where oh where have we been?

i for one really didn't mean to have another of our little blogging lapses during the holidays, but circumstances have sure intervened to the contrary! here's what's been shaking.

our holiday plans had originally been to spend about a week and a half at p's folks, and then to head up to my parents' on christmas eve for a week there. but a couple days before we were supposed to hit the road, p developed some debilitating lower back pains, clear out of the blue! it's like, are you kidding me? after all the other health problems she has, now this?

so, round about the time we'd been planning to leave christmas eve, p was instead seeing a chiropractor, and we decided shortly thereafter that the best thing for her would be to stay in new jersey while i ventured solo up to my folks' (only i wasn't really solo, since i picked up my sister just outside nyc on the way, but that's neither here nor there).

i had a lovely time at home -- always wonderful to see the fam! -- but p kept the laptop and the camera, which sure did cramp my blogging style (and of course, p was in way too much pain and discomfort to type away much herself). i headed back down to the jers a week ago today, then hopped on a plane the next day to come back to germany (for those keeping score, yup, that means i celebrated new year's over the atlantic -- but they charged for drinks on the flight, the bastards!), and i've been attending a math conference here in bonn ever since -- which has really cramped my blogging style, since p still has the computer.

and as for p, it turns out the poor kid has a bulging disc! the good news is that this seems like something one can largely deal with, but the bad news is that p is quite young to have it, and it never really goes away. so she has to be careful about making certain sudden movements or overburdening her back (and she's also not allowed to fall on her butt), and hopefully that will stave off future flare-ups. she's still at her parents', and i'm happy to report that she's continued to see the same chiropractor a few times a week and has made loads of progress! just sitting in a chair is terribly uncomfortable and tiring for people with this kind of pain, so you can imagine our worry about her having to endure a transatlantic flight later this week, but hopefully it won't be quite so bad now. (and remember, travel like this usually creams p anyway because of her other health problems, so "won't be quite so bad" should be understood as "won't utterly destroy her".)

p arrives here on thursday, so blogging will be light at best till at least then. can't wait to see you, hon!