A New Angel

I know that the expectation for my new update is going to be this: a great race with Hood to Coast, a wonderful reunion with my amazing boyfriend Sean, fun times with my girlfriends, and great meetings at World Headquarters. My trip back to Portland has been all of that, but this blog is about none of that. I'll update my blog with more about that later, but this post is dedicated to my new angel - my grandfather, Emil Triglia.

My grandfather was an amazing guy. Born in Italy in the 1920s, he and his family came to the US in search of a better life when he was the young age of 7... and what a life he had. If I can have only half the accomplishments of this great man in my life, I think I'd consider myself a success. He was a college graduate at a time when college wasn't necessarily as important as it is today. He served our country in World War II. He married my grandmother, Claire, at 27, had 5 wonderful children with her, and loved her all the days of his life. He was a dedicated grandfather and gave back to his community with countless volunteer hours after his retirement. Despite getting on in years, neither his energy nor his cute little smile faded until the past few years... but even after he was unable to walk, his smile remained. He lived a full, honorable life - truly the American dream.

Grandpa passed away this past Monday, one day short of his 87th birthday. He was surrounded with his children and passed easily. He leaves behind 5 children and their spouses (all of which have been married for over 20 years - what role models!) and 14 grandchildren.

While it's always hard to say goodbye, it brings me comfort to know that he is finally with my grandmother. I think that her death 16 years ago was the worst day of my grandfather's life. I've known few couples that looked so in love for so many years, and despite all this time, his eyes still lit up whenever he saw a picture of her.

Luckily, I was in Portland when he died, so the trip to New Jersey wasn't as difficult as it could have been. I flew in on Thursday morning for the wake, and was so happy to be able to give my mother a hug. I stayed on Friday for the funeral and the military burial (which was such an amazing surprise to me and a great honor and tribute for my grandfather). I came back to Portland on Friday night. It's been a whirlwind, but I am positive that I did the right thing.

Please keep my grandfather and family in your prayers. Thanks to everyone for all of the support!

So excited!!!

I'm packed and ready to go... tomorrow, at 10:30 am, I'll be on a plane on my way to Portland!! To those of you on the other side - I can't wait to see you!!! Five months has gone by unbelievably fast!

I won't have a cell phone while I'm in town, so please e-mail me at kristen.pitstick@nike.com if you need to get a hold of me. I'll be working from WHQ the whole week of the 25th.

YIPPY!!!! :) :) :)

Proud to be an American

Okay, so I'll be honest... on a regular basis here, I am a little embarrassed of being an American. That might make some people mad, but it's true... Europeans have a way of making Americans feel kind of bad... We're loud. We're overly friendly. We dress a little too "comfortably". We have Bush as a President (okay, that might not embarrass some, but, wow, some of the soundbites that make it over here are just BAD!).



BUT... on Friday, my parents and I toured the WWII Memorial Museum in Caen, then the WWII American Cemetery, and then the Normandy beaches where American, British, and Canadian troops entered France to kick the Germans out. After seeing the first film at the Memorial Museum, which was entitled "D-Day", I was BLOWN AWAY. I was holding tears back through almost the entire movie. America didn't have to enter that war... we might have needed to defend ourselves from Japan after Pearl Harbor, but there was no reason to defend Europe, except that IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. They needed our help, and we willingly and gladly came to their aid. Normandy was the turning point of the war, and, without the help of hundreds of thousands of American troops, I think things could have gone on as they were going for a lot longer time. The willingness of Americans to come to the side of people that needed them is amazing. For just one day, I was PROUD to be an American. After touring the American cemetery, where nearly 10,000 of the more than 20,000 that died in NORMANDY alone are buried, I held my head up and was happy to be a part of our great nation.



Things might be different now. We might be in wars for different reasons and have different priorities, but, I'm sure that Europe will never forget the generosity of Americans in their time of need. I certainly won't.


The WWII Memorial Museum


Monument at the American Cemetery


Row after row of crosses and Stars of David with the beaches of Normany in the Background


Pont du Hoc - an important battle ground during the war. The ground is still marked with indentations from the bombings

Castles, Water Lilies, and an Abbey in the Sky - Oh My!

