The Euro-Condon Web Log

We’ve kept our spirits up despite two months of someone in the family being fairly sick. So our holidays were ok but not the best ever. And a last minute project for work took some holiday time away also. I just got back from a quick trip to the States, during which, you guessed it, I got sick. The shivery, achey, feel like hell kind of sick. No fun traveling and alone when that happens. No one to whine to.December was pretty usual. Work, travel, family, work, travel, family … We got a good bit of Esslingen Medieval Christmas Fest in but could always have taken more. We were able to spend Christmas and New Years with Migle’s parents in Vilnius.

Tom, Stephanie, Migle and I had already bought my Mom a ticket to come visit all of us for May, but yesterday I bought her another ticket to come visit us in Stuttgart in March. She was pleasantly suprised.

Nothing else exciting in January yet … more to come …

(the title of the post is a reference to all the various illnesses we have all had over the last few months)

Jim

It’s been one month since my last post … and not a lot of blog worthy things have happened.

We are still trying to finish buying a new apartment. We signed the loan and we’re finalizing the contract with the lawyer.

The Besen has opened in Esslingen, in fact, we had lunch there today with Glen and Celine.

More importantly, the Esslingen Medieval Christmas Market and Festival is now going on. This is one of our favorite, perhaps most favorite, festivals in Germany - and its 500 meters from our house.

I posted a few photo’s just now, but nothing major.

We had one of the best Thanksgivings I have had in a while. I have been in a major cooking mood lately and Migle cooked the bird and I cooked everything else. We had two friends over and that made for a enjoyable, relaxing, and fun meal.

Last week was a big week at work. I had a lot of business guests in town.

Next week I’m headed to DC for a few days.

And the week after, we might be going to Garmisch, also for a few days.

And we’ll spend Christmas in Lithuania, like we do each year.

Happy Holidays!

J, M, & K

Well, obviously my new job is going well and therefore keeping me busy. Well, that along with spending time with Migle and Kostas.

Here are a few things of interest that have happened over the last few months …

In July, Migle went to Vilnius to attend the huge and every-four-year Song Festival and Kostas and I hung out alone for the first time. While she was gone, a few of us ran the Esslingen 10k road race that runs through the center of our town.

In August we went to Lithuania and hung out in the Garden in Moletai for a while. We then spent a long weekend at the Baltic Sea and Curonian Lagoon. We stayed in Sturmai and visited Nida. Verena joined us.

On August 23rd, I won (well, my team won) a HUGE contract!!

In September, I took a work trip to Sarajevo Bosnia and Pristina Kosovo. I met some H3 friends in Sarajevo and had a great time.

We all enjoyed the Oktoberfest in Stuttgart and Munich. My 9th in a row.

In October, I took a work trip to Stockholm Sweden and Helsinki Finland. I have never been to either country before. But the cool thing was I took a cruise ship to get between the two. I went to dinner with a good friend of Migle’s while in Stockholm. I will go back again when I have more time.

On the 12th of October, I organized a Pub Crawl for me and 45 of my closest friends.

Just recently my Dad and Dale visited Europe. They landed in Stuttgart and then went with Tom, Stephanie, and Skylar to Brussels while they looked for a house. Then they went to Prague for a few days and then they came and spent four days in Esslingen with us. We had a great time and definitely ate way too much. But their trip was too quick so I hope they come back again soon.

Probably the biggest thing we have going on, besides watching Kostas grow up fast, is that we are tring to buy a Condo here in Esslingen. Dealing with the builder in German is somewhat challenging … but I hope it all works out.

And I changed the design of our site. Please drop me a comment on what you do and don’t like about it.

Ciao … J, M, and K

So here is a speed version to catch us up to date.

Todd and Donna’s neighbor is French and took a Champagne run to, well, Champagne and we had him buy us some great Champagne at great prices from a less know (outside of Champagne) Champagne House. We have a wine cellar so we have to put something in it.

We put down hardwood floors in our apartment here. The carpet was old and stained and it looks sooo much better and brighter now. And we prefer the hardwood floors for Kostas to crawl around on.

In Feb, the Fasching Parade (kind of Marti Gras) came through Esslingen. We watched with friends and had a great time.

A big crowd of friends went to Vilnius for a long weekend. There was a festival going on. We ate great food. Toured the sights. Everyone seems to enjoy it very much.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend St. Patrick’s Day in Charleston visiting family and friends (and the pub).

