The mothership has landed.

In some ways yesterday felt like my longest transit day. As expected it was really hard to pull myself away from the southerly Americas. The anticipation of finishing the trip - a daunting prospect like pulling off a bandaid (made of duct tape or superglue perhaps) that you just want to get over with - and comparatively not much to look at out the tiny plane windows, plus knowing that family was at the other end as anxious to see me as I was to see them, made the day seem to last forever. Houston was an interesting place to splash down, providing instantaneous American shock value. Seven-dollar sandwiches, high-end shops with all you never needed, vending machines with iPods no less! Not to mention the hunting and fishing shop with big dead animals in the window and classic t-shirt slogans like My grandma can outhunt you and My dog gives me the bird. Then there was the shop with all the Don't mess with Texas paraphernalia you could possibly want. Why is Texas so afraid of being messed with anyway, were they pushed around as a kid or something?

Travelling north fortunately meant that there fortunately wasn't much jetlag to deal with, and having plenty of distractions (like my mom & brother's smiling faces waiting at the airport) has eased the re-entry process... so far anyway. The thing it's been hardest to get used to is flushing my toilet paper again, I keep looking for a plastic bin off to the side or thinking I'm going to screw up the pipes when I flush. Fancy-pantsy Yankee plumbing.

Don't tell the boss, I'm on the company computer right now.  :-)  Looks like there will be plenty of work cut out for a needy traveller at Scotty's shop. Still have to find a way to get a paycheck, this being a baby business that needs all the goodwill nurturing it can get - a beautiful baby by the way! - but I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into it starting tomorrow, and hopefully something else will come to fruit on the work front that won't take too much time away from the shop.

Well I could walk down the street and describe the sights of Kirkland but I'm sure half of you are well acquainted already, so I suppose the travel portion of this page is at a pause for now. Life, what an adventure. Thanks again for reading, & don't forget to check back for details on the slide show!

Over 'n' out.