Let us ignore the fact that I managed to more or less kill my back yesterday afternoon, putting my office-desk back where it belongs. >.< I don't think I threw it out or anything, just strained the lower back muscles. Which means that I'm in pain... And pain meds aren't working.

Forgive me if I go wander over into that corner and scream.

Well, I put on a hot pad and some Japanese plaster thingie that heats up, massaged various salves into the area and now I just have to wait for the pain to go away again.

But... I wanted to talk about the weekend - Sunday, to be precise.

Everything worked out perfectly! ^___^ Well, more or less.

We arrived on time at the restaurant where we were supposed to meet for lunch. Who wasn't there? My mother, her husband and my step-sister. They'd sort of gotten a bit lost along the way - that's what you get for using a navigation system instead of an old-fashioned map. But they did make it after a while. Hasty lunch ensued, since we had to pick up the tickets to the 3 pm tour of the Castle by latest 2 pm! Which meant that my still-husband and I dropped everything and raced off to the ticket office, picking up the tickets just in time.

*THEN* we had to get *up* to the Castle. There are only three possibilities:
- by horse-drawn carriage - cute, and *very* desired by all those tourists (you wouldn't believe how many *Chinese* there were! >.>)
- by foot - and no way in Heaven or Hell was my mother walking up that hill!
- by shuttle bus - that's a new invention and I didn't know about it until I started looking for alternatives. We did manage to catch one in time, though, then more or less jogged down the road to the Castle, only to get there too early. O.o And since it was - as it has been for the last few weeks - rainy and cold, it wasn't all *that* pleasant waiting. Still, we got into the Castle, had a lovely tour and got out again in good time.

Wandered back down the hill - I sort of went off on a tangent, lured by the dark and lush forest, so I ended up with tons of pictures... Then the drive to my mother's house. I got a little distracted along the way and went a bit round-about. But got rewarded with one of the most *amazing* rainbows that I've ever seen! It was absolutely perfect!

Back at my mother's, we then started the evening with Champagne and waited for my brother to serve the first course. He'd come over to my mother's at 2 pm and spent all day in the kitchen, cooking a five-course gourmet meal. The food was very... manageable... but *very* good! Each course was served with the appropriate wine or liqueur. Which ended with me being a bit drunk, since I haven't touched alcohol since I started my diet.

Nevertheless, I also managed the part with the fireworks perfectly. The weather cleared up for exactly the 1 1/2 hours that we needed, and I was able to set it up, and fire it off in just the allowed amount of time. My mother absolutely *loved* it! ^____^ So it was worth all the effort! :)

So everything worked out just as it should. Except for the part with my back. Why by all the Gods *had* I decided to re-paint parts of my office on Saturday? >.> That's why I had moved the desk, you see... Oh well. The painting came out great - my back not so...

Now it's back to the old grind... At least the muse is still here... :)

For those who are interested, some of the pics that I took are up on DeviantArt.

The rest I offer here for your delectation:

	Castle Neuschwanstein
	The rainbow
	Dinner Table
	Smoked trout with horseradish sauce and 'noodles' made from cucumbers
	Duck breasts with topinambur roots and cabbage
	opening presents
	the family watching