March 16

Well, I have been really busy! Last week Kat was sent to the hospital and it looked like our little grandson was ready to come. Thankfully he decided to wait awhile and she is back home on complete bed rest. After that scare I decided to come on home and am now back in Council Bluffs. I'm happy to report that Kat is doing well but complete bed rest is really hard.

I left Mitorvica on Friday and got into Council Bluffs on Saturday afternoon after a stop-over with Aaron, Jennifer and Charlie in Chicago. We got the news about Kat in the hospital on Tuesday, had an earthquake on Wednesday, and I left on Friday so it was quite a week. Oh the earthquake...it was my first and hopefully last earthquake experience. Evidently they are not uncommon in the area and are of two kinds: the swaying, shaky kind and the boom kind. We had the boom kind and it was boomy enough to scare me to death and to cause enough damage to the courthouse to close it until repairs can be made. Charlie and the staff are working out of a building in south Mitrovica for the time being.

I was able to take some photos of our neighborhood in Mitorvica before I left and will post them when I get time.

Charlie is very busy so he will definitely be kept occupied while I'm gone. All the EULEX judges met in Peja last week. Peja is a small city west and a little south of Mitrovica. Charlie drove to the meeting and said the area around Peja is just beautiful. Unfortunately there was alot of fighting there during the war and some scars remain. But there are also lots of beautiful fishing streams so he is getting his flies tied. Aside from his usual criminal trials he is serving on a couple of committees so his time is filled. He is also finding an important position as the only judge who speaks English as a native (he is now known as "The Native Speaker") so he is very helpful in composing anything that needs to be written.

I am planning on being here until a few weeks after the baby comes. As I said I would like to post the pictures of our neighborhood but after that I will be taking a respite until I am back in Kosovo. The adventure continues...