7 Feb 2010

Day 38:
To celebrate my upcoming 40th birthday, there were many grand plans discussed about how to see in this monumental birthday, beginning with attending the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics with Kevi, then there was a possible trip to Peru and trek to Machu Pichu and lastly, a trip to Socotra, a Yemeni island out in the Indian Ocean off the Horn of Africa. For various reasons, all trips and their plans fell through, which is a shame, but in reality, it's all just as well that they did due to unexpected events (no snow in Vancouver, the 100th anniversary of Machu Pichu's rediscovery and the closure of the British and US Embassies due to political unrest). The last of these grand plans that involved the trip to Socotra was postponed (hopefully to when I finish my PhD) because Rie was finally able to get back on the property ladder and ended up buying a flat. Now, property buying in the UK is anything but simple and straight-forward, so what was started in early November didn't really come to a conclusion until practically the end of January (and that is considered QUICK). On Sunday, I got to visit Rie's flat for the first time and it was lovely. She still has a lot of work that she wants to do on the place, but LOVES her new kitchen and is really excited about having a real place to do some cooking, baking, canning and wine-making! I'm excited for her and really can't wait to try out her delectable delights the next time I'm in town.  ;-)