Finally have before/after pictures from the surgery.

Greece was Great. Amie and I met up in Athens and flew to Santorini, a small island almost to Turkey. We spent 3 days there. The island has almost no vegetation on it...just one big rock. It was formed when a volcano blew up millions of years ago creating a group of island surrounding the volcano center. The Caldera (volcano) side of the island is built on a 500 foot cliff with houses hanging over the edges. Good thing they don't have earthquakes!. The ships come into the port on the volcano side and you have to walk up 528 steps to get to the top or ride a donkey. We opted to walk, although there was plenty of evidence of donkey's and their poop on the path. All of the houses are square with flat roofs and built up 2-3 stories and they are all white washed and have blue shutters (the same blue color as on your computer start menu) So from a distance it looks like there is snow on the side of the hill...but wait...they don't get any snow! WE rented ATV's one day and rode all around the island and laid out on the beach and also took a sunset cruise on a pirate ship one evening. It was fun.
Next we took a ferry to the island of Mykonos, which is famous for it's gay culture and nightlift. People don't even get started until about 11:00 at night and don't go to bed until the wee hours of the morning. I can't say that was my favorite place...mostly expensive shopping. However, the town is built with tiny, narrow, and winding streets between the houses. No cars and sometimes you had to walk single file. The saying is that the streets were built in a crazy pattern to confuse the pirates when they invaded the town. It's true that if you see something in a shop you 'd better buy it then because you might not ever find that street again. We had a cute hotel right on the beach and a big open air veranda where they served breakfast. One of the things I liked about Greece was that there are no screens on the windows, but shutters (usually painted blue). In the mornings you open the windows and the shutters and doors and just let the breeze come in. It's like living outdoors all of the time. One of my favorite parts of the trip was taking a ferry from Mykonos to the island of Delos. This is 'the place' where the God Apollo (God of the Sun) and his sister Artemis were born. It was one of the most sacred places in ancient history and they wouldn't let anyone be born or die on the island. We got to see the ruins of ancient houses from 8000 BC and statues from the same time. It's amazing how things can remain for so long.
Our next adventure was Athens. We were only there for one night and one full day so we had to move fast. We went to the new Acropolis Museum, which is really amazing...the best museum I"ve been to. We had a tour guide who told us all about the different building that have been built on the Acropolis and the building of the Parthenon. Then we got to walk up to see it all. There have been buildings and people living on the Acropolis (the big rock in the center of Athens) since 10,000 BC. That's a really long time ago! After we walked thru the old market place and saw several really old buildings. And then there was the shopping. Sue and Thu, who went with us, are dedicated shoppers and we probably spend 2/3 of our time shopping. And the shopping in Athens was pretty reasonable, so they bought lots of stuff. Amie and I managed to find some good deals too. And the food. We really didn't eat that much while we were there. Breakfast was part of the hotel package and they eat yogurt with honey every morning and we also got crusty toast, cereal, hard boiled eggs, and really watery orange juice. The yogurt was much thicker than what we eat in America and good with honey. You should try it. Then we would usually not eat until supper. Some of the food we ate I really liked (Souvalaka - meat skewers with sauce and pita bread on the side) and some not so much (Gyros' weren't my favorite but Thu loved them. ) They also serve a sauce called Tyziki sauce with their meat. It's like a mayonnaise sauce with dill. It was pretty good. WE also ate a lot of bakavala and Amie and Thu liked something called Milk Cake which was like Bakavala soaked in a sauce. And Gelato, which isn't really Greece, but good no matter where you get it.
We had an interesting experience on the ferry ride from Santorini to Mykonos. It was a big, fast ferry and apparently your ticket had a seat number assigned to you. We originally thought you just got on a grabbed a seat, but no, they were assigned. One of the ladies with our tour group (we didn't know her) went to her seat and there was a French lady sitting in it. The American said "you're in my seat...get out". I don't know if the French lady didn't really understand her or just didn't want an American telling her what to do. She said no, this is my seat. The American showed her the ticket and said "No this is my seat and you have to get out". The French lady said that her husband was buying a drink and she would wait until he got back to check their tickets. Then the American lady got mad and started pulling on the French Ladies purse to pull her out of the seat. So the French lady grabbed the camera around the American's neck and started pulling on it. So the American lady hit the French lady on the head and broke her glasses. By then the husband had come back and he was REALLY mad and yelling and threatening the American lady and several of the passengers were telling him it wasn't her fault and he told everybody to shut up. Eventually the captain and steward of the boat came and tried to smooth everything over but it took awhile to convince the French couple to go sit somewhere else. They were still yelling as they got out of the seat. THEN when we got off the boat there were 4 Greece policemen waiting for the American women. Apparently the French man had called the police from the ship and told them they had to come arrest the American women for assault. The tour people got on our bus before we left port to ask if anyone had seen the incident and would they go to the police station and tell them what they saw. One of the men we knew went and later he told us that they kept him for 2 hours and when he left the American and French ladies were still going at it. The French lady wanted the American to pay for her glasses and aggravation and the American said she wasn't going to and they were both going to go home and sue each. I never saw the American women on our tour again so I don't know what happened to her but the rest of the trip whenever we'd get on a bus or ferry someone would say to another member of the touring group "You're in my seat....You better get out or I"ll hit you" and then they'd laugh. It sure seems sad that such a small incident can get so warped out of proportion to the whole scheme of things. There were plenty of seats for everyone so why get so irritated. Other than that the trip was pretty smooth and lots of fun. Amie...what do you have to add?
ON, I just thought of something...when we got to Athens there was lots of grass and trees. Apparently it's just the island in the Cyclades that are bare.

Ward Talent Show. After realizing that our talents are very limited, my roommates and I decided the 5 of us could perform the spice girls song "Wanna be". Surprisingly is was a success- we performed last and won a prize. -best costumes-

Chutney Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Grilled Ham and Mango Quesadillas

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1895941

One more good recipe (and EASY!): SouthWestern Chicken and White bean soup

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1895921

Heather's timing on that last post couldn't have been better. Does anyone want to lose weight? (or just eat more healthfully or exercise more?) I have at least 10# to lose, and I've heard that you Hatches have had some healthy weight loss competitions. Any takers? Maybe whoever loses the most or exercises the most regularly or something wins and everyone else takes them out for a binge at Cold Stone (j/k!). ;) But seriously, I'm posting pictures for comparison. I need to lose the chub! Any fun, competitive ideas...?

A month of eating out and not exercising has taken its toll on our bodies! I was going to post wedding pictures (skinny) to compare to current pictures (not quite as skinny) but I dont have any on this computer. (If youre really curious, look at facebook more closely.) So if any of you have good healthy recipes, send them my way! (Easier is better, of course.) Any good snack ideas?