Positive Images of the Vacation

I thought I'd just post the good pictures from the vacation to show the high points of the trip since I keep putting off posting in length about the trip. I've alluded to much of the low points of the trip, so here's the highlights:

Stunned

Since I posted twice separately the day before and I didn't want to be responsible for all two of my readers overdosing, I didn't post yesterday. I'm back today though and had a big surprise waiting for me on my blog. One of the real bloggers that I follow, actually left a comment on my last post about leaving a mark on the world that was inspired by her blog. I was so stoked!! It gave me a taste of how addicting it must be for those real bloggers to watch their following grow. I can't figure out how she knew I did it because you see, I'm not a real blogger. Because if I was, I would KNOW how she knew. I suspect that it has something to do with the hyperlink to her blog that I included in my posting but I don't know and it's really bugging me because I so want to know.

And no, I'm not going to be all "junior high-ish" and ask her because that's just way too dorky. I may be a lot of things but I'm not a dork. Dorks don't insert the word "pussy" in normal conversations just to horrify their husbands and they certainly don't have a very large bottle of vodka in their freezer. Not naming names or anything, I'm just saying. With all that being said, if Mama Mary does happen to read this, would she mind letting me know how she knew? Because the way my mind works, this curiosity will torture my mind for an indeterminately long time. Thanks. PS. If it's such an easy answer that even my 4 year old would know it, please make it sound more difficult than it actually is so I don't feel like more of an idiot than I already feel. Thanks.

As I peck away on this keyboard, I am in the last hours of my last sizable "off the grid" for awhile. I'm outside on the patio with Fuzzy on my lap, feeling the breeze, hearing my windchimes, and watching this kick-ass lizard dig around on the embankment in front of me. The crows are carrying on about something as they always do though today there seems to be quite a bruhaha taking place. Yet, to me, it's quiet. When I do get time to myself at home, I like it quiet. I want to hear the sounds of things so minor and small that I would never even notice them on a regular day. These are the sounds of all the little things in the day that I'm too busy to notice let alone stop and listen. They are the sounds of life outside of my little world and it's nice to stop, listen, and realize how thankful I am to be alive to hear them.