the visit

I know I missed my traditional Saturday post, but I have a good reason, I do. Having managed to con my pepp friend Cory and my new friend Brent into a Madrid visit, I was busy playing tour guide. With pleasure. Between Saturday afternoon and Tuesday night, we somehow managed to cram in most all of the big stops, patronize my favorite restaurants, and laugh more than we had any right to- especially there toward the end. I racked my brain all of Tuesday to come up with some sort of train-sabotage plan, but alas they're off to France. Everyone still has an open-ended invitation to enter the competition, but Cory and Brent are quite possibly the greatest guests a hostess could hope for.

the highlights:

life plans (or lack thereof)
bird flu
walking/talking tours
mullet sightings
gmail conversion attempts
alternating starv- and stuffation
handshakes vs euro-kisses vs latino-kisses
magic tricks
losing my voice for no apparent reason [not a highlight]
dolce vita pics
swi??ers
zorro, the complete movie experience
3 people/2 umbrellas
pepp reminiscing and people updates
starbucks: 5 sugars
playing mom
finding church
broken [evil] eyes
lessons in spanish: no me importa, cuidado
the epic rock-paper-scissors "battle for the towel"
gift overkill
sierra leone/mi morena/la camisa negra/dee dee dee...

Thanks for a great weekend, guys, I'll take the late lunch anytime.
.