Where I'm At

In case you failed to notice, I have been decidedly silent for the last month or so. It started after a dear friend and the finest blogger I know started being e-stalked and some of the fun faded for those of us putting our day to day life experiences out there. I've debated taking this blog private but my intention had been for this to be an open letter to my family and friends, recounting snippets and soundbites of our European experience. So for the moment I think I will carry on, though I will remove some name and place specifics from future postings.

Then I got robbed - ugh. For the second time in two years. It seriously deflated my enthusiasm for a while. While violent crime in Europe is decidedly lower than in North America, petty crime is definitely higher!

For the last three months, my mum (and J's favorite other grown-up) had been visiting with us. It was wonderful, we toured, day-tripped, and played together. She enthusiastically and with great humour and humility stepped into our busy lives for a short time. She was a welcome fellow traveller who continues to embrace life and her family with the greatest of gusto. We are very blessed. She returned home to Canada a week ago - bummer!

J turned 5 this month and I'm not quite sure how that happened but in spite of my best efforts to keep him small, he keeps growing - double bummer!

Today, however, I got a glaring perspective reminder. I reconnected with my former boss from a long-time client school whose 18-year old son has been serving on active duty in Iraq since January. This month, I fretted over planning a 5-year old's 5th birthday party. My friend JL worried about his son reaching his 19th.

Time to find my voice again.