(Just so you know, a couple of previous blogs have been edited so check the archive!)

You know, I was going to try to paint a picture of the last few days in detail for those of you who happen to read this... but it's all a bit overwhelming really. The days are going by so quickly, we've almost been here a week and there's really too much to tell!!

Days 3 - 4, Wednesday & Thursday:

Over the past couple of days we've caught up with James' (and my) good friend Wolf, been out for dinner together with Ben and their dad Jim (up from Jacksonville Florida, who I was very pleased to finally meet for the first time), went out to the Ottobar right around the corner from Ben's home downtown and indulged in some more retail therapy at the Towson Mall. Last night James went out with Ben and Rob and a few others to a bar called Cheers (which he referred to in his last blog entry) but I stayed home and Debbie and I watched the DaVinci Code in our jammies and Mike made us popcorn! I needed a night at home!

Day 5, Friday:

Today we went to Towson with Ben and had sushi on Pennsylvania Avenue at a place called Kyodai (not called a "sushi train", but a "rotating sushi bar"!). Afterwards we walked from Ben's house down the road to the Baltimore Museum of Art, and perused the art collections with Ben and Tim. It was pretty amazing, I got to see my first real Monet, Manet and Picasso's up close and personal, as well as some amazing Matisse and some crazy modern art that involved planks of wood!? After a while we got hungry again and decided to hit a local vegan restaurant called the Yabba Pot since both Ben and Tim are vegetarians. The food was great, though we're still debating the status of the so-called ginger-beer that nearly made Ben choke and my throat burn for the rest of the night. Tim wisely chose the carrot and apple juice. James, being the total show off that he is, drank his own ginger-beer as well as the rest of Ben's and mine also... but even he admitted his intestines were paying the price for it shortly after!! James went to hang out with Wolf tonight after dinner and I chose another night in for the second night in a row. I know, kinda boring, but we've been going out so much that I just needed to spend some time here relaxing, plus I don't feel like we've seen that much of Debbie and Mike so it was good to stay home and chat and just watch TV.

My first inclination that things are cheaper here seems to be proving true- after my adventure in the Towson Mall yesterday afternoon and then afterwards at a sports store called Modell's, I'm still very surprised at actually how cheap things seem to be. Clothes, CD's, shoes, even the food- I mean, the food is probably about the same price but there is a LOT more of it and you get free refills of "soda" at most restaurants so even after the tip it seems to work out better value. When we went to Carrabbas with Christy I was amazed that the few slices of bread you might get at home prior to your meal arriving was in fact an entire loaf of specialty round bread!! OMG!! I was in shock, I couldn't get over it. The food portions are very large and very rich, and even the salads come with a rich dressing all over it- but I've been getting smaller serves, a healthier option like a salad and asking for the dressing on the side. Although at McBride's where we went for dinner the other night with James' dad I did just that but my salmon salad still had "candied pecans" in it! Oh well, everything's ok in moderation, hey?! I've also been using Debbie and Mike's treadmill in the mornings so I can indulge in a few yummy things here now and then (like bagels with strawberry cream cheese) and not worry that I may have to book 2 seats home just for myself :-)

The weather has been very mild really; it rained literally all day today and it's now 1.11am and it's still raining! But it hasn't been too cold outside just yet. Debbie said that if it had been colder today we would have got snow instead of rain! Bring on the snow!

Tomorrow is a busy day. Debbie has 4 massages booked and has to be up early to take Steven and his friend Michael (who stayed the night here tonight) to a soccer game at 8am. Mike has organised a birthday celebration for Alison here at 1pm (it was her 17th birthday today but she's staying at her mom's at the moment and we haven't really seen her yet) so James and I are getting up early to go over to Towson Mall again to get her birthday present. Tomorrow night Ben, his girlfriend Vicki and James and myself are catching up with their dad, his partner Martha and their grandmother for a Christmas dinner at a local restaurant called Bowman's, should be great.

Ok, going to sign off now... Have a great weekend all!