Hi Gang. Rushing around at the moment, trying to get ready to get on the road early tomorrow and out of dodge for a few days, so will just quickly post some photos and a couple videos from Christmas. We had a fantastic week. A houseful of our very good friends, some amazing culinary delights prepared by my hubby, and a couple big jugs of Mr.Takler's cheap-and-cheerful cuvée, made for a very special Christmas Eve. We couldn't get the boys in bed to save our lives, so I think it was around midnight when they finally konked out. Good thing the Tatrallyays were here to help Santa get that Playmobil dollhouse up and running, or we would have been up all night. A big thanks to Sue, Peter and Sarah. Manual labor aside, we are so happy that you could spend Christmas with us, it was so great to have you.


Keira was beyond delighted when she came down on Christmas morning and found her dollhouse sitting next to the tree, and she's spent hours and hours arranging and rearranging things. We finally moved it up to the little table in her room and she just sits there chatting away to all the (Playmobil) people coming and going, including a very strange mixture of the Christmas Playmobil people from Bethlehem and the North Pole. Baby Jesus can be found sitting by the fire, next to Frosty the Snowman. We're trying to keep the commercial nightmare that has become Christmas separate from the true Reason for the Season, but at 3 years old, she sees absolutely nothing wrong in mixing it up a bit. Anyway, enjoy the photos, and I will post some video as well.


Our good friends, the Tatrallyays (Sarah, Sue, and Peter)
Erika gave the boys bags of 'coal' (candy in disguise), which was fantastic. Can you imagine, they don't really even know what coal is, they just know it's something you get for Christmas when you're bad.


A headlight from Curt and Erika, now they are all set for night skiing.

A lampas lanyok.

Bill tried a new stout gingerbread recipe this year, which called for several bottles of Guinness. A hit in my book, think all would agree.

Cookie Monster.

A little elf...

We know what she wants for Christmas next year.

Just woke up, poor thing, couldn't even finish in the bathroom before I started snapping photos.

Upon discovery....

The gang's all here. Note the nativity scene outside, with Santa standing next to the Wisemen.

Santa, taking a break...

Keira and her new friend Dehlia (no idea where the name came from, but that popped immediately out when I asked her what the bear's name was).

Afternoon on Christmas day, bored already...

'Hooray, long underwear, just what I wanted...'

Busy bees. Lego to the left, Zoo Tycoon on the laptop to the right.

In the event that I don't get back to posting my videos before I leave in the morning, will do so next weekend when we're back. Hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!!! xoxo.

Keira at her kindergarten Christmas party on Tuesday. The kids made these beautiful ceramic nativity scenes as presents for the parents, which they got to give us after their performance. She was so proud and happy to give it to me. (Photo by Erika Clements :)


Need to go and get my Christmas Eve dinner underway, will probably have to postpone further posting until tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

Vogel Slovenia

Posting this one for Liam, who is dying to get on a board this year. Have told them all along that once they have the skiing down, we can move to snowboards. Think I may try too, although I'm pretty sure it looks easier than it is. Stop snickering please, old broads can absolutely learn new tricks.

Slovenia - Lake Bohinj

This is where we're headed after Christmas, to Lake Bohinj in Slovenia. Great skiing, if there's snow. You can only get to the ski slopes via cable car, and it's way the heck up there.

Dude

I seriously sat and watched this ten times in a row this morning, laughing my butt off the whole time. Thanks Anne (who sent it to me), it made my day. Who knew that so many emotions could be expressed with the word 'dude'. It's always been part of my extensive vocabulary, I just never stopped to ponder it.

One of the things I love most about my life here is that we've been blessed with amazing Hungarian friends, some who have become almost family. If and when we finally do pull out of Budapest, it will be a very sad day for me, as it has been much more than just a layover for us. I don't belong here, but on some kooky level I actually do. Riley and I were talking in the car yesterday and it really clicked for me. We were discussing the 'proposed' move to the American school in September, and he kept asking me why it's so important. I then went into the usual song and dance about how he needs to get his English up to speed so that when we go back to the US he will be able to hit the ground running. His response, very simply - 'but I belong here'. Guess that about sums it up. And I guess it will be a painful thing for all of us to say goodbye. This is not the direction I was headed in when I sat down to blah, blah, blog away. Focus, Kerry...

Here we are, back on track.
Where was I going with that whole thing? Oh, good friends... We had a lovely evening last night with our very good friends Tibor and Rita, who we don't see often enough but absolutely adore. They came into our lives via my friend Laura, who used to live here. I can only aspire to see the universe they way they do, with such open minds and hearts. And they are still so much in love, twenty years later. Anyway, we went to an Uzbek restaurant in the neighborhood, which was fantastic. Took some photos of us and the food which, I may have mentioned, was fantastic. They even have little rooms you can reserve, with lots of big pillows and a set of hookah pipes in all shapes and sizes in the corner, just to give you that authentic feel. The food is definitely off the charts if your counting Weight Watchers points, but hey, it's Christmas.

