downtime

I feel like I have been recuperating since the wedding.. I guess my memory isn't the only part of me that seems to be 80 years old. The last week or so has been relatively uninteresting. A mini recap:

Desi and Jason went away for the weekend and left me and Mom to tend to the dogs. Between the spoiled fluffy one (dubbed the Little White Bitch or LWB) and the huge obnoxious one (the Big Brown Bitch), we had our hands full. Marilyn Monroe came to stay with us, and, although Angel barks in the house by herself, MM made the barking noises increase by at least 200%. What a headache. But that wasn't the only complication. Some time during Saturday morning, Bailey, the huge BBB, escaped. Neighbors saw her frolicking down the road, enamored in freedom, and, the worst part: they couldn't catch her. Miraculously, she was back in her pin by the time Mom and I found out.. and before the Lenneps did, too. Whew. While we thought she escaped through the loosely latched gate, turns out Jason found a new hole around the bottom of the fence. Poor Bailey had a sore bottom yesterday. Thank goodness it's no longer in Mom's hands or mine.

Went out to dinner with a friend to the Shed on Saturday night to listen to Blues and eat some barbecue chicken - delicious. He and his friends are going on spring break (am I too old for this?) in Panama City, and he offered me free room and board for the week. I am actually considering squeezing this in before my Hawaii trip - hey, I need a base tan, right?

Des is in the redecorating mood. We bought fabric last night for her dining chairs, and she and Jason have already recovered half of them! Not bad. Now we are going to begin working on some canvases for her room, bathroom and/or dining room. Some may think that I am unartistic - give me a week or two, and we will see.

Europe Trip Preparations:
Only 35 days until I fly away! I began French lessons on Rosetta Stone last night. I'm actually feeling pretty good about it. Today I made the last big purchases: traveler's insurance and a Euro Rail pass. I had a brief scare earlier - thought I lost my passport. Never fear, it appeared. Another close call. I'm still in the planning stages, and plan to be planning until the day I am on my way home, but here is my basic itinerary:

15 April - Rome
23 April - Sorrento, Naples, Pompeii the Amalfi Coast
26 April - Florence
28 April - Venice
30 April - Milan
2 May - Cinque Terre
4 May - Barcelona
(things get hairy between 4 May and 10 May...)
10 May - Paris, cooking classes, day trips
24 May - London, Bristol
1 June - Mississippi

Yay for traveling!