In Newark Again

Kevin and I are back in the Newark airport, this time waiting for our flight back to Oslo. I have had the best week, but it wasn't nearly long enough to see everyone I wanted to see and to do everything I wanted to do. I think Dunkin Donuts stock skyrocketed this past week, as I guzzled gallons of iced lattes! Temperatures were in the 90's on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday...everyone around me was complaining about the heat, but after constant cold and damp in Norway, I really enjoyed the summery weather. On Wednesday the weather turned and we had some thunder and lightning--I didn't realize how much I have missed thunderstorms until I heard that first rumble. We get lots of rain in eastern Norway, but in the past year, we haven't had a single storm.
I really feel recharged after this vacation. In addition to the excessive caffeine consumption, I also did some retail therapy and indulged in a fabulous spa day. I always thought that if I won the lottery, the first thing I would do would be to hire a housekeeper, but after an hour of being rubbed into a boneless puddle of goo, I have decided that a masseuse would be a far better decision! Best of all, though, was all the time I got to spend with my friends...my greatest fear about moving abroad was that I would lose contact with the people who mean the most to me. Luckily, I have some really wonderful friends, and this past week, it felt like no time at all had passed since the last time I saw them. I laughed and talked so much my throat is a little hoarse now!
My vacation was almost perfect, except for a pesky ghost. When we were in Dublin 2 weeks ago, we all took a ghost tour. We went to the 40 steps inside the old wall of the city, which is allegedly haunted by a lady in green. Our tour guide mentioned that many tourists' cameras break at this site. I didn't give it another thought until the next day, when Carrie and Victor mentioned that their camera wasn't working and they were worried that all their pictures would be ruined. My digital camera still seemed to be working fine, and I was able to take lots of photos throughout the day...but as evening fell, I found that my flash no longer worked. I was very disappointed that I wasn't able to take any evening or interior shots during my stay in New York (several of my friends have very cute cats or dogs, so the majority of the shots probably would have been of their pets). I guess I'll try calling the folks at Canon to see if they have any suggestions, but I'm not really sure how to explain that a phantom broke my camera...maybe I'll just tell them the camera must have gotten banged up in my suitcase!