Clueless

Dreams, plans, and panic

2007-04-29T11:53:00.000-05:00

Finally a moment to write a few words... There are so many thoughts that enter my mind and so many things I need to do. Luksa and I finally shared the news with our families that we are expecting a little on in the middle of October. Everyone was very surprised (so were we initially) but very excited for us and supportive of us. Now that I am out of the first trimester, at least I'm not battling feeling queezy. But overall I have to say that I probably had it easy compared to many women. Anyway, now I'm in the stage that my belly is starting to show and I'm having "growing pains" occasionally. But overall, smooth sailing so far. I can't wait to feel that first kick. It is an amazing feeling knowing that there is life inside you and I feel truly blessed and thankful to God. True, Luksa and I kinda skipped a step or two in the usual process, but we could not be more happy and more thankful for the life entrusted to us. I just dream and hope that we can be the best of parents for this little one and make his/her life as happy as can be. I know that both of us will try.
I have to admit that I was nervous to share the news with anyone. I had no idea how anyone would react - all of our families, my bosses, our friends, etc. But everyone has been very gracious and supportive, more than I could have ever expected. And that means the world to me. So now there is a ton of planning to do - preparing for the baby (I don't even know what all I need much less when and where I will be getting all that), preparing for our life together (figuring out finances, living conditions, cars... the list is endless), and trying somehow to plan ahead. I consider myself a realist and a very practical person, so I don't usually worry about things that are not in my control. So I focus on short term goals with long term hopes in mind. Luksa is a much bigger worrier than me and he would like to have answer for things that are a complete mistery right now. Something we'll have to try to counterbalance better. So, I try to calm him down somehow, but at the same time it rattles me a bit too. And hence, panic! Every once in a while when we talk about everything that needs to be done, covered, taken care off, blah, blah, blah, I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack because most of those things are not in my control right now! I really need to take things one at a time, as efficiently as possible and as quickly as possible, but I cannot handle worrying about everything at the same time. That just locks me into a helpless feeling and I don't act on anything. Not a good thing...
I guess my point is just this - we are very excited and ready to try our best in making the best life for our family, but with that come new worries and new responsibilities neither of us had to deal with in the past. I just hope and pray that God will give us the insight, the strength, and the wisdom to do everything (well at least the necessary things) in time without too much stress and panic.
Well, that's what's been going through my head this weekend... I cannot thank both of my families enough for all the support and love they've given me. I would not survive without that...
On a brighter note, here are a few pics from the cherry blossom day - unfortunately they were almost gone that day, but we got a couple of nice photos in the two trees still full of blooms...

Is it spring yet?

2007-04-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

I've been gone a long time - too busy with life I suppose. This is a big weekend (Easter) and I am looking forward to celebrating the event with Luksa's family. We are planning on going to the cathedral for mass, and then indulge in a variety of sinfull, delicious food prepared by his mom. It should be a nice time. I do miss my American family too though and am picturing all of them gathering tomorrow with all the kids rummaging through their baskets as fast as they can to find that perfect candy or toy. There is always so much excitement - sometimes too much, but when I'm not part of it, I miss it anyway. Overall, I like things kinda hectic and full of life. My parents will be celebrating by themselves, but then they will go visit my brother tomorrow and pick up my nephews to bring them to Zagreb. They get another week of Spring break, so they will have a chance to play with their cousins in Zagreb. Fun for them!

The weather here is just weird! We go from having a couple of days in the 80s and then it snowed again last night! What is up with that? All the flowers are already blooming and now this cold is trying to freeze them to death. Even some of the Easter egg hunting events around the city have been cancelled because they were expecting such bad weather today. What a shame for the little ones.
I will be going to DC today to see the cherry blossoms - last chance this year! It is really cold outside, but I hope that means that there won't be too many people out there and I can take some nice photos. I love that scenery - it's like a fairytale. I will post some pics soon if I get a few good ones.
Well, happy Easter everybody! Enjoy all the blessings in your life, particularly family and friends! May God bless you always!

Finally an overdue tag response...

2007-02-19T06:37:00.000-05:00

Well, my sister tagged me about a month ago to write some things about myself. I managed to ignore that for quite some time, but I promised I would complete the questionnaire. So here it goes... Plus, I have been gone for so long from this site that I need an easy transition back in.

