We've returned safe and sound. Spain is beautiful, and reminds me a bit of Italy. Did you know that it is the second most mountainous country in Europe, following Switzerland? There are absolutely gorgeous sights, as well as the mundane and regular. My favorite panaromic view was of Toledo... imagine castles, villages and bridges dotting the side of a mountain with a river running below it - absolutely medieval feel to it. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera! Everyone else took tons of pics though, and many of them are digital. (Dorothy, I don't think I can post them on this page, though. Hmm.) Spain also seems to be less crowded and have fewer tourists it seems than other Western European countries. I must admit that I got quite tired of eating tapas and French baguette bread.

I slept about 13 hours the first night I returned, catching up (and more) on my sleep. Intercontinental travel is really tiring, esp. when there are layovers, lines and heightened security. I did play some Super Mario World and Wario's World (a cool Tetris-like game with monsters) on the flight. Jason spent too much time playing some knock-out boxing game and car-racing game.

I then slept only 5-6 hours last night, waking at 5am and feeling quite awake and refreshed and so I decided to get up and enjoy the dark and still morning. I even saw the sky transform from deep dark blue and then the faint orange burst through to reveal the daylight. It is the penultimate day of the year, and I'm at home in Fullerton with my parents, Joy and our friend Angie who is currently living with us.

This week I will continue work on the Comment. Yea, all I want to do is complain about it, but I really must stop that. One of my new year resolutions is to accept all of my work joyfully. I must learn to follow Mother Teresa's wise words:

"Holiness is to take whatever Jesus gives us and to give Jesus whatever He asks of us with a big smile."