Thursday morning we woke up early to get to the Versailles palace when it opened. This was King Louis the XIV's palace when he was king. They called him the "Sun King", so there were a lot of references to Apollo, the "Sun God", and Greek mythology throughout the house. The palace is where the Hall of Mirrors is... the Treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI, was signed right here. This room was really extravagant for its time - mirrors were very rare, and to have this many large mirrors showed that the owner had quite a bit of money. We especially enjoyed the gardens and the fountains inside them - they were spectacular!



The Outside of the Palace - we were some of the first people in, so we beat the rush





Mom and Dad in the Hall of Mirrors - very impressive!



The Gardens with their many fountains - beautiful!

After the palace, we drove to Giverney, which was where Monet lived the last forty years of his life. We toured his house, his gardens, and the famous ponds where he painted his water lily series. It was a quick stop, and then we made our way out to the coast for our last stop.

Monet's house - painted inside and out in his favorite colors - pastels


Beautiful Water Lilies


The famous waterlily ponds - can't you just imagine Monet painting here?

Our last stop of the day was to Mt. Saint Michel, which is a beautiful abbey built on a mountain. It's been there in some form or another since the year 800. Pilgrims came here because it was considered a holy place... at one point, the arch angel Michel told someone that if he built an abbey, pilgrims would come, sort of like the movie "Field of Dreams". The only problem was that the mountain was surrounded by water, so the pilgrims had to come at just the right time when the tide was out - otherwise, they'd be getting a little wet... We hiked up to the top and toured the abbey, which was honestly not as impressive as the sight from the road. We were totally wiped out after this and called it a night!


Dad and I with Mt. Saint Michel


Views from the top as the sun went down


Mt. Saint Michel as the sun went down

Paris - Sharing my favorite city with some of my most favorite people

Wednesday was my first day of vacation, and we took off at about 7:45 in the morning for Paris. The whole way there, it was pouring down rain... seriously, at one point I almost had to pull off of the road because my windshield wipers couldn't go fast enough! I was a bit worried about being outside in this kind of weather, but Paris didn't let me down. Every single time I've been there, the weather has been clear and sunny, and this trip was no different. It was a little windy (skirt = poor choice! Yikes!), but other than that, it was great! It was really fun to show my parents all of my favorite sites - I'll never get tired of the Arc d'Triomphe or the Eiffel Tower. My parents loved it too. They kept saying, "We can't believe we're really here!". Frankly, me neither... it's amazing the twists and turns that life takes us on sometimes. It does kind of feel like a dream sometimes. :)


Our First Stop - the Arc d' Triomphe - some of the best views of Paris can be seen from the top of this structure


I was so proud of my parents - they climbed all 283 steps to the top... this is a picture my mom took as we were going down to the bottom.


Views from the top - the Eiffel Tower in the background.


Notre Dame - we toured this later in the day... note the still very blue skies - I loved it! :)


Self-photo at the Eiffel Tower - this was our last stop after a nice dinner at a cafe in the Rue Cler neighborhood

All in all, a great day. We got to Paris around 1, and left at around 9. We packed a lot into 8 hours! Mom's highlight: seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. Dad's: looking down from the Arc d' Triomphe and seeing the Louvre down the Champs Elyses... and then walking all the way there! It was so fun to share my favorite city with my parents. We left town, and then stayed in Versailles for the night. Our hotel actually used to be the horse stable for Louis XIV, but it has been very nicely converted. I think we all slept really well after this day! :)

Adventures in Amsterdam

Monday and Tuesday, I went to work while Mom and Dad did all the touristy things in Amsterdam. We carefully planned out the itineraries the nights before, to make sure they didn't get lost!! There were only a few mis-haps, but for the most part, they did great! I was so proud of them! The highlights of those days were the Rijksmusuem, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, and the Dutch Historical Museum.

Monday night, I came home from work, made dinner for my parents, and then we took the Red Light District Tour that I did when Anna and Travis were here. My parents really enjoyed it, and, since it was a different guide than when I went the last time, I even learned a few new things. I seriously thought my dad's eyeballs were going to pop out of their sockets as we walked past the famous "windows" in the red light district, and I had to grab his arm to get him to move along. Some things never change. :) My parents were really amazed by the variety of the women there - you can pretty much find every type. My new favorite fact - the oldest prostitute in Holland is 87 years old and still at it. I'm not sure if I'm impressed or disgusted. Anyways, it is what it is. :)

One of the coffeeshops in the Red Light district (Note: Coffee with a "c" = pot, Koffie with a "k" = coffee... important to know the difference!)

