Happy New Year's Eve!

I have returned safely to Deutschland. I heard many comments about my blog during my trip....I'm too wordy, but I'm a good writer.....I write too much about my cats, but I'm a good writer....I write about the mundane and don't share the really interesting, but I'm a good writer....while I'll try to take this all to heart, don't expect too many changes.....

Departing Detroit on my birthday turned out to be a really good idea. My large suitcase was very heavy. I was very up front and told the lady at the check-in that I thought I was over the limit on it. Later, I pointed out to her that it was my birthday. So when my suitcase was almost 10 pounds over, she said, "Happy Birthday, you're all set!!!" That was a nice birthday gift!

I think I had the oddest seatmate I've ever had on any flight. The chicken dish had some gravy on it and she used her finger when she was done eating to get all of the gravy out of the dish. And then she licked all of her fingers and didn't wipe them off.....then she even licked the plastic covering that you peel back off of the food. It was gross!

No problems at all at customs in Amsterdam. It's so much easier to get into the EU than into the US. And I guess that work permit stamped into my passport helps too. But I HATE having a layover. It's just wasted time. I haven't had one in a while, but this reminded me how much I hate it.

I splurged and took a taxi home from the Stuttgart airport, instead of taking a train to Feuerbach and then a taxi the short distance. I figured that I didn't want to have to lug my 30 and 60 pound suitcases onto the train, so I just paid for it.

There was no way the sixty pound suitcase was making it upstairs. So I backed the car out of the garage and unloaded a bunch of stuff into the car that I have to deliver to various people right there on the sidewalk. Hope none of the neighbors were looking!

I picked up the cats....they seemed happy to see me. There were 20 cats boarding there! So the lady seemed okay with giving back my three. They seem a little weirded out....there's more meowing than normal and Cheese is currently sleeping under the covers (yes, I'm in bed at 1 p.m.), but other than that, I think they're just fine.

After four trips up the stairs (or what my Mom has taken to calling my personal gym), I have a few hours to lay around (not unpack) and try to sleep before heading to the New Year's shindig.

More to follow.......