Ghibli Museum

Up early this morning to meet Michiko-san and Fumiko-san at Mitaka station. Fumiko-san asked us to be there at 9:40 a.m. She had reserved tickets for the four of us to the Ghibli Museum with an entrance time of 10 a.m. It seems you can't just show up and buy an admission ticket. This museum, dedicated to the works of Hayao Miyazaki of Spirited Away fame, is so popular that you must apply for admission in advance. I'd been to the museum four years ago when it first opened. I'd hoped the crowds would have died down by now, but the place was thronged with museum-goers. I was shocked to see how much the brightly colored stucco had weathered in these few years. The dark streaks on the outer walls gave the fancifully designed building an almost dreary aspect. But inside all was as bright and cheery and delightful as before. There were some wonderful displays on Miyazaki's movies, animation in general and on some other animators as well. We were both quite intrigued by the display on a movie that is due to be releasde on March 17 in Japan. It is the creation of a Russian animator named Alexandre Petrov. I'm having trouble digging up info on him on English-language websites. His animation has the look of impressionist paintings and is totally mesmerizing.

Both Michiko and Fumiko needed to attend their English-language class this afternoon, so after the Ghibli Museum we headed to Chofu (where Fumiko lives and the class is held) for lunch. We ate in one of the restaurants in the Parco department store. This time we had katsu, another type of Japanese food: breaded and fried pork, shrimp or chicken usually served with finely shredded cabbage and potato croquettes. This restaurant had a fresh approach to katsu. Each place setting included a small mortar filled with black sesame seeds and a pestle with which to grind them up. You add the sesame to the katsu sauce. And instead of the potato croquette we were served rice. It was tasty Japanese comfort food.

After lunch, Michiko and Fumiko scurried off to their class. Brad and I spent a little bit of time browsing in Parco and then headed back into town. We decided to go back to Shinjuku. We stopped off for coffee at Segafredo, one of our favorite coffee shops in Tokyo, then I went to Isetan while Brad went shopping at Tokyu Hands. We met back later at the apartment. Dinner that night was at our favorite noodle shop again.

Kabuki-za

Another beautiful day. Sunny and warm enough at times to dispense with my windbreaker. We started off at Ueno with a visit to one of our favorite places in Tokyo, the Shitamachi Museum. Shitamachi translates to "downtown" and the museum covers everyday life in early 19th century Tokyo. It is a small museum, easy to do in under an hour, and the exhibits are engaging. We had funny little man act as tour guide for us through the museum.

After the museum we hit Matsuzaka-ya dept. store and the Ameyokocho discount shops. Lunch was coffee and sandwiches at Cafe Veloce. We went back to the apt. right after lunch so we could get ready to head to Ginza for our evening of Kabuki.

Tonight's performance was Chushingura, the tale of the 47 Ronin. It is one of the most popular Kabuki plays and this performance featured many famous Kabuki actors, some of whom are designated as living national treasures. We arrived at Kabuki-za a little bit before 4 p.m. and the theatre was surrounded by a crowd of theatre-goers. The doors opened at 4 p.m. and everyone crammed their way through the doors. We only had a half hour to pick up our ear phones with English translation, make a meal reservation for the intermission and find our seats. The show began at 4:30 p.m.

I just love kabuki even though I miss most of the dialogue. The ear phone translator covers the basic elements of the plot, but does not do a line by line translation. What I love about Kabuki are the sets and the costumes. It is as if you were looking at an 18th century Ukiyo-e woodblock print that has come back to life. The acting is way over the top and is supposed to be that way. Kabuki actors do not strive for reality. Movements are extremely stylized. The method of talking is exaggerated. All parts are played by men. This particular play had some juicy bits in it, such as seppuku (ritual suicide) and a beheading. The intermission came at 6:20 and lasted for 30 minutes. Just enough time for us to find the table with my name tag on it. Our meals were sitting there waiting for us. There was another break at 8:30 but it only lasted 10 minutes. I made a dash for the ladies as soon as the curtain began to fall but still had to wait in line. But let me tell you, I never saw a ladies room line move as quickly as that one did. Those Japanese ladies knew they only had ten minutes to tinkle and get back to their seats so eveyrone hustled.

The scenery for the last act was particularly beautiful, a snow scene with a bridge and a lake. Bits of fake snow fell as the 47 Ronin avenged their master. The costumes were magnificent.