A statue in honor of the prostitutes in the Red Light District... The Dutch are pretty open-minded about all of this... I'm still not convinced

Tuesday night we went out for Indonesian food, which is really popular here because Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony. We had one of the "Rijstafels", or "rice tables", which include quite a variety of foods - sweet and spicy, meat and veggie, hot and cold. My parents quite enjoyed it. :)

About to get stuffed! :)

Check out all this food!!

Nice weather, for once!

My parents finally brought a little sunshine to Holland! :) On our first day together, we took a nice picnic to Vondelpark, and then took a canal cruise through the city. We capped the night off with some Dutch pancakes, and then hit the hay - it had been a long day for my parents. I was actually impressed - they stayed up until past 9, which was a great way to begin the process of getting used to the time change (6 hours from Ohio). Here are some pictures of our first day:

Dad and I enjoying our "Cool American" potato chips in Vondelpark

Mom and Dad with the statue of Vondel

The huge bicycle parking garage - thousands of bikes are parked here... good luck finding yours!

Dutch pancakes for dinner - we had a savory ham and cheese one first, then an apple and powdered sugar one.

On Sunday, we had a relaxing morning. One of my favorite things to do here is to have a nice big breakfast on Sunday, so Dad and I made breakfast while mom snoozed on... :) We then went Zaanse Schans, which is a pretty popular tourist attraction where you can see real functioning windmills, how wooden shoes are made, and taste some yummy Dutch cheese. It was so-so, I'd say. There was stagnant water in the canals, so they smelled SO BAD!! I did enjoy the wooden shoe demonstration - they make each one in about 5 minutes! Amazing!

Dad and I - the gourmet chefs

Well, we SORT of fit in the famous wooden shoe on Dam Square in Amsterdam

Wedding clogs or "klompen" at Zaanse Schans

Real windmills!! And it was windy, so they were working! :)

Our Little Travel Angel

It's hard to believe that 10 days have gone by so quickly! I was so excited to go and get my parents at the airport. If you know me and my type A personality, you know I'm always early, and getting to the airport is no different. I was hoping to see my parents first, but, once again, my guests found me! I keep hoping to be the one to run up and greet the person as they come through the doors, but for some reason, I always go to the wrong doors!! Anyways, we eventually found each other, and it was so good to see them!! :) This was my mom's first trip back to Europe in 30 years (she, like me, had an adventurous spirit in her younger days), and my dad's first trip to Europe EVER! Little did I know that they almost had cancelled their trip - my dad had been having some terrible back pain, and my mom's knee was really acting up. Luckily, after 4 trips to the chiropractor in one week, my dad's back was better and they decided to come. My mom's knee was still hurting, however, and in Cincinnati, she asked one of the attendants at the ticket counter for some ice to ease the pain. There was an overbooking situation on the flight in coach, however there were extra seats in business class, and, because I think my mom looked like she was in so much pain, the attendant changed my parents to business class for their trip!!

Side note... over the years, my family has ALWAYS had bad travel luck... mostly me! Every single flight I took was delayed, or my bags got lost, or the airplane's defrosters didn't work, etc. etc. The first flight that actually went smoothly was when my grandmother passed away in February of 2007. I was in Thailand for work, and needed to get back to Ohio. It was a series of 5 flights in 36 hours, but I made it - actually EARLY and with all of my bags. Ever since then, we have all been taken care of whenever we fly. We always say that my grandma (or Gramma, as we called her) is our angel in heaven looking out for us. I'd say she was REALLY looking out for us this time. :) They were both able to recline all the way and get some rest, so they really had very little problems with jet lag. A miracle!! :)

They are here!!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Mom and Dad made it here safely!! We enjoyed some beautiful weather today with a picnic in Vondelpark and a canal cruise through Amsterdam. Mom and Dad stayed awake until 9:00pm, which was really good considering the jet lag!! I'll post more soon!

A weird act of nature or bioengineering?