A - Available or Single: Neither; Very happily in love…
B - Best Friend: Not a simple answer, I have several really, each one unique and irreplaceable in different situations.
C - Cake or Pie: hmmm… Cheesecake and cherry pie – who says you have to choose?
D - Drink of Choice: Non-Alcoholic -Diet Coke or tea; Alcoholic – wine, Gin & Tonic
E - Essential item you use everyday: computer
F - Favorite Color: maroon, purple
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Gummy Bears
H - Hometown: Zagreb, Croatia
I - Indulgence: extra sleep and desserts
J - January or February: January
K - Kids & Names: none yet
L - Life is incomplete without?: God’s love
M - Marriage Date: none yet
N - Number of Siblings: 1 (+4 borrowed ;-) )
O - Oranges or Apples: both, although in the States, I can’t seem to find good oranges. So now, I prefer apples – fuji or gala
P - Phobias or Fears: I don’t know, I worry about many things, but can’t say that I really have a fear about it…
Q - Fave Quote: Don’t have one. I like being inspired by a variety of sayings…
R - Reason to Smile: my family, my faith, my hope, life in general, the seasons, a beautiful flower or a sunset, the moon when it hangs huge and orange in the sky… I could go on for a long, long time ;-)
S - Season: each one brings excitement to my world! I second that!
T - Tag 3 or 4 People: I’m afraid this will stop with me for a while…
U - Unknown fact about me: I wanted to be a veterinarian. I thought I would never find the love of my life, but have now been proven wrong…
V - Vegetable you don't like: celery – horrible, horrible, horrible, and people sneak it into to all sorts of things thinking they can hide it. Don’t they know that the flavor is strong enough to come through anyway?
W - Worst Habit: an occasional smoke, watching senseless TV
X - X-rays: chest for TB test because I always used to get a big red reaction from the skin test. Ended up having to take 6 months of some nasty pills so that I don’t have to be tested ever again.
Y - Your Fav Food: Again, not so simple… Broth soup with my mom’s dumplings, lots of different main dishes (a dish called “a la vild” that my mom makes, pasta with spinach and feta, pizza, my sister’s Spanish dish with potatoes and eggs, my American mom’s hamburger pie or hamburger Stroganoff, so many others…). Dessert? Cheesecake, cherry or pumpkin pie, crepes, pumpkin bars, etc… No end to this one either…
Z - Zodiac Sign: Saggitarius

Should I go blond or red???

2007-01-05T00:50:00.000-05:00

I hope your New Year's was fun! I had a great time with L at a party in DC. And somehow, the challenge for guests appartently was to bring a wig to the party (if they dare). Well we didn't bring any wigs, but there were plenty at the party to be had... Hence, the pics - should I go red or blond? LOL The other pictures are just as funny - it was a good party - lots of great food, drink, a little dancing, a lot of acting goofy with the wigs.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2006-12-31T09:18:00.000-05:00

The holidays are going by so quickly! My favorite part of the holidays so far has been visiting with my "second family". Yes, I am blessed to have two wonderful, albeit somewhat disfunctional, families that I love with all of my heart. Every year at Christmas I can only spend time with one - something about them being in opposite parts of the world - can't imagine why that would be a problem. I had the most wonderful time catching up, watching how much the kids have grown, playing with all of them, laughing, crying, and eating the most delicious food (particularly desserts). I even had a chance to go see Santa with one of my sisters and her kids. It is so amazing to see the magic light up in their eyes when they sit with Santa. And I even got a hug too! Whoever says Santa is not real - watch out, I might have to *%&#*$ you up ;-)
One look at the kids and it is all very real and we all need a little magic in our lives...

I had a chance to talk to my family and L over the phone - that also meant a lot to me. My parents and my brother's family decorated the tree Christmas eve and then went on to the midnight mass at the cathedral. Both of my nephews sang in the choir for that mass and everyone said it was beautiful. My older nephew really loves to sing and has already been in a couple of operas with his choir - they are really good!
Speaking of additional families - I seem to be getting closer to adding another family in my life. Although it is really too soon to tell, L and I seem to be pretty serious about each other. I really hope everything continues to develop as well as it has so far because I have never been in a relationship as honest and open as this one. So anyway, who knows, maybe there will be a third family in my life afterall...

And tonight... L and I are going to DC for a New Year's Eve party! Who knows what 2007 will bring?
I wish you all a very safe evening and many fulfilled dreams in the new year!

