A Cold Cold Cold War Christmas Part II

Well Christmas morning we woke up with our presents under the mirror. It was much more akin to Festivus and putting presents under the aluminum pole rather than under the tree. But our true gift to each other was the trip that we were on rather than items. We were on a strict 20 pound budget and i think we both only went over by less than 10 pounds. Needless to say Kelly got a Purple infinity scarf and hat from me that she actually liked and didnt fake like it and then take it back. I got some Calivin Klein underwear and a book that i wanted, Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson.

After our little gift exchange and breakfast my computer promptly broke again which at the time was a major travesty. It meant we would not be able to chat with both of our families and seemed really depressing. We desperately tried not to let the little setback ruin anything for us but you it was a lingering thing on our minds and left us feeling even more out of touch with families who we desperately wanted to see. To add insult to injury the last time the computer broke was on Thanksgiving. Well we decided that there was nothing to be done and soldiered out into my first white (as in snowing...shame on you for even thinking it) Christmas. 

We decided it would be fun to walk past one of the sections of the Berlin Wall that was left standing all around the city. This was the only time we really saw other tourists the entire trip, as in there were 3 people taking pics of the wall when we walked up and then they promptly left. Its always strange to see something that impacted so many people in a horrible way for so long, and to us its, "oh cool, theres the Berlin wall" and nothing more. 

A cute freulein by the wall.

On the Russian side of the wall.

The streets were absolutely empty Christmas morning and it was truly beautiful. Trees everywhere were decorated like this one and it felt like we had the city to ourselves at least until we reached the Christmas market at Potzdamer Platz and found everyone. They had a man made innertube hill that kids were having fun on and every booth was open at the market. I enjoyed some Heisse Chocolate while Kelly got the first of many Gluweins of the trip. Now I like gluewein as well but more the idea of it than the actual drink. Its alright, and while the thought of sharing it with family and friends in a cold Christmas market sounds amazing, Ive just never really been a fan of spiced wine, or hot wine for that matter. We also got some mini-dough balls that were coated in sugar and very good. 

Heisse Schocolate

Gluewein

After our magical fun time at the Market we decided to do what we always do, find a coffee shop and read. It happened to be Starbucks and we were able to find a nice seat with a great view of the daylight fading over the city as we relaxed, read, and had some familiar coffee. Overall, for a Christmas morning and afternoon spent away from family, it was super fun.

After our we walked back to the Hostel to freshen up and get ready to try and find a place for Christmas dinner. We talked to our awesome host at the hostel and he circled some places on the map where we could get an authentic German meal. Now it bears mentioning that we had been looking for an authentic German meal for the entire time but we kept on being unable to find one. Again we ventured out and after about a 15 minute walk found the street they were talking about, which was loaded with restaurants, but no German looking ones. We settled on a Mexican place that in all fairness was amazing. I realized it had been about 5 months since i had had my favorite food and when the chips and salsa were served it tasted amazing. Seriously, if you have ever gone without Mexican food for that long, its ridiculous how much like home it tastes.

We settled on having MASSIVE burritos that were every bit as good as they looked. Overall it was a great substitute for home cooked food, but nowhere near as good of course, just a good substitute if one had to be made. That night we were able to find an internet cafe and long distance bar and got a hold of family on the phone. We also figured out how to hook up skype on our phones and use the wifi connection to talk even more extendedly to my parents and Kelly's parents and sisters and nieces who just got a skype enabled iPod. So all in all we were able to survive without the computer. 

They following day ended up being one of the best of my life. I dont exactly know how to express it but i just knew going through it that it was a blessed day and one that i will always remember. We just did the stuff we always did but again it felt incredibly special and just so Christmasy to be out and about in the snow in Berlin. It was also sunny, which helped.  We walked back by Potzdamer Platz and then over to the Brandenberg Gate, but on the way we walked past these strange block like things in a field. All markings were covered in snow so we didnt find out until we got back that it was the Holocaust memorial built on top of Hitlers bunker, where he died. It was a cool memorial and was weird how the blocks looked level but some got very tall in the middle where the ground sank.

At the wall on a sunnier Boxing day.

Holocaust Memorial

The blocks at the Holocaust memorial got very tall in the middle.

Brandenburg Gate

Christmas tree and a guy posing as a Soviet for pictures. 

