I'm back.

Just got back from 2 weeks in dreary St. Louis this afternoon. If you live in St. Louis, my apologies, but that is just not a fun town. Of course I stay at Scott Air Force Base which is about 20 minutes east of St. Louis but...well, I guess I'm just not a Midwestern kind of guy. I've said it before but I really feel like a foreigner in my own country when I go back now.

Anyway, here are some random thoughts collected from the past two weeks...

* Yesterday (26 Oct) was our five year anniversary. I arrived to Heidelberg today around 3 pm and we celebrated a day late with a fantastic dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in town. We had cozze (mussels, which are currently in season), pasta w/ Salmon, minestrone, bruschetta w/ pomodoro and basil and a beautiful bistecca al funghi - a steak cooked medium rare (just the way I like it) covered in sauteed mushrooms and served in a brandy cream sauce. For the vino I chose the Barbera which, although pedestrian and non-threatening, complimented the bistecca nicely.

* Virginia had the first ultrasound while I was away and the doctor told her that the due date is actually around the first week of June rather than the previously prescribed 23 May. The wife's birthday is 28 May and mine is 30 June so it looks like the baby will come somewhere in between.

* My hatred of flying continues. Flying around the US probably isn't much of a problem but flying internationally? PAINFUL. If it's a straight shot, no problem however, from Frankfurt to St. Louis, you must change in either Dallas or Chicago. And when you do so, you have to first clear customs then claim your bags then recheck your bags, then go through screening again. This always takes longer than the time you have to make your connection of course so you end up on the later flight to your final destination. Then you get there late and you're exhausted and...I hate flying.

* I stayed on base this time which means I had very little to do except watch TV and work out. As a result I packed on a bit of bulk while I've been away which the wife...ahem...seems to be enjoying.

* Of course the best thing about being in the States was being able to watch the World Series at a normal hour. Now that I'm back in Europe, I will be forced to wake up at 2AM to watch, starting tonight. But, being the diehard fan that I am, I will. I'm praying the Sox finish the Rockies off in 4 so I can get some sleep...

* I was on the long leg of the flight back home today - 9 hours from Chicago to Frankfurt - and was reaching the point where I was starting to get restless and not sure if I could last the final 2 hours of the flight when lo and behold, what comes on the in-flight entertainment screen? Back to back episodes of "Cheers". After being in a strange city where I felt like a stranger, it was so nice to be in a place where everybody knows your name. It got me through the rest of the flight without a hitch.

More later...