So... still feeling a little under the weather, I decided to do something that I used to get a kick out of when I was a kid - make breakfast for dinner. I'm not talking cereal folks, I'm talking real fried eggs and toast! :) Why I still call these "dunky eggs" is another story that I think only my immediate family understands...

Anyways, so I started making my yummy din-fast, and when I cracked the first egg - it was twins! Two yolks came out! Now, I had heard of this before, but I had never actually seen it, so I took a photo for proof. Here it is:

I was kind of chuckling to myself after this, and I thought "the only thing that would make this more rare is if the SECOND egg that I crack is also twins." Well, ladies and gentlemen, believe it or not, IT WAS!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. I literally said out loud, "What the heck is wrong with this crazy chicken!?!?!". And the proof again:

I spent the rest of the night pondering what this could possibly mean, and warning Sean that I think that the universe is sending me twins at some point.

I decided that since my dinner was so yummy last night, and I was kind of curious about the whole egg thing, that I would have the same thing tonight (I eat the same thing on a regular basis - yes, I am boring!). Well, would you believe that I had ANOTHER TWIN EGG!?!?

This has got me wondering - could this just be a really crazy chicken that has the propensity of producing twins? Or, has man tinkered with thing so much that I'm going to start finding double yolks on a regular basis? This doesn't make my discory feel so special anymore... but I think that's okay. :)

On a health note, I have been trying to take care of myself. I worked from home on Wednesday, and that seemed to help my stress level. I had a massage at work yesterday, and then a professional massage this evening, which I think has really helped. I tend to carry all of my tension right in my shoulders and neck, so my guess is that the spinners come when I get so wound up that I ended up pinching a nerve. There you have it... Dr. K Pitty's highly informed opinion. :)

Just talked to the parents... they are en route to the airport. So, while I'm sleeping, they will be flying, and then I'll pick them up at the airport tomorrow at 10:30 am my time. I really, really can't wait for some mom and dad time. Pictures of things more interesting than egg yolks to come!! :)

Spinners!!

Oh man!! They are back again! So... a little background...

I started getting "spinners" while I was a sophomore in college. The only way I can describe them is that it feels like the room is spinning, and my legs go numb. That year, during spring break, while everyone else was heading to Daytona Beach or Mexico, I spent the week in and out of the hospital, having numerous tests run... none of which produced any results that explained my situation. I thought it must be stress, and started going to a counselor on campus. After a few chats, the spinners were gone. hehe - not before totally blacking out in the shower in the dorm and waking up laying naked on the floor OUTSIDE the shower - oops!

Fast forward to last fall. I hadn't had spinners since I graduated from college, and, once again, last fall, I started getting them. Only these were accompanied by a lovely headache that lasted for 3 weeks. The culprit once again - nasty, nasty stress. It took a two -week trip to Asia to snap me out of it - amazing what not having to go to any meetings for two weeks will do to you. I managed to run a half marathon during this strange time - not feeling my legs for 10 of the 13 miles!! That is dedication (or sheer craziness - but I like dedication!).

A few weeks ago, when I was in Lille with Kayrn, I started getting something sort of similar - although this was just weakness in my legs... they would literally shake every time I stopped walking. I would say I'm out of shape, but, really, I run about 30 miles a week - I'm at least mildly in shape. Then, when I was in Prague, it happened again, but only worse. My legs were shaking so badly that I was SORE the next day! After I returned, the spinners and the numbness began. I think it's stress again... I'm having a lot of stress at work and outside of work right now. I'm working on several projects that are sort of extra-curricular in nature. But I love working on them! It's kind of nice to do something outside of my "day job". It's just that I also have to get my day job done. On top of that, I tend to internalize the feelings of those around me, and, let's just say, there have been a lot of bad things happening lately to the ones I love the most. :( I think all of it is just stacking up to cause these spinners again. This morning, I had to leave work because I literally had motion sickness from the room spinning. I'm not sure what to do - I've been to SO many doctors for this.

