Some days, you just don't feel like typing...

So I won't. Enjoy the photos instead. (I took these Monday, on my day off.)

Lilacs smell so good!

Just think, in a couple weeks there will be hundreds more daisies!

Great place for a nap!

Don't you just want to bury your face in the lilacs? (I did!)

I can't take any credit for any of the flowers -- they're at my parents' house. I have a black thumb.

The exciting news continues...

Last night, on a little Web site called Expedia.com, I bought two plane tickets to ... MADRID! One for me, one for my fiance. (Excuse my gratuitous use of the word, "fiance." I like saying it!)

We're arriving on a Tuesday morning (Spanish time) November 7, and leaving the next Monday. Certainly not as long as I'd like, but of course, as long as I'd like would be... weeks? Months? Years? I'm not sure.

This trip will be a lot different than last time, most notably because I'll be playing tour guide and translator to The Fiance, and because it's more of a homecoming than an adventure. Oh, and no more Spanish flings. That's fine with me. How can I not be excited about seeing these people again?

(Please note that this photo was taken on my last night in Madrid in 2004, after I'd spent, oh, 2 1/2 months in the blazing hot sun. And yet... no tan.)

Anyway, the kiddies are growing up fast. Elena will have just turned 12 when we get there, and we're arriving on Ignacio's 10th birthday!

After I bought the tickets, Shane called me "Miss Giddy" and it was so appropriate! Not only am I excited to go back to Spain, but I'm thrilled to go with him, and to show him how special the place and the people there are to me.

We'll probably stay close to Madrid, because we don't want to waste half our time traveling. But I'd like to take The Fiance to Segovia, and maybe Toledo or Avila. Any suggestions are appreciated! (We could be convinced to try some home-smoked meats...lol)





(Random cheesy Segovia photo, just because.)

Of course, this morning I'm doing my neurotic thing, like feeling guilty about spending so much money when we should save for the wedding (September 22, 2007! Mark your calendars!). And fretting -- what if, for some strange reason, my vacation request isn't approved? But, life is short, credit cards get paid off eventually, and if we don't go now, we really wouldn't have time until after the wedding... 2008 seems so far away.

So for now, I'm just going to try to keep the giddy feeling a while longer, and start counting the days until November.

OK, off to work.