It was when we got here to the other Christmas market that things started to feel incredibly special. The way the light was hitting the buildings just felt magical as we were walking around. 

This is one of my favorite pictures i have ever taken. So cool looking.

The best part of the day where it go truly special was when we found a tent to relax and have some more Gluwein and warm up. At this point we were realizing the day was a special one and we were saying sweet things to each other and just taking it all in. Right then (10 seconds after this picture) Kelly said, "I will remember this for the rest of my life", at that point a little girl ran up to us and proceeded to puke right in between us. It brought the magic to a screeching halt to say the least but did make for a funny story. 

After the Gluwein we decided on some dessert. This was a sweet waffle, freshly made, covered in custard, and given a small pool of chocolate sauce. It was absolutely amazing. I cant wait to go back next Christmas just to have another. We also got some roasted almonds and strolled around for another hour or so just taking in the plays and performers, the lights, and watched the sunlight turn to twilight, and eventually go out. 

We walked home past Checkpoint Charlie once again and got some more Starbucks. We stayed there reading until they closed just wanting the day not to end. We went back to the Hostel and decided to try the Mediterranean place across the road. Thats right, Italian, Mexican, Mediterranean, but still no German food. Needless to say it was incredibly good. Also it was funny, we didn't order anything but soda's for drinks and our server must have taken a shine to us. He spoke no English but came over and just poured us two shot glasses full of clear liquor. Now Kelly and I aren't big time shot takers but we also aren't ones to be culturally rude. So we took them, it tasted just like pure liquorice, but i quickly had some more soda to wash it down. Now we ate and it was good, but there was a small mix up with our bill and to make up for it our waiter came over and said sorry and before we could protest poured out two more shots. I was laughing about it and really didn't want it since i didn't need anymore and i have liquorice, but when in Rome... Kelly and i made it home and went to bed afterwards and slept like babies. The next morning we had to check out of our hostel as i had booked another hostel across the city for our last night in Berlin. When we got there, it really wasn't much of a Hostel as a 4 star hotel at hostel prices. It was called Singer 109 if anyone ever goes back, amazing. Now we got there a bit early and put our bags in storage and had to kill 3 hrs. So once again we decided to walk around and see what we could find. What we found was the river full of ice and a beautiful time, these next few pictures are what we saw. 

Just some more unforgettable beauty (Kelly and the River)

Yes this is a swan chilling on a chunk of ice

I thought this statue looked funny, like the lion had a blindfold on.

Peasant girl outside of the Berliner Dome. 

Well during the last portion of our walk (about 3 miles from the hostel) it started to snow hard. We found shelter in yet another coffee shop and read in order to try and wait it out. It didn't stop, so we made a long journey home in the snow and checked in to our room and finally dried out. Luckily on our walk i spotted a Brauhaus that looked like authentic food and we made a mental note to go back. We showered in amazingly private and clean rooms at the hostel and got ready to go out for the evening. I stopped on the way in the snow to grab this picture specifically for my Facebook profile. It really doesn't get more perfect for a profile pic than this. We got to the Brauhaus in spite of the increasing snowfall. It had probably amassed about 4 inches since our afternoon walk.

At the restaurant we finally found what we were looking for in authentic German food. We also decided to order a stein of Beer since it was brewed on site. It was served at room temp and was surprisingly good and flavorful. We also looked around for the beer menu for a while before we realized they only had one type, and that was of course the type they brewed there. 

This was our meal. Kelly had a pork steak with a salad and mashed potatoes that was very good. I on the other hand had the most delicious piece of medieval looking pork leg that i have ever seen. It came with German style potatoes and fresh hot sauerkraut, which i don't like, but i tried it here and it was amazing. Also it was all served with an amazingly good hot mustard. We finally got our German food and it was everything we could have ever hoped for it to be. 

Our dinners

This belongs on a kings table circa 800 years ago. So good though.

Afterwards i was feeling a bit full

To end it all we had a beautiful walk in the most snow of the trip. We each had about an inch on us by the time we got back to the Hostel. We read in bed with our wet clothes on the radiator and had an amazing close to an amazing trip.

Our 'Hostel' reception area.

Morning after the heavy snows. 

