Saturday, June 27, 2009

Back home... and all's well

As most of you know by now, Regina did NOT have to have the operation.

I went for a little walk this morning while the girls were in kindergarten and Regina was visiting with a friend. This photo is for Lowandslow... it's a sample of old half-timbered houses, now freshly renovated. Noticed the floor of the grey house? Try setting up furniture in that place! LOL



Before I left we took advantage of the "free" time and good (=hot and humid) weather and decided to take the girls to a fair at a nearby city. We had a great time! Here are a few impressions....

We were able to take both girls on this water rollercoaster and they LOVED it!



I later took Tamara on the Wild Mouse rollercoaster and she was exstatic! She laughed the whole time.

Both girls enjoyed the usual kiddie rides like this one......




Our other favorite was the ferris wheel....




From the top we had a great view of the castle across the river.....and we did NOT ride that carousel shown in the picture!



It turned out to be a great day....



Tomorrow I MAY have some field tirps/duty to do... depends once again on the weather....

That's all for now.... Sorry for all the bragging, but I just HAD to share, especially after all the tension of the last days. And thanks again for all your prayers!

Dorrie

P.S. I decided to copy and paste this entry here because I know some of you don't visit KCL and I did want to share the news.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Update

Well, Regina didn't have to have the OP after all! The anti-biotics she was taking seemed to have kicked in, the headaches stopped, and the doc said she can cancel the op .... unless they start up again.

Since I was already at her place, I stayed overnight as planned and on Friday we spent a nice afternoon with the girls at a local fair... pictures coming soon!

Lately I've been posting only at KCL... it's too troublesome to post in two places, and since it looks like hardly anyone even reads here anymore, KCL will probably be my permanent home. Yes, I'll continue to check in here daily, as usual. Some of you I just miss too much........

Dorrie

Monday, June 22, 2009

Life's little mess-ups....

Yes, life like's to send you a curve ball at times. As if I'm not busy enough and have a full schedule, I still manage to somehow be there for my kids.

Last Thursday my son needed help with some furniture.... who came? me! Oh, I think I never got around to posting the cute pictures from last Sunday....

Shiana....



Pryasha



In case I already posted them, well tough, I posted them again!

And some wild flowers at a park I walk by every day....



Last Friday my daughter, Regina, called asking if I could possibly watch the kids on short notice since she got an unscheduled doc appointment. She has been suffering headaches for the past weeks and she normally doesn't. The appointment was for a cat scan. Of course I said yes... I would just rearrange what I had planned. In the end I didn't have to, the girl's daddy managed to rearrange his schedule.

Today she called and asked if I can watch the girls this coming Friday. It seems she has some kind of fluid in her brain that doesn't belong there. They put her on anti-biotics but have now decided to operate! So this Friday she'll be admitted for the OP and needs to stay at least until Saturday (they do it through the nose somehow). Scary stuff! I asked my boss for time off (I have tons of overtime anyway) and he said sure! So, Thursday I'll drive to her place and stay until Saturday. Yes, life is really NOT boring in my world.....

Those of you who pray, please add Regina to your list!

Thanks....

Dorrie

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Yesterday's airshow....

This is for all the aviation buff's out there (lowandslow, fin, etc.). As y'all know, I had two airshows to visit yesterday and both went well. The second one I was happy about since they had never done a show before, yet they took some of my advanced advice to heart and did a good job! *patmyselfonback*

So, here are some impressions from the bigger airshow.... the show was called "Air Classics"...






and there were also a few car "classics"....




I just returned from a short visit with my daughter and her kids... I wanted to finally tell Emely happy birthday (which I missed last Saturday because of the BIG airshow).

Before that I got some recordings done as well as a KCL layout for our "Rebel". Presently I have one in my "practice journal" waiting for "itiswell" to take a peek and approve. It's nice to be able to mess with layouts again.

Happy Father's Day to all daddy's out there!!

Dorrie

Saturday, June 20, 2009

It WAS an off day, until.....

As I already mentioned, yesterday, Friday, I took a day off. A couple of hours before leaving for the flight instructor's meeting, I got a call from one of "my" air fields.... a PA-18 had crashed on a sports field next to the air field. For those who don't know, a PA-18 is a cute little 2-seater aircraft called Piper Super Cub.... my favorite type of small plane.

Since this air field is located practically in my backyard, and this one politically a very sensitive one (lots of local pressure against it), I drove over to find out what happened. In the mean time I also received calls from the various police stations, etc. so I knew our alarm system worked.

This is what was left of the aircraft.....


yes, the red marks above the wheel is blood...




Of course our press is already reporting about it in the local newspapers, with residents saying how it was only shear luck that there were no children playing on that field at the time.... a few minutes later soccer training was scheduled. Yep, we were lucky in that. But the very experienced instructor on board is seriously injured and probably won't survive, his student walked out of the plane but was taken to a local hospital.