Are they adorable or what?

Dessert, which is some version of funnel cake, dipped in honey with raisins tossed in. Yum. And everyone just eats it from the middle of the table with their fingers.

After we ate, we headed back to Tibor and Rita's place for another bottle (or two) of wine, some chit-chat and, now comes my favorite part, a sneak-peek at Tibor's latest song. Got it on video, although I was using my digital camera, so it kept stopping automatically after one minute (not sure why it does that), and the song ended up in three pieces. Oh well, you can still hear his beautiful music, just in two acts :)....

I also got video of Tibor singing his most famous diddy, 'Rita', but again, after way too many glasses of wine, I had turned the camera from landscape to portrait mode, and so the video ended up on it's side, with no option to rotate. Tibor, we'll have to record the Rita song again next time, it's my absolute favorite. Thanks for sharing your beautiful music with us. xoxo.

Tibor's New Song

Tibor's New Song II

Photos from Saturday night's 'Murder on the Dancefloor' - Funny Stuff!!!

The host...

The hostess...


Eileen Over, striking a pose.

Emmanuel Handler and Reeda Prompt, getting down.

Wilma and Dazzler, performing a very perverse version of some very famous dance.



Emmanuel Handler (cheeky monkey, that one)

Reeda and Wilma, sizing eachother up before the competition.

Roxy Rhinestone and friends...

Roxy and friends, plus one...
Marcus is shocked...'I can't believe it, not Woody Leave'...
Mambo, putting the moves on Reeda late in the evening, as Dazzler looks on.

We can never get Curt to take off those rose-colored glasses.

New Christmas photos of my sweet little angel....

She went with Daddy to the mall while they were in the US, stopped and had a chat with Mr.Claus, and then headed over to Sears Portrait Studio for (what I think was) a fantastic photo shoot. There was absolutely no way for me to choose just a couple to share with you, so here they ALL are...

Hopefully, most of you have received my holiday letter via snail mail, but I've just realized that there are a bunch of people who probably didn't. This is mainly because it costs 420 Hungarian forints (which is now $2.50) to send a Xmas card from here to the US. Can you say 'terribly inefficient postal infrastructure' - that's a mouthful. That's 2.5 times the cost one incurs to send it the other way. It's just this side of frightening actually, that they still hand-write the majority of things in a little log at the Posta (poh-sh-tah), and that there is still a woman sitting there, calculating which stamps to use, which she then proceeds to apply individually, whilst you wait. Now that is what you call personalized service. In any event, it's not that I'm cheap, I just refuse to pay any amount of money to such a train wreck of an establishment. So.....to make a long story really long....if, perhaps, you didn't receive my holiday letter (Bill took a batch with him in the beginning of December), I'm pasting it below.

Sorry about that. If you ended up on the B list, it means that next year you will be right at the top of the A list :) While we're here, and before I paste, let's visit another holiday card phenomenon. I have noticed that even after sending a slew of cards, seemingly, the first ten cards to hit my mailbox are from people that I didn't send a card to this year. What is that? How does that work? Is there some unwritten rule that I haven't been privy to, whereby I'm supposed to alternate lists and send cards to certain people every second year. Arghh. I really try to stay on top of this one, have an Excel spreadsheet and everything. Ooh-ooh, and one more question - when will we reach a point where I can freely let go of this tradition (which I like very much) altogether? Get on with it already Kerry...

December 3, 2007

Dear Cardholder(s),
Happy Holidays. Hope this finds everyone relaxing and spending quality time with the people who mean the most. This being my first attempt at a holiday letter to the masses, please bear with me as I try to sum up our year in a few paragraphs. We had a great Turkey Day, celebrating with close friends, and are now preparing for the next big day, Mikulas nap (Nicholas day). Pronounced ‘mee-koo-lah-sh nahp‘, it’s the day St. Nicholas comes to Hungary, and it takes place every year on December 6th. The kids put their boots by the window in the hope that St. Nicholas soon will be there. There’s only one thing I don’t get in all of it - they put the boots by the window but the big guy still comes down the chimney. I’m thinking that the chimney thing may be a recent development, tacked on in order to accommodate the permeation of American culture throughout the world (and the sale of little made-in-china Rudolph knick-knacks). I will research this a bit further and get back to you.

