Barbera and Pizza

The day before my departure for Tanzania, Kol Z hosted a homemade pizza dinner washed down with a selection of Barbera reds. Dave topped it off with a chocolate cake.

What's pizza without cards? the poker chips did come out.

See more pics on my photosite (under Friends)

NYC

Top to Bottom: John and Maya at diner; Maya and Alex tearin up the rug; Lisa admires the NYC mass transit system; Radio City Music Hall; 9th Ave and mid town buildings; Kara and Rick.
See more pics by clicking here (look under 2006 Friends: NYC Maya's Party or 2006 Travel: NYC Random Pics)

Lisa and I spent the weekend in NYC. Took the Chinatown (DC) to Chinatown (NYC) bus...surprisingly very few Chinese. Mostly students, including a xanax dealer in the seat in front of us. Nonetheless, the bus was cheap and relatively efficient. Arriving late on Friday, Lisa's cousin Kara and her boyfriend Rick met us for dinner at 11pm (HK's on 39th and 9th). We finished at 1:30am... things do happen later in NYC. Lisa and I were feeding like pigs at a trough. Kara enjoyed a piece of lettuce that she split with boyfriend Rick. It wasn't until I woke up Saturday am that I realized I had stiffed them for half the bill. I will blame it on the 2 hours of sleep I had the night before. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Sorry guys, we'll make it up to you, assuming you ever decide to eat dinner with us again.

Woke up at noon and managed to catch Avenue Q on playing on Broadway. Like your life, only funnier. And yes, the internet is for porn. Dinner was at a nearby Indonesian restaurant on 9th St. Killed time by walking down to the Empire State Building on 34th St. and 5th Ave. to brave tropical storm winds on the 86th floor observatory.

We walked back to our hotel on 52nd and Broadway, before taking subway uptown to surprise our friend Maya, who was having a belated apartment warming party 7 months after making the move from DC to NYC. She had a one bedroom on the 17th floor overlooking Central park on 96th and CPW. Nonetheless, she managed to cram in 30+ friends and still had room for a salsa dance floor.

On Sunday, we met Maya, her friend Alex, and her brother John for lunch. John was also visiting from DC and saved us the trouble of trying to find the bus stop in Chinatown letting us hitch a ride. Once back in DC, John took us on a tour of their family's business, The Bakery de France. Maya and her family have always been modest about their family's bakery, but Lisa and I were floored by the size of this "small business," which specializes in quality bake goods and pastries. It was an amazing operation, and we were fortunate enough to catch some croissants fresh out of the oven. We remain amazed that how their family has managed to avoid weighing 300 lbs each.

1st Poker Nite of 2006

The games have re-started again... Lisa and I have hosted the first poker night of 2006. We had 8 players plus a special appearance by Dave G's brother Ben. We've finally tried to start matching up some nicknames as they present themselves. So in attendance were: 1) Kol "Mad Eye" Zarember; 2) Dave "B.O.B. (aka Bend Over Betty) " Greenberg; 3) Adrianne (Nickname to be determined) Woodworth; 4) Lisa (Nickname to be determined) McGonigal; 5) Phil (Nickname to be determined) Yin; Mike (Nickname to be determined) Liu; Adam "Sophisticat" Sherwatz; and Dave "Crazy Dave" (last name to be determined). Kol made a homemade tirimisu. Adrianne entertained us again with recaps of her favorite dating experiences. Ask her about the chiropractor or the lesbian monk the next time you see her. Dave brough some playing cards that were a little distracting. Not sure if it was the alcohol or if some old photos of George W Bush taken during the Yale years had resurfaced. Double click on this for more photos from the game (under Friends: 2006 Jan Poker Night).

2005 in review: Tour de France, July

This past summer, Lisa and I were able to travel to France to watch Lance Armstrong win his 7th consecutive Tour. We decided to do this via a tour company (Duvine Adventures) since we didn't make our decision to go until it was relatively late and the logistics of the TdF were unknown to us at the time. The highlight was seeing Stage 10 up close and personal, from where we stood 5k from the summit of the alpine ski village of Courchevel. This ended up being the defining stage of the race where Armstrong, still wearing Discovery blue (photo t0p), rode to a second place finish in a four man breakaway, earning the yellow jersey which he held through the final stage in Paris.
We have plans to return again to see TdF 2006...with Armstrongs retirement, this is truely going to be an absolute slugfest amongst riders hoping to fill the vaccuum. We plan to catch some stages in the Alps, including l' Alp d'Huez, before retreating to Provence for some R and R. We've got reservations to stay at a bed and breakfast run by a wonderful lady named Georgia, who we met on a previous trip to France. She pretty much decided on a whim to uproot herself from her life here in the U.S. to pursue the Peter Mayle-ish dream of owning her own B and B in Provence (www.lelavandinprovence.com).

Post Christmas Competition

Uncle Bob takes no prisoners at the ping pong table. Amy and Lisa are left slack jawed and flat footed. We fair no better at dominos... this time Aunt Sis puts on a demonstration leaving us crying for our calculators.

Christmas 2005, McGonigal style

Top Row: Wheeling, WV, Christmas Day 2005,from Jean and Rod McGonigal's house in Bethlehem, WV.
Second Row: Rod and Jean M
Third Row: Katie and Tree; Amy, Katie, and Lisa
Fourth and Fifth Row: Opening presents
Sixth Row: Lisa and Amy at White House Christmas Tree, Ellipse, Washington DC

Christmas this year was spent at my in-laws (Rod and Jean). Lisa's sister Amy travelled up from South Carolina and met us in Washington, DC, before we made the trip to spend Christmas with my in-laws... appropriately in Bethlehem, WV (Wheeling)