Up she goes!

We've almost completed putting up our patio roof - and she looks awesome! Here are a few pictures from the construction effort last weekend. Many thanks to Dad, Brian, Curtis, and Ed for braving the heat! This weekend we plan to put up the soffits and the roofers should be here tomorrow to do the roll roofing. We'll have the whole roof re-done starting next Wednesday... pretty exciting!

Life otherwise is OK... I've started looking for a new job. I'm following leads at the Arizona Dept. of Education, Mesa Public Schools, and also the possibility of increasing the number of classes I am teaching at MCC. I appreciate everyone's good wishes and prayers. I think that is helping me get through. :)

This weekend we're taking a break from the training, but we start again next weekend. We plan to camp at Wet Beaver Creek near Sedona, and start taking longer hikes after that. Well, I'm off to do some laundry - the excitement never stops!

-JW

Day One - Operation Lures and Jigs

Before...

Check out that jig! Travis and Dad worked on drilling holes in the posts to hold the 15" all-thread. These were epoxy-ed into the holes in the cement pad.

How many engineers does it take...?

This is the end of the first day's work - the guys put up the posts, the beams, and the rafters you see here. What a job!

Day Two - Check out those Rafters!

Here's the results after two LOOOOOOOONNNNG days of hard work. We've got the decking put on now... I'll send pictures of the whole thing when we get them developed!

And then there were none...

Listen to that - it's quiet! Nothing but the sound of the dryer and dishwasher cleaning up. The company has gone, and according to flytecomm.com, Betsy's flight is scheduled to take off in like 20 minutes...

I haven't written in months, and now all of a sudden I've posted 12 times in the same day. Weird. Must be the Zinfandel (on the beach). I thought I should preface this fine photo gallery that I've posted below. This was the first full week of our trip to Europe...Brugge, then back to Stuttgart for Christmas Day. We had a blast, as you can see below.

I'd better go rustle up some fresh photos for the next installment. After Stuttgart we headed to Interlaken, then Vienna, then Czech Republic, and Berlin before heading back to STR and home. We got some great photos, I have to admit. It was a great trip - I'd do it again in a minute!

I hope everyone has a happy Easter. Take it easy and enjoy the weather.

Behold the Döner KING! (Courtesy of the Köln Hauptbanhof)

After visiting Köln, we took the train to Brugge (Bruges) in Belgium. After a quick turnaround (30 seconds to spare in Brussels!) we headed to this romantic little city full of churches, museums, canals and cobblestones. Oh yeah, and chocolate, and lace, and beer!

The famous European UGLY fish, at the Groeninge Museum.

Touring the beautiful canals of Brugge. The weather that afternoon was perfect - what luck!

The romantic streets of Brugge, during high Christmas shopping season!

The city hall in Brugge, on the same square as the Beltor (Bell Tower).

Brugge's famous bell tower, with an open air skating rink in front. This was part of a Christmas market in the town square.

300 beers, and Travis couldn't find a single one he liked! Père Noël at T' Brugge Beertje wasn't too bad, I thought.

Mmmmmmm.... Beer.

After Brugge, we headed back to Stuttgart by way of Düsseldorf. On Christmas Day, Betsy arrived from the states, and Bobby and I headed to the kitchen to prep dinner. Travis decided to taste the local brew.

Someone's in the kitchen with Jenny... it's BOBBY!

Glorious German Bier. Hefeweisen from Paulaner, complete with glass (a Christmas gift from Bobby)

The Christmas Feast - Complete with Duck A L'Orange. The wine we bought in the Rhine Valley came in handy... a little for the duck, a little for me...

Winding down...

Spring break has come and gone, and the last of the company leaves tonight. It's been a quick two weeks, that's for sure! Betsy and her roommate Sheila leave tonight, after touring a resort and having dinner here. The job interviews weren't a total bust - though the screening interview left something to be desired. Betsy is talking to the music director in Mesa Public Schools today - I hope it goes well.

In the meantime, my job still leaves a lot to be desired. I don't think May 25th can get here fast enough! I don't know why I think things will improve when school ends... maybe things will change sooner.

We got some great pics of wildflowers while the folks were here... butterfly pictures, too. I'll post them tomorrow - I'm off for Good Friday. In the meantime, I'm gonna go fix dinner. Everybody have a good night!