Summer 2004 Update

Summer update? A little late…

Hmmm? New state, new job, new grocery stores, new home… Seems fitting to have a new format. What’s in a format? At this point, I don’t have the energy nor the will to be philosophical.

Overall, I’ve adjusted well to Virginia. The summer heat and humidity wasn’t nearly as bad as described. In fact, I actually loved all but about two weeks of it. It’s getting cold now though, and I’m not looking forward to a repeat of last winter. Oh well; it comes with the territory. An awesome thing the humidity brought was GREEN. I’d been told how green it was, but it didn’t really make sense to me until Michaela called it, “juicy.” Hers is a perfect description. I’m still not sure what the four seasons mean. More than anything, it seems like Los Angeles with really cold, long winters.

One thing I had the pleasure of experiencing that most of you won’t is a 17 year itch. We have cicadas, a type of locust that come to life once every 17 years. The theory sounded cute, then the reality sounded, and sounded, and sounded. Seemingly their purpose in life is to mate and hibernate for another 17 years. Imagine your upstairs neighbors having sex on a squeaky bed for 3 weeks straight WITHOUT SLEEP. That’s the 17 year itch.

On the new job, I’ll simply say it’s old. For the new Grocery Stores, Harris Teeter ROCKS! Thankfully Trader Joe’s and Safeway are here, so I can get a bit of home when needed.

I’m still lovin’ the new pad. I’ve had several visitors during my first six months. Veena’s been out a couple of times. Andre’s more or less been here since June. My mom came for two weekends. Aunt Sue, Uncle Gerd, and Aunt Julie came for lunch. And Suzanne and Frank stayed last week. I’m a landlady once again. Andre’s boss, my lower level tenant, is the greatest roommate a girl could ever ask for. He spends a couple of days a week at the place, generally, while I’m in Charlotte.

You know travel’s always high on my priority list. Andre and I flew to Peru in January, and to Florida in May. We’ve taken some road trips through VA, NC, MD, WV and PA as well. I think I covered those fairly well before, so I won’t bore you with the details. Work’s put a damper on some travel plans. I’d hoped to go to the Bahamas with Suzanne and Frank and to Charleston, SC with Linda, but work prevented both. The job can’t keep us down too long though. Andre leaves for Denmark on Friday, and I’ll meet him there next Wednesday! Leave it to a dealer meeting in Nashville, TN next week to delay a simultaneous departure. Never fear, I’ll post photos when I return.

I’ve got a few new, if you haven’t seen them lately. http://community.webshots.com/user/kinchm

I hope you’re doing well,

Michelle