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At the 4th of July party with Pam, Sharipova and a guest<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Another busy week \u2013 I\u2019m ready for a break!<\/p>\n Last Sunday night, we had our good friends Beth and Tom over for a farewell dinner. John smoked a delicious chicken and we had a good visit with them before they left town. We\u2019ll see them again in DC in February, but we\u2019ll sure miss them here in Juarez.<\/p>\n Monday night we hosted book club. I have to admit I didn\u2019t get around to reading the book this month \u2013 oops! But it was a good discussion and a good turnout.<\/p>\n Tuesday evening I was ready to relax with a massage \u2013 I\u2019m really enjoying getting them again. It makes such a difference, especially after so much computer work all week.<\/p>\n Thursday morning, I went with some other ELOs from the Consulate to a local TV station for a \u201cCooking with the Consul\u201d segment on their morning show. We were supposed to cook things that are traditionally American food \u2013 I took the easy route and made root beer floats, which were a big hit. It was a fun diversion from a typical work day.<\/p>\n Thursday night, we had our 4th of July party on the Consulate grounds. It was a lot of fun, and the weather turned off somewhat cool, which made for a nice outdoor party. I spent a lot of time talking with some of the folks from the TV station \u2013 they are young and funny.<\/p>\n We were off work yesterday for the 4th. John and I took Kerry with us to Las Cruces. We went the back roads so John could show us where he rides his bike on the weekends \u2013 really pretty, and man, he\u2019s going a long way! Last weekend, he went 39 miles! Then we went to the bookstore \u2013 while John and Kerry were shopping for books, I walked over to a bakery that I\u2019ve seen before but never have visited. I bought a yummy loaf of rosemary ciabatta bread. We stopped at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants on the way out of town where we had some of the best cheese dip I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n