Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas!

I have been enjoying my time in the US. My sisters step-daughters caught a flu virus going around and they were not able to come over for Christmas, but I will see them on Friday and give them all of their presents then! My presents for my neice nad nephew were a big hit....both loved the toys I gave them, and while Megan loved the clothes, Andrew seemed not to care a single bit....typical boy I guess!

I send continuing holiday cheer to all of you and your families!

Frosty the Snowman

Or perhaps that should be Frostette the Snowwoman!!

You Are a Snowman

Friendly and fun, you enjoy bringing holiday cheer to everyone you know!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

I made it to Michigan after 2 days of shopping with my Mom - had a lot of fun and spent a TON of money....as normal!

Argentina....the teaser

Well, I am sitting in JFK airport tired and exhausted after a wonderful week in Argentina! I was VERY sad to leave Zori and Vik last night at the airport and get on the plane to fly to JFK and then onto O'Hare.

AS I am in the airport, I really do not have time to post everything about my trip. I will give you a few teasers though to keep you intrigued! *grin* It was WONDERFUL to meet Vik in person - we (Vik, my good friend Zori and myself) hit it off wonderfully from the first moment we all got together to go yarn shopping! Lets just say that Vik was originally planning on spending one day / evening with me and Zori...she ended up extending it to the next day and night and then Friday and Saturday as well! We just could not stay apart!

Here are a few pictures though, explanations to follow!

Yup, its South America and then the Good Ole US of A

But being me I am taking the loooong round about way to Argentina....via a nice long lay-over in New York!

Here is a rough list of my list of flights / layovers:

Brussels to New York 8 h 25 m
New York City 10 h 2 m
New York to Argentina 10 h 30 m
Argentina 1 week
Argentina to New York 10 h 25 m
New York 8 h 20 m
New York to Chicago 2 h
Chicago 2.5 days
Drive to Michigan 3 h 30 m to 5 h (gotta love traffic)
Michigan ~2 weeks
Michigan to Chicago 54 m
Chicago to Brussels 8 h 5 m

I'm spending over 40 hours in planes, and probably over 10 hours sitting in airports not counting the New York layover of 18 hours in total where I hope to go into the city and explore / shop.

I am going to be exhausted but so much to look forward to I hope to make it on adrenalin alone!

I am going to meet up with Vik while I am in Argentina which is very exciting!

I still need to pack......its almost 11 and I leave for the airport at 7:15ish tomorrow morning. I will throw whatever I can find in the suitcase and walk out the door in the morning! I'm still debating on what projects to take with me. Unfortunately I did not make it to the book store to pick up and books so I will be relying on airplane entertainment and my crafty projects to keep me entertained. Am I there yet??????

Double Score!!

I managed to score twice las night in the Zurich airport!

Not only did I have enough time (and remember) to grab a Whopper with Cheese I found Peanut Butter M&Ms! Double bonus for Kimberly....hopefully this is a good sign of things to come in my travels over the next 3.5 weeks!

I did book myself yet another plane flight while I am in the US. Instead of driving back to Chicago from Michigan, I booked myself a nice short flight across the lake - a lot less fuss and hassel although I will have to get my luggage and re-check since I am not flying American on the little jumper flight.

So my epic voyage begins tomorrow. I am looking forward to making it into NYC and doing a little bit of looking around and some yarn shopping (hopefully) for the 10 hours I am stuck there....otherwise I would become an expert at knowing the JFK airport. I am still debating if I can get my broomstick lace knitting needle on the planes so I can continue working on those scarves that I am making. I am already packing in my carryon my cross-stitch sampler and some yarn scraps for turtle parts as well as some thread for optional doilies / snowflakes.

Okay, I must run! Will try to post once more before I leave. If not, may everyone have a safe and happy holiday period!

Yumm!!!!!

Okay, dinner last night was amazing! We went to a restaurant called the Belga Queen here in Brussels in the City Center and it was fantastic! I had an awesome steak (medium rare with a cool and I do mean cool red center) with a beer based bernaise sauce! My starter was shrimp croquettes - yumm as well!

My boss Sean ate the Cuckoo out of the Cuckoo clock! I never knew that there was actually a bird called the Cuckoo, but there is, and he ate it! I debated getting that one just so I could say I ate a Cuckoo! lol

I am off to Zurich in the morning for 2 days, returning late Thursday night, I will pack on Friday after work and before the bar and then its off to the airport nice bright and early on Saturday!

Kim loved her new scarf - she said that she was amazed that I was able to create something like that!

Where is the time going?

Can you really believe that it is already December? I can not! I leave for Argentina in 5 days and I am not even close to being done with things at work, have not even completed a tenth of my Christmas list projects.

I am frantically working on scarves trying to get some of them completed. I have barely even dented my list of snowflakes and turtles to make, let alone finished the blanket and cross stitch pooh sampler for my niece. *sigh*

Last year I said that I would get a jump on the holidays....ha! Like that one happened. I could blame it entirely on my new job and all of the traveling that I've done for that, but I don't think that would be entirely accurate as I am sure time management and the number of books I've devoured errr read this year has some small part to play in my being behind!

I did get my scarf finished for my friend Kim for Christmas to give her when I see her this week. Shes been having a rough time of it as her Grandmother passed away a few weeks ago, her Grandfather from the other side of her family passed away last weekend and while she was home for that funeral, one of her Aunt's passed away as well! They say that bad things happen in threes, I think that she has used up all of her 3 and hopefully the rest of this year and next year goes better for her.

Okay, I must get back to work to finish some things up and then its off to dinner with my boss and the other two Belgian based team members....tonight Sean (my boss) is taking out the Girls! I still find it amusing that his team is split in location (Brussels vs Zurich) based on gender.