Well, we successfully survived airport security and I'm posting this from the Chicago airport.

It's finally sunk in that we're about to be in Rome! We're both a little nervous about the fact that we don't speak nearly enough Italian for a week in Italy, but we have a small phrasebook and we're hoping that that suffices. I've been brushing up on my German for Germany and Switzerland (and Dutch is close enough to mostly get by), but I don't think Chris has been practicing the Italian like I asked him to.

We're both super-excited, though, despite some amusement dealing with checked bags. I intended to check both of our backpacks, but somehow Chris missed this in all the times that I mentioned it. He didn't want to check his laptop, so convinced me to carry on both of our backpacks... until we got to security, at which point Irealized I have 3 different toiletries which are >3oz. So then we packed my bag to be checked, and his to carry on, but his was a littletoo big so we got to RE-pack BOTH bags AGAIN so that his could be checked and now

mine is a carry-on.

He's carrying it, btw. I was perfectly willing to check my laptop. I also took pictures before we

left:

My garden:

Tomatoes, rosemary, and thyme

Baby cucumbers
Bell peppers, broccoli, and sweet mint
Baby cantaloupe
The garden as a whole
Strawberries, rosemary, and thyme

Baby squash!
Squash plants taking over