B-day photos

2006-12-18T00:21:00.000-05:00

Just a little recap from my B-day... I know it was almost a month ago now but I'm sure you'll enjoy some photos. It was low key but great at the same time. L, R, and S were there... We went to dinner to Mezze restaurant - tappas. The food is absolutely delicious! The best part is that you get to try lots of little dishes - quite a cornucopia of flavor ;-)
And yes, they ordered a birthday cake for me and sang to me... Can you see the happiness on my face for blowing out the candle? It's the little things in life that make us happy huh? You would think I blew out all 34 of them (I mean 29 of course)!

Thanksgiving

2006-12-08T05:50:00.000-05:00

Clearly I'm running waaaaay behind with this post because I should be focusing on Christmas now. But I will, I promise. I just couldn't skip Thanksgiving just because I was too busy to post before... So here are some fun photos and memories from the trip to NYC to see the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade.
The morning started off very early for a holiday - we had to go to the parade route and find a good spot. So, by 7am we were around 52nd street admiring how many people are already lining up the streets. Of course, since the first row spots were all already taken, it made perfect sense to satisfy our morning hunger first with a delicious New York bagel - mmm. And it was yummie. Then we found a spot on a corner where we could see the parade pass by. It was very cold and rainy the whole time as you can see from the umbrellas. It took about 30 minutes for the first float to get to us from the start of the parade. That was soooooooo exciting. After the first float, my favorites were Scooby, Snoopy, and Garfield although there were many great ones. The wind was very strong that day so the baloons almost weren't allowed on the parade. Luckily, they were allowed to come through but they were held pretty close to the ground so that there wouldn't be any accidents. That's why some of the baloons look like they are looking at the ground.
After the parade, S and I did some shopping and later in the evening we went to a "fancy" dinner at Del Frisco's steakhouse - yum!!! We also went to see an off broadway show called The Altar Boyz. It was pretty funny... The next day we participated in a lottery for Wicked but didn't win, but then we did the lottery for The Drousy Chaperone and S won two tickets! That was so much fun. The show was OK, although I probably wouldn't recommend spending full price for the tickets. And that night, the NY magic had to end. That city is so much fun, there is so much stimulation all the time and when you leave, it feels like it just all of a sudden ends - you come to a screeching hault. Then you can just sit back and enjoy the memories...
Overall, that was a fun way to start my birthday weekend...

sretan rodjendan Asja!!!

2006-12-02T09:57:00.000-05:00

Today is Asja's birthday - my best friend from highschool!

I hope you have a fantastic birthday surrounded by friends and lots of great presents :-) I wish you all the best and hope that all your wishes come true!

Here are a few photos from last summer again... I just can't seem to let go. Plus, this is appropriate since they are photos of my time together with old friends. We had such a great time revisiting some of our times during highschool, talking about our plans for the future, and just goofing off. Most importantly, friends like these never become distant. We talked and laughed and shared like no time had passed since the last time we saw each other. You know that you have a lot in common with someone and that they understand you when distance and time don't really exist. You pick up where you left off the last time and never skip a beat. I really value friendships like these because they are very rare.
So, thanks Asja and Katarina for being my friends for life!
I love you very much!
And once again,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASJA!!!

Beautiful Fall Colors

2006-11-02T00:49:00.000-05:00

By popular demand, here is what REAL autumn looks like ;-)
Aren't these colors just gorgious? I love it when seasons change - it's like a new beginning every time. And, don't you feel like about 3 months is just long enough to make the best of the season and then you're ready to move on? I do... The summer can get too hot, especially once you run out of vacation time. Fall starts to look pretty bare after a while. Winter cold and snow are great fun for a while but then I'm just ready to warm up a bit. And then, comes spring, full of life, blooms, but not quite warm enough to take a dip. And we are back to summer again... It's perfect!
Anyway, this page is dedicated to the beautiful colors of fall. The first 3 pics are from around my house, and the last one is from a park nearby.
Enjoy!

