We had a great time at home and had a very eventful trip what with celebrating our 9th anniversary, my birthday, my mom’s birthday, my grandpa’s birthday, father’s day, B (now aka “Bob”) getting his U.S. citizenship, going to the most awesomest waterpark ever, and add in lots of eating, family time, and shopping, and we were kept very busy.

Our return trip can be summed up in one word: exhausting.  We took the Wisconsin-Delaware drive (900 miles) in one day, arriving at 2:30am.  The next morning we had to be up and at ‘em early to check out of the hotel and find out when the flight would be so we could return our rental car as close to that time as possible.  After confirming the flight time, things were going well until we went to unload the luggage to check in at which time we found out the flight was canceled - again.  Fortunately for us it was only our first day that we were canceled but there were other people waiting that had been waiting for 4 days while flights were canceled.

That night we decided to splurge for the night and stay at the Holiday Inn which wasn’t all that much more than the smelly Best Western we’d stayed in the night before.  I’m so glad we did because it was so much nicer.  The beds were so comfortable that I kept waking up all night aware of exactly how comfortable I was.  After a very long and exhausting next day of waiting, we finally made it home to Spain yesterday at noon. The thing I looked forward to most at home was seeing our kitties again; Spitty was howling in happiness and rubbing all over us, but Yota had disappeared under the bed afraid of these scary intruders.  Once he realized it was us, he was the happiest I’ve seen him and has stayed on top of one of us ever since.

It’s been a great last several weeks, a much needed vacation for us, but it’s so nice to be home again.

You should see the look on his face when I sit on his back now.

Milwaukee always seemed so big when I was growing up.  Of course, limited to the smallish suburb we lived in, coupled with the fact that I didn’t get my license til I was 18 and was not in Milwaukee much after that, I never really got to know Milwaukee very well.  Now that we’ve returned, I realized in the span of about 2 hours how small it is here.

We got in at about 11:30 and dropped off our stuff at my parents’ house and then went straight to visit my mom at her work.  While we were there, my brother happened to be on the phone and found out right away that I was here, and my dad was on the phone within minutes, presumably having heard from my brother.  Our next stop was at my grandparents’ house where I ran into my cousin who was delivering mail on their street, and then as soon as we got home I got a call from my other brother who wanted to know why he found out from my sister-in-law who found out from her coworker that we were here - and we’d just finally gotten home about 5 minutes before I got that call.

I thought we lived in a small town on the base in Spain but I have never seen word travel so fast than I do here! 

Thanks to Andy for sending this uplifting bit of news from Iceland:

Gas prices hit a record high in Iceland. The price for one liter of gas increased by ISK 2 last week, but by ISK 6-7 two days ago.

The price for one liter of gas is now ISK 170.4 (USD $8.44 per gallon, EUR 1.43 per liter) and ISK 186.8 for diesel (USD $9.25 per gallon, EUR 1.57).

We took a Space A flight for the first time in the 11 years I’ve been in the military.  For those who have never heard of Space A, it’s a benefit for military members, their dependents, and retirees and is a very inexpensive way to travel - it’s free!  The drawback is that you’re flying whatever’s available, so sometimes you have to show up at 1 in the morning and wait around just to find out that the flight you were going to be on is cancelled. 

We took a flight out of Spain this morning on a C-5 Galaxy, which is a big ole cargo plane.  One compartment of the plane is modified to be a passenger cabin and looks much like a regular passenger cabin on a commercial flight except run down and with no amenities.  The cushions of the seats are apt to slide out from under you, and there are no movies or meals (which is painful when you’re on a 8 hour flight!) but - it was made up for in the additional legroom and how far back the seats reclined.  But still…8 hours sitting arm to arm with my beloved daughter on a noisy, boring airplane was difficult.  3 mega-Motrin later, we finally landed in a heatwave in Dover, Delaware, and after a migraine pill and a few snips and snaps at the kids, we made it through customs and to a hotel near the base where we’ll sleep until the morning. 

Tomorrow we start our road trip - Delaware to Wisconsin, and I’m very excited about it.  I have come to enjoy road trips; the kids have always surprised me with how well they’ve done on them.  They have a very special surprise waiting for them in the luggage that they’ll hopefully get in the late morning or early afternoon tomorrow that should make the drive a little more fun once the blahs hit.

It’s always so nice to be back in America.  I don’t know what it is, but I just get so happy every time I set foot back here.  I can’t wait to move back…only one more year to go!

(Don’t worry, they’re all back now in case you didn’t read my comments on my last post - Mozilla came to my rescue!)

How can you not mourn the loss of such links as these:

A Space Age Christmas
Lynch, Guide to Grammar and Style
Daisuke Matsuzaka Rookie Card - I don’t know why, but there it is
Women’s Fragrances Perfume Notes
A Dutch website with pictures of people making çig köfte, a dish I had once made by Turkish friends
Fred Phelps Expose
Love at First Bite Bakery
Artists designer Rhonna Farrer loves
Carrot cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting
Beer and booze stickers
Wooden Memory Stick
Perpetual Kid
A completely impractical haircut that I could never have but that I love anyway
Lipstick is my Crack

There is so much more, the list seems to be unending but those are a few of the highlights. Of all of them, I’d have to say Perpetual Kid is the best shopping website out there. Who can pass up denture-shaped ice molds? Or Tic-Tac-Toast? Or a Lunchlady action figure? (Hoagies and grinders, hoagies and grinders)