I failed at both of my lent tasks this year. I did way too much yelling, and I only dropped to 190 lbs :-/
Oh well.
Here’s a picture from our Easter trip to get tomatoes and strawberries for the garden.
As you can see we’re excited, and ready to grow! The garden looks amazing. Spring is here.
I’m ready for the new season!
This was a week of ending our holiday, and getting back into the swing of things back home.
It all started with Uncle Dan’s wedding in Edinburgh. First of all, why is it pronounced borough, but spelled burgh? Someone has to figure that one out for me. The wedding was lovely, and the reception was fantastic. Amelia had a phenomenal dress sewn together by Wendy, and Luka looked the part as well.
We then moved to the southern coast of England to see Abbey and Dave (Amelia and Freddi hit it off like champs, and Luka learned a few sword tricks from Elliot), took a detour to see Mike (because central heating is NOT overrated), and then up to Michael and Justine’s for a New Year’s bash. It’s essentially a perfect hit list to end a trip.
Once we got home on New Year’s Day, it’s been all about jet lag 🙁
1am wake up; 2:30am wake up; 4am wake up, and I’m hoping that tomorrow is the day we crack it. I’m feeling lucky 🙂
It’s also been a week of watching the babies grow up too fast. Using forks and knives properly. The way they speak and communicate with us and each other. Amelia riding her bike that Santa brought for Christmas. It’s all too much, too fast.
And so it goes… on to the photos and a cute video 🙂
This was set to auto publish a few days ago, but it didn’t. And so while it’s publishing on January 3rd, it was meant to be published on December 31st. My bad 🙂
I did awfully with my new year’s resolutions this year. I only blogged everyday about half of the year. I only made it to October with the no french fries, and then fell completely off of the bandwagon. And while I read a ton more than I have in the past few years (really since high school when I stopped reading), I still didn’t get up to one book a month.
Bad year for New Year’s Resolutions, but not for a lack of trying 🙂
The kids discovered the radio in splendid fashion. A quick survey of the family found that the most popular song of the year was…
None other than “Let it Go” – Idina Menzel – Frozen. The kids also loved a variety of pop songs as they get their dad’s taste in music. Singing in the car is now a family tradition that even Micky is getting in on. And that’s absolutely wonderful.
Micky turned 40. I turned 30.
Amelia got into Children’s Day School, and had her “first day of school”.
Luka talks like a fiend, hugs like a vise, and is the best kiss on the cheek anywhere in town.
We bought a house, and reworked the backyard into an absolutely wonderful play land for adults and kids a like.
I got a promotion, and built a team that I think is going to have a stellar 2015. I led the effort on the TokBox side to build a Mozilla/Telefonica/TokBox partnership.
I visited Scotland for the first time getting as far north as 56 degrees north latitude. We also went to the New Forest where I snaked off for an afternoon and saw Southampton beat Everton 3-0.
I also got to do some business trips to Shenzen, Tokyo, and Seoul – though none for more than a day! I also did a day trip to Madrid, and a few quick trips to London as well.
In Turkey, we saw Istanbul for the first time as a family, and also made a go of the Aegean coast by seeing Kalkan and the surrounding area (including Patara which was amazing).
It was a great year for me, and the family. Here’s to many more. Thanks for joining me on the ride 🙂
First, it was Maya Yardim.
And then this lucky lady who poured Luka a glass of cherry juice (visne suyu), and then together they enjoyed a quiet post-dinner moment.
Because sandy beaches, and quiet moments are both too difficult to come by…
Amelia was desperate to go swimming today. Micky wanted to see the curtains. So we looked up some public pool times and headed down to Bayshore.
The lady at the front desk of the MLK Jr Rec Center was incredibly nice. Great smile.
We got in, and the babies were definitely intimated. Lots of loud kids. The water was too cold for them. But we hopped in, and toughed it out for 35 minutes.
We took a steaming hot shower afterwards because the water was really cold.
And then hit up the playground.
I think it’s so great that the city of SF has public pools we can go to for $8. It’s definitely going to be part of our weekend play book.
But the best part was how Amelia wanted it, and how much she enjoys the pool, swimming, and just being physically active in general.
Long may it last 🙂
The Friday evening pizza date.
Before Micky and I got married, had kids, and officially became adults, we used to head over to Cavallaho Point on a Friday afternoon, watch the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge, and have fancy appetizers and drinks.
You stop doing that when there’s bedtime, and books, and bath time, and dinner to worry about.
But it doesn’t mean that we should stop all traditions… and we’ve almost accidentally fallen into one that I love…
Friday night pizza with the kids.
It’s only been 2 weeks, so it’s not quite a thing yet (:-)), but for the last two weeks we’ve picked the kids up from school, taken the kids to pizza, and just vegged out enjoyed each other’s company. I love it.
Last week we went to The Pizza Place, and then sat on the beach (Amelia’s idea by the way). What the kids didn’t eat we fed to the sea gulls (which they thought was the funniest thing ever). Amelia stood there shouting, “Hey! Seagull. Eat that pizza!”
Tonight, we went to Bambino’s with the wonderful Erin there to take care of us. The kids were civilized. The food there is always great (though I didn’t eat because of Ramadan).
I love our new mini-tradition, and I hope we can keep it going. It’s a really great one!
It’s been 4 really long days filled with airports, airplanes, meetings, and now I’m heading home.
Last night was an amazing night with Louise and Lizzie’s crews.
It made me want to see mine even more.
On FaceTime tonight, the babies gave me big kisses. She can speak so well now, and she expresses emotion so boldly. He’s just so darn handsome I can’t take my eyes off of him.
It’s almost worth waking them up when I land and getting a big kiss out of them both. Almost… 🙂
Dilek visited us today.
Dilek is Aydin’s wife, and now the 6th member of the family to visit San Francisco.
I picked her up from her friend’s gorgeous house in Belvedere. From there we went to the mall and shopped for the babies (both here and back in Turkey). We talked about life, family, business, and kids. It was a really nice day.
We got the babies from school and met Micky for dinner. Amelia and Dilek became friends right away
Then we all bonded after the babies went to bed.
It’s really nice to have people visit, and to have the space to host them.
I red-eyed to Raleigh last night to get here in time for my mom’s dance showcase!
I landed, and we headed straight for Bojangles. That was good.
We spent the day watching soccer, and just being around each other. Semra showed up at 1pm, and she and I mom worked on her hair and make up. My mom was super excited.
We had our Turkish food lunch, wasted more time, showered, shaved, and headed to NC State. The event was at Tally Student Center. Holy smokes has it changed! It’s amazing. Just so pretty. So modern. Clean. Lots of rooms. A completely different place for what’s clearly about to become a completely different school. Who the chancellor is finally matters to NC state in profound ways. It’s amazing.
And then the event!
It was a ton of fun. Lots of great folks out there putting themselves on the line. My first dentist (who is now 75 years old) did a crazy polka dance. She was my favorite (my favorite who wasn’t my mom of course).
Check it all out… photos below