Well, time to go to bed. Tomorrow we go to the Ghibli museum with Michiko and Fumiko.

Department Store Opening and Visiting Friends

We had lovely weather today, cool and sunny. Brad and I went to the Nihombashi area to drop in on two of Tokyo's grand old department stores. We were there when they opened the doors at Takashimaya and were greeted with deep bows and choruses of "irrashaimase" (welcome) as we passed from one department to another. This department store tradition gives one a chance to feel what it must be like to be royalty. After visiting the housewares and stationery (our fave depts) we headed down to Mitsukoshi and paid our respects to the goddess of shopping and visited housewares, stationery, an exhibit of traditional crafts and the rooftop garden.

Around noon I left to visit with another DigitalEve friend. Misa is an architect and has been membership coordinator for DEJ for many years. She is quite dedicated to the organization and I'm certain the group would have folded if not for her dedication. I met Misa at Roppongi Hills in the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel. Roppongi Hills is a huge glitzy complex of shops and restaurants that opened just before we moved from Tokyo. It sits on the street that led from our apt. to Brad's office so it still seems kinda strange to me to have this huge complex in the middle of our former neighborhood. Chiharu also met us at the Hyatt but could not join us for lunch. She brought me another DEJ t-shirt; very cool, since my other one is just about worn out. Misa and I walked about a block to a new Chinese restaurant on TV Asahi Dori. For 900 yen we got one of several set menus: stir fried chicken, potatoes and peppers, rice, soup, pickles, shumai appetizer, and almond jelly for dessert. The portions were generous and everything was delish, once again proving that Tokyo's best deals are to be had at lunchtime.

After lunch Misa invited me to her office for dessert. It was a chance to walk through familiar old neighborhoods. I passed by Brad's former office, Hardy Barracks (where we spent our very first days in Tokyo) and even saw the cat man (a harmless but eccentric homeless man who lives with stray cats. He used to be seen wearing a cat draped around his neck but today he had a cat on a leash with him.) We walked past Tokyo's newest museum, a striking structure of curved glass and popped into Cafe TeTe's to pick up a selection of cakes. Misa shares an office with her husband Yutaka and has one employee, a quiet fellow named Kodama. Yutaka is such a nice fellow and I enjoyed seeing him. We spent a little bit of time on google earth and I showed them our home in Linthicum and our former home in Harrogate.

It was after 4 p.m. when I left Misa's office and headed back to our apt. I took the long way home and walked down Gaien Nishi Dori to Hiroo Bashi. I stopped in at National Azabu (the grocery store where i used to do most of my shopping), walked through Arisugawa Koen (the park where I used to walk Taffy) and passed by Homat August (our former apt. bldg). Everything looked exactly the same. My feet were really aching as I made my way to the Juban. Brad had plans to go out for dinner with former coworkers and I had planned to go out again after stopping home but my feet screamed NO! I picked up another Lawson's convenience store dinner (salad and a roll) and stayed in for the evening. I did a load of laundry and organized our recent purchases and gifts. I caught the end of a strange movie with Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi called Heaven. It was in Italian and English. The subtitles were in Japanese so I had to guess a bit at the Italian dialogue.

Brad is still out carousing with his friends and I'm going to hit the hay.

Asakusa and Kappabashi

I'm having trouble logging into blogger and it is not lableing my posts with the correct dates. I'll have to fix that when I get home, unless I pop into an internet cafe while we are here.

Today, Tuesday the 20th, we got together with Michiko again and with her friend Fumiko. It was raining again and rather chilly. We started off at Asakusa, one of our favorite spots in Tokyo. We shopped the various stalls on Nakamise Dori and visited Tokyo's oldest shrine, Sensoji. We had lunch at Imahan, an old traditional restaurant one street over from Nakamise Dori. We had sukiyaki and were served traditional fashion sitting on the floor in a tatami room while our kimono-clad waitress came in and out the sliding shoji doors. After lunch we walked over to Kappabashi, the kitchen supply district, and shopped and browsed.

