500!!

There are a few things I forgot to mention in my numbered noteworthies post the other day - and some of these things are indeed very noteworthy. First - Nao is coming to visit! I am PUMPED! She was looking into it and then couldn't get time off work, and then I asked her again if she was suuuuure she couldn't get time off... and she could! Flights are booked! She comes in early March and I'm already thinking about what we can cook (and eat) together and little trips we can do. I'm super excited to see her and even more excited for her to meet Hendrik (and vice versa). Yay. Okay, second: there has been some serious fort construction happening around here, and Hendrik (and mom and dad) are loving it. His new favourite spot is the cushion-less nook on the couch where today, I found him reading. Ah-dorable. That being said, it's also where #5 went down (see my last post), sooooo times haven't always been this sweet in couch-land.

We're both still getting over a cold, so the last few days around here have been pretty slow. I made banana bread this morning and we ventured out this afternoon to the big grocery at the south end of town before stopping in at Io Bimbo to look at kiddie pots; I was unimpressed. With just two months left here (boo) there's no way I'm spending 25 plus euros on a toilet, and the cheaper ones looked very uninviting.... so hm, I might keep looking, or maybe we'll just wait until we get home.

And I have to add that this is my five hundredth blog post - yow! I started this blog five years ago - almost to the day - in Greece, and I had no idea at the time that I'd keep things moving for this long. But here we are! And much has happened in five years; we've lived in Russia, Romania, Japan, Canada and Italy, and Steve has spiked and blocked a bazillion balls. We've met good friends and then left good friends, and we've had loved ones pass on while we've been far far away. We got married - and had a baby! And there are so many highlights, soooo many memories... sigh. It almost makes me wish I'd started even earlier, say in my first year overseas in 2002. And who knows what these pages will hold five years from now - will I still be going strong? All I can think of is that country song My next thirty years. I'm no huge country music fan, but, like much of the genre's lyrics, though there may be cheese, they ring true. Here's to the next five, and the next five, and the next five after that... cheers!