Welcome back, Laura!

Welcome back, Laura! I got back from Italy about, ohhh, an hour ago. I haven't slept since 9pm last night, local time. (Got up at 4am this morning, Roman time, and been chasing the sun all day. I think it's finally about to set.)

I had a fabulous trip, and none of my five jars of pesto, two jars of salsa di rucola, one jar of olive pesto, or bottle of olive oil were broken! (I pretty much expected to open my suit case and be regaled by a tantalizing/demoralizing aroma of basil.)

Tim carried my suitcase up, such a nice boy. I unlock my door, and it smells kinda funny, but then I've been away a week with the A/C set higher than normal, so maybe just stuffy?

Hmmm. My kitchen light is off, but maybe when Tim checked on the place Tuesday...

Wait... why the HELL is every book I own piled in front of or on top of my couch?

Wait... where the hell's my coffee table? Why...

Okay, good, laptop, television, all in their normal places, but why... did someone steal my BOOKCASES???

No.... They're still ther-- HOLY CRAP! NEW FLOOR! WTF???

Tim indicates the folded note, marked with my complex number, that I barely noticed stepping over as I came in. "Maybe it says something in there?"

It does. Okay, well, new floor. Tim opines that I shouldn't worry about it until after I've had plenty of rest. Smart guy, that Tim. I peek into my bedroom.

And wail.

My bed is covered with various contents of closet and washer dryer alcove, not to mention a pile of clean underwear I'd left on my couch. Great. The flooring crew was kind enough to move my pile of underwear... That's... disconcerting.

Then another wail, "I can't even get to my bathroom!"

Tim is much better mentally equipped to deal with this than I am at this point. He clears off my bed, forges a path to my bathroom, then leaves to fulfill some prior engagements, but not before giving me a hug and telling me again not to mess with it tonight.

Like I said. Smart guy, that Tim.

So, I'm home, I'm safe, I'm exhausted, I had a blast, I'm now highly amused at the state of my apartment, and I'm going to bed.

I'll post links to travelblogs and photo albums when I get them up and running.

There's no place like home!

P.S. (Added Sunday, September 9) -- I'll say this for the flooring people. Upon closer inspection, they've added a quarter-round wooden molding around the baseboards, BUT... they were incredibly nice and cut it away where they put my bookshelves back in, so the shelves all still fit. That's quality work.