a day off, the district conference and a pedicure

hi there faithful blog readers!

i have been absent for a few days---i hope you noticed!!

we had a day off in Kronberg--the first day off in three weeks! i got up at 9am and re-organized my luggage, did some laundry, had a late breakfast and went into this little town of Hofheim to buy a Hydrangea for my Kronberg host family. A hydrangea plant just does not seem to be enough thans for these incredible people who takes us in for a week. And these folks not only took one GSE member in, they took two. Paul and I stayed with this family. Not in the same room of course...actually, I had some pretty good digs at this house. It was a basement bedroom and bathroom. And for my Canadian relatives, you know how well you can sleep in a basement. It is hotter than ever here and basements are always cooler and they are quieter and darker!! They actually live in Kriftel just about 10 minutes from Kronberg. The Klugs were (and are!!) really, really special people. Beautiful young couple and their children were lovely, well behaved and very friendly. My host mother, Anja has a younger brother named Dennis who who lives with them and he was so kind and welcoming too. I will not forget this time in Kronberg.

So, yesterday we left the warm homes of the Kronberg Club and went to Bad Wildegun in the northern part of Hessen for the District Conference. This is a spa town...no kidding. Imagine if you built an entire town around the Sonoma Mission Inn and this is what it looked like. And we were staying at the nicest place in town...remember, this is Rotary we are talking about. This was a pretty shi-shi place...

So of course, the first thing I though of was that this place MUST have someone here who can give me a much needed pedicure. And thank God I was right!! I had a pedicure that was so fabulous, I would have gladly paid twice as much for it. I could easily spend an hour typing out the details of this completely joyous occasion, but I will spare you...you can thank me later.

The district conference was not a good experience. And I will not bitch about it here...I guess there has to be something that will stink in a four week program, right? Well, this was it. The district conference was not a good day and I was not a happy camper...details of this will only be documented in my private journal or upon further inquiry if you so desire to know more.

But it was the day after the pedicure that was sent from heaven so that should count for something, right?

Mom, don`t worry, even though I had a bad day, I am ok. As of today there are five full day left and then I will head to Denmark for a much needed vacation!

Yes, I have been gone this long and I need a vacation!