I want to second Andrea is welcoming you back Niki. Glad to see people are keeping you well fed, though I am sorry the grocery stores don't stock certain essentials. Reminds me of when I was in Luxembourg, trying to find Nestlé Tollhouse chocolate chips and brown sugar. To think, brown sugar doesn't seem to exist in Europe. At the grocery store they had over ten different varieties of smoked salmon, thinly sliced ham and creme fresh, but no brown sugar? It seems unbalanced. Then again, we seemed to exist off of creamy cheeses, little thick-crusted rolls and ham. Not such a bad thing, but I missed chocolate chip cookies.

Nothing much going on right now... yes I know the Middle East roadmap thingy is kaput, but who didn't see that coming a mile away. My cousin, her husband and her baby came for a long weekend to look at houses in town again, and they ended up buying one that wasn't even on the market yet.. one of my mother's friends is getting to old to deal with living alone, so Mom asked my cousin if she would like to see the house.. Well after days of looking at overpriced country club McMansions and tiny bungalows of the self important bourgeois bohemian set, this house, set on three acres with nice living quarters by the Huron River, was perfect. They asked to see the realtor after walking through the first time.

I get to play Aunty when they move in next month. Such a cute little bubbala too. I can’t wait: something else to take my mind off grad school. :)