Stateside

For those of you reading this who aren't members of my family, I feel sorry for you because you're not a part of this great thing. I don't very often brag, but I am constantly amazed by and grateful for the members of my family. Don't know what I did to deserve them but it was a good move on my part.

The first stop on this trip was a stop with Michelle in NJ. It was so much fun. As you can see, these kids are adorable! We did do fondue on Sunday (I didn't post that picture because the flash didn't go off and it turned out really yellow). Then Shellie & I stayed up talking, I loved it! Thanks Shell, Steve & crew!





On Monday I rented a car and drove to Palmyra--about 6 hours. The car I rented turned out to have been rented previously by some smokers (what a treat for me). I drove most of the way with my windows cracked. When it finally got too cold for that, I pulled over and bought a vanilla tree and opened the whole thing at once. It actually did a pretty good job of at least running neck 'n neck with the smoke smell.

While in Palmyra, I got to go the the Grandin Building (which I missed last time). I was kind-of wondering what could be there (I mean, didn't it all happen in the grove?). But the visitors' center there and the tour that they give is pretty great. If you're thinking of skipping this one, don't.

I decided that I needed a picture of Mom and Dad. I thought it turned out pretty good. I love spending time with them. Thanks for the time talking.


Early Thursday morning I was off again, driving another 5 1/2 hours to get to Arlo's. Don't worry, my driving was exceptionally safe. And I didn't even fall asleep! That's a pretty major accomplishment considering that there's no way I was over jet-lag by this time.

I sure do feel like it's too bad that I had such a short time in all of these places. I had such a great time! Arlo & I stayed up talking to the wee hours (one thing we're all pretty good at). As you can see the one day that I was in Poughkeepsie was Pirate day. And what a cute pirate we have here! Sorry that I didn't get any pictures of Tyler--he didn't get home from school before I left and I forgot to take pictures the night before.


They make such great friends!
I sure do love seeing my siblings (including in-laws) and their kids--although I do think that I look a bit like I've not had enough sleep--'member, this was a whirwind trip, I kind-of can't believe that I did as much as I did.
When I got back on Saturday I sure felt like now that I'd travelled for a week, I could sleep for the next week. No such luck.

New Year's Movie

On New Year's Day I went to a movie with my one friend here. (She's from Thailand and her name is Dang.) We went to Australia. I was pretty excited as it was my first venture into the world of movies here in Denmark. I was mostly excited for that first whiff of popcorn as you walk into the theater. Alas, as we walked in, there was not whiff of popcorn buttery goodness--just coffee. It turns out that the foyer of the theater was more of a cafe than anything. Then, before we went into the theater there was this sign posted and I'm not sure but I think that it said, "Popcorn not allowed in the theater." My Danish isn't that great so, I could be wrong on that one. But once we got into the theater, I felt like we'd stepped back in time. There was a player piano at the front that was actually playing! Great way to set the mood. There were about 30 people at the 8:00 showing of the movie. And we had an intermission. I realize that this was probably because of the length of the movie--maybe someone that has seen it in the states could enlighten me--did you have an intermission? I thought those had gone out of style or become obsolete or something.

As far as the movie goes, I liked it. It had a similar feel of Gone with the Wind in that it didn't just have one plot line and end. When WWII started, there was kindof another story that imposed itself on the lives of the characters. Overall, I enjoyed it--you all know how much I love a good flick!

In with a Bang!

Happy New Year! I know that it's kinda lame to take pictures of fireworks because they are so dang hard to take and so rarely turn out well but these are some of the results of early this morning/late last night. The Danes have a thing for big fireworks on New Year's. Everyone buys their own big rockets and sets them off. This first batch is of some of the ones we let off in our front yard.





This next batch aren't quite so impressive because I just couldn't get the timing right. But they are pictures of our surrounding horizon line. Most of them are from my bedroom window. They kept going off sporadically till maybe 2:30 or later. I don't know for sure because I was asleep.