WHEW!!!

I thought the holidays were going to kill me. In some ways, they took a bite out of me at least. Too much, too busy at work, family stuff, etc. I was literally crawling to the Round Up every night for some sort of relief. My bungalow suffered, my feet and my disposition. Luckily I did survive and I was able to save my traveling money 3 months ahead of schedule. So, here it is January 16th and I am just now able to blog-on again. Not much to report, although I have bought a few things...got my map o'Europe, my backpack and my walking shoes. I must say, I chose wisely. The shoes are red Mephisto's, with a back strap and front strap and rugged bottoms, but they are so CUTE! I will be known as the girl in the red shoes. Easy to find, but if things get dodgy, I can use those puppies to RUN! As for the backpack, I finally used my REI gift card and bought a WolfCreek "switchback," Max ES 25. In short, a bad ass pack. It seems a little big, but the beauty is that is has wheels and a detachable day pack so I can lock up the big stuff and take off for day excursions. I can even bring out the lumbar straps in a pinch, but I hope it never comes to that because I am literally smaller than the pack. My only other really big purchases will be my Eurorail pass and then my ticket to London, baby! I have the ticket to Orlando covered. Now, just the odds and ends, work a little more, go to Vegas, spend Patty's at the Tortoise, and have a little going-away fiesta! I leave on April 20th for Florida where I will spend a few days with my mom's side of the family and then I'm out! Hopefully I will finally figure out how to download photos to a general site and also haven't decided about the IPOD. Hmmmm. Back later.