It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

The temperature dropped quite a bit today and is supposed to stay cool for the next day or so. It's not exactly below zero and there isn't a ton of snow like there is in Milwaukee & Chicago but it most certainly is turtleneck and sweater weather today and tomorrow. That is sort of nice. Hong Kong is decked out to the nines with Christmas decorations and everyone is out and about doing their Christmas shopping. Sort of funny for a mostly Taoist & Buddhist country but having so many people wish me Merry Christmas today made me very happy.

I dropped my good friend Amy off at the airport train a few hours ago. She was here for 12 days and we spent 5 days in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam together. So much fun. I will post pictures and stories this weekend. It was incredibly sad to see her go as I'm not sure when I will see her next and we always have so much fun traveling together. The good news is we're already planning our next trip together. Not totally sure where it will be but we're keeping our options open.

Amy marked our last of numerous visitors we've had over the last four months. First it was Paul Blaha, then my cousin Dani & Alex, then the Semraus followed by my mom, Jim, Aunt Kim & Uncle Tom. We took a quick jaunt to northern Vietnam only to return in time for Jay & Paula to visit and then Amy a few days later. It has been a lot of fun to have so many people come and see our lives here but it has also been exhausting.

Chris and I are looking forward to a nice quiet weekend at home. Thanks to the English, Chris has Boxing Day (a.k.a. December 26) off from work so we will have a long weekend to catch up on things, enjoy our Hong Kong Christmas together and get ready for our next big trip. Three weeks from now we head to Jamaica for Jay & Paula's wedding and then on to South Africa for a safari.

We would like to wish all of our family and friends back home a very Merry Christmas. We are incredibly sad to be missing another holiday with our families. It's the hardest part of living so far away for both of us. We do, however, have a nice Christmas Eve dinner planned at a nice restaurant and then will spend Christmas Day with our good friends, Murray & Catharine.

Lots of love to you all.