I am feeling thankful this morning. Last night I spent the evening with a group of ladies that well, I really really like. We come from all corners of our community, we don't all hang out on a regular basis, but when we get together - it is just a breath of fresh air. I am often loathe to spend time with too many females all at the same time - mostly because it can turn ugly in a second. One minute you are laughing and talking, the next is some nasty gossip. Hate it. But these gals. They are unique or maybe it is all of us together that bring out something so wonderful in each other. It becomes a strengthening time, a time of sharing and working out philosophies and ideas, of laughing so hard that...well, you'll just have to imagine how hard. It is something I am exceedingly grateful for in my life.

AND a bit more exciting news - although I must confess to being so nervous I could spit- I am about to start physiotherapy for my shoulder. Finally. It is going to be one of those 'it's going to hurt before it gets better things' - I just know it. But my fear of going to physio is far less than the option of living with the pain so in the end - I'm looking forward to it. Sorta.

We are in the middle of a heat wave. And it is smokin' hot. I've been working this week at the Post Office, which is air conditioned & I'm feeling pretty spoiled. Did I mention it was hot?

so vacation. aaaaah.

The very word brings a rush of memories and sighs of contentment. Imagine - 2 weeks of only family, no phones, no computer, no tv, no stresses. It was heavenly. We started in Edmonton at our niece's wedding. She was a gorgeous bride, Bill was as handsome a groom as you can find and their son, the less than a year old Ethan was a cutie-patootie in his little tux. We had a great visit with the family that made it out. After a day at West Edmonton Mall we headed out to Drumheller, then on to see friends in Okotoks, visit Reid's 101 year old Aunt Mabel in Calgary and then pit-stopped into Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump before hitting the States. We loved all of Alberta and had a blast everywhere we went. We hit the road for South Dakota and wound up camping in Spearfish and doing day trips to Deadwood and Mount Rushmore. Deadwood is a true blue western town that unfortunately is nothing but casinos. To bad because the buildings are actually pretty cool. We saw where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and where he and Calamity Jane are buried. oooo - aaaah. I think my favourite thing about Mount Rushmore is the imagination and determination it would take for someone to carve the heads of 4 presidents into the side of a mountain. Quite a dream that turned into reality. Finally we headed off and managed to pull off the surprise of a lifetime for our kids.

Before the Kuhn family took off for their 3 month Sabbatical in Alabama, we worked out to meet up in a town called Gardiner in Yellowstone National Park where we had rented a house for us all (including Grandma and Grandpa). On Canada Day, we pulled into town, my parents managed to find us and together we headed up the driest, twistiest, narrowest road to our absolutely fabulous house. The Kuhns were there and when the kids saw each other - well, it was worth every second of the drive - it was perfect. They were stunned. So we spent 5 days at Yellowstone - saw Old Faithful, and some truly amazing natural sites. We saw buffalo (who knew they were so massive?!), a huge bull elk, a black bear and a grizzly bear. and we saw them up close.

As we drove we listened to music, listened to books 10,11 and 12 of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and talked. We had a great time just hanging out and being together as a family. None of us minded the driving.

What a gift. Two weeks, unreal sites, no pressures, amazing family. Life doesn't get much better.

Well, we're home. and we had an amazing and well, amazing time. I'm still pondering my thoughts on our travels so I'll save that for another post.

In the meantime, here are some thoughts from a book by Scott Savage called "A plain life". He is a Quaker and this book is one of several he has written. I am never going to be a Quaker - but there are ideas and beliefs within Quakerism that appeal to me in a big way. The book is littered with counter-culture thoughts and ideas. Counter-culture in that he and his family are simple living, back to the land, non-consumers. I came across a thousand great quotes but of course, as I look back over, I can't find them now! I did manage to grab the page numbers of a couple of my faves. Here they are for your thought processes...

"...In my earlier life, one of the things that began to wake me from my lack of awareness about how technology functions in our society was the question of who decided on the range of choices we have been given. Who made it hard to buy organic food at the supermarket but easy to buy food that had been factory farmed? Who took away my neighbors and gave me a burglar alarm to replace them?"

"...If we had a motto, it might be the opposite of the one I heard in the 1960's telling us to "turn on, tune in, and drop out." Our revolutionary slogan could urge the world to turn off (virtual reality), tune out (advertising and materialism), and drop in (on your neighbors, to let them know it's time to stop being lonely in America). Drop in - into something more real, more loving, than what you're currently experiencing."

hmmmmmm