Happy Halloween and All Saints' Day

2006-10-31T23:53:00.000-05:00

I just got home from a long experiment at work. Unfortunately, that means that I missed all the trick-or-treaters. I didn't even carve a pumpkin this year, something that I've enjoyed doing with friends the last couple of years. Oh well. I hope all of you who went out tonight had a great time and got lots of candy!
I am excited and nostalgic at the same time about the All Saints' Day. This is a really important holy day in Croatia and it is very family oriented. Every year, on this day, most people go to the cemetary to light a candle and pray for their ancestors, family friends, historical figures, etc. The cemetary is so beautiful that day. In the evening, the whole cemetary is lit by candlelight from the plethora ( ;-) ) of candles that are placed around the center cross or on individual graves.
The cathedral in Baltimore has been under repair for 2 years now and it is supposed to reopen either tomorrow or Sat (I've received conflicting information). I would really like to go to mass there tomorrow night because it is such a beautiful church. Plus, L said he wanted to go with me - I think that would be really nice. I know, L is a new name in these pages, but I hope it will reappear for quite some time... But I'm not really ready (and don't have the time) to elaborate or explain right now.
Well, I better go to sleep - it will be time to get up waaaaaaay too soon...
Happy Halloween!
May God bless you and keep you. May all your departed relatives and friends be blessed and enjoy the grace of God for eternity.

babies

2006-10-24T06:21:00.000-05:00

Finally a moment to tell another story... I am kind of ignoring things that are happening daily just to continue this small journal about my summer trip. I think it helps keep my relaxed, vacation attitude - at least that's what I'm telling myself. So, yes, where was I? Babies!
One of the special treats this summer was the timing - my second cousin and one of my best friends from childhood had babies!
My cousin Ivana had her first baby - a boy! His name is Vid and he was only three weeks old when we went to see him. Isn't he precious? I always forget how tiny they are... She is very happy to be a mom especially because she has had a rough time last year. Both of her parents died last year as well as her grandmother. So she is kind of alone (with her husband) and I think the baby is a reminder that life goes on. I am thrilled for her!
The other baby is Jakov, born just a few days later (August 10). My friend Anita already has a baby girl, so she is a "pro" at this point. The other picture has her sister Irena, their mom, and all of the kids (Irena has three and Anita now has 2). We had a great time hanging out, talking, revisiting old memories and creating new ones. There is something to be said about old friends like that - no matter how far apart we may be and how little we actually stay in touch, in some ways, time stands still. So when we do see each other, it's like we were never apart.
I hope you enjoy the photos...

fishy business

2006-10-01T17:58:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things about being home in the summertime is the seafood! There are so many different kinds of fish and mussels and they can be prepared in so many delicious ways. Here are some photos of the gourmet meals we had either at my brother's, or at a friend's house in Dubrovnik, or that my mom prepared. They were all delicious!!! Baltimore has great fish too, but I don't have a grill so I rarely prepare them. Occasionally I'll bake some fillets but it's not quite the same.
I love seafood!

so much to say, so little time

2006-09-30T09:18:00.000-05:00

I keep meaning to write more and organize my throughts and events from overseas, but there simply isn't enough time in the day to get it all done. So for now, I will write a little about some of the wonderful meals I had while back home and tell you a little about this weekend's activities. The story begins with the fact that our coast has many fig orchards with figs that of course ripen at the end of August or so. I haven't eaten fresh figs in soooooo long that I thought this was a perfect opportunity to enjoy some of that delicious fruit. Because everyone wanted me to have a great time (as it should be :-) ) and have pretty much everything I wanted, my dad and his cousin went to pick some figs for us. They brought two full bags, about 12-15 pounds of figs!!! Since eating that many would mean that I wouldn't leave "the throne" for days, we decided to make jam out of most of them. So here are some pics of the cooking figs and the finished product - yum!!!

Now it turns out that I have too may pics of food too so I will have to continue later. I have to get ready for a party for my boss. It's his 25th anniversary working for the same university so they decided to throw him a party. Kinda nice huh? I was going to buy a dress, but then decided to just go with something I have. Who cares right? It's too bad that it is already kinda cold here so the summer dress I want to wear doesn't seem like enough. But I think I'll brave it anyway.
Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend to go see a movie and between all of that, I need to get some work done too. I feel like I'm falling terribly behind. We have a conference in two weeks for which I need to finish my poster. I don't even have half of it done yet! AAAAAAHHHH!
Anyway, the food selection is to be continued as well as other stories from the Adriatic...

just a few more artsie-fartsie photos

2006-09-18T22:58:00.000-05:00

my favorite photos

2006-09-18T22:34:00.000-05:00

OK, so I took tons of pics of course, but the next few I want to show you are my favorite artsie-fartsie pics. Some of them are reflections of a couple of churches in Zadar in a pudle of rainwater, then a couple are photos from Dubrovnik showing the red rooftops, buildings, and the sea crashing against the shore... And then we'll see if I can download anything else, i.e. if blogger chokes on me or not.

continued

2006-09-15T00:47:00.000-05:00

I'm baaaaack!

