The adventure continues…we’re now on phase 3 and we haven’t even left the U.S. yet!  Yesterday we moved our considerably-pared-down-but-still-excessive belongings from Adams Morgan to the home of our friends Len and Karen in Solomons Island, which is not the same as the Solomon Islands.  (See maps above.)  Solomons Island is in southern Maryland, on a peninsula surrounded by the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay (there's a dot on the map above but it's kind of hard to see).  Karen and Len have built a spectacular house overlooking the water, with a little boathouse and great decks and a perfect view of the sunset.  Tonight we’re celebrating the New Year in style, at a black-tie party (well, we’re calling it “Vampy Black Tie”, in honor of our given-away car, known as Vampy, and in recognition of the humor of our attempts to look like something that the cat didn’t drag in) here at the house.  We’ll be playing a simulation game called Diplomacy, for which we haven’t yet read the rules, and for which all the pressure will be on Diana to win to justify her career to date.  However, thankfully we do have an exit plan: if Diana disgraces herself, she can always move to Mexico or Italy or one of those places that have never really succeeded in diplomacy but are fun to live in nonetheless.  Happy New Year, everyone!