West Virginiaaaa..... Country Mamaaaa..... Take me hooome.... Country Roooaadss

Happy Christmas everyone!

Mike and I have been busy this holiday season, which really rocked. Last week we were both a little melancholy, feeling sad to be so far from home for Christmas. While it was still difficult, we did manage to have a fabulous time--Christmas Eve ended with John Denver and Karaoke. *yes!* Also, dancing. And, no. Pictures were very specifically NOT ALLOWED!

Here is a picture from the night out that captured it all: Jacqui, a coworker of mine (on the left), has been really fabulous about inviting us out to do things and meet people. She's really taught me about how to make people feel welcome and I don't think she realizes how much that meant to us. She and her friends took us on a hectic pub crawl that involved 6 different places, 5 pints of cider and lots of her friends and acquaintances coming over and saying hello. She knows everyone I think.

Yesterday we spent the entire day at my other coworker, Ruth's with her husband, mother-in-law and friends. And that was lovely with a funny story at the end--Ruth had been looking for some new wine glasses in the weeks leading up to Christmas. She found some in the National Trust store, which is tiny and hidden, but she didn't end up buying them for herself 'cause they were a little expensive and she had too many other things to get. Without knowing this, I ended up going into the same store to get her a gift for having us over. I was going to get the glasses but I was feeling overwhelmed by the etiquette considerations (2 or 4, too extravagant...?, what if they have similar ones, etc.) and so I opted for the vase instead. She got wide eyes when she opened it--it was really funny. So, that night was really great.

From what we've been hearing about back home, everyone else seems to be driving and flying far and wide. And it feels like EVERYONE is going to Mexico some time in the next few weeks. Gah. Totally wish I was in on that...

So, the transition nicely into my next bit of news...Mike and I both have the last 2 weeks in February off as I need to use up some vacation days, and he gets laid off. So we're going on a holiday. We were initially talking about Greece and had gone so far as to begin booking, but further investigation of the long-term forecast there made me want to consider other options. Instead, we're doing a couple things we had decided against in the first place:

a) going to Spain
b) going on multiple flights

So, we're heading from Bristol to Madrid on Tuesday the 19th, from Madrid to Feurteventura in the Canary Islands on the 21st, from Feurteventura back to Madrid on the 26th, from Madrid to Berlin on the 27th and from Berlin back to Bristol for the 1st of March. Whee! I'm totally psyched and so is Mike--it's warm and sunny as it's just off the coast of North Africa. All this for less than 500 CAD. God, I'm totally gonna miss discount airlines when we come home.

Speaking of which, we'll be back for the last week in May. Mike may have already mentioned that he's confirmed to go back to work for the 2nd of June. We're both totally psyched about that. 20 weeks and we'll be back! Feels like no time at all, and I think it's really going to fly by. Kent and Karen are likely going to be coming for a visit in May--possibly Jennifer as well--and Mike's parents have been talking about coming. And Dad and Dorothy promised they'd make one more trek in the Spring as well, so we've got lots of great times to look forward to.

So, I hope everyone had very happy holidays. Enjoy your New Years festivities--we're both back to work tomorrow.

Love and hugs to everyone.