Happy Holidays...And God Bless Us, Everyone!!

As I write this, it is almost 6 am...which means that even though I slept in yesterday I have still been up for almost 20 hours straight...so please bear with me!! I am at an internet cafe downtown in the "bustling metropolis" of Targu Mures, Romania!! Once I head home I will need to air out my jacket as it is beginning to reek of second-hand cigarette smoke!! (On a side note, if I make it back to the States after my stint here WITHOUT lung cancer from all the second-hand smoke...it will be a miracle)!!

I have some awesome family news to impart...as of one week ago...I have a new niece!! Her name is Lydia Claire Cordero and she is a little beauty!! I was able to talk to the biggest chunk of my family on the internet this evening and to see most of them via webcam...it was absolutely great...and definately helped me to bear being away from them ALL for the first time EVER (usually the barest Christmases included at least my Grandma Seale, my aunt Joyce, and a brother or two)!! Next year Steve and Syrena have promised to visit at Christmas and the following one after that I will be home in the States...so yeah...this will be my loneliest Christmas.

Anyway, about getting to talk to my family...I was able to talk to Mom, Dad, John, Dayana, Michael, Melody, Susanna, and Rebekah. Poor little guy Andrew was feeling sick, so he only waved from across the room at the webcam. I also got to see the new little one Lydia and to see how my "big boy" nephew Josiah has grown!! It was SO good to talk to them. Suz and Beka are both insisting that they will have enough money to come here for next summer and I don't doubt but that Suz will at least...it remains to be seen whether Beka will be able to hold onto her money that long!!

I still plan on getting my previous newsletters posted in here one of these days soon...so keep an eye peeled for that. I also want to get some more pics on this page...but that will most likely have to wait till I get S&S to send me some of their wedding pics, M&M to send some pics of the babies, and my digital camera to arrive!! Yes, my Christmas present to myself...(thanks to Steve FINALLY sending my support in a lump sum this month)...is a new digital camera and a super-duper 512MB memory stick...so everyone will FINALLY see pics of TM and of the babies at Kiwi House.

My apologies to anyone who has just stumbled onto this site and has no clue whatsoever what I am talking about...but again...once my newsletters and a few more things get posted on here...it should be easy for you to figure out what in the WORLD I am talking about...maybe!! But then again, I can be pretty random sometimes!!

All right...now to the main reason I was gonna post today!! I want to wish all of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Hope you have the best of time this holiday season!!!Think of me when you eat your Christmas dinner...hopefully next year I can actually bake...pray for my next apartment to be fully furnished (or at LEAST have a stove and fridge included)!!! I pray you have an awesome time this holiday season...and that no one else falls on their backside on ice that is hidden under the snow and gets stared at by all the passersby!! Okay, that happened to me Thursday and I'm still sore!!

Anyways, HAPPY HOLIDAYS and GOD BLESS!!!