Leaving on a Jet Plane....

It's still hard to believe that we leave for Spain TOMORROW! The last time I was out of the country was two years ago when my mom and I went to Paris. I am SO excited to get away from the cold and snow for a couple weeks. From everything I hear, Spain is a warm, fun, beautiful, exciting country, and I'm really looking forward to spending time in Madrid, seeing amazing works of art, participating in the Vaughan Town program, meeting interesting people and learning about Spanish culture, and eating lots of delicious ham. I figured I'd get caught up on the blog before we go, since I'll have two weeks' worth of catching up to do after we get back!

On Monday afternoon I went to my monthly Profitlancers meeting. This time our primary topic was how we, as freelancers, find work. I spent much of the day getting ready for Spain and doing stuff around the house. That night I went to my second photography class. This one wasn't so much about the camera as about how to take better pictures. I got some great tips. Tomkin picked me up after class, and we headed to Senor Wong's to meet Marcus and Helena for late-night happy hour. I am SO happy to have reconnected with them. They're cool, fun, creative, interesting, good-energy people. Helena is heading to India in a couple weeks, and Marcus is going to NYC, so the next time we meet up we'll all have lots of travel stories to share.
On Tuesday I did some laundry and cleaning, trying to get the house in good shape for the woman who'll be staying here while we're away. I met Becca and baby Leo for lunch at Tum Rup Thai. Becca and Omar just put their house on the market, so they're busier than ever. But Becca is always in great spirits--it's pretty amazing! We had a great time catching up. And Leo is ridiculously sweet and adorable. Tomkin had lunch with his friend Bill, then headed into the office. When he came home, we bundled up and took Chloe over to Dunning Park so she could run around for a while. Boy, did she need that! After a couple days of being cooped up, she really needs to take the edge off. Pete came over for dinner. He just spent three weeks in the Philippines, so it was fun to hear his travel stories. (Frankly, I hope ours are a lot less interesting....) Tomkin and I spent the rest of the evening prepping for Spain. I printed out photos of Minnesota-related people, places, and things to show to the Spaniards. I also watched "American Idol." (It's Hollywood week!)
Today we got up early and have been busy prepping and packing. I ran errands and finished up tasks around the house. Tomkin had lunch with his parents, then spent the afternoon at the office. We took Chloe for a walk, although it was really cold out. It should be a good 30 to 40 degrees warmer in Spain! Not tropical, but I'll take it. Both Tomkin and I are pretty much packed and ready to go now. While I was packing in the bedroom, Tomkin was packing in his "dressing room" (aka the guest room). We set Chloe's bed in the hallway so she could see us both. She definitely seemed a little on edge--she knew something was up! I talked to Mom, and now Tomkin, Chloe, and I are winding down, enjoying a quiet evening at home. We'll be flying out tomorrow afternoon. We change planes in Chicago and then fly directly to Madrid. We're due to arrive about 7:30am Madrid time on Friday the 6th. (They're seven hours ahead of Minnesota.) We'll be at the Vaughan Town program from Sunday the 8th through Friday the 13th, will spend Saturday the 14th (Valentine's Day!) in Toledo, and then have a couple more days in Madrid before we head home on Tuesday the 17th. We have an awesome house/dog-sitter lined up, so Chloe should be well-cared-for while we're away. I probably won't post to the blog while we're gone, but I will try to post updates on Facebook as much as possible. (I'm not sure what our computer access will be like.) Take care, stay warm, and I'll write again when we're back from Spain!