December 15, 2002

This is a strange web page to write, because it is about our trip home, to the US. A lot less interesting to most of you than stories about England, I'm sure. Nonetheless, here it is.

We flew home to Boston on Friday night, 22 November. I (Toby) was a little antsy about the trip since we had so much to do in so little time, but looking forward to it despite our schedules. Carol met us at the airport and it instantly felt as if we'd just been away for a long weekend and now we were home. Never mind the airport was a bit of a mob scene what with a flight from Italy being met by 10,000 people all speaking Italian! She drove us to my mom's where we were based for the visit (and very enthusiastically greeted!). On the way, at about 11pm, we passed by a CVS and a Walgreens that were both open! You folks back home probably don't appreciate the conveniences you see everyday but man, we do now. Pharmacies close around 6 here. Some don't even open on Sundays. What's up with that? We passed Filene's too, where I practically had to stop myself from drooling. Unfortunately the sales were on the two days I couldn't shop and then I ended up not having time anyway. Rats!

OK. Back on track. We yapped a little with mom and then passed out. Saturday morning we had real bagels for the first time in 10 months. Yum. Then off to Carol's to do some filing of all our mail. What a mound! (Big, huge thanks to Carol for taking care of it all for us.) In the afternoon, Tom went to visit Rich and to see our house while I went to a chocolate buffet with Carol and Ginger. Decadence at it's best! (I know I should have take a picture of the buffet, but I didn't. So you just get a picture of us. Boring.) Tom even moved a refrigerator out of our old place and put a newer one in there. Hard work going home (at least for Tom - no chocolate brunch for him). The place in Medford looks good - thanks to Mark and Polly for living there and caring about it, and thanks to Rich for being a super-handy guy who can fix/do anything around the house. If you could see his refurbished sunroom, you'd know exactly what I mean.

OK. Rethinking this page. Starting to sound itinerary like and dull, but I'm not sure how else to do it. So I'll be quick. Bear with me. At least there are pictures.

On Saturday night we had dinner with some friends. We tried to get to see as many people as possible in the short time we were there, but there were some disappointments. If we missed you, we're really sorry. (Please come visit!) A few pics from that gathering below.

Click on a photo to see the big version Too many names to label everybody (sorry)!!

My aunt and uncle held a brunch for us on Sunday so we could see all of mom's family. It was a lovely brunch; good to see everyone, and again we got some good bagels. (It's the little things we miss most.) The best part was when Michelle, my cousin Saul's wife, came and gushed over our website and told us what a fan of it she is. 'Go on', she said, 'test me. I know it all'. And she did! How cool is that? You can thank Michelle for giving us the encouragement to continue with these updates.

Click on a photo to see the big version
cousins Alla and Vlad, Uncle Saul	Auntie Anne, Toby's Mom, Toby (sorry it's so dark)	cousins Saul and Michelle's son, Jason
cousin Madelyn and son Saul	cousin Susan and son Sam	Toby and her Mom

Sunday night we saw dad and his family and got to meet our new niece, Tara. Nice to have another good-natured girl in the family. As always, Fari made a scrumptious meal, which even included an anniversary cake! A few pictures of that visit.

Mojgan, Fari, Tara, Lou, Toby

the new addition, Tara (Mojgan's daughter)

Anniversary cake

On Monday, we split up in the morning and Tom went back to Rich's to do some raking (what a landlord!) while I went to Triumvirate to say hi to the folks I used to work with. Really a nice visit. I'd almost forgotten how much I liked it there. Had a quick visit with Raelinda (left) and Molly (cat) before picking Tom up. Raelinda was happier to see me than Molly was although she (Molly) never went very far away. Check out the anger is her eyes!

We then went and met mom for our anniversary lunch at Legal Seafood. Yup, we've been married a year already! And they said it wouldn't last. After lunch I went to see Joseph and have my hair cut. Despite the fact that he wants me to dye my hair again, it was nice to be in hands I could trust! Here's a picture of Joseph with his puppy Ziggy. What a cutie! All shorn, Tom went back to Rich's and I stopped back at Rae's for a bit. This time, Molly sat by me on the sofa and purred as I pet her. That is, until she'd had enough and decided to look up at me and hiss. Didn't go away, didn't swipe at me. Just let me know that I wasn't yet forgiven for leaving her. OK. It's cool. I get it.

Tom and I celebrated our anniversary with some sushi at Asiana Grill - the place where we had our first date. (Awwww.) But that's as far as the romance went because after dinner we did some quick stocking up at CVS/Walgreens and then I left Tom at Rich's while I went back to mom's. (Had to do with borrowing cars and Tuesday's plans.) Nice to have some time to girl talk with her.

Tuesday Tom went up to ESRI for their annual Thanksgiving pot luck (empty handed! But they have way too much food at this anyway) while I did some quick errands, including a trip to the grocery store to get some American crap to bring back with me - Nutter Butter cookies are big in my office. Truth be told, it was torture walking through the supermarket and not being able to buy everything. So many things I hadn't seen in 10 months! So much good junk! So little space in my suitcase..... No real time to clothes shop, so I settled on getting a bucket of buttered popcorn (large, of course) at the West Newton cinema and eating it in the car. Man do I miss that!

