Family fabulous family!

Hellooooo.... I have a ton of stuff to upload but once again I am not using my own dear little lappie, so another period of patience from you all is required, sorry.

We are in Freiburg, with our family, having a holiday from our holiday. I'm at their dining table as I write, having had a sleepover last night - a most satisfactory event involving pasta, choc-chip biccies, the new Pink Panther movie (meh), a tiff between two girlies, and a long talk to their mama over some wine after the lieblings went to bed. Wunderbar. M is in Heidelberg, having a fix of his old home town from yon days of yore before.

Yesterday I saw ze doktor again and (don't faint) my blood levels are 'all kompleetly normal'. Cripes! People don't say the "N" word to me very often! She was very kind about my high anxiety level, dealing with my quivering lip and being helpful. What it means on the ground is no more antibiotic (she says it is something called 'adeno-virus', a common autumn bug in these parts, which manifests like hayfever and of course is not treatable by auntybiotix), get off the steroids fairly quickly cos ze chest she is much better, and go home. Right. The going home bit sounds pretty good to me. I've had enough. Once we leave here (Thursday morning) we're on the home trail, merely stopping in Frankfurt, Helsinki, Seoul, Hong Kong and Sydney before we return to familiar furry territory.

After seeing the doc I bravely took the tram into town (only 4 stops) and bought everything out of sheer relief. Well HEAVENS there were purrfume sales on everywhere and what is a poor home-sick abandoned husbandless little catcan to do? SPEND appears to be the answer! I got spiffy presents for nearly everyone, running out of energy in the end after four hours. Peoples is going to be happy. *I* is happy cos I gots new purrfume...it wasn't my fault, I tell you, the nice shop assistants kept sprayink me with "Magnifique" and as you all know, resistance is useless. So I didn't resist and now I have a nice bottle of the new Lancome "Magnifique" to keep me from being smelly... or make it worse...

Tonight we are having a little party to celebrate my birdy and my younger niece's about to be birdy, so I gotta go and make a cake. Do I remember how? I hope so - it's the recipe I've been using for 25 years from the Nursing Mother's Cookbook (hi Hil!), babies all over me as I stirred the mix, so I think it will be orright.

Today brought to you, so far, by a brilliant phone call to my dear ones in Canberra, a silent house, and a shiny new bottle of pong waiting for me in the bathroom bag. Yay!