After 21+ hours of travel, we made it home. We left our Rome hotel at 6:30am (11:30pm Austin time) to catch the subway/train/plane, and arrived home in Austin at 9:00pm (4:00am Rome time). Getting to the plane in Rome was stressful, but after takeoff we were able to relax.

The best part of being home is spending time with Katie, our cat. She was very upset with us for being gone for so long, and let us know it. Her little voice sounds hoarse from howling for us, and she hissed at me (something she has never done before) when she first saw me. But she is recovering, and clings to me like duct tape. She’ll be fine, but Kevin thinks we shouldn’t be gone for so long in the future because it was so stressful for her.

Much thanks to Nathan, Chris, and Elvia who all helped to watch our house, take care of Katie, gather our mail, and mow our lawn while we were away.  You guys rock!  Without you there we would have worried the whole time and probably couldn’t have been gone so long.