My piece of S(H)erenITy

Snapshots of my Eden.

2007-08-29T09:08:00.000+03:00

I always considered myself very fortunate to have a place to relax (even just for a few days every year) like my hometown at Tinos Island. It's not a surprise that many good friends that have visited that place express have the same notion as me.

Once I'm there, I forget what's the day, I never look at my watch (I can tell what's the time by looking at the size of the shade out of my windows and my permanent outfit is just my swimsuit.

Cheers.

N.

Princess and The Beast.

2007-08-28T09:55:00.000+03:00

More photos, this time with her uncle, The Beast:

Byeee.

N.

Princess at Holidays.

2007-08-28T09:04:00.000+03:00

It's a couple of days since Ι got back from summer holidays and, of course, I'm feeling awful...

Anyways, these 2 weeks were magnificent and refreshing, having great time with wife, Princess, The Beast and the Kids (i.e. Mikes & Rebbecca).

Here are some photos of our Princess:

With Papa,

With Mama,

Sleeping..

"Girls just wanna have fun..."

Cheers to all.

N.

1 to go.

2007-08-09T15:08:00.000+03:00

Finally, 1 day left before departing for the Island. Saturday morning we leave Athens and all its frustrating issues behind.

Two refreshing weeks at Tinos with family & dogs, relishing sea, sun, peace and my dear family.

Cheers.

N.

Old Gang.

2007-08-09T15:01:00.000+03:00

Browsing through old photos, I bumped into that below... I think this should be taken in 3rd or 4th year in elementary school, displaying all old good buddies, Christos, Panos, the Beast and of course Karageorgos Twins.

Cool times...

Princess latest.

2007-08-03T17:23:00.000+03:00

Here are two more pix of my Pampers' Girl:

Byeee.

12.

2007-04-04T10:11:00.000+03:00

That is the number of years of me and my Beloved being together. Today, we enter the 12th year of a relationship full of experiences and happy moments.

It started the night of April the 4th, back in 1995, our graduate year in High School. The venue was a night club in Corfu and it took place during the "traditional" 5-day school excursion.

I 'm very grateful for that moment which allowed me to spend my life so far with a loving, caring and beautiful person. This relationship, with all its ups and downs, was crowned with an unforgettable wedding, approximately 9 years after that night.

But, its paramount moment occurred on Sunday, 22nd of October 2006, at 11.15 am, when Princess was born.

Thank you baby for this lovely daughter, for this wonderful life.

N.

Princess and her Blossom Farm.

2007-04-03T12:13:00.000+03:00

T'day, I 'd like to present you one of Princess' favourite entertaining spots.

It's her Blossom Farm, where she 's spending much of her time during the day (of course, when she is not in daddy's or mama's lap!).

She's adorable, isn't she?

Good day to all!

N.

Killer Bee!!

2007-03-29T11:14:00.000+03:00

Good Day to all.

During Apokries festivity (Greek equivalent of Halloween) I caught a glimpse of a deadly poisonous (for my heart) killer bee, you can see it below:

I should admit that both me and missus have been stung incurably by this, for one thing, lovely creature!

Cheers!

N.

The Afro Brothers.

2007-03-09T09:27:00.000+02:00

BREAKING NEWS!

It was reported that the notorious Afro Brothers made a swift appearance at a gala, downtown Athens, as seen in photoes below.

The person responsible for taking these pictures is missing.

Lovely, isn't she?

2007-01-30T10:48:00.000+02:00

Here is a couple of Princess' photoes:

Gosh, she's adorable!

Cheers,

N.

Farewell.

2007-01-10T10:11:00.000+02:00

I 'll miss one of the most important persons in my life. My dear Grandma passed away on Tuesday evening.

There are literally no words to describe her. A truly kind and benign human being.

Fortunately, I was at her side the very last second before she was gon,e at the age of 93. I 'm pretty sure she was very happy at that time, already having known two grand-grandchildren.

I will always remember her.

Love you Grandma, give my regards to Grandpa...

Princess At Her Glory.

2006-12-28T10:14:00.000+02:00

On Christmas Day Valakas family attended the traditional lunch at my mother-in-law's.

The meal was exquisite as usual, but my princess was a sight for sore eyes!

Look for yourselves:

A Happy New Year to All!

N.

Princess New Photoes.

2006-11-27T11:43:00.000+02:00

Good day to all.

Princess relishes for a few time now the cosy tender of her mommy and daddy.

Below are a few more photoes of her:

Isn't see soooo cute?

Cheers.

Princess homecoming postponed for a few days.

