March 28 no longer sounds so far off . . .

I received a letter yesterday suspiciously inscribed with "Jury Coordinator" in the left corner. Wouldn't you know it? I get called to jury duty while I'm not only out of the state (something I've been a lot in the past couple years), but also out of the country. I've always thought it would be cool to serve on a jury and see our judicial process in action, but this time I'll have to pass. As of today, I'm leaving for Europe in exactly two weeks! I'm slowly checking things off of my "get done before leaving" list, but there's still lots of planning and preparing to do.

By the way, Katie started a travel blog so that all of you can follow along on our European adventures. I'm hoping to post on that fairly regularly with photos and stories once we hit the road, but of course that will depend on Internet availability.

A Crying Shame

I returned from work tonight to an empty house. After jumping on the trampoline for the first time in months (wasn't it a beautiful day?), I popped some corn and settled down to flip channels, settling on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." I hadn't seen that show in awhile, but as usual, it was very much a tug-at-your-heartstrings episode (in a cheesy, over-the-top way that makes me groan, but keep watching). Single mom with three kids. House burned down. Tried to re-build, but ran out of money. Sixteen-year-old gets killed in car accident. He happens to be an organ donor. Girl saved by heart transplant. You get the idea.

My family came home about fifteen minutes after the show had ended. "Your eyes look a little red and watery," my mom casually observed. I smiled sheepishly. No, I couldn't blame the watery eyes on allergies or a cold. I had to admit it: Extreme Makeover made me cry tonight. I was a tad disgusted by the idea that a reality show had played my emotions. After all, I don't consider myself the super-sensitive, cries-at-the-drop-of-a-fly type. Who would have thought a show with "Makeover" in the title could be such a tear-jerker?

An (cough) Update (cough)

Cars and computers. Most of the time, they’re good friends of mine, but on occasion, either is very capable of becoming the bane of my existence, often at the most inopportune time. Sure, maybe I’m not the best caregiver in the world, but I give both plenty of attention – they never have a chance to feel forgotten, that’s for sure.

Last week, it was my car that decided to betray our friendship. I noticed the battery light flicker mysteriously a couple times as I drove to Portland to pick up Corrin, but everything seemed fine so I wasn’t too concerned. However, on the way home, it stayed. I began to feel a little nervous – dreading the thought of becoming one of those poor souls I’ve pitied in the past whose car leaves them stranded on the freeway in the middle of rush hour. When my stereo shut off and my headlights began to dim, I knew I was in trouble. I took the next exit, hoping to find a convenient place to park before my battery died entirely. Thankfully, we made it to a Shell station. Then I called Dad. He arrived within an hour and switched out my battery (what a guy!). The warning light continued to flash, but I had plenty of battery to get me home.

A new alternator and a day of donated Dad-labor later, my car and I are on good terms once again. I gave it a good test this weekend with a drive to Seattle. Joined by my cousin Audrey and good friend and Europe travel buddy Katie, I drove up Sunday afternoon to visit cousin Ruth, who conveniently works for Rick Steves (the Europe travel guru). Ruth made Italian-style pizza (rolled thin, topped with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, olive oil and other forms of tastiness and baked at 55O F on a pizza stone) for dinner – the best ever (definitely beats the boxed stuff with those annoying cardboard bases). We spent the evening chatting, flipping through Europe guidebooks, picking Ruth's brain about Europe travel, watching a few episodes of Rick Steves' show and enjoying Ruth and Michael’s six-month-old black lab puppy, Lucy.

The next morning, we drove Ruth to her job at the Europe Through the Back Door office and stayed a couple hours to browse their travel library. After lunch at The Walnut coffee shop, we headed back down I-5 to Oregon, stopping in Portland to see Erin (yet another of my many cousins) and ate dinner at a new place called “Noodle” something – I forgot the name, but my pasta was good. We got back to my house around 9 and I spent the rest of the night coughing (and, unfortunately, not sleeping). Around 7:30 a.m., I decided that with little sleep or voice and a constant cough, I’d be little use at work and called in sick. So my day has been rather uneventful and unproductive – but hey, at least I had a chance to update my blog, right?