To end it up we checked out and made it to the airport fine. Our only delay was that customs took forever and we got to our bus an hour late. They wouldn't honor our ticket that i had pre-booked so we got our ride from an alternative bus company. It was disappointing to be back in the UK and getting ready for work, but as i always remind Kel at the end of our trips, we are leaving Europe, to go home to Europe and we are very lucky for that. 

Sorry for the extreme delay in this as these do take a while and i find my self very very busy with school these days. Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you enjoy these infrequent looks into Kelly and my life over here. Love you and miss you all. Later. 

A Cold Cold Cold War Christmas in Berlin Part 1

Well Christmas has come and gone for Kelly and I and to tell you the truth it didn't ever really feel Christmas-y while we were here in the UK. We didn't have any of the family traditions, didn't have any decorations in our house, and didn't even do any Christmas shopping, but thankfully all of that changed the moment we got to Berlin.
The last day of school was on Friday and we weren't leaving until Christmas eve. Go figure 10 minutes after school let out it started snowing and didn't stop for a day and a half. It was absolutely beautiful but i couldn't help thinking, "Why couldn't this have happened while we were in school so we could get a snow day" but hey I really can't complain since it was rather lovely around Maidenhead. That Saturday we had Chris and Carly, and both the Pete's over for Christmas dinner. We made way too much food but it included roast chickens, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, bread, pigs in a blanket and a few other assorted appetizers. It was absolutely wonderful and even felt a bit like Christmas with all of the good company around. The following week was a bit aimless for me as Kelly got really sick and stayed home from work for two days but mostly stayed in bed, and the other days she was at work and i was stuck at home a little bit bored. Luckily i did go into Windsor one day to spend it with my friend Tom and also go to Reading another day to get a new jacket with some money Kelly's parents got us for Christmas (thanks Olson's). Finally it came time for us to leave. Now in order to catch our 6 am flight from Stansted airport (1 1/2 outside of London) we had to leave our house at midnight. I decided not to sleep and Kelly managed to get a few winks but I don't think it helped much. We got on the train to Paddington and it was nice and quiet until at the next stop a large group of loud English-Jamaican gentlemen got on the train who were more than slightly inebriated. It made for a loud couple of stops and prevented any sleep whatsoever. When we finally arrived at Paddington we became aware that the tube was shut down and we had to get a cab to the bus stop. I only had 6£ on me but found a cabbie to drive us even though it cost around 9£ (thanks mystery cab driver). After he dropped us off in the general vicinity Kelly and I found the bus stop. It was at this point that Kelly realized that she had left her make up all at home and we entered crisis mode. I could just see the future in my head. Me with my camera out and Kelly constantly covering her face and having many arguments of me telling her she is very beautiful au natuale and her telling me to shut up and that i have to say that because im her husband. She calmed down though when i said we could go get some make up when we got to Berlin. We caught the EasyBus and got to Stansted a few hours early after all so we joined with the 100's of other passengers who were sleeping on the Terminal floor at 3am until the desks for Ryanair opened at 4:30. There was a mad rush for the counter but we got through easily and without incident. Thankfully after security we went to the terminal where low and behold they had the duty free shops, WITH EVERY TYPE OF MAKE UP KELLY COULD EVER DREAM OF!!!! So 40£'s later Kelly was much happier than i was as we headed off towards the plane.
Ryainair is truly a budget airline. Nothing is free, and they constantly try to sell you stuff the entire flight, from scratch-it tickets to food and perfume, they never stop. Seats are also first come first serve and are very small and uncomfortable, but for the price you cant argue, and i slept the entire way to Berlin.

 Once we got there i made my first and only really dumb mistake which was to take a cab into town. From looking at the map i thought it was really close but it ended up costing us about 38 Euro, which was a really lot of money to us. Little did we know we could have taken the train for about 2.80, but oh well it was the only really big blunder i made for the trip so it wasnt that bad. We got to the Grand Hostel in Berlin a little bit before check in, but they let us stow our bags and told us our room would be ready in about 2 hours. The hostel was really nice and clean and i would recommend staying there to anyone.

