What we did in 2006

 

Dan and Diane Ciarlette

This year has been a lot of fun and a lot of work.  Diane has kept on Stampin' Up.  She is getting good and teaching others now as a Stampin' Up rep.  This year I have continued to work at the ORNL Spallation Neutron Source but I've also started working a lot on a new project called ITER (www.usiter.org and www.iter.org).  The project is really interesting.  We are part of a team of countries building a fusion reactor in the South of France near Aix en Provence.

Diane spent some quality time vacationing with friends on a cruise this year as well.  Between the cruise and my work travels I (Dan) was out of the country for over 5 weeks.

In January I traveled to Garching Germany.  Garching is near Munich.  Germany was interesting.  We did some site seeing on the first day after we landed.  We took the subway to downtown Garching.  I've got some pictures of it later in the year when it wasn't so cold.  We saw the Residenz, Marientplaz, a church, and looked at some of the shops.  The beer was good and the food was great.  The dumplings and pork reminded me of when my Mom cooked - good memories.

In April we went to Biltmore House for Easter Brunch.  It was a nice day.  We took a picture out the back of the estate by the trees and by the front of the Biltmore Hotel.  Here is a picture of me with some beautiful flowers and my beautiful Diane.  Easter at Biltmore is pretty because of all of the flowers.  In the garden they have a lot of tulips.  Also, in April, the weather is great and the flowers are in bloom at home (Front Entry, Front Angel).

In May, we went down to Florida to share in our God Child's First Communion.  Then like any good religious ceremony - partytime.

At the end of May, Diane, her sister Janet, and their friend Janet went on a road trip.  I call them the "The Amigos". They started out in Orland Park, IL, picked up Diane in Knoxville, TN and went and visited Diane's sisters in Florida.  They left a trail of smoke and mayhem as the tore off down the nations interstate highways.  They climbed mountains.  Partied until they dropped.  More of the Amigos Day 2.  Here the 3 Amigo's pick up Amigo #4.  Now that they have gotten the 5th Amigo and her husband - they go shopping.  This is a highly technical packing job that requires the nerves of a bomb disposal man.  Here's a random picture entitled "You said their was toilet paper down here" or "This is Janet - something is going to happen".  Here Diane and her sisters try to pick up a boat ride by looking hot on the docks - next time they will wear shorts.

In September I went to Long Island for an interview with Brookhaven National Laboratory's NSLS-II project.  They were a very nice group of people.  Diane and I visited the area but decided that Long Island wasn't for us.  It was a nice place to visit.  Here's a picture of us in Port Jefferson.  I did find a street for me.  We did get to the beach.  On our last night there, we stayed at a B&B.