Jet-lagged and busy

Hello all. My net still isn't working so I am "borrowing" someone's when I can get it.

Last night was quite fitfull. I'm feeling a bit better today but definitely jet-lagging. However, I have been ueber productive today because I had a ton of errands to run. I have already done laundry (at the laundromat), bought a light bulb for my room, groceries, toilet paper (there was next to none in my place when I arrived...dear goodness, Oh...don't forget, you have to go to different places for all of these things. It's not like I hit Wal-Mart and knocked everything out. Then I had to get my glasses tightened, money on my phone, rent money for Angelina, and I still need to clean (I am going to get on that soon b/c my place is gross!). My big concern is my bus pass, which I am not sure how to get. However, it expires today. I might have to head down to the Uni to ask around. But first cleaning. I can't take it anymore!

On another note, the weather is nice again. Only partly cloudy (ok, so mostly cloudy, I'm trying to be optimistic!) and practically a heat wave at 54 F. I feel like it's almost balmy! ; ) Melanie had told me that when I returned it would be spring, and I highly doubted it b/c come on, it's Germany, but maybe it really is spring. I am not convinced though, I'll wait a bit longer b/c I heard the weather report for tomorrow. Not springy. But today is nice so I will have to enjoy it!

All of you at home, it was soooooooooooo great seeing you! The time I was home passed so incredibly quickly. I'm looking forward to summer and having lots of great pool parties!

Back in Hamburg

I have arrived safely. Tired, but safe. I think Lufthansa has cool planes and good service, and the absolute smallest seats that I have ever sat in.

My To Do list is quite long, and the phone and net aren't quite working.

I'm off to Emma's for dinner. She and Chris are cooking for me. Yay!

: )

Lucia's

Last night Monica and I headed north to Liberty for my last Lucia's night for a few months. We had a great time!

I'm flying out this evening. Will be in good old Deutschland by Sunday evening, and they start daylight savings time then, so that is a plus! Also, I think I've figured out all the classes I want to visit the first week. It looks to be a looooong week. lol.

Problem Solved

I finally have a new ticket to Germany, but through STA travel (WONDERFUL agency) and not BMI. British Midland is the worst agency I have ever run across for customer service. They would not help me at all. I spent several hours on hold, talked to several people, and they actually refused to help me. The last call was 1 hour and 23 minutes before they hung up on me. So, if anyone else has the chance to use BMI for traveling, I HIGHLY recommend you reconsider.

That said, I have a flight tomorrow evening out of KC to Chicago, then on to Frankfurt, then on to Hamburg. I arrive Sunday evening and start classes Monday morning. I am hoping a friend of mine will get me some food since the grocery stores will be closed when I return. This has been quite stressful, but now I am all set! I would also like to say a great big THANK YOU to Dad for helping me with the ticket purchase, though he doesn't know that yet...uh oh. I think we should all thank Dad in advance!!!

Monica and I are going to go salsa-ing tonight for my last evening here. Then I really have to get to Germany!

Update

I finally got through, after another 40 minutes on hold, being hung up on, and another 5 minutes of waiting. Then the nice Indian man told me he couldn't help me b/c the department I need is only open from 8-8 UK time and I could call back tomorrow. Great. Classes start Monday but it's not looking like I'll be making that deadline....

Grounded

I sat in the KC airport for a few hours, but to no avail. Chicago was having weather and serious delays, and the several flights they had going there were hours behind schedule. They weren't even sure when they would take off. But by four o'clock they knew they wouldn't be departing until at least five, and that would make catching my flight to England impossible. They also announced that if you missed your connecting flight it was not their problem and if you had to stay in Chicago overnight, they would not be helping with accomodations. I spoke with the lady at the counter who told me I could go sleep in Chicago or go rebook. She suggested rebook. So I went to the counter, waited forever, and the lady there (because the first wouldn't rebook me) said that she couldn't rebook my entire ticket and I would have to call BMI. So I called Monica to come get me.

45 minutes after waiting on hold and finally getting someone to talk to, they hung up on me. Ok, so we got disconnected, but it was NOT my phone. I called again on Monica's phone and I got dropped again. So now I am at home on the landline and have been on hold for 25 minutes without having spoken to a human being. They really need to work on their on hold info. It's horrible.

I will post more information when I get it.

In the air again

I almost wrote on the road again, but then I realized there is not much "road" travel in my traveling tomorrow.

I've spent most of the day packing. Why is it that no matter how hard I try to reduce the amount of stuff I pack, I always seem to have too much? It like I feel as though I need to take everything with me, though I feel like I'm not taking that much! Argh.

My roommate has decided we will just make due without a washing machine for the next four months. I suppose that is fine. A washing machine is just a luxury, right? And a dryer, boy howdy! Now you're talking spoiled! ; )

I will let everyone know when I am back in Hamburg.

Tschuess! : )

Not Much

There's not too much going on here. I saw my eye doctor and he is still a bit puzzled as to what is going on with my right eye. It looks healthy, but he's not sure that they can operate again. He will have to talk to the surgeon who is out of town for another week or so. And then, if they do operate, they would have to do PRK, which is the really fun version where they scrape off that outer layer of cells then just laser away and it tends to be quite painful. Oh boy. We will see. I am currently wearing a soft contact, but it is hard to read the computer and things aren't exactly crisp with it. If surgery isn't an option, I will try a hard contact.

