Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Catching Up - Or Planning To Do So...

All righty.  I've taken an inadvertent hiatus from writing blogs.  Or reading blogs.  Heck, I barely read my email these days.  No real reason - just the stress of the season perhaps, and something had to give.  But I miss blogging and reading blogs and keeping up with all the goings on of my wonderful FS compatriots (and the other blogs I read, of course)!

So I'm back, at least today.  It's still a busy few weeks until R&R...

Since I last blogged I've been to Jordan (to which I alluded) and to Egypt (great timing on my part) and will head out next week for a quick but exciting in-country trip to be discussed later.  And soon it'll be home for the holidays!  It'll be an extended trip as I stay an extra couple weeks to help my family out while they need some extra hands.  Hopefully I'll get to see lots of my wonderful USA-based friends and family!  DC-area bloggers - meet up perhaps while I'm (hopefully) in town for a few days?

So I owe about four Jordan posts and at least one Egypt post and I will definitely need at least one post for next week's trip.  Realistically, though, it'll be a few weeks.  Unless I get super motivated this weekend.  And have super fast internet.  Because that's the biggest obstacle to blogging - slow to nonexistent internet access which prevents me from even getting on Gmail some days.  And definitely doesn't lend itself to uploading pictures. 

I just have to say I'm not too pleased that Lyle Lovett appears to be taking the holidays off.  For entirely selfish reasons - he certainly deserves to take the holidays off, of course.  He performs all of December up until right before I get back to the United States and then... nothing.  I check the website every day hoping he'll schedule a concert or two in early January that I can make.  Nothing yet, alas. 

The kittens are doing quite well.  I am starting to get guilty about leaving them for R&R, even though my helper will come in every day and make sure they're well taken care of.  Having helped a colleague adopt a Consulate kitten last week, I realize my 'kittens' have somehow become full grown.  They don't act full grown, but they certainly aren't tiny anymore.  They're certainly snuggly and playful and loyal, though, and I love that.  I allowed them in my room while I tried to nap the other day, and Griffin lay on my chest staring deeply into my eyes.  Meanwhile Callaghan curled around my head and peered over it, also staring deeply into my eyes.  Creepy is all I have to say.  But somehow a bit endearing.

I haven't decorated for Christmas - partly a function of having no free time, partly because I'll be going home for the holidays, and partly because I'm tired of having ornaments broken by cats playing in the tree. 

And really, that's all the 'news' that's fit to print for today.  More coming soon, and I promise to start reading the backlog of blog posts in my reader!  Hope you're all surviving (and thriving!) this busy holiday season!