We decided to go for a walk to pass the time so we grabbed a map and headed out to find a Christmas Market that was across the city but which was supposed to be cool. As we walked i noticed a few things, one was there weren't really many people around and almost zero tourists. I had no idea what there was to do in Berlin and the cold rainy weather told me i might have picked a less than ideal city to go to for Christmas (Thankfully this wasn't a correct assumption because we had a great time). We walked and walked and the drizzly rainy atmosphere really took away from the city's beauty as well as all of the black road slush from snows in weeks past. We did find a Starbucks to warm up in and grab some coffee since we were still exhausted and i happened to be right outside of Checkpoint Charlie which was kind of a big deal back during the Cold war. I snapped a picture of the 'Last' USSR flag that ever hung in the Kremlin.

We did eventually find the Christmas market, and it was really great. We enjoyed some Bratwurst for lunch which was out of this world good. The US versions just don't compare, which is probably obvious since we were in Germany but it had to be said. There were all sorts of  cool little makeshift café's set up and all sorts of little vendors selling home made arts and crafts. We found some cool Christmas ornaments and bought them and then realized the time and headed back for the Hostel to catch a few winks before dinner.

Christmas Market

When we got back to the Hostel we passed out for about 3-4 hrs. and woke up at around 6 in the evening and decided to bundle up and venture out to find a little Christmas eve dinner. Luckily for us and our Christmas mood it had started to snow outside. As we walked we had a few special moments in the snowy empty streets of Berlin and both mutually decided that we would probably remember that walk for the rest of our lives. 

Our special walk in the snow on Christmas eve.

We managed to find a little Italian/Mexican place called L'Mante that looked open, cheap, and good after about a 20 min walk. We weren't disappointed and were treated to an excellent meal of Pizza, Calzone, and Nacho's that was all dirt cheap and our waiter was an amazing host. Grand total of dinner and drinks came to 18 Euro and i tipped 5 just because it was great and Christmas and our waiter was great and he was shocked, and told us to come back the next night (sadly we didn't) but it was a truly memorable Christmas Eve dinner.

Dinner at L'Mante

We headed home in the now blizzard like conditions and loved  every minute of it. We went to bed tired and full and ready for an exciting Christmas day.

Alright, just to get this up here i will post this as a part 1 and do the rest later today or tomorrow. Thanks for reading and leave me some comment if you are so inclined. Thanks, and come visit us... Anyone. We would love to have you sometime soon.

Casey and Kelly

NEWS FLASH: CASEY CONTINUES BLOGGING, To everyone's shock.

Alright, well to my loyal readers who are my friends and family. Turns out I'm not dead...just busy. Yeah I've finally realized that a weekly blog is a bit much for me to muster. Not because I'm so swamped that i can't do it, but mostly just because things have really started to settle down around here and there isn't really much going on. But after 5 weeks or so I finally have some stuff to report on.
First things first, School. Well I kind of hate to admit it because it was giving me so much good on-line blog fodder but school is kind of getting a lot better. Tolerable even. Good even. I kind of am starting to enjoy myself there. I don't know what it is and I've asked my kids why things are better and they don't know but they are. I think I've finally adjusted to them and more importantly I have built enough bridges with them to have earned a little bit of respect. My nightmare Year 10 class that was the worst classes I've ever taught is now my absolute favourite class this year (not of all time, but top 10 for sure). Actually im struggling with my higher level classes and especially the year 7's and 8's. This is only because I am way harder on them than the older kids because they are still very pliable and I intend to make everyone of them doctors, lawyers and educators. That's pretty much it. Oh except i did get a promotion. I am now in charge of writing the BTECH curriculum for the school. This actually comes with a decent pay raise but quite a bit of work. I was just stoked that I was picked out of all the new teachers because my Dept. Chair thought I had adjusted the quickest and was ready for some extra responsibility. So that,s good news.
Kelly also was promoted at work but under much different circumstances. She was absolutely hating life working at Daniels in the accessories dept. but another store offered her a job, and it was a store that she wanted to work at pretty badly called Whistles. Well it was less hours and the same pay but you cant put a price on happiness so she decided to take it and quit Daniels. Well when she went to tell her boss, her boss asked why she would leave. Kelly didn't want to hurt their feelings so she said that Whistles was giving her more money, which wasn't exactly true. Daniels then offered to make her the Buyer for Calvin Klein lingerie and underwear and pay her more. This is amazing, Kelly has always wanted to be a buyer and for once on of her little white lies worked out for the best. Thanks God. Also she has another side job just for fun that she works for. I guess Kelly helped this girl in the store and they got on really well. She asked Kelly to work at these Clothing parties (like Tupperware parties) that she throws. They have since become really good friends and Kelly has worked one party so far and did great. You can check out the companies website at www.beautyandtheboutique.com so go and check it out.
In other news it snowed here over the last week and although we didn't get any time off school it was still very beautiful, but alas i forgot to take some pictures. Also Kelly and I are going to Berlin for Christmas so that should be a lot of fun, and I definitely will have some pictures from that trip.
Well to all of you that read this, come out and visit so i have something to write about. Well i do have some funny musings on the Brits so I'll save that for the next blog but thanks for being patient and I'll get another one up here soon. Later all. Love and Miss you all, and for real... come out here, we loved having BA out here and would love any and all who want to come out.
-Casey and Kelly...but mostly Casey