Later that evening we had dinner at Homeworks, another of our fave restaurants from our Tokyo days. This one is a western restaurant that specializes in burgers. They are really really good and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

A Really Good Soak

Today I got together with two of my friends from DigitalEve Japan, Kristen and MJ. They are both flickr buddies now. Kristen had suggested an excursion to Atami, a resort city on a peninsula south of Tokyo. We would visit Atami Baien, an orchard planted with hundreds of plum trees, now in bloom. Later we could have lunch and visit an onsen (hot spring spa). I met Kristen at Tokyo Station where we hopped on the Kodama shinkansen (bullet train) for Atami. The ride took about an hour. Kristen had brought a thermos of tea and some Chinese almond cookies for us to snack on while on the train. MJ lives not too far from Atami so we met her at Atami station. We caught a bus up to Atami Baien. The bus climbed and climbed up impossibly narrow streets to the Baien entrance. For a resort town, Atami was not very picturesque. The landscape was not really that spectacular either. Piped in chinese music greets you as you enter the garden which was nicely landscaped though, with a red lacquer bridge, waterfalls, a reconstructed Korean temple and plum trees of all varieties. The recent rain had stripped the trees of most of their blossoms so that there were more tourists than plum blossoms. Kristen, MJ and spent the morning snapping photos in the garden. A highlight for me was visiting the traditional Japanese house of Japanese musician Shinpei Nakayama. The house was situated in the Baien but I'm not sure if that was the original location or it had been relocated there.

We decided to walk back into town for lunch. The gray cloud cover of the morning had given way to sunshine and blue skies so it was a pleasant downhill walk. Though Atami is not a pretty town we came across many interesting little shops and restaurants. We popped into a little restaurant for tendon: shrimp tempura served atop seasoned rice. yumm. After lunch we stopped in at the tourist office for a recommendation on a hotel with a day onsen. They gave us some discount coupons and directions to an onsen with an ocean view. If we had not missed a turn it would have taken us 7 minutes to get there but as it was it took about a half hour, the last ten minutes of which was uphill. What a relief to reach the onsen. I'd never been to one, so Kristen introduced me to onsen etiquette. At the front desk we paid our fee and were given our onsen towel -- about the size of a hand towel. After removing our shoes we entered into the women's section. There was a locker where we secure our valuables. Another area had cubby holes with baskets in them. We stripped our clothes off and placed them in a basket. Then we entered the shower area. In Japan you shower on short stool. There were two rows of stools, each with a tap and shower head and an assortment of soaps and shampoos. Kristen said we were to clean ourselves thoroughly and then rinse every speck of soap off. Only then could we enter the hot spring. I had been so leary of this part. you know, getting naked in front of a bunch of people, most of them strangers. But once I was there it didn't really bother me. We were all getting naked. And no one was staring. And boy was the hot spring soothing and relaxing. There was one long pool to soak in as well as a whirlpool, both indoors. Plus there was another pool outdoors. And all with views of the ocean. I couldn't see much though, because I'd removed my glasses. We soaked and talked for a good long while. Then we headed back to the shower room to rinse the salty spring water off. We dressed and headed into an outer room where we were provided with drinnks of water or tea. In this room there were several massage chairs and foot massagers. MJ and I spent about 15 minutes in a massage chair while Kristen opted for a foot massage. By then it was time to head home. Kristen and I hopped on the shinkansen for Tokyo while MJ caught the local train home. It was a great day out of which the onsen was the highlight. I wish now I'd tried out the onsen experience while we were living in Tokyo. There is a very good onsen right in Azabu Juban and it is not that expensive either! There are so many good things about living in Tokyo.

Soggy Shrine Sale and Lunch with Michiko

Last night I called Michiko and firmed up our plans to meet her for the Takahatafudo Shrine sale. (Shrine sales are antique and collectible markets held on Sundays at various shrines and temples.) In typical Tokyo fashion, Michiko was precise in her directions: we were to catch the 10:30 Keio Line train from platform 3 at Shinjuku station. We were to board car 3 and Michiko would enter our car when the train stopped at Medaimae station. Too bad we didn't get a chance to see if these plans would pan out. It was raining heavily when we got up this morning so we called Michiko and told her she didn't have to go to the shrine sale if she didn't want to. We were only going because it was our only chance and we love shrine sales. We made alternate plans to meet Michiko for lunch and headed out to Takahata Fudo, hoping the rain would ease up.

The rain did let up for a short period while we were at Takahata fudo, but for the most part it poured and was very cold. Only a handful of vendors had even set up their wares. We browsed through and did not see anything we really wanted to buy. The best part was that while the rain was falling only lightly a service began in the main temple building and we could hear the gong of musical instruments and the rhythmic drone of monks chanting while we wandered from stall to stall.

