USA Update

So, I have officially been back in the USA for 4 days now. I got in late last Thursday so therefore today is officially my 4th day here. It is also my 4th day off of work. I have taken Friday and Monday off as vacation but plan to work out of Boston for the rest of the week.

Because my last post went on and on forever and ever, this time I will spare you the details and instead leave you with a very short list (relatively speaking) about what I've been up to since I landed back Stateside because I'm sure you are all very curious about what I'm up to and if I'm at all living up to my vacation to-do list. So, here goes:

First of all, I'm very happy to tell you all that I got CARDED on the plane on the way to the US! What is going on here? This is the second time in the past month (I must be doing something right). We didn't actually get to the point of me needing to show my actual ID. However, she did ask my age in a very skeptical tone and when I told her that I was the very old age of 32 she burst out laughing (and embarrassingly, so did everyone around me) and she actually said: "Wow. You look no older than 18!!" Well, that might have been stretching it a bit. But it did make my day err.... well, my week actually.

Since arriving home to my parent's house in Western Massachusetts, I have been very disappointed in the terrible cold and rainy weather. Blah! Where is summer? I want to lay by the pool!

On Saturday I attended the wedding of one of my oldest friend S. Despite the pouring rain, the wedding and the reception were fantastic! At this point I have to give a shout out to S. I have known S since we were 3 years old and we went to elementary school together. S and I have a long history that dates all the way back to his first bowl cut (over the years for some reason he chose to sport a bowl cut hairstyle most off the time). In elementary school he was like the way too "cool" kid who was always bullying everyone else. In high school he was the typical popular guy who played every sport. He was the guy who relentlessly teased everyone - although I think that he suffered his fair share of well-deserved teasing back. In college, he was the smart engineering student who knew how to have a good time and still get top grades.

Somewhere between elementary school and high school S and I became good friends and that friendship lasted us all the way to college at UNH. Over the years we have shared a lot of memories and good times (and some bad such as the infamous night that I split my head open at his girlfriend's apartment in college - oops). In high school he was a star basketball player and me being the cheerleader I was always had his name and even made up a special cheer for him (yes, we did relive this at the wedding). In college I remember driving home with S in TRUCK (pronounced loudly TRRRUUUCK) - it was a slow going ride since Truck only had 4 gears. People would joke that one day we would get together (I mean that's what you do in small towns right)? But S and I never had a romantic interest in each other. He is like a brother to me and I hope a friend for life.

I'm so happy that S found a beautiful bride in N. They are a beautiful couple I wish them the best of luck!

The wedding enabled me to to catch up with 2 of my best friends from high school who I went to the wedding with. So great to see them!

I also got to catch up with many other friends from high school mostly the high school "boys" at the wedding. Funny how quickly we all revert back to our high school selves and even the way we used to talk... As the mother of the groom said, "You all have such a special bond, and whenever you see each other, you pick right up where you left off." She is right...

As I so often do lately, I managed to feel out of place being one of the only single people as well as one of the few people without children - I guzzled gin and tonics as the couples went on and on about children. Not that I blame them or hold it against them (I'm sure I would be doing it too), it's just that I can't really relate and I certainly have nothing to contribute.

After a night of hearing my friends who are new parents talk about the early 5 am "wake up calls" from the kids and watching the married couples interact (not always in a very encouraging way) I have decided that I am in NO RUSH TO GET MARRIED OR HAVE CHILDREN! Perhaps single life is not all that bad...

I marvelled at the differences between American and Swedish weddings including: at this American wedding most guests (including the Maid of Honor) seemed to be wearing black which is a big "no no" in Sweden, the DJ serves as the person who gets the wedding going rather than the toast master, American weddings tend to have an emphasis on family members while the Swedish wedding has an emphasis on friends, the religious American ceremony vs. the very short and non-religious Swedish one, and the fact that the American wedding ended around midnight while the Swedish one raged on all night. Up next a San Fransisco wedding. We will see how that compares.

I have been trying to wean myself away from work but so far it's only been met with minimal success. Today while I was taking a nap (as you do on vacation) I had work stress dreams the whole time. I also have been unable to stop checking my blackberry (that damn blinking red light) and tonight and last night I actually found myself working for 2 hours! I hope I can find it in me to really leave work behind for awhile once I get through this week.

Today (Monday) the sun peaked its way through the clouds for exactly one hour. Unfortunately, that hour exactly coincided with the contractors who my parents hired to work on rebuilding our barn (no idea why this is important -it's not as if we have barn animals or anything). So, I sat in the house feeling very sorry for myself that I was missing the sun since there was really no way that I could strut out in my bikini in front of the 5 workmen. Thank you Mom and Dad for this great planning. I've been dreaming of a day at the pool for so long! I guess I have to wait a couple more weeks.

In general, I have been feeling a bit stressed and am not in vacation mode at all (probably because I know I have to work the rest of this week) I've been running around trying to sort out things, do work, get to the gym, etc. It has so far been anything but relaxing and so far I have not really crossed a single thing off my to do list and I'm struggling to find time to even sleep. And with this week in Boston and next week in San Fran, it doesn't seem like I will have much down time. Well, I guess that is the life of an International Woman of Mystery. I guess I should just get used to the fast pace.

I'm off to Boston for the rest of the week to work out of the office there and of course - have some adventures. Will keep you posted. So, stay tuned for a Boston update!

Have a great week!
XOXO