2006-10-30T10:42:00.001+02:00

My dearest suffered from a intestine bacteria (εντερόκοκκο) which caused a bit of fever. She was transfered to intensive care (incubator) last Thursday. No need to say what frustration this caused to mummy and daddy...

Fortunately, she was tranfered back to a monitoring room yesterday evening. This made us extremely happy!

We expect to have her at home within this week.

For the time being, here are a couple of pictures:

Auf Wiedersehen!

Nassos.

World meet Princess, Princess meet World!

2006-10-23T13:42:00.000+03:00

YES! At last, Princess arrived at 11.14 local Greek time on Sunday, 22nd of October!

It is really too hard to describe my feelings once I got 'er in my arms. It's really amazing.

My Beloved experienced a rather diffucult delivery, lasted more than 10 hours and ended by caesarean section.

More info and photos to follow.

Lastly, I would like to thank deeply my wife and mother of this incredible daugther for giving birth to what I was looking for a long time!

Cheers to all!

Nassos.

Princess Update III - False Alarm

2006-10-18T16:46:00.000+03:00

Dear All,

eventually no result was produced yesterday. But Princess will arrive for certain by Friday the latest.

Everything's ready for her. Both parents thrilled.

Cheers.

Nassos.

Princess Update II - Possible date of arrival today!

2006-10-17T09:10:00.000+03:00

Dear All,

This morning my beloved went to hospital for a final check as today is the 40 weeks milestone. This means that she has to deliver, if not today, in the next 2-3 days. I admit I am quite nervous, not about the process, but for the actual event.

I 'll be notified in a few hours about the outcome of the check. Right now I lying on a bed of nails...

Keep you updated.

Cheers.

Nassos.

Princess Update.

2006-10-10T09:34:00.000+03:00

Gosh!..

When will this baby make THE decision to come out??

Beloved was at the hospital yesterday for a check, doctor was very informative: "We 've just have to wait.."

Yeah.. right.

Anyway, last date of delivery is the 17th, so there is a week left.

I keep you posted.

Cheers

Nassos.

Favourite TV Shows.

2006-09-18T11:38:00.000+03:00

As Greek TV is generally trash TV, I had this urge of stating all these TV shows that I am keen on. Unfortunately, none is broadcasted by Greek television, as most of them have been produced by the U.S.A., unfortunately, too. So, here we are:

1. Miami Vice (ended)
2. MacGyver (ended)
3. Battlestar Galactica (Old series, ended)
4. Battlestar Galactica (New series)
5. Lost (of course)
6. The 4400 (cool plot)
7. Smallville (I start to get bored...)
8. E.R.
9. Sex and the City
10. The Black Adder

and

11. Prison Break (one of my favourites)

That's all,

bye.

Princess' ETA.

2006-09-18T11:29:00.000+03:00

Dear All,

It is hight time for an update for Princess delivery time (thanks cous for reminding that to me).

We were prepare for an arrival around week 39 (i.e. 25/09 - 24/09), however, recent data showed that this may be delayd until the first week of October...

That was a bit of dissapointment for me and my beloved as having been prepared for earlier delivery. Anyway, we just are patient and wait.

Princess room is almost ready, freshly painted and newly furnished, quite cute I should say.

I 'll keep you posted.

Cheers.

Nassos - crazy dady.

Princess' First Supersonic Photo.

2006-07-27T14:03:00.001+03:00

I am very proud to present the first ever supersonic photo of our Princess. It was taken yesterday during our routine check up. You can see her relishing comfortably a nap in the womb.

Stand by for the end of September or the beggining of October for her first actual photo.

I 'll keep you updated.

Cheers.

Nassos.

General Update.

2006-07-18T15:05:00.000+03:00

Dear All,

As there was toooo much time since my last post, I though it was high time to write something...

First of all, my Princess physical development is progressing exceptionally. ETA at the end of September.

There is no vacation for Valakas family this summer as we expecting our new member.

My twin brother (The Beast) was married last month, gongratulations.

To my dear cousin Nika and the fine young man Manolis, I am sorry guys, but due to our current family situation we won't be able to attend your wedding, we wish we could...

Till next time..

Nassos.

Orchid Affairs.

2006-04-27T09:55:00.000+03:00

Here is one of my favourite flowers (or plants better):

It was purchased about a month ago from a very good nursery situated at a region west of Athens (Aspropyrgos). Although it needs minimum care, it will comprise a tough challenge once blossom will end. Of course, I have taken all the necessary measures (right soil and pot purchased, found a perfect spot indoors etc. etc...), still this is a very demanding species and his further adaption will require a lot of effort.

Anyway, I will keep you posted for any development on this issue.. For the time being here is a close up, cheers to all!

