Happy Thanksgiving!!

I thought of you all today. No, seriously, I did. I thought, "Man this sucks! I am stuck at work when everyone back home is stuffing their faces!" Actually, it was a pretty decent day with a few surprises (I had a semi-break-through with a particularly tough kid. It won't last but it felt good). The department wished me a Happy Turkey Day and one woman even offered to do a Turkey Dance. :) We chatted about Thanksgiving traditions and I promised pumpkin pie tomorrow.

I just got off the phone with the family. Mom and Dad had 25 guests for Turkey dinner (and that wasn't even the whole family!). They passed the phone around, so I got to feel like I was there - well, minus the food.

I've got two pumpkin pies cooling on the kitchen counter to take in to the Science department tomorrow, with whipped cream and all. Not really sure how they will taste. I had to get a little creative with the recipe. I figure, they'll never know - crazy Brits!

So, Happy Turkey Day all! I hope you are thoroughly stuffed with huge smiles on your faces. Miss ya'll!

Holiday Plans and the Future

I was looking at a tour of Russia for Christmas. It would have been eight days starting in St. Petersburg and ending in Moscow. I was really tempted to go. Then I started thinking about the weather, the airfare and the cost of a visa. It was just going to be too much £££. I was not dying to go to Russia. It did not make it onto my "Gotta See" list. It would have been cool, but in a "why not?" kinda way.

So, instead I will be visiting the "Must See" cities of Great Britain between December 22 and the 29th. I will stay in Oxford, York, Glasgow and Liverpool and will spend Christmas Eve in Edinburgh. It will be weird to be away from the family for the holidays (especially since Hanukkah begins this year on the 25th this year) but traveling and meeting others who are also away from home should make it better.

I've also been thinking about the rest of my time here. I talked to the airline and have confirmed a flight home on the 22nd of August, 2006. It is weird to think of this all coming to an end. Until then, I have travel plans galore: In April Kristin is coming to visit and we are going to tackle either Spain or Italy... We are having a tough time making a decision. In February (or May, depending on when/if my parents decide to visit) I want to go back to France to see Versailles and Mont St Michel (and probably spend a bit more time in Paris' art museums). And, finally, in August I am going to see what I can of Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow and Warsaw. I have a long list of things I want to see before I go home for good. I am not expecting to see everything but it would be nice to cover most.

I also have a long list of things I want to see once I get back to the States. It's funny how an experience like this makes you realize how little of your own country you've seen. I hatraveledled up and down the eastern coast, seen California and Oregon, and yet there's so much more of the US to see. So much more of the world that I want to see, too. I spent too much time working when I was in Charlotte, too much time trying to pay for things that I really didn't need. When I go back I'd like to save up for holidays and spend my free time exploring instead of working...