Taquerias or bust Finally back home in California after nine months in Latvia! →[More:]

I'm so pleased to be home. Ten minutes after I walked in the door we were all laughing about something ridiculous and eating some cold pizza and it was awesome.

I'm here for the summer because my brother graduates high school - with his best grades ever! - in a few weeks, and the whole extended family's going to be around!

I plan to spend the summer traveling around and seeing friends and family, working on an online teacher development course, maybe attending a few weddings, and eating all the spicy food I can before I head over to a (hopefully more fruitful, joyful, and productive) new job in Torun, Poland around the beginning of September.

I have the luxury of being able to skip out on working for the summer - my savings should last me for quite a while and I'm done with 12-hour days. Also, I'm car-less, but I plan on finding a bike and staying fit and active (and off the computer...) that way.

And and and: if I can swing it (that actually looks like a pretty busy summer, now that I've typed it all out!), I'm going to try to learn the basics of ukelele; I've never played any musical instrument before (save the recorder) and I think I should give something fun, cheap, and easy a try.

Finally: a big thanks to everyone here at MetaChat - your cards, kind words, and overall whuffliness have made what was an extremely trying time in my life, especially after my flat was robbed while I was playing Santa Claus at a Christmas show, much easier to deal with.

*high-fives MeChazens*
*greets new physical and metaphorical dawn*