My Princess

2006-04-07T11:29:00.000+03:00

There she is!!!

This is our baby princess (given a 80% probability as a female).

She is now 6.5 m tall and weighs around 15 gr.

I just have to wait 6 more months to hold her at my hands... the problem is I CANNOT wait so long!...

Business trip to Valencia and the journey back-home of Horror.

2006-04-07T10:58:00.000+03:00

Dear All,

Last Thursday I went for a short business trip to Valencia along with my boss to visit some collaborators. I could say that the city is a fine example of a well-functioned and well-respected urban structure. Despite its 1,000,000 habitants I did not notice any traffic jam whatsoever.

If you ever visit Valencia, do go to the Old City or Ciutat Vella (in Valenciano). The food is relatively good, especially if you have lunch or dinner in an expensive restaurant. The countryside is more or less similar to that of Greece, except for you 'll meet vast areas of citrus crops, of course...

So, I had a marvellous time till the moment I checked out from the hotel (situated in the City centre). My flight was at 06.35 in the morning with - unfortunately - Alitalia to Athens via Milan. The first thing I observed upon arrival at check-in area was the CANCELADO message on the flight board... and a huge queue at the Alitalia office desk. And, having slept for 5 hours, me and my boss took our places at the queue...

After some time the first sign appeared.. A very alerting pain started to dominate my belly. It was only an hour after the first rocket was shot into one of the airport's loo (toilet).

Having been informed that the next flight to Athens was at noon via Rome (with an eight-hour stopover!), we got back to the city.

To cut a long story short, after 9 rocket-shootings (3 of them on air..) I ended up to Rome Airport's hospital were I was treated for 2 hours (many thanks to the doctor and the medical staff who treated me very well - mille grazie). After being released and diagnosed to have experienced a food poisoning, I was truly another man, so me and my boss pay a short visit to the inspiring and impressive city of Rome..

Eventually, I ended up to my beloved's warm hug at around 2.00 o' clock in the morning after being awake and on the move for only 20something hours....

Thanking my boss for his patience and support, I wish you an enjoyable weekend!

Nassos.

My Precious!

2006-03-23T12:21:00.000+02:00

Dear All,

This is my Precious.

In this scan, taken a week ago, he or she is just 2.5cm.

Stand by for updated photos (scans to be more precise)!

To my beloved: Thank so much for this Valentine's Day present!

Cheers!

THE News!

2006-02-17T14:12:00.000+02:00

Dear All,

I experienced the best moment in my life a couple of days ago (St. Valentine's Day, to be precise).

My dearest announced me that I 'm gonna be a DADDY!!

This feeling is indescribable. I still cannot believe it!

There going to be regular posting, briefing you in about this case...

That happened only a few days after we finally moved to our new (and by far more spacious) apartment. I should say that these last few days have been much more refreshing than the last two yeards (except for my wedding, last May of course).

So, dear all, I should say that this was a heavy and bone-crashing come back in posting....

See ya.

Where am I!??

2006-02-17T09:19:00.000+02:00

Geeeeze! It's almost 2 months since my last posting. Thanks to my dear cousin who rang me a bell, there will be one shortly. And there are lots I want to tell you all!

My wishes and the Weekend of Horror...

2006-01-09T12:25:00.000+02:00

Dear All,

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope everyone's expectations for the coming year come true to the full!

Last weekend, though destined to be a relaxed and restful short break, was a feast of exhaustion..

But before jumping to any conclusions, first let me brief you in a bit. Me and my dear wife are in the process of moving to a new apartment. Of course, this is for the better (much better to be honest..). The bug in the whole process is that this "new" apartment required a massive rennovation. As the costs for a professional is unbearable, we decided to do it by ourselves (employing of course some of our kind family members!).

No matter how much help may have, you still feel exhausted when you get up to go to work on the bloody Monday morning after a 3-day full time restoring work...

Anyway, we are still determined and willing and I firm;y believe that eventually we will relish the benefits of having a apartment that is 3 times bigger than the previous one...

Lastly I would like to thank deeply my beloved, my Uncle and my brother for their help.

Dear all, I wish you a pleasant and restful (don't think so...) week.

Nassos.

Personal update.

2005-12-14T13:15:00.000+02:00

My absence in the blog is over. Thought to give a general update for my whereabouts.

In the last few weeks I am sooooo busy with my work that I 've no time for almost anything else (that applies only during weekdays of course).

My weekends are, let's say, a fountain of recharging and detoxication from the weekly frustration. Spendig them along with my dearest better half, doing usual stuff is enough for me to face the upcoming week.. Of course the Sunday Evening Blues are still out there...

