Day 6, Saturday:

So, Saturday didn't end up being quite as busy as we thought. Debbie has a bit of a cold so she still worked but Mike took Steve to his game in the morning. James called Pop and he took us over to the Towson Mall where I attempted to browse and shop... James was having none of that however so barely managed to let me buy a few gifts for back home before his shopping frustrations got the better of him!! Pop and James grabbed a coffee at the mall, then we continued our sojourn around Towson and Parkville chauffered by Pop. We picked up Alison's birthday present and headed on down to Beltway Liquor, a massive massive liquor store, to grab a couple of bottles of wine- South Australian, of course :-) Alison didn't end up having her birthday party as she was sick too, so after shopping we came home.

I wasn't feeling quite 100% so checked my email then napped on the couch til it was time to get ready to go out for dinner with the Hofmann's. Dinner was scheduled for 6.30pm, and we just made it on time. It was lovely to meet Martha and Grandma Hofmann (Jim's partner and mother respectively) and to see Jim again. Ben and Vicki were there too, and we had an excellent night! The food was great, and I got to try my first taste of Maryland crab and my first creme brulee for dessert, which James and I shared. We both received some very generous gifts from Jim and Martha and Grandma Hofmann- we were very spoilt!! We came home and shortly after went out again, up to Rob and Maria's new condo in Hunt Valley... then came home again to sleep!! All this socialising, eating out, relaxing and having fun is completely exhausting!!

I promise I'll upload some photos when I can get my hands on a USB cable!!

Day 7, Sunday:

Well, today was Christmas Eve- I have been sitting here for the last 10 minutes trying to remember what on Earth we did...

Ummmm...

Well, we wrapped presents then James went to Bowman's to meet up with his dad to watch the Baltimore Ravens in a football game at some stage during the afternoon. I went to Apple and Pop's house with Debbie to drop off some Christmas presents. I think Alison came around today and had her birthday celebration too? In the evening, James went out with his dad I think? I went to Church with Debbie and Steven at 8pm and we got back around 9.30pm. I think Debbie and I watched some TV before heading off to bed. Really I can't remember the day much at all. It was only 2 days ago. There is something seriously wrong with me...

Day 8, Monday:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We were up early this morning, the sounds of eleven year old feet running up and down the stairs rousing me from my sleep at around 6.15am! I managed to doze til around 7.30am until I was wide awake and got up. James needed some further convincing, but when I got downstairs Steven, Mike and Debbie were all awake- and even Ben who had stayed the night was just getting up. I went back up to get James out of bed... then Steven went up to get James out of bed... then Ben went up... and instead of getting James up all he said was "scoot over" and crawled into bed with him! Eventually we were all gathered in the dining room, coffee in hand, ready to unwrap the mountain of presents underneath the christmas tree. We had a wonderful morning, and all got pretty spoilt with gifts. I received some gorgeous pyjamas and a scarf, some Beautiful body lotion, earrings, a great book and a CD, among other things. James also did well, he got exactly what he wanted: a pair of black Doc Martens, plus other things including some clothes, a couple of gift cards and some hot chocolate from Steven. After presents, James went to nap while Debbie and I chatted for ages, and then we also went to have a nap. In the afternoon we went over to Apple and Pop's for Christmas dinner- joining us were Aunt Donna, Uncle Mark, Becky and Bill (who had arrived from New Jersey the evening before), Gina and Rob. We had ham, turkey, stuffing, Aunt Donna's amazing "$20 Potatoes", Mike's broccoli salad and a huge amount of other goodies, it was sooo good!! We spent a couple of hours unwrapping more presents at Apple and Pop's, and then the boys watched "The Game" (more football!) and we all talked and relaxed. It was a beautiful day!! James went over to Rob and Maria's condo afterwards to play Rob's new XBox 360 while I opted to head home with the rest of the family, tired out and ready for bed! Uncle Mark has VERY generously lent James and I his spare car, so James was able to make his own way to and from Rob's without needing to be collected or dropped off. We can't thank Uncle Mark enough for this, it's helped us out no end.

What a lovely Christmas :-) I hope all our friends and family back in Australia (and in the US!) have enjoyed a very happy and safe Christmas also.