From Paris with Love?

Alright, our internet goes in today...hopefully so blogs will be at least weekly from now on. Right now i'm at Costa Coffee hopefully for the last time using the internet and catching up on my Blazers basketball. Well before our half-term break things got quite crazy for a bit. I had all the same issues to deal with, with the students but add to that reports for the kids for the term 1. Here its a bit different, instead of just reporting what they got on their reports i have to predict where i think they will end up on their standardized tests at the end of their key stage. This is easy for year 8's who are in the last year of their key stage but significantly tougher with year 9's. Its like talking a freshman and grading them on where you think they will be at the end of their senior year...its weird to say the least. Kelly and i just got back from 5 days and 4 nights in Paris which was amazing. We met up with some teacher friends and even had dinner with Jason Brown and Celeste and their ever expanding brood of increasingly cute kids. It was awesome to say the least and great to see some old friends. Ill tell the story in pictures. First off we decided to save some money and take the bus which was fine going to Paris, not so much coming back. Chris and Carly also decided to take the bus so we all took the same one. We arrived at the bus station and stood in line to get on board when the driver told us we would have to go get a physical ticket (all we had were ticket print-outs) and we lost our place in line, and therefor didn't get to sit together. It was alright though because i ended up sitting next to another young teacher from Northern England and we chatted for quite a while during the trip. I thought we were taking the ferry but was shocked to find out they were loading up the bus onto a train car and taking the Chunnel. We got out of the bus and had a little picnic in front of the bus. So picnic, in a train car, in front of a bus, under the English channel...weird.

Bus on the train

Strangest picnic ever.

Well after we arrived we split up from our friends and went and found our hotel which i remind you was an extremely good deal and we soon found out why. It was nice, clean, and centrally located in a nice neighborhood close to a metro stop,  which is all you can ask from a budget room. There were small things that let us know the deal wasn't that good. Like no toilet seat, a constantly dripping shower that was super loud, a shaky lift, the heat wouldn't turn off, and we slept on a couch bed. All in all though for the price, i would stay there again. Ive definitely had worse. So that night we went to a restaurant and each got sandwiches and coffee and we were painfully reminded at just how expensive Paris is and we determined to eat for cheaper on the street from now on. No more cafe's or restaurants. Food was good though and our waiter was excellent in recognizing we were clearly not locals and spoke to us very nicely in English. After dinner we met back up with Chris and Carly to take a long walk along the Seine from the Champs Elyse to the Notre Dame.

City of love?

Good Views

The Notre Dame was pretty amazing as per usual and was actually still open when we got there. It was strange though, there was a video playing on a projector and no other lights on inside except for the candles. It felt really cool and let us know what it might have been like a few centuries ago, minus the projector of course. We walked to the Latin Quarter after that and found a nice little pub, had a glass of local French wine and then split for home. Slept really good that night and the sofa bed was actually pretty comfortable. Woke up and got ready in the morning and went to find something to eat with Kelly. We found a little street market close to our hotel and a bread shop where we got water, ham and butter sandwiches on fresh baked bread, and a chocolate croissant on the cheap and it was all amazing. Paris may be expensive but bread and pastries are dirt cheap and so good. 

Cheap amazing breakfast.

After breakfast we walked up to the Sacre Cour (sacred heart) church on top of the hill in Montmarre. The church really isn't that old, but it its beautiful on the inside and the views during the day (or at night) are stunning. We were here 6 years ago but only saw the night views so we wanted to get up here during the day.

I wish Kel and i had a tripod so we could be in a picture together.

Stellar Views.