We met dad for dinner in Arlington before heading west with Chris and Carol (thanks for the ride!) towards our next destination: Philadelphia!

We arrived at Tom's folks' house on Wednesday morning and again, it was as if we had never left. It was Thanksgiving as always with all Tom's siblings coming in at various times and house preparations to be done. Tom and I went to visit his friends the Bermans on Wednesday night (one of Tom's few friends I hadn't met yet) and I stole away to spend a couple hours with Carol on Thursday morning, but other than that it was catching up with the family. Good to have everybody in one place.

I know I talk about my nieces a lot, but the truth is that Tom's nieces are just as cute. Hannah, who will be 4 in April, is very bright and very funny. Talks like a grown up, and loves her Uncle Tom (alias Bad Monster!). Eliana just turned 1 on Nov. 20th and was just about walking when we saw her. She's a happy, smiley little thing and is just adorable. Still taking it all in.

Thanksgiving dinner was just what it should be - family, friends and more turkey than you know what to do with. There were 14 adults (including an 11 year old), 3 little ones, a 21lb turkey and more noise and food than you can imagine. All happy sounds (kids screams, laughter, and footsteps everywhere, 'please pass the's' and more), but LOTS of them. And very yummy food. Amazing. As always, we were exhausted when it was all over. Blame it on the tryptophan in the turkey!

Click on a photo to see the big version
brother-in-law Kevin and niece Ellie, in from a walk	cousin Zoe and niece Hannah	full, and ready for a nap before dessert.	Tom and niece Ellie	our friends Chris and Carol

On Friday, I rented a car and drove down to Virginia to see my sister, Laura, and her family at my Aunt Doris' house (a regular tomandtoby.com reader!) while Tom stayed in Philly with his family.

(Tom) Always good to have time with the whole family together. It really brings back good memories of growing up. So thanks to Amy and clan, and Peter and clan for making the effort to be in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving. It really is good to be together. Got to go to the aquarium in Camden with Kevin, Hannah, and my cousins Dan and Julie (NYC) and their daughter Zoe (Hannah's best buddy). Hannah and Zoe are really cute together - it's great fun to watch. Toby and I snuck in a quick visit with my good friend Ed's mom - nice to see her and to know that the extended family is still across the street! Got to see my college friends Jim and Allison, who live in Narberth (okay, maybe it's Penn Valley but their mail still goes to Narberth...) I'm glad they live close to my folks as it means I will get to see them when I am home. Unfortunately, many of us scattered to places all around the country after college, so I don't get to see the rest of my longstanding friends too often. You know who you are, I indeed do think of you all often, even if I don't email enough...

(Toby) Going to my aunt's for Thanksgiving is the tradition I grew up so it was a pleasure for me despite the time constraints. It was wonderful to see my sister and her family again - the girls are great and Laura has that pregnant glow about her. Yup - there's a third kid on the way. A boy this time, due on May 1st. "A new challenge", as she says.

Click on a photo to see the big version
Carla, missing a couple of teeth	Daniel (cousin Mark's son) and Carla	Emily	Toby, Carla and Emily	Everybody at Aunt Doris' (big file)

Carla is 7 now and very much a little girl. She's great with Emily, or at least she was for the 24 hours we spent together, and a pleasure to be around. Very sweet and loving. And she's much better at drawing turkey gobblers than I am! Emmy turned 3 on December 11th and is a hoot. Says everything very matter-of-factly and is very funny. Also very good natured. Unfortunately, she was not feeling so well when I was there and did quite a bit of sleeping. Still, we had time to re-bond. (You know you've made the grade when a 3 year old asks you to take her to the potty instead of her mom!)

On Friday my two cousins (Mark who was just here in London and his brother Eddie) and their families came over for dinner and a little Hannukah celebration so it was another full house. Really great to have everyone together again and of course, Aunt Doris' cooking is always terrific. And to complete the tradition, we even got to take home a coffee can of her famous chocolate chip cookies. Yum (says Tom).

Early Saturday afternoon I headed back to meet Tom at the Philly airport and home we flew. We had the obligatory Philly cheesesteak at the airport. Yum (says Tom again). With the exception of them losing my bag for 24 hours, the trip home was uneventful. We even got an exit-row seat. The end of a too quick trip home for both of us.

We're off to Tenerife (Canary Islands, off the southern coast of Spain) for the Christmas week as both our offices shut. Should be pleasantly warm (70ish) and relaxing.

Next report: Christmas parties, visits, vacation...

Bits & Bobs:

• Things move at a much faster pace in the States. Everyone is always in a hurry.
• There are lots of conveniences in the States that we all take for granted but don't really need.
• If you are driving in the States, stay right and look left. Don't do that in England.

And there you have it for this report.

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