2006-09-14T23:52:00.000-05:00

Well, time flew in the last three weeks! It always does when I am having a great time. I went on vacation to visit my family and friends and enjoy the beauty of the Adriatic sea. There is too much to say about all of my adventures and trips down memory lane for one blog, but this will be a start. I will try to share a couple of my favorite photos of the sea first because this is how I recharged my batteries - watching sunsets, swimming in the beautiful blue, warm and calm water, watching ships gliding across, and remembering some of my childhood experiences on the coast. See for yourselves...

apartment

2006-08-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

Well, it's finale furioso over here getting ready for my trip. I'm soooo excited but at the same time a bit stressed that I will forget something. As long as I have all my documents with me, everything else is replacable right???
Anyway, you wanted to see some more pics of my new place - so here they are with the foyer in the pics on the right, top two on the left are the living room, and bottom left is in the dining room. They are not the gratest quality, but that's all I've got right now. Hope you like them.

girls just wanna have fun...

2006-08-12T10:49:00.000-05:00

I've had so much fun in the last couple of days!!! Thur night I was going to dinner with some girlfriends from work and then we decided to go to a karaoke bar after. Pretty soon, we were singing horribly, but with gusto-lol. I haven't done karaoke in years! Well time flew, and it was rooouuuuugh getting up in the morning to go to work. A little reality check that I'm not in college any more lol. But it was worth it!
Yesterday, I went with a few other friends to see a movie showing outdoors in Little Italy. They have a summer series where every Fri night they show an older movie on the side of a building in a parking lot. Everyone brings their lawn chairs and watches while eating the best pizza in town and then tops it off with the best Italian desserts at Vaccarro's. They were showing an Italian film called Bread and Tulips (never heard of it until yesterday). It is a romantic comedy, and it was hilarious! And the tiramisu after - hmmm,hmm good! But laughing with friends - priceless!
Today, one of my friends is coming for dinner. She is vegetarian so I will make pasta with spinach and feta cheese, and a couple of salads. And then, who knows? Maybe we'll go out somewhere. Afterall, girls just wanna have fun! ;-)

People I work with

2006-08-09T00:07:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics of people I work with.

On the left is my boss (Dr. Raja) and Shefali (another girl that worked for him on the clinical side of things until just recently). On the right are Tim and Sandy in my old apartment. Tim is a technician in our lab. He is married to Sandy and they have two sons - great people! I will try to upload some more tomorrow but I have to download them from a website first. The pictures will be from our annual golf outing as a lab - yes, golf! It's pretty hilarious to see me out there, but we all have a blast anyway.

Sleep

2006-08-05T11:51:00.000-05:00

I am in desperate need of sleep. I went to watch a tennis tournament in DC last night - the first "live show" i've attended. It was great! I had a blast, from watching really good players (these were the quarterfinals) , to wispering because everyone is supposed to be "quiet please!", people watching etc. DC is so well organized in terms of public transportation. The metro is great and gets you to most areas, but also, events like this one have shuttles organized that will pick you up from the nearest metro stop and take you directly to the tennis courts. Free of charge. And they do it as an incentive for people to take the public transportation instead of driving in. Fine with me! I prefer that anyway. Tennis was great - especially the doubles because they have fun and show a sense of humor when they play. It seems a bit more relaxed. There are also more unusual plays where they return the ball when noone expected it, so the stadium fills up with ooohhs and aahhhs. So much fun!
Well I didn't get home until 1:30 or so and by the time I wound down and went to sleep it was 3am. So then I had to get up at 6:45 to take a friend to the airport and have been up since. I'm beat! Saturdays are usually my day to sleep, and skipping it is really painful this time. I'm still hoping to catch a little afternoon nap maybe, but my chances are kind of slim. I'm at work right now trying to catch up on some unfinished business. I get so much more done with noone around. And then, I'm planning on going out again tonight, so I guess, it will be my fault that I am not getting enough sleep again. :-)

