You woke up on the couch this morning, disoriented and bleary eyed. All it took was a blink and two weeks were up. Sometimes you look at the calendar, at all those empty squares, and think, "That's all there is?" But then sometimes you look at the calendar, at all those empty squares full of possibility, and think, "Look at all there is!" Eternity and a minute, it's all the same thing.

My older sister Amanda was here for two weeks, visiting from Germany. I always get confused looks when I, a seemingly normal American, introduce my sisters from Germany. I run through the same old script ("My parents are from Germany, but they moved to America shortly before I was born, so I have two older sisters that still live overseas," yadda yadda), but wouldn't dare trade my siblings for the world. I've never had the privilege of living with them, but that just makes our time together all the more sweet.

The two weeks Amanda was here flew by and felt like eternity at the same time. There is something magical about showing your town to someone who doesn't live there; it makes you appreciate the place you live in that much more. But most of all, I reveled in sister-sister bonding time. I am used to playing the role of oldest here at home, but being a middle child feels really wonderful sometimes.

You learn to cope with goodbyes. The sudden absence sucks as usual and when I woke up on the couch this morning, following a 4am wake up call to take Amanda to the airport, it felt strange not to smell her perfume in the air. You learn to cope, but you don't learn how to make it less painful. But still, look at all that's left to live!

Until February, Glichi!!! xoxoxoxo