98 days . . .

i finally booked the amsterdam leg and return date for my trip to europe. my mom and i are doing an 11-day tour of northern italy and then i'm tacking on a few days in rome by myself before heading to amsterdam to meet up with some friends for a 30th birthday celebration.

i had until today (of course, i procrastinated till then) to book my return. i had been waiting to see if it made sense for mac to meet me in rome for a romantic week together. the more we talked about it given everything else going on, the more sense it made for me to come back earlier. we're talking about a trip to bc for our birthdays in late feb/early march and maybe a trip to santa fe in late may before we move in together. we're also starting to plan my kitchen remodel. all of those things combined just didn't leave us enough $$ to do rome this year too.

am excited about the trip to europe nonetheless but i can't imagine being away from her for 21 days right now. i'm sure it'll be fine but will still be hard to be away from suki for that long too. i've added a few days on either end of the europe to see some family in tampa. i think dad's finally gonna have a puppy for me too so i may be coming home with it. his latest litter of dobies is due on jan 2nd and hopefully there's a puppy with my name on it out of the 8-10 pups that are born. have been wanting to get a pup for suki to have a buddy for awhile. it's interesting that it's finally coming now. mac's dog and suki are starting to get along. we'll see how it is with a 3rd dog in the mix.

so today i'm thankful for ... a trip to look forward to and some great memories i'm sure

my mom rocks!

so, my mom and i have had a pretty interesting relationship over the years. life hasn't always been easy. she was a single mom and *very* young when she had me. i'm very glad that she decided to keep me. we've had our moments over the years that have been tumultuous and silent. we've really gotten close again over the last year tho. i think we've both grown up and learned to love each other and let each other be. we can actually *talk* about stuff like we never have before. it's pretty cool. i feel very fortunate to have the kind of relationship we have.

she'll be here to visit in a few weeks. this will be the first time she gets to see where i live. i've been in pdx for 5+ yrs and this will be her first ever visit to the entire west coast. will be nerve-racking and exciting all at the same time. my step-dad and grandparents will be coming as well. i'm going to host a bbq for them to be able to meet all my friends. figure it'll be the easiest thing to do.

then my mom and i are going to italy together in april. should be a fun trip. am planning to stay in europe an extra week after mom heads home. am really looking forward to doing that trip with her. it's been 20 yrs since we last traveled together.

so today i'm thankful for . . . my mom