Day 9, Tuesday:

Today James and I both slept in pretty late once again- I think I've been waking up around 11.30am most days!!! I figure I have a lot of sleep to catch up on, and Debbie says I still have jet lag (it's a good excuse, anyway! hehe) Debbie gave James a temporary gym membership while we're here as a Christmas present which he was thrilled about, so they headed off to the gym while I made a bagel with grape jelly and coffee for breakfast and sat down to finish the book Debbie lent me to read (The Mermaid's Chair by Sue Monk Kidd- very good!) After they got home James and I went out to get him all measured up for his tuxedo to wear in the wedding then he was desperate to go out and spend the gift cards he received for Christmas. The traffic was ridiculous, the malls jam packed... even I wasn't thrilled about shopping on a day like today, but the gift cards were burning a hole in James' (new Christmas) wallet so we forged ahead, and he got several more CDs, two more pairs of shoes and some other things.

Ben, James and I met Jim and Martha for dinner back down on The Avenue at White Marsh as it was their last night in town. We went to Della Rose's and had some yummy Maryland crab soup, pasta and salad, then it was time to say goodbye with the promise of seeing Jim and Martha in Adelaide sometime in the future. Ben, James and I went into Barnes and Noble briefly and then headed home once again. I started this blog entry then, but am finishing it the next morning as I had to get some sleep!!

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So it's now officially 10.38am on Wednesday and I'm sitting here in my new jamies and dressing gown contemplating the rest of the day. Debbie has now come down with a full-blown cold and I also have some chest infection I think, so I'm thinking at this point it might be a good day to stay home. James and I did think yesterday that we might go into the city today and head down to Fells Point and Inner Harbor, so I guess we'll see what happens later on (as of writing this James is still in bed and when he gets up he wants to go to the gym). I think Ben's off today so we'll hopefully see him later.

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I can't believe today is our tenth day here. It feels like we only just arrived, but in a way it feels like we've been here forever. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to spend so much time with James' family- they are, without exception, the most wonderful group of people and have treated me like one of their own from the moment we arrived. Not surprisingly, James has raised the possibility of us moving here ( I knew it would only be a matter of time) and I said that we can definitely consider it. We have to remember that living here will be very different to just being on holiday here, and so we have to weigh everything up carefully- I said to James "Remember when you wanted to leave the US and never come back? You have to think about the things that made you feel like you never wanted to live here again before we decide what we want to aim for". James' family and friends are here, but my family and friends are in Australia- so how do you decide where you'll be without making it seem like one is more important than the other?? Where would we have a better life?? What makes a better life? The country where we are? The lifestyle we could have? The people that we'd be around? Anyway, we're not deciding anything right now, and whatever happens in the future would be a long term plan anyway (just to reassure those of you freaking out right now reading this...!!) Just "thinking out loud" right now really and not thinking too seriously about anything other than having a good holiday and having fun, but I do think that this is somewhere I could live one day.

The weather is still very mild- the coldest I have known it to get to during the day is around 5 degrees celcius, but aside from being right outside in it I have never felt remotely cold due to the very efficient central heating! Even while outside I haven't felt overly cold- the cold is different here anyway, James says it's due to the year-round humidity. The most bizarre thing is you notice the sun going down by 3.30pm- and yesterday we were in Best Buy (a giant store like JB Hi Fi) and noticed it was virtually dark at 4.30pm!!

Lynn mentioned the shopping in her comment in a previous blog- Debbie laughs at me, saying that I have been "going crazy"- actually, there was one clothes shop we went in called Christopher & Banks where I did go a bit nuts (I think I bought something like 5 "sweaters" and a pair of pants- but 2 of the sweaters were gifts, I swear!!) but I think it's been James more so that has gone shopping crazy. Honestly, there are so many things that are soo much cheaper here (as I keep saying!!) that it's hard not to buy things you need, as you know you're literally saving money in not buying them back in Australia. For instance, with a Christmas gift certificate, James bought a pair of brown Doc Marten boots last night for around AUS$115- you just couldn't buy them for that price at home. And due to the store promotion, I was able to buy a pair of nine west black boots at half price, so I paid something like AUS$40. The only other things I have bought myself so far apart from some clothes and 3 pairs of shoes I think have been some craft things and a couple of books on Maryland! I've been having fun buying gifts, and the gifts combined with Christmas presents and other purchases means we will definitely have to buy another suitcase to take home with us! And we've only been here just over a week so far!! :-) I still have to buy a dress for the wedding too. I think I'm going out shopping with Debbie, Aunt Donna and Apple tomorrow to get that.

I hope that we will go out today and at least be able to post some postcards- the postal service takes almost double the time than at home so I'm thinking it will still take 2 weeks for postcards to arrive home- this means they will probably just arrive before we do!

Wow, this is a long blog. I think it's time to finish up otherwise I'll never get anything done today! Ohh, by the way, so far I have seen 1 fox, 1 rabbit, 5 deer and 12 squirrels!