This time of year, especially during a pandemic, is for the birds. The weather is wet, cold, and yucky. Add in the crazily contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, and Germany’s ever changing pandemic rules, and it’s tough to keep a travel blog going.

We did have a couple of fun developments this week, though. The less exciting one is that Noyzi and Arran got baths yesterday. That may not seem like a big deal, except that it was only Noyzi’s third bath in his lifetime, and he’s already about three years old. He was getting kind of stinky. I keep watching dog grooming videos on YouTube, and the groomer is always talking about how important it is to groom one’s pets. I decided that it was time for Noyzi to get a bath, and we decided to bathe Arran, too. Now, both of them smell much better, and Noyzi’s coat is all soft and shiny. He likes baths, too, so that’s a good thing. I would hate to have to wrestle him in the tub at his size. He’s a big boy. Incidentally, Noyzi loves to watch dog grooming videos. He’s as fascinated by them as I am, although for different reasons.

The more exciting development is that my husband’s daughter found out that she’s expecting another son in a few months. She announced the gender in a really cute way… using pink and blue ice cream cups. I know she’s excited, as are Bill and his mother, who were kept out of her life for many years. I am excited too, I guess. I knew she was carrying a boy, just like I knew she was pregnant before she announced it, just because Bill had said she looked like she was glowing on a Skype call back in September.

I’m feeling a little down today, for a lot of reasons, so I’m going to keep this post short. I hope next week, I’ll be a little less depressed.