returned
I have returned! Actually, I returned yesterday, but I spent the night with my sister in Boston. Why?
The Bad: Michael Braun, the grandfather of my sister's husband, passed away four days ago. My brother-in-law is with his family in California, but my sister, due to pregnancy, is here. I only met him once, so I'm not upset, but my sister was close with him, so I stayed to keep her company.
The good: Keeping Joy busy and not thinking about the death turned out to be quite productive for both of us. Yesterday, we picked up an outfit for me to wear to my friend Shari's wedding and a new, non-broken litterbox for my sister's cats. The two cats were highly appreciative.
Also, as of this morning, I have a bike! Those of you who remember my decision to pick up "some piece of shit" will be most surprised by the product. You see, I'm short. I am, in fact, only slightly too tall to comfortably ride a youth bike. This means I needed a 14-15" bike frame, which are nearly impossible to find because there just aren't too many people who are my height in the world. (I guess children growing through this height just stay on their youth bikes until it becomes truly ludicrous and then get a real adult bike?) Weeks of looking at used bike shops and Craigs list came up with nothing, and sporting good stores maybe carried one bike my size, generally a piece of crap that had been sitting there for five years and was so likely to break that the manager of the store confided that I shouldn't waste my money. This left real bike shops, with their astronomical price tags, and the realization that I was likely walking this summer. Then there was a Craigslist entry for a 15" kickass bike with helmet, u-luck, seat lock, lock for front wheel, bell, and bike lights included. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I had been budgeting just for a bike and didn't realize how expensive locks and helmets are. My sister explained this to me without too much mocking, and about twelve hours after e-mailing the seller, I have a very nice bike. Hello mobility!
My trip to see my brother in Prague then continue on to Budapest was wonderful, though Alitalia did manage to lose track of my luggage for a bit, finally locating in in Tel Aviv. It appears my backpack made aliyah. It eventually returned to me, so no harm done. Prague is an absolutely beautful city, and pictures will be posted once my computer is set up and the images uploaded. We took a sleeper car in a night train from Prague to Budapest, which definitely felt like something out of a 19th century novel, which is to say profoundly awesome. Budapest was much larger and more modern feeling than Prague (also more expensive) but wonderful. I will undoubtedly write more about my trip later when I have pictures to show and my jet-lagged mind is functioning.
Now I think I shall try to catch up on 11 days worth of livejournal reading...
The Bad: Michael Braun, the grandfather of my sister's husband, passed away four days ago. My brother-in-law is with his family in California, but my sister, due to pregnancy, is here. I only met him once, so I'm not upset, but my sister was close with him, so I stayed to keep her company.
The good: Keeping Joy busy and not thinking about the death turned out to be quite productive for both of us. Yesterday, we picked up an outfit for me to wear to my friend Shari's wedding and a new, non-broken litterbox for my sister's cats. The two cats were highly appreciative.
Also, as of this morning, I have a bike! Those of you who remember my decision to pick up "some piece of shit" will be most surprised by the product. You see, I'm short. I am, in fact, only slightly too tall to comfortably ride a youth bike. This means I needed a 14-15" bike frame, which are nearly impossible to find because there just aren't too many people who are my height in the world. (I guess children growing through this height just stay on their youth bikes until it becomes truly ludicrous and then get a real adult bike?) Weeks of looking at used bike shops and Craigs list came up with nothing, and sporting good stores maybe carried one bike my size, generally a piece of crap that had been sitting there for five years and was so likely to break that the manager of the store confided that I shouldn't waste my money. This left real bike shops, with their astronomical price tags, and the realization that I was likely walking this summer. Then there was a Craigslist entry for a 15" kickass bike with helmet, u-luck, seat lock, lock for front wheel, bell, and bike lights included. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I had been budgeting just for a bike and didn't realize how expensive locks and helmets are. My sister explained this to me without too much mocking, and about twelve hours after e-mailing the seller, I have a very nice bike. Hello mobility!
My trip to see my brother in Prague then continue on to Budapest was wonderful, though Alitalia did manage to lose track of my luggage for a bit, finally locating in in Tel Aviv. It appears my backpack made aliyah. It eventually returned to me, so no harm done. Prague is an absolutely beautful city, and pictures will be posted once my computer is set up and the images uploaded. We took a sleeper car in a night train from Prague to Budapest, which definitely felt like something out of a 19th century novel, which is to say profoundly awesome. Budapest was much larger and more modern feeling than Prague (also more expensive) but wonderful. I will undoubtedly write more about my trip later when I have pictures to show and my jet-lagged mind is functioning.
Now I think I shall try to catch up on 11 days worth of livejournal reading...