Items checked off the fa-la-la-la-list thus far… we have the tree in the stand, lights up outside, cards in the mail (obviously) and I just put all my holiday music back on the iPod. Much to the dismay of the boys, the sounds of the season will now be blaring in my car for the next month. I’m not sure how to convince them that they should embrace this holiday tradition, but I don’t think I was much of a Bing Crosby fan as a kid either. Liam really only digs one song, ’Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer’.

Amazingly enough, the shopping is also done for the most part. With any luck we will be able to actually enjoy ourselves the week before Christmas. And on the main stage…looks like it’s going to be a Guitar Hero Christmas here at Chez McGann. There are other things in the letter to Santa - mostly Legos and PSP games for the boys, and anything /everything in the realm of plastic garbage that appears on TV for Keira - but Guitar Hero is the headliner. Turns out that Bill and I are giving each other the gift of warmth this year, in the form of a new furnace. Not a planned expenditure, but there wasn’t really an option. We will spend a quiet Christmas here with friends and then head to Lake Bohinj, Slovenia from Dec.30th-Jan5th. We are hoping for snow and a bit of decent skiing, but will be happy either way. Slovenia, while we‘re on the subject, is a virtually undiscovered jewel in terms of travel destinations. You’ve probably heard me say it before, but in case you haven’t, I highly recommend you put it on that ‘list of things to see/do before I die‘.

News from Budapest… well, I guess we should start with the basics. We are still here, which was questionable this time last year. Here’s a good one – October 7th marked ten years in Budapest for me – unfathomable. Most of you know that Bill left his position as CFO for Hungarotel at the end of 2006. It was a good decision, and one that I know he wouldn’t change. He has spent most of 2007 enjoying the down time with the kids (Keira in particular), decompressing, and figuring out what the next move will be. We remain hopeful that we will find something in this part of the world, and if not, then we will most likely head back to the US in the next year. A year of being together 24-7 has certainly given us a glimpse into the future, and while we don’t foresee any problems continuing our life together in retirement bliss, it’s safe to say that neither of us are ready to begin that chapter of our lives just yet :) Truthfully, it’s been fantastic having him home, and it will be a big adjustment for all of us when he goes back to work.

The kids are still thriving here, which makes it hard to imagine moving everyone back to the US right now. The plan, as it stands, is to spend another 2-3 years here and head back to Somewhere, USA in time for Riley to start high school. Note to the grandparents: this plan is subject to change. Riley will most likely move to the American school from September, where he will be in 6th grade. It’s the perfect time to change schools, as there are lots of new kids coming into the middle school. He is far from convinced that this is a good plan, in fact he maintains that he’s not going anywhere. Liam is in 3rd grade this year, so he will stay at the French school for a couple more years. Keira is the queen of her nursery/kindergarten and absolutely loves it, so we will probably leave her there for another year, instead of moving her to the French school as planned. All three have become very Hungarian, in so many ways, but we really try to maintain their American-ness at home. I have had to put my foot down and insist that the boys speak English in the house, as Hungarian could well take over as their mother tongue otherwise. We are also trying to ramp up the English lessons. I am perpetually second-guessing our decisions regarding their linguistic development, but am hopeful that someday it will all pay off.

The boys are still active in after-school sports, but we’ve narrowed it to two this year, tennis and football (soccer). They love tennis. Liam is actually playing three times a week, and both are getting pretty good. They play football on Saturdays with a group from the French school, and although it’s a bit disorganized, it is a great way for them to use the language outside of school. Keira started a ballet/dance class on Saturdays from September, which she seems to enjoy very much. We are headed into our fourth official ski season, with Riley and Liam kicking parental butt up and down the slopes. I’m actually improving a bit with each season, but will never be able to keep up with them. Liam is a total hotdog - it’s a wonder he hasn’t had a serious run-in with a tree yet. We are a three hour drive to Slovakia, and about five hours to the place we normally go in Austria, so we are trying to get 12-14 ski days in every year. The resounding theme in all of these adventures: cheap and cheerful.

We didn’t make it back to the US this past summer, but we did manage to spend a couple weeks in France, with a stop in Venice on the way down. Venice was very cool, but not at all what I expected. Somehow it just looks so different in the movies. Hello…Hollywood. We stayed with friends in France in a small town near the perfume capital of Grasse, and made a few day trips to Nice and Cannes. Oooh la la, I could happily spend a few weeks a year chillin’ like Bob Dylan on the Cote D’Azur.

Enter reality… I shall close for now, before I really do wear out the charm of the once-a-year blurb you were so eager to read a few minutes ago. Many of you have had the pleasure of dropping by my blog now and then, which hasn’t been touched since the end of September. I imagine it will be my recurring New Year’s resolution from now until the end of time to keep getting back in the cyber-saddle to reconnect. There are just never enough hours in the day.

