Life in the fast lane

Wow, I can't believe I'm back from Europe and my big trip is over! Had a great time, missed my guys but not too much. Loved something about each place-- Germany we went to the zoo and had great sauerkraut, Paris was amazing to look at and one of the best meals of my life, Luxembourg was so cute with its hilly old city that nearly killed me walking up it, and Brussels was maybe my favorite of all, yummy food and the amazing architecture. Many pix on FB so I'll just post one here. 

Hahaha- yes there were Starbucks everywhere we went, but never fear - I branched out and sampled local fare wherever we were. 

D has a new bird-- a conure, slightly bigger than a parakeet, supposedly more intelligent, certainly more expensive! His name is sunny because he likes sunflower seeds (will bite off your finger to get one), and he has a yellow sun on his belly. 

Jim surprised me by replacing the toilet (which had been languishing on the front lawn for a month!) when I returned. We has gotten stuck trying to decide whether to remodel the bathroom when he took it out to fix the pipe, but this is better- we can still remodel later but now the bathroom is functional! All ready for guests- Uncle P! Planning to be home at Thanksgiving and over the hill the day after Christmas for visiting/skiing! We all have new (to us) skis so all we need now is snow...