Domino Sugar Plant, Baltimore, MDSo I've been hearing some rumblings about my blog from my fans. That I haven't updated it since September (Mike M.), that I've fallen off the Earth, that my life must be so interesting that I can't even share it with the rest of the world, that I've fallen into a permanent beer haze. I'm here and I'm not saying that at least one of those isn't true.
I've been busy and that's my final answer. I started another class for grad school in September, much to Dad's delight, and that is taking up a lot of my free time, although my t.v. consumption has gone up thanks to my SlingBox.
I was home in Baltimore for a week in October, I think the year to the date that I flew to Germany. I enjoyed my week in Baltimore a great deal, as I always do, and ate way too much at the restaurants I miss so much with people I miss more. I really didn't want to come back and would have gladly stayed, even if I had been chained to a radiator for the rest of my life.
I got older in October too (and I threw my hip out Sunday to prove it).
Otherwise, I've been working, working on school, and hanging out with friends. My house is becoming more complete, as I now have a dining room table and chairs. I also, as of this weekend, have a guest room....with a real bed. So if you were avoiding a visit because of the blowup mattress or the flop-out couch, now you have no excuses! You even get your own bathroom! No maid service, but there is a concierge.
Me, Kim, and Naymar on our last antiques trip to Tongeren, Belgium
Photographing Kim's son Jack in the fall colors for a Christmas card. I think this one is hilarious, because he looks like he's planning something evil...which he probably is.
Amy and I on the last stop of the around-the-world party a bunch of us had before our holiday in the middle of the week. Amy and I even were sporting college gear for the return to the days of a college-type party. (We're just older, have fancier drinks, and get tired earlier.)The big news is that I leave on a 12-day cruise tomorrow. I'm going with 7 other friends and we can't wait! We leave Barcelona, then stop in Valletta, Malta; Cairo, Egypt; Limassol, Cyprus; Rhodes, Greece; Athens, Greece; Palermo, Sicily, Italy, and then back to Barcelona. I'm planning on lots of pictures and not looking at my tab in the middle of the cruise. I'm very excited and need a break from work, away, with good friends.
Almost right after I get home my friend will be in Germany to visit me and another friend in the area, so she'll be staying with me. The Christmas market opens while I'm on the cruise, so she'll get a good introduction to Germany that way. Soon thereafter, Mom will be here for Christmas, which, by the way, I can't believe is right around the corner. Luckily she arrives on the last day the Christmas market it is open.
After that, I probably have to go back to work or something. Right now, though, I should get packing.
