What a weird week, but I made it to Sweden! 020506

Greetings, friends and family!
It has been a super weird week. OK, here is the weekly update.
Good news:
-I'm on another "free" trip to Europe.
-Claron came to Irvine to take care of me because I was sick, so I got to see him before I left. He also helped me out a lot.
-This week was Carlene's birthday! Happy birthday, Carlene!
-We have a new niece, Samantha Marie Martin. (and I won the bet on what her name would be!)

**Isn't she the cutest?

Bad news:
-I have a stomach virus and feel horrible.
-There was a shooting in Goleta, which is the town right next to us. I'm sure you've heard about it. It was a female postal worker and multiple people were killed. It is so weird. Goleta is the quietest little town!
-I am sad to be leaving home for another whole month!
-I have more work than availability or sense.

I found the coolest web site. It is http://www.seatguru.com/ It gives you the seat layouts of planes and let's you know whether the seats are good or bad.

OK, so I've started my trip again. Friday was crazy trying to get out of California. I had so much to do and not so much time. I feel so behind.

I had an interesting flight from LA. I sat next to the sweetest Canadian (now from San Diego). He was going to stay at his friend's villa near Ibiza. They only had one first class seat left on the plane, so he gave it to his wife. He was the EVP of Sales for a big technical company. What a neat guy! He was very inspirational (as far as working your way up the corporate ladder) and extremely intelligent. I barely slept on the plane. The time difference on this trip has been really killer so far...

At Heathrow in London, I started talking to the Germans next to me. They were from Stuttgart and had just taken 6 months to go around the world. I was so jealous, no doubt! We talked about Bali. They had been there during the second bombing, but still really loved it. They had also gone to New Zealand. I told them how Claron and I would really love to go to New Zealand. They had been there two months. They showed me all of the great pictures of New Zealand. One of the pictures that I was really fascinated by was of the only mountain parrot of the world. I will put it up on the blog. I asked for a copy. They say these parrots are really smart, friendly and quite "cheeky." It was really neat to talk to them. My five hour layover passed in a breeze as we discussed travel destinations and shared pictures. It was great! However, still no sleep! I did get to lay back though. The Heathrow airport has these great chairs that look like lounge chairs in some of the terminals. It was quite nice.

I flew British Airways into Stockholm. It was quite a nice plane! It was a 757, but all of the chairs looked like business class chairs. I slept the whole 2.5 hours. Finally, sleep! Anyway, they were offering cheese and pickle sandwiches. Hmmm! Interesting!

I love Sweden! I got off the plane and literally spent 1 minute at Immigration. There was no line. I just went up and gave the guy my passport and we were done. Did I say that I love Sweden? I waited for a few minutes at the luggage carousel. My luggage was the first to come down the carousel. A nice Irish man helped me when my luggage got stuck on the carousel, but unfortunately, my carryon attachment ripped off (and I do use it regularly). I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that. My poor luggage has been beaten within an inch of its life.
Right now, I'm in a taxi cab headed toward Stockholm. It has been snowing and it quite cold in Sweden. It is quite a shock coming from California. Hopefully, tonight I'll get some sleep and get some work done tomorrow. I guess it is going to work out with me not really sleeping at all "last night" as it is 10 p.m. here.

Anyway, we are coming into Stockholm. I hope all is well in the States!
Night!
Amanda

**BLOG ADDITION
Here is another cool picture that I got of New Zealand. Maybe we should go one year for Christmas! It is summer there!