Bad Blogger...

Yes, I have fallen short on my promise to blog more regularly. Not to look for excuses but I have been experiencing significant computer problems. I've begun to back up my pictures and important files to an outside drive in the event of a total failure. I must admit it is very frustrating when it takes multiple reboots to get the computer going, only for it to mysteriously shut down to "power saving mode" in the middle of what I am doing. We brought the hard drive to a computer shop and found out we need a new mother board in the computer. Once that was discovered the guys quit looking for any other potential problem. We can repair the computer for 200 zlotys but they guarantee it will run much slower than it already does. They went as far as to say the life expectancy is likely not going to be much more than a year! Yikes...we've begun researching options. In the meantime, my patience is tested daily.

I did receive a question on the blog wanting to know what smelac is. For the faint of heart, it is pure lard with bacon bits in it. The lard is spread on brown bread the smelac is given away with a purchase of a beer. We've created a monster in Oliver. He got a little taste of the lard and now cries until he gets a taste. How annoying...!!!

We have been very busy socially and Craig with his job. We are so grateful for all the wonderful friends we've made in Wrocław. Two weekends ago (I know...I know...I'm a bit behind) we met some Polish/English friends in the Rynek for drink and a smelac. Gareth and Basia were kind enough to invite us to a BBQ at a friend of theirs. Craig, Gareth and I were the only folks there who spoke English and I never had such a good time!!! We laughed at the jokes we didn't understand, but the people were infectious. We've noticed that Polish people do not get surly or aggressive when they drink. Instead, they tell jokes, laugh and sing songs - never getting obnoxious! They are definitely less stoic after a vodka or two!! I will post pictures of Craig at the party a bit later. Let's just say one of the host's dogs was a bit enamored with him! Not sure it was love at first site though - bull dogs are hard to initially find attractive (sorry for any bull dog owners out there)!

This weekend there was an arena soccer tournament in the Rynek. It was teen-agers and adults playing 4 v 4. We sat through about six matches. Another interesting observation...as aggressive the play was there was no blatant rough plays or mouthy players. If someone was knocked to the ground there was always an opposing player helping them up. I'm sure I'm not speaking universally of all Polish soccer players because I'm sure this isn't always the case, but there were definite lessons to be learned for some of the American youth.

Craig has been putting in very long days at the plant. They are running product on the first coater and it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing. He goes to the plant around 7:00 a.m. comes home for an hour or two mid-day and heads back again. He usually arrives back home somewhere between 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. I'm sure Craig is really looking forward to our trip to Amsterdam next week. He will need the down time (and heck, how about a different foreign language to confuse us)?!

We return from Amsterdam July 23 (the day before our 26th anniversary - thanks to both parents for the cards) and Michael leaves from Virginia on the 24th. He arrives Friday, the 25th. We are planning to spend a long weekend with him in Kraków, stopping at Auschwitz on Saturday and at a very old salt mine on our return trip on Monday. The following weekend we are heading to Berlin for four days. I've heard wonderful things about Berlin. It will be fun exploring a new city with Michael. The final weekend of his visit we plan on going to Kurdowa to do some hiking in the mountains and visit a church who's insides are made entirely from human bones and skulls. Not sure why that sounds exciting to me...maybe I really did enjoy my anatomy classes!!!

Not much else to report. My Polish lessons continue. I can readily pronounce any word thrown at me but still struggle to recognize anything I hear in the streets. I am picking up more and more but have set a pretty high standard for myself. I guess lowering the bar might be a good idea.

Again, I will post some new pictures in the next day or so. I'm afraid to download anything to my computer for fear of it blowing up!!!

Polish hugs to you all...!!