Emma is Back!!!

Emma’s plane was only 45 minutes late. She was worried the fog that closed down Heathrow would move east, and that she would have to spend Christmas alone in Amsterdam! Thankfully that didn’t happen. I was so relieved I started crying as soon as we got to the airport and knew she’d landed safely.
There were hundreds and hundreds of people waiting for passengers from places like Prague, Moscow, Kansas City (!) and Amsterdam. It was a surprisingly sedate crowd—with the exception of me. I started shouting and crying and waving madly as soon as I saw Emma, and she was just as excited.
Even though she’d been up most of the night partying with friends and had a long flight, Emma was full of beans and good humor. I think we laughed more tonight than we have in the last four months.
Emma says she missed being able to sit on a couch, watch movies on her TV, sleep in a double bed, our food (especially PizzaPizza which we had for dinner tonight), and North American sanitation. What she liked about Amsterdam was riding her bike everywhere (even to clubs), eating at Febo (a food automat), chocolates and cheese, and the general laid back vibe and sense of culture that living in Europe brings. My guess is that she is going to experience culture shock for a few days at least.
She brought each of us a little pre Christmas gift. Mine was a nativity set from Paris because she knows how much I love them, and I wish I’d taken pictures. Instead, I scanned this photo of the two of us taken on Christmas Day, 1984.

P.S. Heather—check out my blog for Saturday, December 16th to get information on where to buy that Hallmark stamp you asked about.