Beautiful girl on the beautiful walk down.

Kelly then expressed an interest in finding where the Moulin Rouge was to which i replied,"I don't think that that's a real place". I don't know why i thought that but i kind of thought it was more of a district in Paris rather than a place, also i thought maybe the movie had made it up. Oh, how wrong i was and oh how i didn't hear the end of it for quite a while. We happened to walk down into the seedy side of Paris which was lined with strip clubs and sex shops, mostly because we were looking for a Starbucks. We hadn't found one but we were debating going into McDonald's for coffee, when Kelly spied a used Starbucks cup on the ground and she thought it was a sign there must be one close. We kept walking and eventually found it, in front of the Moulin Rouge. I didnt hear the end of it for a while, i had doubted the existence of a Starbucks and the famous club and they were across the street from each other.

It was hard to take this picture with my foot wedged firmly in my mouth, especially because it was bleeding from where i  had shot it earlier.

We took the metro home to the Rome stop and relaxed for a bit in the room and read, and took a nap and then decided to go to for a long walk from the Arc de Triomphe to the Eiffel Tower and back which is about a 4-5 mile journey and we had a really good time. Nice relaxing stroll through Paris...theres nothing else quite like it. We finished up the night with a little more French Wine and some card games in our room. Great day.

Our Metro stop close to our hotel.

We had someone take this picture that is a replica of the one we took almost 6 years ago when we were here for New Years Eve 2005. 

Walking up to the tower.

Good end to the day.

On Monday we knew we were meeting up with all of the teachers in Paris later so we decided to go to the Luxembourg Gardens and read our books. After some minor mishaps in finding the gardens and trying to get food, Kelly and i found them. We had remembered them from our previous trip but i had forgotten just how incredibly beautiful they are. I think that these gardens is one of my top 5 places on the face of the Earth. We spent about 2 hours there reading in the sun before the chilly wind and our commitments to meet up with friends drove us back to our hotel to get ready for the evening.

Surprisingly every one met up at the Notre Dame at the correct time and everyone was on time. We met up with most of the Langley Science dept. and Chris of course. But Peter Brozny, Roger and Romina, and Chris and Carly were all there. We sat and chatted outside the Notre Dame for a bit and then went and found an awesome Crepe place where they gave you a dinner crepe, a dessert crepe, and a soda for only 7.50 Euros. Great deal, good food, will definitely go back there. After that we took another stroll and found a little bar that was having a quiz night. We didn't win but it was fun none the less. Everyone had a great time and we all went home for the night, not too terribly late.

Headless saints at the Notre Dame

The crew right after meeting up.

Roger and Brozny in front of the Notre Dame.

In America Roshambo is a very different thing.

The last day of our trip we again decided to go out to the Gardens and read. It was a warmer day and we spent even more time reading there after a breakfast of Crepes and Coffee. I really cant express how amazing it is there, i don't know why i love it so much, but for some reason it just strikes me with the old-world style beauty.

As we were leaving the park for the day we had some problems getting out of the park due to the fact that a major protest was going on outside. Basically all of France is upset that they are pushing back the retirement age from 60 to 62 in order to collect their version of Social Security. Its an unfortunate circumstance but all the protesting in the world isn't gonna stop this bill from passing. Luckily the protest we got caught in was peaceful and it was interesting to see.

After the protest we went and met up with our friend Jason Brown and his wife and had an amazing meal in their sleepy little town outside of Paris. It was amazing and their kids were very well behaved and yet hilarious, at least Javen was, the 5 month old just kind of sat there. We stayed up and had wine and coffee and talked about all sorts of stuff and it was great to see some familiar faces abroad. Begrudgingly we had to leave and get back home to pack since our bus was leaving early in the morning. The trip back seemed way longer than the trip there and we had to take the ferry. Altogether it took over 12 hours. We went from walking, to the subway, to the bus, to the ferry, to the bus, to the subway, to the train, to walking home. Also i got seasick on the ferry and did not have a very good time. But all in all a great time was had by Kel and I and also the internet worked when i got home so that was exciting. I will say this, i am not really looking forward to work all that much tomorrow. 7 weeks until Christmas break when Kelly and i are most likely going to Berlin. It seems so far away though. Alright thanks for reading and i promise a more frequent blog from now on. Hope you enjoyed the long post. Later, i miss you all.