So, you know those people who just won't shut up?  Well, I work with one of them, and today I felt like punching him very hard in the nose.  He kept telling me what to do, and I just about had a conniption.

About a year ago, my best friend and I were at a hotel goofing around.  There was a piece of paper that said "Yours to enjoy."  He took it and wrote "Now it's 'Yours to enjoy' Ms. Love!" on either side of the phrase.  I made him sign it and put it in my coat pocket.  Yesterday, I put on that coat again and stuck my hands into my pockets as I walked outside into the biting cold of winter in Germany.  I touched something and pulled it out.  It was the paper, and as I read it, my heart warmed.  I had forgotten it was in there, and finding it again was like a piece of candy.  I miss him terribly.

I looked out the window today.  Leaves were cascading towards the earth.  Their color was brilliant against the grey sky.

   As I was driving home today, I saw a banner hanging from a bridge.  It said "Nicole, I love you."  I've seen things like this before, but every time I see a new one, my heart swells, and I like the idea of publically displaying you love even better.  One day, I hope that I find someone who will do this for me.  I suppose that that's all anyone can hope for: someone to love them enough to do anything for you, no matter how embarassing.  It was beautiful.
   I continued driving after that, but my mind was so preoccupied with thoughts concerning love and endearement, that I took the wrong turn.  I don't know if you've ever experience that shocking feeling of coming back to earth and realizing you don't know where you are, but it sucks.  I couldn't turn around at this point because there were no safe places to do a "U" turn, so I kept driving.  The road ended up going up this really steep hill for eons (sp?), but I'm glad that I took the wrong turn because it was the most beautiful road I've ever seen.  I suppose you could say that it was an average European road, but you don't realize how beautiful they are until you're actually on one.  The trees were very close to the cement, so the leaves were hanging over a bit.  And everything was changing colors, considering it's fall.  Dashboard Confessional was once again playing in my CD player, and everything was just wonderful.  And in the end, the road took me where I needed to go anyway.  Just in a really round-about way.
    Once, a long time ago, I remember driving on a day like it was today.  I was young and with my Mom and Grandpa.  Some relative had just died, and everyone was sad.  I've never completely understood death.  Even now, the concept is so foreign and unreal to me and it doesn't belong in my reality.  Thus, of course, I was my cheery little self and I was trying my hardest to make everyone laugh.  If someone, anyone, smiled, then I felt that everything would be okay.  Somehow, ice cream came into the conversation.  My Grandpa's name is Herbert, which rhymes with sherbert, and I was really big into rhyming at that age.
   "Grandpa, you should open up an ice cream shop and call it Herbert's Sherbert," I said.  It worked: he began laughing.  I don't remember the rest of the day.  Since then, I've wanted to open an ice cream shop and christen it Herbert's Sherbert in honor of Grandpa.  
All my love,
 Alicia