Journeyings

I found a reason to make the stuffed pumpkin again after all. (After my lovely pumpkin plant, let's call it Míriel, the Great Pumpkin rest her leafy little soul, produced one perfect pumpkin only to die as soon as the pumpkin began to ripen, I've been waiting for an excuse.) There's little point in making stuffed pumpkin (and we're talking about 7 kg of pumpkin here) for two people and two kittens. But coincidentally, Jörg's Hawai'ian cousin Kurt and his boyfriend and an elderly ladyfriend of theirs happen to be in Germany just now, and after we met them in Cologne on Sunday, we invited them to take a look at our lovely construction site and have dinner with us, and adding Jörg's mother, we were enough to dare battle the pumpkin. Richy - that's the boyfriend - fell ill, unfortunately, but we were still five people, so only half the dish ended up as leftovers (well, at least now Jörg has something to warm up while I'm at Ring*Con!). And they liked it (or were polite enough to feign enthusiasm, at any rate). Everyone was very friendly and relaxed, and between two people who travel so much as Joy and Kurt do, there were a lot of exciting and funny stories. Joy - that's the ladyfriend - asked for the pumpkin recipe in the end and offered me (in return?) to stay at her house should I happen to fly to Tôkyô via New York.

Which is, I suppose, the other news. It's official now: I shall be in Tôkyô from the beginning of December until early March.
PANIKU.
I mean, YAY.
*deep breath*