Since we got Migle’s tourist visa and since my Brother Chris and his now-wife Pam were getting married, we visited Charleston. That trip was years in the making. It started with an oyster roast at our good friends Mike and Sarah’s house. Migle caught on fast and really liked the oysters. Dale through a party for the Condon side of the family so they could meet Migle and Kostas. It was great and we are very appreciative to Dale for organizing and hosting it all. About 30 people came and that’s about half the Condon family in Charleston. I was able to have lunch and/or some beers with many old friends to do some catching up. We spent a few days out at Mom’s house. We really enjoyed the peace and quiet and spending time with Mom. Our friend from Germany, Verena, visited us then. We had a nice Easter dinner with Dale and Dad at their house. Migle and I then drove to Ft. Lauderdale, met friends at the airport and drove down to Key West for a week of non-parental time. Great food, nightlife, sailboats, sunsets, reading, beaches, sights, condo, shops, pool, grill, and REST. We loved it! I was lucky enough to be able to fly up and attend the retirement of one of my two mentor’s from the USAR, MG Ponder. I look forward to seeing him again on my next trip to DC. The Chris had his bachelor party. We bar-hopped by limo. I think it was just what Chris wanted. We visited the pool at Charleston Place. Kostas loves the water and loved the pool. For Migle’s birthday, we had dinner at the Penninsula Grill and then went to our favorite bar and drank Dirty Martini’s. We went to the BBQ that Dad/Dale threw for Chris and Pam. Caught up with alot of relatives and ate some tasty BBQ. The next day was the wedding and reception. It was beautiful, relaxed, and probably the best wedding I have ever attended. Might be because the bar was open an hour before the wedding started. We then went to our favorite bar for the after-party. The next day was Kostas’ first birthday. In addition to a few presents, he got one big cake to play with and then some time in his own pool. Then we flew back the next day. Neither flight (over or back) was easy but they could have been much worse. It took a week or two for Kostas to get used to the new time zone, once we were back.

I would like to thank Dale and Dad VERY MUCH for their tremendous hospitality while we were in Charleston and for letting us stay with them for a month!!

I would also like to thank my Mom and Verena for watching Kostas while we went to Key West!

The Spring Fest was in Stuttgart. We went a few times but much less than pre-Kostas.

We also arranged a big group to go to the Esslingen Wine Hike. We had about 20 people come to our house and have some Champagne before heading over to the wine hike. It was a blast but the heat slowed everyone down.

The Pictures that go with this post are here.

Take care, Jim

Migle got her toursit visa for the U.S. today. So we are celebrating! It’s good for a period of ten years - with no more than 6 months in duration at a time. You would think that either she would not need one (married to a U.S. citizen) or that it would be easy to get. But, unfortunately, that was not the case. We will use it to visit the States once a year or so. We’re using it to visit in April for Chris and Pam’s wedding and to show Migle Charleston for the first time.

We got our first snow here and quite a bit. I flew to Romania for a work trip and it started the day I left. The Stuttgart airport was shut down for a while - which is a big deal. I went to Bucharest and to the Black Sea Coast. It was a good trip. In addition to work and Kostas, I’m busy planning a trip to Vilnius with a bunch of friends in March and then Migle and Kostas’ first trip to the U.S. in April for Chris and Pam’s wedding. Most of the time we’ll be in Charleston but we may go to DC for a week for work and hopefully can spend a few days in Key West also. We have Migle’s toursit visa interview next Friday. I’m still selling the Jeep or, if not too expensive, maybe shipping to Charleston and using it as a Big John’s business vehicle. Kostas is good and just keeps growing. His first two teeth are fully in but no more yet. He is standing up if he can hold on to something. And he started crawling a couple of weeks ago - and that’s a new challenge

Here is a pre-holiday update on what’s going on with us.

Migle, Kostas, Greta, and I went to London. I worked most of the time but had some evenings free. All of us really enjoyed it. Greta stayed with Kostas one night and Migle and I were able to grab a show. Then I stayed back and Migle and Greta saw the Lion King. They said it was incredible. And they wandered around London while I worked. Greta had not been to London before so it was good to be able to bring her along.