Okay, but you know me, I always find something FUNNY about every situation. So, part of my symptoms is that I always have a lot of neck and back pain when these things start kicking up. Well, Nike has a chiropractor on campus, and everyone told me to go to him. So, I made an appointment with him before I left this morning. The guy was honestly kind of cute (not as cute as you, Sean!!), and so, when he got done taking down my medical info and told me to stand up and take off my shirt, I was a little taken aback. Hello? What about a gown? What about some privacy? Doctors in the US (or am I just imagining this?) let you get undressed while they are NOT staring at you!!! So, anyways, I just sucked it up and pretended like it was perfectly normal to get nearly naked with a cute guy that is not my boyfriend staring at me! Seriously, he didn't even turn around! Anyways, after that, he proceeded to crack the hell out of my back, I put my clothes back on (again, with him just having a conversation with me), and then made my way home. Will I EVER get used to this??

So, please don't worry! I'm trying to take care of myself. I came home from work and relaxed as much as possible (peanut butter and jelly = YUM!). I was supposed to leave for London tomorrow for work, and I cancelled my trip. I'm totally caught up on the world news, as I've been watching the BBC for the past SEVEN HOURS! Anyone that can fill me in on the girl that is from the US but playing basketball for the Russian Olympic team - I'd love to know the details. Best of all, I'm going to have the loving care of my parents in a few short days! Pictures to come soon from our adventures in France!! :)

"That is not possible" and other new concepts

That phrase was not one that I heard very often in my former, spoiled by great customer service, American life. I really don't think I've EVER heard that phrase. If you ask for something in the States, you can pretty much get whatever you want. You might have to jump through some hoops, but the person or company will in the end help you.

Now, on to my new, jaded by terrible customer service, Dutch life. I hear this phrase ALL the time. It seems like anything that is outside of what is offered or what is the norm is absolutely not possible. This used to drive me crazy. In my head, I was thinking, "What do you MEAN that is not possible? MAKE IT POSSIBLE!!". Of course, I didn't voice these thoughts because 1. they don't help and 2. Europeans already think that Americans are kind of crazy with all of their options. For example, I like that I can go to an American grocery store and pick from 20 different kinds of orange juice. Europeans think this is sheer nonsense - orange juice is orange juice. Okay, but I digress...

This past Thursday, I went out to dinner with a few of my colleagues. It was WONDERFUL weather (which was a variance from the norm - it's been pouring down rain nearly EVERY DAY!! AHHH!!), so we went to this restaurant by a lake. We were having a good time, drinking a few beers, and generally just being carefree in this lovely summer weather. My friend Greg ordered his dinner with rice instead of fries, which is where all of the trouble began. The waitress said okay to this request, and went to the kitchen to place the order. When our order came out, brought by a young Dutch guy, there was no rice, only french fries. Greg told the guy that he was supposed to have rice instead, and the guy replied... you guessed it: "That is not possible." Greg was really discombobulated - there was rice coming out with other dishes, so why couldn't he get rice with his? I thought he was going to lose it. He asked the server, "So, what are we going to do about this?". The server replied, "Well, you are going to eat french fries." Oh boy! Seriously, I thought a fist fight was going to ensue, but Greg kept his composure. Then, it comes time to pay. Luckily, I had brought cash, because, again, you guessed it... paying with credit cards "is not possible".

This phrase has permeated itself into every part of my life here... help with the IT support desk often times "is not possible". Getting a train ticket quickly from the travel department - "Sorry, not possible". It even worked its way into my time in Prague... Michelle and I wanted to eat ice cream cones in the ice cream shop - that was not possible. We had to eat the ice cream in a cup if we were going to eat in the shop - their compromise? They put the cones on TOP of the ice cream in the dishes!! WTF? I just continue to be amazed at the rigidity of what is possible, and, more likely, what is NOT possible. Yikes!!

Friday... another wonderful experience with customer service. My friends Nadia and Zoe joined me for dinner at a Thai restaurant. We had ordered spring rolls as a starter, and, you know how girls are - there were four on the plate, so we all ate one and left the last because we were all trying not to be piggies. :) After 45 minutes of not getting our food and having one spring roll left on the plate (and getting progressively more drunk because that was the only food I had had since lunch and it was already 9pm), the waitress came by and asked, "Are you going to eat that last one, because we won't bring your main dish out until you are done?". WHAT!?! So, we split the last one, and our meals came out 45 minutes later. After scarfing down our food, the bill finally came... which, does this surprise you, was incorrect - there were extra glasses of wine and beer. Luckily, I wasn't TOO drunk to miss these problems. Finally, we paid and headed home.

I can't wait to come home and experience some GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!