Alte Heimat

At the end of the month we will climb into a plane and spend the next 8 - 9 hours, less if we're lucky - up in the air.  It will be a night flight, flights to Europe always are, and I'll have a hard time deciding whether to try to go to sleep or to just give up and read or watch movies.  Again, if we're lucky, it'll be a plane with the individual screens in the headrest in front of you, with a somewhat decent selection of entertainment.
One of the luckier parts will be to make it through security, and onto the plane.  Should be fun in Newark, since the debacle there not too long ago. 
The best and luckiest part will be landing in Frankfurt and being picked up by the beaming face of my little big brother (little = younger, big because he is 6'6", or 2 m even).

I also will be meeting an old friend.  Several, actually, but one I haven't seen since September 01.  My gosh, that's 9 years ago I just realized!!!  Amazing.  We go back a long, long time.  We were silly girls, I remember we were very young and on a date the night JFK was assassinated.  We didn't find out until the next morning... I would never  have remembered that night, except for that.  And in the meantime, we sometimes saw each other, we went through a divorce (hers)  and a funeral (my husband), seeing our kids grow up, I even had one of hers living with us for one year, and a lot of other stuff.  It'll be great to see her.

I brought Matthew and Jessica to school today.  Their Mom had a meeting, and their Dad is in training.  No big deal, I was taught on how to bring them, where to go, where  to stand and what to say.  And it went off without a hitch.  I will also get them after work today, and we'll make a pizza for supper.

Still cold in New Jersey.  Yesterday AM the temperature was 15 F in the car when I started.  A little better today, maybe 20 F (that's minus 9 - 7 C, for my European followers).