Enjoy the moment you’re in, and have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and/or a Kooky Kwanzaa (I’m pushing the envelope with that one, huh?). And, it goes without saying, A Happy New Year.
Love, Kerry

Drop us a line: kerrymcgann@aim.com or Tune In: http://mcgannmonologues.blogspot.com/

Ho!Ho!Here it is, the week in review... We had several great outings, lots of holiday cheer, and a bit of morning bubbly yesterday to finish the week off.

There's also tonight's murder mystery party...let's start there. Bill and I have hosted a couple of these evenings, and they are nothing short of hysterical when everyone gets into their costumes/character. Somehow I just never have trouble there, I really should have been in showbiz (nevermind that I don't have the body, face, voice, or a single ounce of coordination). If you've never participated in these shindigs before, procedure dictates that you get the 'costume suggestions' beforehand, so here's mine: "Believing that 80's fashion is still making a comeback, your current wardrobe includes tight boob tubes, fishnet tights, and hot pants. Occasionally you'll wear a shirt with the bra on the outside as an homage to your favorite Eighties singer. Don't forget a handbag and the heart-shaped temporary tattoo on your ankle".

For some reason, I always end up being the tarty nightmare, wonder why that is? Anyway, the boys were helping me figure out my costume this morning, so we had to take a photo of me, Roxy Rhinestone, next to the tree. Here's a Glamour Shot (remember those from the 80's, supermodel studios in every shopping mall). I couldn't do the bra on the outside, or the boob tube (must be the British term for the tube top), but I still look pretty awful. Still trying to figure out if I can get a big R on my blouse, something like the 'L' for Laverne. When we finished putting it together, Riley decided that I look like Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister - I don't even see the resemblance, do you? :) Even funnier, the fact that he knows who Dee Snyder is. I asked him how, and he looked at me and sang 'I Wannnnnna Rock'. Egads.

I realize that I sound like a Desperate Housewife half the time, as I ramble on about the goings on of the day, but I do actually meet all the requirements of a certified domestic engineer. Won't lie and tell you that I don't have lots of fun too, but the mom gig is indeed my main role. Moving on...we'll back up to the family outings of the week.

Sunday, Riley and I went to meet some new friends for lunch at their place, and had a great day with them. Their son is Riley's age and goes to the American International School of Budapest, where Riley will go from September (assuming we're still here), and they will be in the same class. so I thought it was a good idea to get them together. After lunch, we all went to see a gospel music concert, which was so uplifting and amazing that I will definitely make that a regular activity (they have concerts twice a year). This group is 100% Hungarian, singing almost entirely in English, which is really difficult when alot of the songs are very fast with lots of words. They sang one diddy that was something like Bluegrass Gospel, which caught me off guard because you don't picture Hungarians even getting into the rhythm of it, but they were awesome. I think it was great for Riley, and he really enjoyed it.

Wednesday, the boys had a half-day as usual, so I picked them up and we went into town to see the big Christmas market on Vörösmarty square. We had lunch first with our good friend Stephen Spinder (fondly referred to as Stephen Bacsi or Uncle Stephen) at a new (ok, new to me, but fairly new) Italian restaurant, Vapiano, near the main walking street, Vaci Utca. It was great, easy to get to, reasonably priced, and great pizza/salads (fyi, for my local readers). Then we headed over to the market. Here are some shots of my little men.

The market is amazing, there are tons of artists selling their handmade goods, plenty of places to stop and get a gluhwhein, and lots of yummy treats. The boys love the kürtös kalacs, which is a big roll of hot, fresh, sweet bread dough, rolled in the sugary substance of your choice (vanilla, coconut, cinnamon). All I can say is YUMMMMMMM!!

We had another cultural outing on Thursday, and a BIG first for me - we went to see the Nutcracker ballet at the Budapest Opera House. It was actually my first time to the Nutcracker, ever, which made the whole experience even more special. My cruise director and good friend Erika scored a load of tickets in the front row, which is impossible to do since they sell out within minutes of going on sale, and eight of us went into town together in Erika's big land yacht (which, I now must tell you, she parallel parks like a pro into the smallest of spots-I'm in awe of that talent). Here are some photos of the opera house, Andrassy ut, and Riley & I.

Riley and I inside the opera house. Even if you don't go to catch a performance, you have to pop in and see it, it's something to see.

The ceiling inside the theater.

The lights on Andrassy ut. It is lit up like this from one end to the other, it's really beautiful.

In unrelated photos, here's a regular stop for me when I'm in the city, the Nespresso store. I keep hanging out there, hoping George (Clooney) will stop in and have a cup-o-joe with me, but it just never happens. Oh well, no such thing as too much coffee in a day...

Ok, kids, will close for now and post again in a bit with more of the VERY, VERY exciting news of the week....and I do mean VERY....