As you can imagine, I am looking deeply forward for our short Christmas break, just to do something out of the ordinary.

That's it, back to work again..

The Everlasting Gademoskylo - Part III (...and last)

2005-11-24T16:16:00.000+02:00

It happened again.. on the yesterday's game between Olympiacos and Rosenborg.

The same words were spoken, the same shit happened.

5 minutes before the final whiste, penalty against Olympiacos.. Nikopolidis remarkably saves it! We all thought the curse was lifted... but no... 2 minutes later Roseborg makes the equalizer and everything was in order again...

Once again, the words were spoken, Olympiakos didn't get an away win in Champions League and we all were left speechless and dissapointed for one more time...

Next year...

The Outlook Express Crisis

2005-11-18T15:36:00.000+02:00

Yeah... it happened 3 days ago.. it was not only devastating but also an exhausting experience.

Just tried to enable some mail rules, and suddenly it strokes... (and left me striken as well..) the usual message:

"OE encountered blah blah... and has to close... blah blah.. send report.. blah blah..."

I didn't realise at first what has happened until I tried to used it again. Guess what, all my subfolders, more than 60% of the company's correspondance has vanished. Trying to keep myself calm started to look for the missing files. Managed to trace them into the Recyle Bin (!)..

Having almost none previous knowledge in OE, I began looking up and through the net for assistance. After seeking and speaking on the phone with people having veteral status in experiences like mine I managed to recover some of the lost files.

Current situation: OE is behaving strangely and is beyond any repair.. Some of the files were indeed lost for ever and guess what - THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES

Anyway, everybody here is going to revert to Microsoft Outlook (that of the MS Office) and start to make backups of his/her files.

Tyring, time-consuming, irritating, shitting experience...

Weekend ahead, no bother... "Mare shitted on the threshing floor"...

A Piece of Shit.

2005-11-02T15:59:00.000+02:00

That was the outcome of last night's Olympiacos' appearence...

Batteries recharged, next stop Xmas holidays!

2005-10-31T09:27:00.000+02:00

After a long weekend (weekend + bank holiday on Friday), I think I have recharged my batteries to hold for the next (almost) couple of months, until Christmas arrive. These last three days were spent with my better half on Zakynthos island. Our staying on the island was a gentle courtesy of our best woman (thank you Kat!).

Although I was stuck to the bed of my hotel almost all the time (most of it spent on sleeping), I managed to do some strolling on the streets of the city, looking around relishing the good wheather and grasping the last moments of the departing autumn. Despite the fact that Zante is a favourite destination among the British (English is more correct I think), there were very few of them and they were of the good type. An extra element that made our vacation better.

Of course, I didn't take any photoes (a bad habit that I have to stop...), so I have nothing to display..

Anyway, the issue here is that I enjoyed a veeeery restful break and I'm ready for the long gap till Christmas.

Have a nice week!

The Everlasting Gademoskylo - Part II

2005-10-21T13:26:00.000+03:00

The last couple of days I was on a business trip somewhere in southern Greece. On Wednesday evening I was sooo unfortunate to watch another game of Olympiacos in Champions League...

Again the same sh^&** happened. The team was performing relatively well, considering we were playing away with the best team of the group. Just 5 minutes before the final whistle we scored! The ultimate equalizer! The first point in this year's championhip was almost there..

And then the Gademoskylo stroke again.. Something was said and I knew at that moment that the game was lost. Just 4 minutes later Lyonnais scored and Olympiacos lost the game 2 to 1...

In my previous reference I did not ellaborate on whom or what I name Gademoskylo. Today I did give some hints but propably these will be the last as I don't want generally to refer to a certain person or situation.

Anyway this goes long and sometime I propably write more on this issue. Right now I am completely sure that you don't understand what I'm talking about whatsoever (and I don't blame you of course...)

BUT weekend is just few hours away!!!! So enjoy yourselves and have a pleasant time (I know I will)!

Should I be happy or miserable?

2005-10-12T11:23:00.000+03:00

Considering Monday as the first day of the week I state the following:

THURSDAY evening, leaving from work... you start to feel at ease, weekend is approaching encouragingly!

FRIDAY evening, the ultimate moment of the week! You have two and a half whole days to relish the world!

SATURDAY evening,... it's ok, you 've already enjoy a day by yourself or your family, relax a bit, hang around at your favourite place...

SUNDAY evening... death impersonated...you have a WHOLE week to endure.. (personally I still haven't got rid of this so-called Sunday-evening-misery.)

SO.. right now is WEDNESDAY noon.. How am I supposed to feel?

The 5-days-per-week kind of job.

