All About Bon...

My job takes me all over the world and I am lucky enough to have a wife that is willing to tag along with me. Over the last several years Bonnie and I have lived and worked in Seattle, Ireland, Guatemala, Chile, Brazil (Sao Paulo, Rio & Recife), Australia, Denmark, England, Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Atlanta (I am sure I forgot one or two others).

People ask me what Bonnie does while I am at work in all these places; I can tell you, a lot!

First and foremost she makes sure that we lead a good life; she gets us integrated into the local culture, food shopping entertainment etc. She also acts as host for clients and friends from whatever job I am on; we have parties, dinners and poker games. There are several couples around the globe who met at one of our parties and eventually got married!

In addition Bonnie is a certified ESL instructor so she teaches English to people who have a different native tongue. Not sure how she does it, but she can teach English to a room full of people that speak 10 different languages all at the same time. Here in Seattle her classes are on Wednesdays. It is always fun to see her gathering up her “props” for the lesson of the week.

As if that were not enough, she is also working on her master’s degree via remote study from UNC Greensboro.

All in all she stays pretty busy and I am extremely glad that she still has time to put up with me.

Movie Tickets and Travel Tickets

Bonnie and I had a nice quiet weekend.

On Friday evening, we went to the movies and saw the second installment of Pirates of the Caribbean; it as better than I expected. It has been so long since we had seen the first one that we ended up watching the original on DVD on Saturday.

We got our reservations made to go meet our friends in Las Vegas in late October. We are staying at the Venetian since they comp our rooms for us. This trip coincides with Bonnie’s birthday; I will not tell you how old she is, but I will note that she is 37 days older than I am!

The trip to Vegas has become almost an annual thing, a chance to relax and blow off some steam. We go with our friends Leslie and Becky. This year is extra special since we have seen so little of them lately (our fault, we have been in the Great North West with very few visits home). I am really looking forward to it.

Thanksgiving will be on the heels of the Vegas trip, a chance to loop through and see some family that we have not seen in a while. Looking forward to that as well!

We have rented out our loft in Atlanta, Bonnie went home and put all our stuff in storage. The new tenant moved in this weekend. Kind of odd not having our home in Atlanta to go back to; but as we tend to live on the road anyway, this just made more sense.

News, News, and More News

Shuffle Up and Deal
Last Saturday night Bonnie and I played Texas Hold ‘Em with several friends. Bonnie made Mexican food and I made margaritas. This week's game included Chuck, Geoff, Alexandra, Paavan, Grace and Ben. We found a great poker table topper that seats 8, has spots for each player’s chips and drinks and folds up into a handy carrying case when you are not using it. Of course we do not travel anywhere without a good set of poker chips, they are 13.8 oz clay composites; good chips really make a difference.

The Boat Voyage Begins
Last night we went down to the marina and I hauled our friend Iain up the mast. The photo to the right is the view from the top of the mast.) He was doing a final inspection of the boat before they head out. (see article “Malo, Not Bad” below). Assuming we can find a way back home, Bonnie and I are going to sail as far as Port Townsend with them, and then send them on their way down the Coast of California. Iain and Ruth, we will miss you guys!

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Bonnie and I have a big week planned. My old buddy Art Shand is coming into town for work on Monday, so I expect we will be seeing a lot of him while he is here. Then our young friend Ellen Roberson will be in town on Thursday. It is going to be like old home week, we are excited.

Stay tuned for more news, we are trying to organize a camping trip to see even more of the beautiful North West before the weather gets crappy again.