Merry Christmas!!

Hana is doing well, and her cheeks are getting bigger and bigger. She eats really well like a monster now. Also she started sleeping through night with only one or two wakes. Antonela is working hard to make sure she stays healthy and eat well.

News...? Arkansas finally got a head football coach. The guy from Atlanta falcons. I do not care who he is, but cannot believe those coaches makes millions of dollars. Education should come first not football. Other news...? Huckerbee is doing better and better in the presidential race. he might have some chance to win a few states. Oh yes, I got appointed to be a State Whip for International Education. I will visit DC in March and visit with State Senators and Congressman. The hotel I am staying is right in the back of White House, and everything is in a walking distance. Antonela is very excited with this capital visit. Also we are going to Dallas in January.

We sent out packages to Japan, Canada, Croatia, Bosnia, and so many other countries. They will get them in a few weeks. We are buying Hana's toys on eBay. The society and the shape of the world are changing. Hana got new pants and new T-shirts. She likes the busy graphics on her clothes.

Last Saturday we were invited to the cookie party at Cleria's. Antonela made a few kinds, and Cleria and her friends brought a few kinds each. It was fun, and nice to see other family with kids. That party obviously showed my life is changing. No drinks, no loud musics, and leave home at 8pm. Hana enjoyed some new toys, and Cleria made us have them for a while. That was very nice.

It is a bit windy today, but I like nice and warm winter. Things are getting slow in some parts and very busy in the other. Rogers Avenue, a main street in Fort Smith, looks like jammed everyday with heavy traffic. Actually it took more than 20 minutes from the library to Sam's Club on Saturday, which usually takes 5 or 10 minutes. Christmas lights are pretty all over the city, though.

Just one picture from this morning...

It has been raining on and off today since morning. I had a meeting with International Festival Committee, and United Way, and some local people. I have contacted quite a few Consul Offices and Embassies for the project I am working on.
Hana is doing great. She was not happy aroung 7:30pm last night at the volleyball practice, but other than that she seems to be happy being surrounded by people anywhere. Yes, she got new books from her grand mother yesterday.

Again very cold day. It was really cold this morning. I did not put uot the Christmas lights last night...it was just too cold to do that. Hana had a banana last night...she likes playing with a banana...and some eating. her hands and face gets really dirty, but she seems to be very happy.

Anything new? I did not have a time to read a newspaper this morning, so not sure what is going on in the world....but ....

This weekend is busy...well compared to Dr. Beran, it is nothing, but I have a lunch and campus tour with Vietnamese professor on Saturday, and have meeting with other Vietnamese and basketball game on Sunday. In between, yes, we are coaching volleyball. Humm....maybe not so busy as I expected. Weaher forcast says it is going to be rain, though.

New developments in SUzuki family....we bought a printer finally...it is HP3190...and paid $29.90 on eBay. It is not a brand new, but hay I do nto care as long as it prints papers. It is in Miami now and should reach us by next Wednesday. Also....yes, there was a bloody shooting (again) in Nebraska. The guy just wanted to be famous but very depressed. It just happend one afternoon at the department store. I cannot believe people can commit such a crime like this.

It is getting very cold. I am just checking the temperature at weather.com as still F is very hard for me to understand, but is is indeed 6C high and 3C low today. No kidding...it is cold. I put out/up Christmas lights yesterday for our house, but it was really cold, and could not do more than 30 minutes.I hope I can finish it today...but not sure if I can.
Hana is getting bigger and heavier. She weights about 7.5Kg now. Eating healthy organic foods and she is doing very well. She is not just so happy as she got three shots yesterday.

Any news in Arkansas and the world?? Well, Houston Nutt, Razorback Football head coach resigned last week…and hired by Mississippi. Neso and Jelena are trying to sell their cars. Senator Altus made some comment on black people and it created a lot of arguments in our community. Japanese baseball player is coming to Kansas City Royals, and Daren gave me a $10 ticket betting on their win in American League. Crazy man broke into Hillary Clinton’s office in New Hampshire yesterday but arrested in less than 6 hours. Huckerbee is doing better and better in the presidential race.

Last Sunday we went to Dallas. (Actually we left Saturday morning and came back Sunday evening.) Yes, we bought a new car in Dallas. It is Dodge Grand Caravan 2007 with 21000 miles. We have been looking for a mini van so that we do not have to suffer from over loaded stuff in Pontiac Vibe. (We love Vibe especially because it is very economical in this high gasoline era.) Antonela did a good negotiation with the insurance company on Monday, and we will pay about the same for two cars when we only had Pontiac Vibe. We bought a extra car seat on eBay and are ready for a long drive now. This new car will give us a lot of new things to us.

Thanksgiving was fun as well. We went to enjoy Chili at Peggy’s and had a great dinner with Dr. Beran’s family. I really appreciate those people who give us such a nice family hospitality. I hope we can be like them when we get older in our life. The value of the life will be determined how much you can share the joys with others. Right now we are too busy for ourselves, and cannot find enough free spaces for others. Maybe when we got 40s, we can do the same or do the things people have done to us.

Last time when we were in Miami was two years ago. I remember Antonela and I had a great Christmas and New Year vacation at Danijelas apartment. I also remember that we drove from Little Rock to Miami, and it was surely a very long drive. (We stayed in Atlanta for one night on our way, and Danijela drove almost all the way to Little Rock from Miami in that trip.)

Miami is a great city. It is very nice for vacationing, but I am not sure if I would like to live there. First of all the traffic is awful. You can not live without traffic jams, without wasting your time and life for nothing. Secondly there is no season. I enjoy cold winter as well as warm spring, hot summer and beautiful trees in autumn.

The hotel we stayed was very nice. The 30 plus Donald Trump hotel tower entertained us with great view and service. Only one surprising finding was there were a few restaurants with it.

It is 6pm in Miami time, and 5pm in Fort Smith time. Finally Hana started sleeping on Antonela. She was crying very loud for about 30 minutes. Antonela had to stand up and walk around to soothe her.

20071201 Miami (FLL) to Memphis

Hana is very fussy now in the airplane. We are on our way back to Fort Smith. I had a conference from Thursday. ASSCU conference was pretty neat. Short sessions with a lot of information from highly qualified/experienced people were very entertaining to my knowledge.

Antonela and Hana Katarina had a great time there with warm temperature with over 80s. Danijela stayed with them and she also had a fun with Hana. They walked a lot in the beach, went to FIU and IKEA, and Whole Food store.

Hana is getting bigger and taller. When we checked in at the Fort Smith airport, we measure her weight at the counter, and she weighted about 19 pounds. To be honest I do not know exactly how heavy she is as I have not got used to the pound system, but she is getting heavier and heavier.

Antonela bought a special cookie for Hana at the Whole Food Store and she loves it. We gave her a few minutes ago, and she was enjoying it so much that she was so upset when we took it away from her.