Thanksgiving was great. Friends invited us over to their house. Thy live a short ride or long walk from where we live in Esslingen. They did it up right and it was one of the best Thanksgiving meals I have had in a while. I brought two desserts that I made (bourbon-orange-walnut pie with fresh whipped cognac whipped cream) and (double chocholate pie with a brownie cake bottom, chocolate mousse middle, and fresh whipped cream top). And I brought some German dessert wine and dessert sekt (german champage) from our town (Esslingen). Everyone ate too much and had a great time. Our friends have children and a Son Kostas’ age so it was cool to see them interact. Kostas hasn’t had much other-kid time yet.

Greta was here for a month. As last time, it was GREAT to have her here to spend time with Migle and to help take care of Kostas and the house. I was traveling some of that time so it was good she was here. We are hoping she can come back again next year for a month or two.

Migle’s Parents are coming to visit for the holidays. They get here next Monday and stay until the 3rd. We’re really looking forward to it. Usually we go to Lithuania for Christmas but with Kostas 7 months old, we decided to stay here and Migle talked them into coming to visit. Which is always a big deal because they don’t particularly like to travel.

Steve (my cousin) is also coming for the holidays. He gets here next Wed. We (and he) are pretty excited about that also. He’s been trying to make it over here for a while!

The Esslingen Christmas Market and Festival is going on now. It is broken into two sides: (1) a pretty standard German Christmas Market and (2) a Medieval Christas Market. The Medieval side is super interesting and unique. We love it! It is one of our favorite things to do in Germany. And it is walking distance from our house. It is very authentic (medieval look and feel) and has great food and drink and things to do and see. It is here until the 22nd. If you live in Germany - I HIGHLY recommend it!

I am planning a package tour of Vilnius for a bunch of friends in March 2007. A large arts and crafts festival is going on then. It should be lots of fun!

If you subtract out the Eczema (which we have under control but only barely), Kostas is going absolutely fabulous! A while back we started teaching him how to eat baby food and that has been interesting. Overall, he’s doing great and growing like crazy.

We bought Kostas a swing and here is a video of him trying it out. Looks like he is enjoying it! Sorry the video is so dark.
My new job is going well. I am learning alot about the other side of the fence. Things I wish I knew years ago. The move has been a great one. I’m glad I did it!

I have a new US address for here. I will email it out to those who need it.

That’s all for now …

Happy Holidays!

About two days ago it turned cold here … the sun went away, the nights are freezing, its windy, and some people have seen snow!

So we bought Kostas his first winter clothing. OK, we know it’s kind of big, but you know how fast they grow!

BTW, Greta is here now for a month!

And the 4 of us are going to London for about week later this month.

Here’s an update since my last post back in mid-September.

My Mom and Pete came to visit. We spent a great weekend in Gimmelwald in the Swiss Alps. The scenery was gorgeous, the weather wonderful, the company excellent, and we had a super relaxing time.

While Pete was here we went to the fest a bunch of times and had a good time. We often ended up eating French Food and drinking French Wine at the French Section because it was too smoky, loud, and crazy in the Beer Tents for Kostas (at least for now)

Mom stayed for a week after Pete left and we went to Garmisch for a few days. It was pretty down there but raining most of the time.

After Mom left, I went to Brussels for a work conference. Had dinner with Lukas and Iza. The dinner was incredible.

Last week I went to AFCEA Technet Europe in Sofia Bulgaria. I really enjoyed Sofia. I had never been to Bulgaria before. Lubo was SUPER helpful in finding a place to stay, rides to/fron the airport, and dinner tour guide! Thanks Lubo!

We advertised for an occasional baby sitter in the local Esslingen paper and found a GREAT one. Her name is Verena and she’s just what the doctor ordered!

Greta is coming to stay with us for November. We’re really looking forward to that.

Today we packed up Veronica’s things and shipped them all to Marion. Now we have new furniture we need to buy!

Pam and Chris set a date of 22 April 2007 for their wedding. I want to bring Migle and Kostas. That will probably be there first Stateside trip. Since we are not moving back anytime soon, I think we will stop pursuing a immigration visa for Migle (for now) and apply for a Tourist visa for April. Wish us luck!

After much talking, discussing, a few raised voices, lots of issues with flights, we worked all out that Migle’s parents will be coming to Germany to spend Christmas with us. We have always gone there so this is a nice change.

And to finish, as always, with an update on Kostas. He’s doing well - much better in fact. His skin has cleared up and he’s sleeping more and crying less. He just turned six months old and, for his birthday, he got creamed carrots (oh boy)!

Click Here to see his latest video …