Checking in

Thought I'd fill y'all in on what we've been up to.

After a week of simply stunning weather (almost enough to make sitting in traffic enjoyable), we awoke yesterday to this:



Now that's a fog! But what better way to burn off a fog than to add a little sunshine:



Sure enough, it went away, but hoo boy what a cool event. So, having gawked at Mother Nature for a few minutes, I went back to my own natural habitat: hunched over the computer, writing some texts I had promised to Museum With No Frontiers many moons ago. I worked (too) hard for the whole damn day, and then Meltem and I set off for a section of Istanbul called Yesilyurt ("green village"), to visit her cousin Nabite (pronounced nah-bee-teh, not "nay-bite"!). Nabite is mom to Cansu, whom many of you will remember from our wedding. She's now matriculating at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Lousiana, having been thoroughly ripped off by a company who promised scholarships in the US to good students. Anyway, it's waaaaay too easy for her, and she's going to try to transfer to a decent school next year. Be that as it may, she's in the States, and her poor mother just sits around the house alone most of the time. So a group of us decided to descend on her en masse for a get-together.



Left to right: Hasan, Elif, Geek Boy, Meltem, Nabite, Nurten (Nabite's sister), Ahu (Nurten's daughter).

Cheesecake was served with a flourish:



(That's not powdered sugar atop the cheesecake. It's ice – the damn thing was frozen solid.)

Anyway, today it's more visiting, the docket including a brunch with friends and a stopover at another aunt's place on the Asian side.

By the way, I have the proto-intention of buying a cell phone with a camera, so I can post some pictures of my daily commute and such. So keep checking in (and leave some comments, people!).