Duly Noted

Nearly a week after our return to the bitter cold, the chill leaves you chapped and achy (or never leaves you at all), I dream about our sixteen days wrapped in the warmth of Nicaragua's sunshine. Truly, I cannot imagine a more ideal event to close bittersweet 2008. Mike and I spent the last hours of the year reminiscing (and swimming) at San Juan del Sur's popular harbor beach. Amid a soccer tournament and a dog promptly urinating on the tower of a boy's finished sandcastle (I could not invent this- the boy's gasp and pout was utterly picturesque), we toasted our rum and cokes (real coca cola to Mike's infinite pleasure) to the joyous and less than joyous moments of the passing year. To Obama (goes without saying, of course). To our first year as dog owners, to Rachel. To grad school, electronic music, Orange Mighty Trio, marathons, home cooked dinners and sunny breakfasts. To a room of one's own (sorry Mike) and the brief but satisfying discovery of cabl