Change is better...

I am delinquent in sharing about our spring break back at the end of FEB! Wow. We had a special time visiting with David's grandpa Abe Shoemaker and his aunt Carol Shoemaker. We also got to see other aunts and cousins and old friends from grad school. And of course, we went to Disneyland and California Adventure. Special memories. All.

It was good for me to see Southern California again. I'm afraid I start to feel that it is all plastic and smog and greedy scared materialistic people... but no.

There are simple, loving, earnest people there too. There are beautiful mountains and tons of palm trees and blooming flowers and the ocean and citrus trees and although there is a lot of traffic, there are also people walking and babies and really really great Mexican food.

It was a lot colder than we packed for, but still so much warmer than back home.

There were a few times we got separated at Disneyland and that was tiring or terrifying, but overall it was a fun place to be.

On the way home we discovered that our return tickets were dated for March 28 instead of Feb 28. We were stunned and then in a panic, as we had to get home for a play reading and day one of rehearsal THE NEXT MORNING.

Agony.

Finally, several phone calls, hours, and nail bites later, we were able to catch a flight up to Edmonton and make a connection there back down to snowy Calgary.

Strange.

Yet somehow typical.

The trip was starting to feel too smooth for travel.

I was so glad to connect with many people I rarely see.

I was blown away that our classmate from U of I, Will Simms, found us on Facebook just one month before we left and he and his family generously gathered together a group of old friends and fed us sushi and we talked and laughed about memories that hadn't surfaced in years. Such a blessing.

It was tough to be without our home, but we received from others.

What a world we live in that we can travel to vastly different climates in a matter of hours.

We haven't quite recovered in terms of slowing down or resting, but that trip was certainly a change that may have proved better than a rest.