criplomats

Snapdragons along driveway

It started raining last night, along with thunder and lightening – everytime I think it’s going to stop, I hear a new round of thunder! It’s  really been a wet spring.

Yesterday we took advantage of the cloud cover and cooler temps. Nathan drove Kellee, Aryani, Laura and me around town shopping. This week’s focus was fabric. I found several yards of lovely linen at what I hope was a good price – orange, soft yellow, mushroom and khaki. My plan is to have a tailor come over and stitch up some summer pants, tops and dresses for me.

One nice thing about Pakistan is that lots of folks will come to your home to do things like tailoring. Also, yesterday, a mechanic (who also works at the Embassy) came over in the morning and took my car; fixed a bunch of things and brought it back last night. Much nicer than going to the shop!

This was a very busy week. One of the NIV staff was out unexpectedly most of the week, so that meant I had to be on the interview line…which meant I didn’t get a lot of other stuff done. My plan is to go into the office today and work on EERs and get caught up. I just didn’t have the energy to do it after shopping yesterday – instead, John and I watched two movies. “Robot and Frank” and “The Words.” I really needed some down time.

We did end the week with a nice French Club lunch: John, Scott, Laura, Nathan, Kellee and Kate. We sat outside by the pool and enjoyed the weather and  a glass of wine. A much needed end to a rather stressful week!

The roses are budding!

Petunias

Roses, snapdragons and and pansies

Our yard is really starting to bloom and bud! The pansies have been out for a while – now the petunias are starting to bloom, and the fig tree and rose bushes are budding. Things are turning green and pretty. The weather is also spring-like – except when it’s hailing! We had a big storm with rain and hail on Wednesday, then the next day was just as pretty as you please.

Last Sunday we enjoyed a really nice brunch with Marcus and Simone, followed by an excellent game of “Settlers of Catan.” Marcus and Simone are really good cooks, and you sure don’t walk away hungry from their table. Later in the day, we had Thai massages – ahhh.

Scott came back mid-week from his trip to Vienna – I’m glad he’s back in the office. It’s very lonely when he and Michael are both gone!

Friday was Consular Leadership Day. I went to the office early to print some visas for weekend travelers, then went to Reb’s house for the festivities. CLD is a day where we re-charge as a section, mostly doing team-building activities and having some fun.

Afterward, Scott, Brett R. and Brett T. came over and we sat on the deck and enjoyed the late afternoon. John and Laura eventually joined us, then we ordered out for pizza. I headed to bed as they were starting a game of “Settlers.”

Saturday I went to work to eek out a few more visas, then met up with Kellee, Carla and Brit for shopping. Kellee drove us way out of town to a furniture shop – mostly the guy reclaims carved wood from old houses and restores it or finds other uses for it. It was neat to see what he had. Afterward we went by a jewelry store and a new grocery store, then I took some cat photos in to have enlarged – I’ll pick them up later this week. I want to have some photos to hang in my office, and found several photos of cats from Israel that I think will make a nice grouping.

Saturday evening, we met Scott and Laura for dinner at Wild Rice and had a nice time.

I had a nice long chat with Cousin Dail last Sunday night – he sounded strong. He’s fighting with leukemia and he’s winning – he and Nancy sure have been in in our thoughts the last few months. And, my friend Tom had a successful liver transplant recently! He’s back home in Little Rock and sounds like he’s doing great. What a trooper he’s been throughout his journey.

On a lighter note, John has gotten me hooked an an FX TV series called “The Americans” – it takes place in the 80s and is about Russian spies who are in deep cover in the United States – it’s a lot of fun!

John at the Embassy's National Day Event

Here’s a great photo of John taken at the National Day Event that he was in charge of – he looks very handsome and official! Click to see all of the photos from the event.

We had a pretty quiet week, then lots of activities on the weekend. We had a great time with our friends from the German Embassy at their house Friday night. It was a great way to end a long week!

Saturday I worked for a while, then we went to a carpet and jewelry party at a friend’s house. We walked  away empty-handed, but saw some pretty carpets and gems. Later we met Howie and Petit for sushi, and had a fun time visiting with them.

I finally got my driver’s license this week. A man from the Embassy took me out there. I will never complain about the DMV again! There were  lots of folks there, but no women other than two ladies working there. I took an eye test, then a computer test with 10 questions on a touch-screen computer – if my hand started going to the wrong answer, the lady attendant would reach over and hit the right answer for me! This may be why people here are not the best drivers!

Picnic at Margalla Hills

We enjoyed a fun picnic with John’s staff yesterday out at a campsite in the Margalla Hills. It was so warm and sunny, and the sky was clear blue! The folks on his staff are really sweet – they grilled chicken and kicked around a soccer ball. I spent most of my time talking to his female employees and the wives of the male employees – they are very cute and nice. Here’s a group photo.

John's work group

Earlier in the week, it sure didn’t feel like spring! On Wednesday it was chilly and it rained cats and dogs – we even had hail! That evening, there were piles of pea-sized hail still piled up in the grass. Very bizarre!

Friday night we went out with Mike and Carla for sushi, then Saturday was the picnic. Aterward, we took Flavie to the vet for her preventive worm pill, and I wanted Dr. Rana to check out a couple of small cysts on her hips. She had a cyst removed years ago and it looks like it has come back in the same spot. We’re going to watch them for a couple of weeks and have them removed if they start growing more.

After the trip to the vet, I watched “Grey Gardens,” a documentary about Jackie Kennedy’s nutty aunt and cousin who lived in East Hampton, then stayed up late to watch “The Life of Pi”- a really good movie, and so interesting to see how Ang Lee adapted the book.

It looks like another gorgeous day – we are going to enjoy the weather now, because soon it will be too hot to do anything!

John and I celebrated 17 years of marriage today! And what a great 17 years it has been! We’ve gone from Little Rock to Costa Rica to Mexico to Tel Aviv to Pakistan together (accompanied by cats Louise, Noodle and Flavia), with no regrets left behind. We are so happy to have the friends and family who have supported us along the way! Everyone always talks about how hard marriage is – I’m happy to say it’s been pretty darn easy!

The other highlight of our week was John’s success at our National Day party. Typically, embassies around the world throw a big party for the 4th of July. Here in Islamabad, they changed it to be on President’s Day this year, due to the unbearable July heat. John was in charge of the event, which was a huge responsibility – and, it went off “flawlessly,” as the Ambassador put it. He really did a great job – and it’s no small feat, given the 500+ guests in attendance. He was exhausted by the time it was over – the adrenaline was really running! He took Friday off as a day to recuperate.

The beginning of the week was a run-up to the big event, so we had dinner a few nights at the Club as John worked on last minute details. Friday, our usual gang went to the French Club for lunch.

Last Sunday was very relaxing. We watched a couple of movies, including “Lincoln,” which was wonderful.

This weekend was nice. Saturday, I worked for a while in the morning to get a visa out so a local staff person could go to the U.S. for training, then we went out to dinner at Polo Lounge with Rick, Howie and Petit, which was really enjoyable. I also had a nice relaxing manicure-pedicure in the afternoon.

Today I had a wonderful Thai massage – it felt so great – lots of stretching. Afterward I went to the Embassy to check out the truck art sale and competition, then Laura and Scott came over to play Settlers of Catan, a fun board game. We had an excellent day to celebrate our 17 years together!