Bitter Chocolate

Someone just posted this video of Dario "Chocolat" taking out a few of the opposition. It's nice having him on my team except for when I have to try and tackle him in practice.

Game Day

In a throwback to eighth and ninth grades, I've joined an American football team. The league is in its second season, but football is starting to gain popularity. I've learned that there are leagues all over Europe now and Germany even has several divisions.

I play for the Lisboa Navigators, a team that began four years ago when it joined the Spanish league. I'm one of two Americans on the team, plus we have one Turkish guy. Everyone else is Portuguese. It's been really fun playing again and getting to know a lot of Portuguese guys (plus it's good to practice speaking and hearing Portuguese in a non-work setting).

The league is a little different. It's 9 vs. 9 and the field is a little narrower and shorter. There are no kick-offs, but oher than that, all the regular rules apply. I play safety.

The first game was today. We won 57-12. 

Texas, Texas, Yee-Haw

We just returned from three weeks in Texas. It was great to be home for the holidays and to see family and friends (and eat lots of Tex-Mex).

We spent the first part of our trip in the Dallas area.

We were excited to see our niece, Kathryn, who turns seven next month.

Hillary's wearing the earrings Kathryn gave her for Christmas.

We also spent a few days in Kingwood, just north of Houston, where Hillary's family lives.

 Plus we got to go to Chuy's with two of my best friends!



We went to Austin to ring in the New Year.

The night before New Year's Eve, we went to a great new bar in Austin where I won an autographed bottle of our favorite vodka (Tito's) in a skee ball competition!

We finished off the trip by stopping by for some good ol' Texas barbeque in Fort Worth before hopping on the plane home (cattle in photos not actually eaten).