Hello stranger.....

I have been a very bad blogger...please forgive the absence, as the holidays found me back in the US for the first time since we moved to Munich. The hub has been back several times...visiting family and friends on his way to working someplace or another, but I have stayed behind each time. Total immersion.

So, I am hoping that you will forgive my total immersion back home in the US. We visited Atlanta first-visiting the hub's family, staying with our dear friends, eating wonderful food and trying to squeeze in all that we missed about our former city. We were there for a weekend-and it proved to be not nearly long enough...I didn't get to see even half of the people that I had wanted to connect with, and some of our old stomping grounds remained, well, un-stomped. Next time we will visit Atlanta for longer-that is a promise I make to myself.

Then we went to Michigan, for the actual day of Christmas, to be with my family. It was there that I got to drive my car (which my mother is taking fab care of...), go to Target, see a movie with my neice and to get to know my younger neice (5) and nephew (3) a little better. We relaxed, read, ate and I got the chance to spend a most enjoyable breakfast with my father and his pals, better known as the Pancake Club...

This "band of brothers" meets regularly at the Pancake House, to have breakfast, chew the fat, and talk about events and the days gone by. I was lucky enough to procure an invite to the breakfast and privileged to meet this group of interesting men: comprised of my father, 2 German born gents who told me stories and Bavarian jokes, a spry 90-something year old who told me wonderful stories, my parents' neighbor/good friend who is a great companion to my dad and a life-long local who told me about his love of my hometown and travels in the US. I got to speak a little German (my new friends were kind enough to not correct my grammar mistakes however plentiful), listen to some interesting stories and eat some yummy pancakes...which I haven't had since earlier in the year when we moved. I enjoyed myself very much and hope that I didn't embarrass my father too much!

The time in Michigan was also not nearly long enough. I haven't seen most of my family (except Skype) since last Christmas...and it was really good to be home. I drove for the first time since April (gotta love that Munich transportation system!), had some yummy cake with real frosting, drank some of my favorite soda: Faygo Rock n Rye, and spent some cherished time with family and some good, old friends.

Days before we flew back to MUC, that fool with the incindiary device flew into my home airport from Amsterdam-we ended up having to get to the airport 4 hours ahead of our flight home...I felt a bit robbed of the time-but will not let our visit end on a creepy note.

So, I am hoping that you forgive the absence of blog posts-I was just busy having some quality time with my peeps! But now I am back, and excited about 2010 in Munich. Please keep visiting and reading, as I am hoping for some adventures to share with you in the upcoming year.

(the pictures above were taken from the apartment in early December...I didn't have much for this post and hadn't posted these...I thought that they were too pretty to keep to myself....)