Learning

2006-08-03T23:06:00.000-05:00

Do you believe that we can learn something from everyone we meet? I do. Even those people who we feel are not very compatible with our personality or such, have something to offer that is interesting, intriguing, or important to know. Most of the time I hope to surround myself with people I admire and trust who can teach me how to become a better person and stand firm in who I am. But sometimes, it is also important to recognize people you can't trust or people who are successful but practice things you would never participate in. Why? Because it is important to understand how they justify their behavior, and more importantly, it is good to predict when it might be directed towards you. This is what I think anyway. I'm not really talking about the obvious vices we may stay clear from like drugs or alcoholism, etc. but more subtle nuances of human behavior, something you might refer to as the "politics" of life.
I had dinner tonight with an acquantance (sp?) from work who kind of irritates me at times so I can't spend too much time with her. She is very attention demanding and always has a crisis, and yet, people love to talk to her because she is very bubbly and animated in her communication. Fun. Personally, I can only take that for a little while, but people seem very interested in her and attracted to her. OTherwise, she is very very bright, knows her job well, and I think is a good person overall. So can I learn something from her (I mean socially)? How is it that the same behavior that seems annoying to me (all this drama about things that happen), is so attractive and amusing to strangers we might encounter? She strikes up a conversation with a stranger in no time - and these guys are usually both good looking and well polished. So how does that work? Is it that they are hoping for an easy date, or is it really attractive? And is it the kinds of dramatic stories that she tells that are attractive, or the manner in which she tells them? Of course, it help that she is cute too, so there is a physical attraction as well probably. Well, after a couple of margaritas I can't really say what exactly I learn from all this,but I did have a good time, and I do love thinking about stuff like that. And, I'm glad that we don't go out every day, because too much interaction I couldn't take...

Evenings

2006-08-02T22:44:00.000-05:00

The evenings go by so quickly. I come home, eat something before I "waste away to nothing" (yeah like that's possible in my case), do some dishes, and it's already Jay Leno time. Then I stare and chuckle at his jokes, and before I know it, it's tomorrow! The reaction of course is "Oh #!*$^#%&$, it's so late, I gotta get up in the morning!" And invariably, by the end of the week, I'm setting up 4 alarm clocks instead of the usual two, just to get up semi-on-time. Tomorrow will be a real treat - I have to be at work at 7am. I should be zzzz-ing away already, but I really wanted to see what's new in the blog world. Plus I was cooking a soup for tomorrow until just recently, so I couldn't go to bed anyway ;-)
In case you are wondering, it's still soooooooooooooo hot here! It was 84 in my apartment when I got home despite my one unit running ALL DAY! Crazy.
Well, stay cool (as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman)!

The heat

2006-08-01T23:46:00.000-05:00

I think I live in Texas again. It has been so hot the last few days - we even broke a hundred I think, and the heat index is well into the hundreds. The humidity is unbelievable - pretty much feels like Houston in the middle of the summer. The worst part is - my apartment is not airconditioned. Well, at least there is no central air. I have three window units and if I leave all of them off during the day, my plants look like they're dead by the time I come home (I made that mistake yesterday). So today, I left one unit running all day and when I got home at 7:30 it was 81 in my apartment. Just imagine then what it was like yesterday! Since I got home they've all been on full blast and it finally got down to 75 at 10:45. Fabulous huh? I keep telling myself that I'm practicing for my trip to Europe where most houses aren't airconditioned either. Big difference though - there is a beautiful blue sea you can jump into to cool off during the day!
With all the heat, I find myself being very lazy after I come home. One of those staring into the space, lounging on the couch kinda feelings... (The photo is a few months old, but it conveys the feeling very well, lol)

The tree and the trash

2006-07-31T23:46:00.000-05:00

Well since this is a new post I have room for two pics I hope - let's see if the system crashes again. Without further delay, here is the infamous tree, and evidence of how strong was the storm that came through. They had set up all these paper trash baskets around the lawn so people wouldn't litter. Great thought but since they were mostly empty and light at the time of the storm, most of them blew away! And.... ended up in the reflecting pool :-(
So, these are my first posted photos - I'm sure there will be many more to come!

The tree made it but not the trash. It's time for bed, otherwise I'll be up all night uploading photos.