2005-10-07T15:16:00.000+03:00

I'm about one hour and a half away from the beggining of the weekend. The lust of for spare time, late night staying, late morning getting up is building up as minutes go by! I'm constantly thinking of the things I want to do during the following two fabulous days!

This is THE benefit of a 5-days-per-week job. Two full days for doing nothing but WORKING!

The reminiscence of a "working" Saturday, nearly a month ago when I was working for my former employer, gives me the creeps... Friday night for me was nothing but a few hours sleep before getting up, taking my pets "to the loo" and going to work. And when "the sun was shining" for me on Sundays, I just didn't have the time for all the things that somebody does in a weekend. Fortunatelly, my wife was doing her best to make me feel nice, relaxed and carefree. Thanks for that darling!

BUT NO MOOOORE!!!

FROM NOW ON SATURDAYS ARE MINE TOO!!

Wish you all a nice and restful weekend!

A tv-series that the greek private or public tv will never produce.

2005-10-04T14:12:00.000+03:00

Last weekend my dearest wife was abroad on a business trip, so I had some more time to kill...
Most of that time I spent it watching TV (!?) (please don't rush into any conclusions.. this is not one of my favourite pasttimes...).

In particular, I was watching a series (the material was provided by a dear cousin of mine) which is broadcasted by the american network ABC. The series is only in its second season.

During the weekend I've managed to watch the first 7 episodes and I must admit that I was quite intrigued. This is about a group of people survived from a plane crash. The whole story takes place on a tropical island somewhere near Australia. Episode by episode it gets apparent that something's wrong with the island itself...

For more information you can take a look at LOST site: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/

That's all for now, break's over, have to go back to work :-(((

A typical response from a greek woman driver...

2005-09-30T10:31:00.000+03:00

First of all, I should say that there is a substantial number of greek female drivers that are really good in using the steering whell (my wife is among them), BUT unfortunatelly there is a HUGE number of female individiuals that just CANNOT drive!!

The following incident occurred yesterday evening on my way home from work and during a frustrating attempt to find a parking space for my car.

I had spotted this perfect space close to my residence and I was headed towards it.. I was driving on a street which had a passing priority in relation to the streets that were crossing it. In front of me someone was driving a black car. For a mysterious reason I could tell that a woman (a lady if you prefer..) was behind the steering wheel. Moments later I noticed that the brake lights (u know the red ones) were on.. I thought that she just saw something and MOMENTARILY pressed on the brake pedal. BUT she stopped the car WHATSOEVER!

Once I realised that I took every measure to stop and as an outcome of this attempt was a shrieking noise produced by the tyres. At this point, I ought to say that the speed of my car was not the proper one for a city street but BY NO MEANS it was off the reasonable limits.

Anyway, I managed to avoid any unfortunate incident and went on. On the next intersection, she stopped next to me (!!!!) and yell at me: "You shouldnt drive at 200km/h in a city!!"...??!!!!!.... Being totally strucked by a inexpressible shock, I tried to answer back saying: "And you that came to halt in the middle of the priority street??"... and she typically replied:

"I' LL DO WHATEVER I WANT" !!!!!????!!!!

I just managed to say: "a typical response of a woman driver" and drove away..

Closing this statement of indignation, I repeat myself stating that I respect the opposite sex to the full, I also state that there is a good deal of competent women drivers.

That's it, no more... the story speaks for itself. Just wish next time to be lucky again and not end up paying "the hair of my head" (greek expression) to a "lady"....

No need to be registered users to post comments.

2005-09-30T10:14:00.000+03:00

Ok guys, just altered the setting, now anyone can post his, her comments...

The Everlasting Gademoskylo (bad luck itself..)

2005-09-29T09:39:00.000+03:00

I'm back, but devastated I could say. Last night the football team I support experienced one more defeat in the very last minutes.. and a draw with Real Madrid in Spain kept on being just a dream...

Anyway, Olympiakos wont achieve qualification for the next round for this season's Champions League (again). Next year.....

See ya.

an original post (not just a test)

2005-09-28T16:17:00.000+03:00

Ok, this is actually my first post, dont ask me about the name of the blog, propably I was a bit frustrated at work and the first name I came across was -u know what-. Anyway, I'm trying to find a meaning for the phrase "my piece of serenity" but for the time being this seems to be useless...

This is my second week at my new job, everything seems to be nice (better salary, better working environment etc.). Nevetheless, the thing that irritates me the last days is these bloody storms that occur in Athens... when this happens everything just stops operating and there I am, trapped inside my car trying to find a way to escape of a massive trafic jam in the highway..

I LL BE BACK

first post - just a test

2005-09-28T16:11:00.000+03:00

test test