Guten Morgen!

Good Morning!

It is certainly that. Well, I was supposed to leave Germany yesterday, and return stateside. However, it appears that this crazy life and my amazing friends have made it possible for me to stay a little longer.

A big thank you to Sherry and Brigitte! 

Without them I wouldn't be here right now. However, it isn't all joy and happiness. The reason I wanted to stay in the first place is not only to be with Mairine a bit longer before another long period of separation, but be here for her as well. Her grandmother passed shortly after I arrived, and we were both eternally grateful that I was physically present through all of that. Ever since then her grandfather hasn't been doing so well. He went into the hospital yesterday because the doctor visited and informed him that his kidney is failing, and he needs to go in.

I will be here another six days, until the 26th, and I hopefully all will go well with her grandfather. While we wait for news we will both be taking advantage of these few more days that we have. We spent last night enjoying some amazing Persian food, and simply relished in the presence of each other. We also exchanged departing gifts early.

I drew in and wrote an inscription in a book, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (one of my favorites growing up), I brought Mairine as a belated birthday gift, and she gave me an egg she found along with a lock of her hair, that I love so much. The egg is beautiful, and not only do I like eggs, but this one is particularly important to both of us. Mairine had a dream involving myself and an egg, and then later while she was cleaning through her stuff she found this egg, which she had forgotten she had. I also felt like a knight receiving a lock of a princess' hair. #Imadork

Another plus is that I will be able to see the Christmas markets before leaving, and hopefully say goodbye to some new friends as well. Supposedly the Christmas markets here are insane. I've seen them setting up for about a week now. There will be plenty of pictures.

In other news, my work has been at a bit of slowdown during this stay. I had planned on working on a comic strip, a drawing series, and two sketches for upcoming paintings. I didn't get all of that done, as planned. However, once I return stateside I'll be, if all goes as planned, starting classes to get my Bachelor's in Graphic Arts & Master's in Business Management at Robert Morris University, looking for a job, looking for a place to live, working on those projects, and enjoying this crazy life.

More work postings to come.

~ 3