Home!

We made it, after 15 hours of flying and airports, we made it home last night. Everything except one suitcase, which was had to pay extra for anyway, making it ironic that it didn't make it. Hopefully it arrives today because it has precious Christmas gifts in it.

As our plane finally landed in Duesseldorf, the flight attendant thought it would be funny to say "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Hamburg" and for a moment I believed her - haha, it was only funny to the passengers who had not been on planes for 15 hours!

As I unpack, I think you'd laugh if you saw our snack cabinet. First you'd say, "Oh, you plan on getting back into your healthy German lifestyle....how????" *lol* Well, it's not that I'm craving the following at the moment, but they are there for future comfort and sharing:

Dingdongs, Zingers, Poptarts, Dark MnMs, Reeses Pieces, Reeses cups, candy canes, Mothers Taffy cookies, beef jerky, and Hersheys bars (for family members, not us!) Above that I have a big bag of pinto beans, two cans of pumpkin, two cans of green chilis, Chicken and Star soup, Japanese curry sauce mix (hot), an assortment of tea and flavored coffees.

Right now I'm enjoying a can of Chicken and Stars, breakfast of jet lagged champions. Yah, I've been up since 3:30 AM. Thankfully my man could sleep in til 6 this morning before rushing off to his first day back at school. Poor thing, he didn't get a single day to transition.

At SeaTac airport's shuttle I overheard a lady on her cell phone and had to ask, "Did the Seahawks win?" and THEY DID!!!!!!!!! What a wonderful day for Seattle. They even have a Seahawks flag flying on the Space Needle.

Before the game we spent one last afternoon with my parents, grilling Costco hot dogs over a fire in the backyard.

It was warm enough that I did not wear a coat over my short-sleeved shirt. Here my mom is giving bits of hot dog to Popoki.



I also kept warm by washing and detailing the Subaru that we drove all over Shinola the last 3 weeks.



Popoki was keeping us company and running around with my step dad, playing "sneak attack" where the cat runs sideways, hopping toward him, tail curled over his back.

Where was my man? After roasting his hot dog he went back in to play more Wii. My parents play Wii every day, and it really is fun!

After enjoying my Emerald City's green - moss and fern - and the dampness that makes Seattle stay green, I am resigned over to white again.

Although it's melting, more is to come, and it's possible to have snow here through March. *sigh* It's amazing these rain gutters are still attached to the house - well, let's not speak too soon....

Mercer was so happy to see us, making up for Baasha's "Oh, it's you. Where's dinner?" Mercer is cuter than I remember, and she acted like, "Geez guys I never thought I'd see you again, what a surprise!" I gave her our little electronic hamster and she sure loves that thing!

Sleeping in our own bed after so long was odd, and our room was so dark after the constant glow of city/suburb lights. It was so quiet here that it was scary. You lie in bed and the only thing you hear are your own vital signs. Outside though you can hear the bank-overflowing creek.

The sun hasn't come up yet but I can see a little weather destruction already - a tree is lying on our front fence, and two of my planters exploded in the cold. *sigh*

Sonja did a great job for us. We had fresh sheets on our bed, the plants all look healthy, the greenhouse did not cave in from snow weight, and Baasha's mane was not tangled up, despite the Showsheen being frozen solid. She even left us a good deal of food so that we wouldn't starve on our return, stores being closed on Sundays.

I haven't forgotten to tell the story of my ride on Dandy - I just have to transfer the photos from one laptop to another.

Uh oh, the sun just came up, time to go out and survey for damage. If I don't make it back send a search party.

10:02 AM update:
I pulled one tree off my pasture fence and otherwise it was fine. Baasha was very happy for a change of scenery to be out in the big field again, and he's eating a flake of hay out there in the golden sunrise. I just cleaned and washed his feet and they look good--thank you Sonja. I hope he walks around on the snow enough to really clean them out. Mercer was running around out there with me and she kept darting back to the house saying, "Enough of this ice and snow, let me back in!" The pond intake pipe was clogged of course so I stuck my hand into the icy water and freed the mesh of leaves and mud. Three deer watched me. It's really not bad out there - I could actually walk without too much trouble. British Airways called just now and said they'd be here with our luggage between 2 and 4. Woo!