The Weekend, Family Camping, and More Pix

I had planned this weekend to “houseclean and organize” the apartment. I was the first one to move into my apartment after an extensive renovation to the whole building. The place was squeaky clean when I moved in with the shiny wooden floors, spotless tiles, and immaculate countertops. Even when the furniture were being moved in, my landlord was nice enough to clean after. He was the one who delivered, assembled (if needed), and moved all the heavy furniture.

Anyway, now the floor is a bit dusty, the bathtub is grimy, and the floor tiles are grubby. On top of that, I have a lot of things that need to be filed away. So as long as I don't get lazy and sneak away to sightsee more of Germany, I will do the ardous tasks. But you know, the past two days have been nice and sunny........Nah, let's clean and organize. I will take pictures soon and show you where I live.

Thanks to Ron, Ed, Mek, and Jay for spearheading the plans for this year's family camping. Additional kudos to Mek for securing the sites. I am looking forward to camping at the Oregon Coast, 20-22 June. I believe the last time we were there as a group was in 2000. Below are pictures from the last major family camping event near Ocean Shores, August 2005.

I will share a few more pictures with you guys. The photo below is the view from the Old Castle Hill to the Old Town area in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was taken exactly a year ago. I had a work-related trip to Bratislava while I was stationed in Bosnia. It was a crisply cold, and gray and dreary day. The photo in sepia tone captured the mood of the day perfectly.

Being away, the kids in the family are the ones I miss most. I often peruse through all their photos stored in my computer. This is especially true of the youngest ones -- so I don't forget their faces. I am worried that they will forget mine. The following are eight of the younger ones in the family: Jeremiah, Taia, Gavin, Cameron, Paige, Payton, Ina, and Salia.