We headed back to Shinjuku and waited for Michiko at the flower shop near the basement entrance to Keio department store. And waited. And waited. Finally I called her on my cell phone. She said she was at the flower shop. I told her that we were at the flower shop too but did not see her. Turns out there are two flower shops at different basement entrances to the Keio dept. store. We finally met up and Michiko led us to the Isetan Kaikan, a building full of restaurants run by Isetan Dept. store. We at at Kushinobo, a kushiage restaurant. Kushiage are skewers meats and veggies cooked on a grill and dipped in a worcestershire-type sauce. Very tasty. After lunch, Brad went off shopping on his own while Michiko and I headed to the Keio dept. store. Amazingly, I'd never shopped at Keio during our three years of living in Tokyo. I learned from Michiko what a nice store it is. She showed me the second-hand Kimono dept. where you can pick up 100% silk kimono for a decent price. We looked at various utensils for Japanese tea ceremony and housewares and stationery. Finally, Michiko helped me find an accesory for my camera at Yodobashi, a large, crowded camera shop nearby.

After a day of shopping I was pretty exhausted so I headed back to the apt. to meet up with Brad and make plans for dinner. He was pretty beat as well so we decided to just pick up some take-out food from the Lawson's convenience store near our apt. We knew from past experience you can get pretty good food from Lawson's.

Tokyo Touchdown

For such a long flight (14 hours in the air) our trip to Tokyo went by fairly painlessly. We left our house around 8:45 a.m. and with a stop to tank up the car made our way to Dulles airport. We encountered a few spots of heavy traffic but nothing major. By 10 a.m., as Brad had predicted, we were pulling into the parking lot at Dulles where the real challenge of finding a spot cleared of snow presented itself. After passing the Blue Lot and the Green Lot we found some spaces in the Gold Lot, covered with snow that had been turned rock solid by the nasty mixture of sleet, ice pellets and freezing rain in the recent storm. Brad found a good spot with a built-in snow ramp. Amazingly our car did not make a dent in the snow. Check-in was a breeze as Brad had done most of the prep online. A small line for security and by the time we arrived at the gate it was time to board.

When you know you have to spend 14 hours on a plane it is easy to pace yourself to pass the time. I read my book, (Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami), watched a movie (Running with Scissors), worked a crossword puzzle and managed to catch some sleep. Brad also managed to catch a fair amount of sleep.

Going through passport control and customs at Narita airport was a breeze. Then I went and picked up the cell phones I'd reserved online. Brad bought the first of many cans of hot coffee from a vending machine near the JR train station before purchasing our tickets for the Narita Express train. The Narita Express arrived precisely on time and it was a smooth hour-long ride into Tokyo Station.

The very last leg of our journey was the taxi ride to our apartment hotel. I had printed out a map supplied by Asahi Homes who own the apt./hotel chain and handed it to the taxi driver. It was then that Brad and I realized the fatal flaw in our seemingly well-thought-out plan. The map was entirely in English, so the cab driver couldn't make heads or tails of it. We managed to get the message across with our limited Japanese.

It was such a strange feeling making our way through the city to Azabu Juban where the apt. is located. Everything was so familiar. It felt as if we were going home rather than arriving on vacation. The apartment is really cool! The decor is ultra modern and most everything in the apt. looks brand new. We've got a kitchen with a stove and microwave and the world's smallest dishwasher. Utensils, dishes, glasses, cups and dishtowels are arranged neatly in drawers and cupboards, each encased in a plastic wrapper labeled "disinfected". There is a counter with two chairs where we can eat meals (we only plan to eat breakfast in). There is a living room with a TV/VCR, sofa, easy chair, coffee table and small desk where i'm typing this right now. The toilet is in a small room separate from the bathroom. The tub and shower are in their own little room within the bathroom. The bedroom has plenty of closet space and the bed is really comfy. There's a balcony off the bedroom but unfortunately the view is of a concrete wall. If we were up higher we'd have a view into Mamiana Park.

After settling into our room we headed out to have a bite to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in the Juban, the neigborhood where we are staying. We discovered to our chagrin that the Chinese restaurant we loved is no longer there. The building has been torn down! Oh well, at least our favorite noodle shop was still there. Brad had a bowl of ramen while I opted for boiled chicken served with sesame sauce. We shared an order of gyoza. The ramen and gyoza were delish. We would have put the chicken in the same category if it hadn't been served with the skin still on and bits of fat here and there. But that is the Japanese way.

