snowy glass bananas

Well...I am going back to work, its been a good 14 months of playing around but time to come out of retirement and fill the bank account back up.

I have accepted a job in the country of Qatar (next to Dubai) and am currently in Houston learning crazy things. I have learned what to do if I get taken hostage, how to survive a camel spider bite, how to survive in 140 degree heat and my new favorite is how to put on a chemical attack survival suit. The common word of the week seems to be "survive".

This is a picture of "after" our training in the suits. We were taught by some military guys to put on and seal gas masks in a very timely manner and then put on this crazy banana yellow suit and accessorise the seals with duct tape. Apparently duct tape is the answer for everything!! After we were fully suited up we were "gassed" and then put through some jumping jacks, stretches and jogging. I am happy to say that I successfully sealed myself up in the banana suit and didn't feel any of the "gas". I must somehow be attracted to the opposite of everything. When I first moved to the central pacific I was living in Crested Butte, Colorado. (no ocean, very big mountains). Then 7 years later when I left the tropical island life I moved to Antarctica (freezing cold, very big mountains). Now..I seem to be heading to a giant desert where the summer temperature range is 100-140 degrees. Not sure what the opposite of Qatar will be but I am sure I will find it.

Today's sky reminded me of how the snow/ice would look in Antarctica when the big snow cats were out driving around on the runways.
Just thought this was pretty...its from the hotel lobby and all hand blown glass

Lipstick Convention

I am in Houston, Texas with 4,000 Mary Kay Ladies, no joke!! They are the top sellers in the US and they are vicious in their pink & purple suits.

They are full of questions these ladies, the typical conversation seems to go like this:

"Are you with Mary Kay"
me: no
"You should be a Mary Kay Lady"
me: no thanks, I like to do other things
"Its a great way to make a living"
me: I am not that interested in lipstick
"Even when the economy is bad, you can still make great money"
me: Do you have a pink Cadillac?
"yes, and you get a new one every 2 years
me: Great, have a nice day
"Here is my card if you change your mind, I would love to help you set up a successful business

I am staying in a 1200 room hotel and there are 4000 Mary Kay Ladies crammed into most of those rooms. Today was a mass checkout and really amazing to watch the purple suit chaos.

Its a New Year!!

I love that people read this and then write to me and ask why I have not updated the site.

I didnt plan to update as I thought I would be "staying put" for 6 months but...easier said than done. I have done something that I have not done in quite awhile and that is taken several short trips in the United States. In the past few months I have spent some time in Indiana, Florida, San Francisco and scuba diving up here in the Pacific Northwest.

sunset in Key West, Florida This is Vanessa and this is a great story! I was with my family in Key West, Florida and getting on the trolley to take the town tour and she was the tour guide. We worked together in Antarctica but had not kept in touch so it was a real surprise for both of us! If you are ever in Key West, she gives an OUTSTANDING town tour! (this just after I had ran into 2 other fellow Antarctica winterovers here in a Portland bar)

Mom and Dad as tourists
I always love a trip to the ocean
A few days after returning from warm Florida, I found myself with some friends up in the mountains at a hot springs. Snow Angel ready positionI made up a Christmas Eve triathlon for the family, this is momma in event #2 which she excelled in with her softball pitching skills.
Portland had a white Christmas for the first time in 17 years!!! We rushed out to take the picture before it had accumulated but it really did snow all day!Dad loving the snow and also loving his new blue furry pants and pink necklace
New Years! A few of us girls decided to take a last minute trip to San Francisco. The word for the weekend was LEGENDARY and we really had a wonderful time!

This is a self portrait from the end of the night....good times and I definitely rang in the New Year!

That's it for now but stay tuned because it looks like I will be setting off on another overseas adventure pretty soon....

happy new year and thanks for following my adventures