Lis and Tyler in Germany

I feel a little behind in the posting department.  A lot has happened since our last entry.  A few highlights:

While trying to whittle down the trunk of our Christmas tree with a flimsy Ikea bread knife, Tyler sliced his thumb and won a trip to the German emergency room.  We still haven’t received the bill in the mail, but the nurse, who had probably never met someone without health insurance and was completely confused by the question of how much it might cost, guessed it would be around 20 Euro.  Sheesh.  I’m moving to Europe.

Agreeing that being together and spending New Years in Paris was quite enough, we decided to not exchange gifts this year.  Between cutting out the  excessive shopping and wrapping and the darting from house to house for two or three days of Christmas, this year seemed relaxed and the focus of the holiday seemed right.  We Stevens’ spent tons of time sitting around the house, going for walks in our neighborhood, playing “Catch Phrase,” and making meals together.  We had a wonderful time and created some unforgettable memories.  However, the Mortimer-Montoure blood is still in me and the hectic Christmas’ of the future are already calling to me and I hope to never miss one again.

Paris deserves its own entry.  Maybe later today or tomorrow…

We are 90% moved out.  There’s a pile on the floor of things we’re putting in the backpacks to take on our 6-week trip and we’re waiting for the laundry to line-dry (the dryer had a very timely breakdown) before we can officially “pack.”   We have two 22.5kg (23kgs is the weight limit on United Airlines) bags and one very carefully packed carry-on full of breakables ready and waiting for our departure to the states.  As soon as our train tickets arrive (again, this topic deserves its own entry.  All I can say is don’t put too much stock in UPS), we’ll be on our way.  First stop: Munich.