It's my last week here and I am sad to leave. I've had such a wonderful time being home, but now I have some things to look forward to back in Europe, so that should be good. Chuck is coming for a quick visit mid-April, and I am hoping to get over to Brussels to see Alison in the near future. I am also trying to find a long weekend to visit Rita in Portugal. Two new countries I've never seen! : )

Tonight I'm stopping by a bar in Olathe to listen to Dan's band. Always fun!

That's about it for me. : )

Salsa at Mission Theater

Cesar finally showed up!

Rob gave Nathan some lovin'. Ahhh, aren't they cute?

MISO girls' night.

They look cute together. Almost a little TOO cute... ; )

Rene!!!

Rob and Monica actuallly stopped dancing to pose for this picture.

Joanna and I having cocktails pre-salsa-ing.

Monica, as always, is the better teacher and therefore jumped right in to give our girls a first class salsa lesson!

We needed a break.

As always, I have to take some shoots myself.

Us MISO girls got together before going dancing, then they tried their heels (in Katherine's case stilettos!) out on the dance floor. We had tons of fun and danced all night. Even Monica managed to pull herself away (or maybe we dragged her) from studying for a few hours to come out.

New Grandbaby!

Dad, you mentioned grandkids, so here she is! Sariah Ransom, your first grandchild. James, the son you never had, has a beautiful little girl and you are allowed to call her your own! They'll visit this summer. Congrats! : )

Yard work

Monica and I raked for a few hours last night. It was lots of fun. We rocked out to 90s music and cleared most of the back yard, but there is still some left. See Dad? We're taking care of it! Oh, and the high temp from yesterday? 78 F! (25.5 C). It was great!

MISO at Barley's

It was a fun evening. There were even intelligent topics circulating. Ahhh, the MISO people!

Read this

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rodriguez25feb25,0,1952462.column

This is a link about a blog site that is quite funny, especially if you are white, middle class, and educated. Or anyone else looking for a good laugh. But it's also cultural and interesting.

And it kinda hits close to home. I can just see myself nodding at many items on his list. Oh dear goodness. I have been classified!

Here is his list so far, just in case you're interested:


#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
#86 Shorts
#85 The Wire
#84 T-Shirts
#83 Bad Memories of High School
#82 Hating Corporations
#81 Graduate School
#80 The Idea of Soccer
#79 Modern Furniture
#78 Multilingual Children
#77 Musical Comedy
#76 Bottles of Water
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada
#74 Oscar Parties
#73 Gentrification
#72 Study Abroad
#71 Being the only white person around
#70 Difficult Breakups
#69 Mos Def
#68 Michel Gondry
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
#66 Divorce
#65 Co-Ed Sports
#64 Recycling
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
#61 Bicycles
#60 Toyota Prius
#59 Natural Medicine
#58 Japan
#57 Juno
#56 Lawyers
#55 Apologies
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
#53 Dogs
#52 Sarah Silverman
#51 Living by the Water
#50 Irony
#49 Vintage
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
#47 Arts Degrees
#46 The Sunday New York Times
#45 Asian Fusion Food
#44 Public Radio
#43 Plays
#42 Sushi
#41 Indie Music
#40 Apple Products
#39 Netflix
#38 Arrested Development
#37 Renovations
#36 Breakfast Places
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
#34 Architecture
#33 Marijuana
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
#31 Snowboarding
#30 Wrigley Field
#29 80s Night
#28 Not having a TV
#27 Marathons
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
#25 David Sedaris
#24 Wine
#23 Microbreweries
#22 Having Two Last Names
#21 Writers Workshops
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
#19 Traveling
#18 Awareness
#17 Hating their Parents
#16 Gifted Children
#15 Yoga
#14 Having Black Friends
#13 Tea
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
#11 Asian Girls
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
#8 Barack Obama
#7 Diversity
#6 Organic Food
#5 Farmer’s Markets
#4 Assists
#3 Film Festivals
#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
#1 Coffee

Warmth!

Right now it is 55 F and sunny out. Dad and I enjoyed a walk in the park. Isn't KC weather great? You just never know when it will change! It's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow, and I am not missing Germany one bit! (except maybe for some choice, quality people!)

Dad leaves tomorrow so we are spending some quality time today. Outside. In the warmth. Have I run that into the ground yet?

: )

Pics from Jamaica

Dad in what I call the "flying squirrel" in his dive at Rick's Cafe in Negril.




Me in Negril at sunset.

Market.

At Rick's in Negril. So beautiful!

Dad diving at Rick's.

Rick's Cafe.

Driving.

Austin in his cool shades.

Lily and I parasailing.

Man we were up high!

On the ride to Negril.

On the road.

Houses on the hillside.

Notice the bicyclist and Texaco.

Poolside at the resort, see the swim up bar?

Us chilling on the beach.

Ahhhh, the beach!

The view from our second room.

Lisa and I before we snorkeled.

Watertrampolines!

Dad relaxing on a tube at Margaritaville.

Our resort.

The view from our first room.

Danny and I.

Our group on the snorkeling boat.

Me on the snorkeling boat.

Cuba. We flew over.

Our hotel is the big yellow building.

Driving.

Me on the balcony of our first room.

The pics are out of order, but at least I could finally put some up! Hope you enjoy them!

: )

By the way, in case I haven't said it enough, Jamaica was WONDERFUL!!!