper the Crazy Dog

Hi all,

So I'm just back at home after 4 nights with Cooper. He's a lot more aggressive towards dogs while we're walking so it was even harder. But I had some company on a few walks so it wasn't too bad. Anyway--I snapped a few photos of the 125 lbs beast.....