After dinner we went to the grocery store to pick up a few items for our little apt. The Seifu in the Juban is now Gourmet City but I could not see any difference aside from the name. We bought coffee, eggs, bread, sugar and some Japanese candy to bring back to the U.S. When we got home we realized we had forgotten coffee filters. Arrgh!

The Road To Tokyo

I haven't been here for awhile...life just seems so busy these days. Partly because I'm working nearly full-time lately. But that's good cuz I've earned enough to have some spending money when we arrive in Tokyo. We leave this morning. We are thrilled to pieces. We've made plans already with our friends who live there. I'll try to update my blog while we're in Tokyo.

Fog Bound

Last week we experienced lots of morning fog, making me homesick for Harrogate. I love taking photos in the fog but, since I was working freelance at Michael's all week, my only chance to catch a photo of the fog was during my morning commute.

Prelude To Sicily

Quite a full day today. JoAnn and I headed out to Hampden to do some shopping. It was fun poking around in the funky shops up and down the Avenue. We had lunch at Cafe Hon where the atmosphere was rather chaotic. From there we headed down to Little Italy where we were to meet Domenica and Anna's house. Domenica had assured me there'd be no trouble finding a parking spot at that time of day (2 p.m.). Well, I went up and down the streets of L.I. and could not find a spot and ended in one of the parking garages. Of course, Domenica found a spot a half block away!

We had such a nice time visiting with Anna, Sergio and Maria who is as sweet and beautiful as ever. We got the scoop on Dad and his relatives from Anna and Maria. I learned that Maria was not born in Italy. Her father, my dad's uncle, came to the U.S. in the early 1900s and travelled around looking for work. Maria was born in Albany, NY, and a sibling of hers was born in West Virginia. After three years her father returned to Bafia, Sicily, where Maria grew up. When Anna was 15 she and Maria moved to the U.S. They sailed over on the Andrea Doria...but that's another story.

From Anna's we made our way over to Caesar's Den where we met with Santina. We got some more dirt on the family through our discussions with Santina. We learned that dad had been a premature baby. He was born August 17, 1917, a seven-month baby. All those sevens, no wonder seven is my lucky number! We also learned that our great grandfather committed suicide. This is the story according to Santina: he was a gardener for the church. He was pruning trees when he fell off a ladder, broke his neck and was paralyzed. Realizing he could no longer provide for five daughters and a son he shot himself. I think the story is a bit suspect. If he was paralyzed how could he shoot himself? At any rate, Santina gave us some more names of relatives to look up.

We've got a bit of a mystery to solve when we get to Sicily. Maria says dad was born in Case Nove while Santina says he was born in Catalimita. Wherever he was born, everyone agrees he grew up in Bafia. I cannot wait to see these towns of my father's youth. I only wish he was still here so we could talk with him about it.

Prelude To Sicily

Quite a full day today. JoAnn and I headed out to Hampden to do some shopping. It was fun poking around in the funky shops up and down the Avenue. We had lunch at Cafe Hon where the atmosphere was rather chaotic. From there we headed down to Little Italy where we were to meet Domenica and Anna's house. Domenica had assured me there'd be no trouble finding a parking spot at that time of day (2 p.m.). Well, I went up and down the streets of L.I. and could not find a spot and ended in one of the parking garages. Of course, Domenica found a spot a half block away!

We had such a nice time visiting with Anna, Sergio and Maria who is as sweet and beautiful as ever. We got the scoop on Dad and his relatives from Anna and Maria. I learned that Maria was not born in Italy. Her father, my dad's uncle, came to the U.S. in the early 1900s and travelled around looking for work. Maria was born in Albany, NY, and a sibling of hers was born in West Virginia. After three years her father returned to Bafia, Sicily, where Maria grew up. When Anna was 15 she and Maria moved to the U.S. They sailed over on the Andrea Doria...but that's another story.

From Anna's we made our way over to Caesar's Den where we met with Santina. We got some more dirt on the family through our discussions with Santina. We learned that dad had been a premature baby. He was born August 17, 1917, a seven-month baby. All those sevens, no wonder seven is my lucky number! We also learned that our great grandfather committed suicide. This is the story according to Santina: he was a gardener for the church. He was pruning trees when he fell off a ladder, broke his neck and was paralyzed. Realizing he could no longer provide for five daughters and a son he shot himself. I think the story is a bit suspect. If he was paralyzed how could he shoot himself? At any rate, Santina gave us some more names of relatives to look up.