So no, my life is definitely NOT boring!

Now I have to get ready for the new air shows. Weather is great at the moment but rain showers expected this afternoon.

Bye for now!

Dorrie

P.S. back from the air shows... all went well! Pictures maybe later, if they came out interesting enough.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Air Show Impressions

As already mentioned, the air show went fantastic! Weather perfect, organisation perfect, performers perfect, what more could you ask? It sure made my job a lot easier.... but it was a looooong day!

As mentioned, I met some "big boys" of politics. This is Germany's Minister of Defense giving an interview....



The guy in the blue shirt is the head of the radio station sponsoring the whole thing and the air show boss.

And here I am with our states Minister President (similar to govenor) with his wife....



and with three of the Jordanian Pilots...



Those are the only pictures of me since it's difficult to take pictures of yourself. LOL But I'm sure to receive some from friends.

Now to the show...

Here's what the field looked like before it began...



and here during the afternoon.



They claim 60,000 people attended...wall-to-wall people! Considering the villiage only has a population of 13.409.

I can't post ALL the photos I took, just a few highlights...

The Jordanian Royal Falcons...



I caught another bird trying to get into the act...



I never realised helecoptors could do aerobatics, but this one did... and it's NOT a model!



Toward late afternoon the special shape balloons were set up....



Lunamor should like the cow...





I left before dark so I missed the night glow with 30 hot-air balloons, but I was just too tired to stay. But I already found a video of it on youtube and I now regret not being there. They light the ballons according to the musik and have fireworks also shoot off to match... all computerised. Enjoy the video....

Night Glow and fireworks


For some more pictures, stop by my homepage. I'll add more if I receive some more....


Have a great Sunday! I'll be visiting my son and his family later today.


Dorrie


Friday, June 12, 2009

The Air Shows Begin....

Yesterday the air show (well actually just an "open house") got rained out. We were having some pretty strong storms with winds up to around 30 knots. People still showed up to enjoy the coffee and cake (and beer!) being sold.

Today was the "trail" day for the BIG show which takes place tomorrow. The weather has cleared and things are looking good. It is actually VERY well organised. As I mentioned in another post, the airfield is actually too small for such an event, but they are really doing their best.

One of the highlights of tomorrow's show did a trial run today (which I had to judge and accept). They are the Royal Jordanian Aerobatic Team. I had already experienced them at another show some years ago and they are GOOD! I took this group picture of them....



Handsome dudes, aren't they? LOL

The press was there and pictures were taken of me together with them and as soon as I get copies I'll post! So, sometimes my job DOES have nice perks!

More to come perhaps on Sunday... tomorrow I'll be at the air field ALL DAY!

Dorrie

P.S. I took this picture of them during their flight.... and just happened to catch a bird flying with them! I hope you can see it...



Edit: I found a link to their homepage.... The Royal Jordanian Falcons

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Adding a picture....

Since it looks like a normal, every day, boring entry (see below or at keepconnectedlive.com) is not getting me back in the top 10 (at KCL) where I belong (cough, cough), here's a picture I took last Sunday while making a very quick visit to Regina. I had parts for Emely's birthday present, purchased at IKEA, still in my car and needing to be delivered (since I won't be there on Saturday *snif*) so I drove over last Sunday.

Does any of that make sense? *hick*

(ok, second glass of wine, Wheelie's on a bike tour to Switzerland for 10 days... without me...plus the prospects of the next days.... *sigh*)

Any who.... here's me with my cute little babies, watching some kiddie cartoon show on TV...



Dorrie

P.S. Last night Wheelie and I went to the movies and saw "Star Trek".... yes, we liked!!!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Waking up much too early...

What's the deal? It's only 04:30 am and I'm already awake and on my computer. Even the last two days I didn't sleep in... my internal alarm always wakes me. Then I start thinking about work and all that's going on. On the weekend I will then start reading my book to distract me.

I'm writing more and more over at keepconnectedlive.com. I will occassionally mirror the entries here, but sometimes it's just too much bother to copy in both, especially since some contents refers to KCL or blogger and has to be edited accordingly.

One advantage to being up so early.... I'm looking out at a huge full moon sitting just above the horizon! Nice!

This is going to be a horror week at work. I have a seminar to attend all day tomorrow, which is no biggy, but on Thursday (a holiday here) I have an airshow to attend, then Friday the preparations for an airshow to attend, and on Saturday a big airshow to attend. Can you believe I am NOT looking forward to attending them? lol Especially the one on Saturday..... but that's an important one. But it's also Emely's 4th birthday and I'll probably end up missing her party.

Anyway, I better go get my coffee before I write too much incoherent dribble.

Dorrie