We've got a bit of a mystery to solve when we get to Sicily. Maria says dad was born in Case Nove while Santina says he was born in Catalimita. Wherever he was born, everyone agrees he grew up in Bafia. I cannot wait to see these towns of my father's youth. I only wish he was still here so we could talk with him about it.

Curtains Again

I was feeling a little under the weather today. I really felt like staying in my jammies and watching TV all day but I managed to motivate myself to finish one chore I've been putting off for a while. I took down all the sheer curtains in the living room and dining room, ironed them and then rehung them. I had previously hung them up wet after washing them, hoping the wrinkles would fall out, but they didn't. I've been taking Zicam for this cold that keeps trying to assert itself and it seems to be working. I certainly don't want to be sick for my trip to Sicily. Can't believe I leave one week from today. Tomorrow, JoAnn, Domenica and I will be getting together with Anna and Santina to talk about Sicily and Dad's relatives there.

Return to the Blogosphere

I haven't posted in a while. I've been struggling to adapt to life in the U.S. It's not easy after being an ex-pat for six years. We've also been really really busy getting settled in. Today I finally downloaded all the photos I've taken since last July when we were still living in England. It was fun looking through them...I got to relive our trips to London and Scotland. I had almost forgotten about this funky cinema sign in London near Leicester Square.

Today was my birthday. I woke up to flowers as usual. What a nice tradition. Brad also gave me a beautiful pair of blue sapphire earrings. Also part of our tradition, I got to choose where I wanted to go out to dinner tonight. I chose Sotto Sopra. It was wonderful. I had a salad and ricotta gnocchi with a fresh tomato sauce. The gnocchi were surprisingly light and fluffy. Brad had fried calamari and pappardelle with wild mushrooms. Very tasty. For dessert I had tiramisu while Brad opted for pistachio vanilla creme brulee. Both desserts were out of this world. The only disappointment was the stale decaf.

Back in the Swing

My good friend Becky called me the other day and asked me if I was ready to jump back into freelancing again. She and I used to work together as typesetters way back when. She now works out of her house doing freelance design and production. She said one of her clients called about a big project that she might not have time for. Rather than turn it down she offered to bring me in on the project. I'd work on her desktop mac at her house while she works on her laptop. After a few seconds hesitation I said heck yeah!

This morning we went to Tide Point to meet with the client. Tide Point is actually in Locust Point, an area along the harbor that has seen some recent development. This blue collar neighborhood surrounded by industry and ship yards and home to Fort McHenry is blooming into a hip business district. It is called Tide Point because it is the site of the old Procter and Gamble soap factory. The buildings are named after soap products. Our meeting was in the Cascade building. From the meeting room we had wonderful views of the harbor and I noticed we were directly across from Fells Point and the building where I worked in when I was with Top Banana.

The project is a good one for me to get started on. I'm creating new Quark documents based on a client-supplied Quark template. Pretty much of a no-brainer.

After the meeting Becky and I had lunch at Nick's Seafood Grill, another establishment right on the water. It's a huge restaurant surrounded by wooden decks. In nice weather you can sit outside. If you had a boat you could sail right up to Nick's. Becky says they have live bands playing on the weekends.

Another plus...Becky showed me a neat way to get into the city. You simply get onto Ritchie Highway and stay on it. You go over the Hanover Street bridge, stay on Hanover street, then eventually get on Charles Street. From there you go up Chuck into the city. Cool.

Ginger's Back Home!!

We've been busy busy busy lately and no time for me to get to the library to update my blog. but the most important development in our move occurred yesterday. Brad went to Dr. Benson's and picked Ginger up and brought him home. He looks great! he's lost a lot of weight but looks good as a slender kitty. He is spending most of his time in the basement and seems to like sitting on the top basement steps even though we've got a nice cushion for him to curl up on. He slept with us last night and that was sooo nice. We made sure to clip his claws so he doesn't puncture our air mattress.

Today our hold baggage is due to arrive. That is the shipment that contains the essential items we need: pots, pans, kitchen utensils, linens, my portfolio, etc. No furniture. It was supposed to have arrived on Aug. 4. I'm at the library now checking into cable/isp packages available in our area and hopefully by now Brad has received the hold baggage.