I have been back from vacation for one week and think it’s time to express my gratitude for the days gifted to me…the ones allowed me the time to completely decompress. So, two thumbs up, Okanagan!

Thank you for:

• Morning hikes.
• The vineyards,
• And subsequently, the vino.
• Naps!
• Peachland.
• The Gasthouse.
• Martini madness!
• The boardwalk.
• Sunshine and gardens.
• The mountains.
• Afternoon dance parties.

Hope you rested up over the weekend, Gemini, because today was just a taste of the wild week that is in store for you. Keep your running shoes at the ready!

A glimpse of my fantastic Saturday, wandering around downtown behind my camera lens. Hope your Saturday gave you time to reconnect too…

It may be the change of seasons coming, but the recent events in my life have got me thinking about the past, in that: “yeah, those were some good times even if they didn’t feel so good at the time” way. I spend a lot more time laughing these days, especially when a much forgotten memory sneaks back into my stream of consciousness.

These recollections seem to have a summertime feeling to them, so I have been playing some of my favourite summertime songs on the ipod. On the top of the list is “Nightswimming” by REM.

It feels like so long since I have written. Life has really been rolling so fast lately that I have barely stopped to get a glass of milk and some cookies, if you know what I mean. But it has been so so good.

My fabulous last few weeks has included:

1. Weekend visitors (Nanny and Poppy Hurrah!)
2. Wild crazy work weeks
3. Cocktails and dancing with some of my favourite people
4. Afternoon hikes in the woods (Do you think I can climb that hill?)
5. Reading my butt off
6. Cleaning out the gardens and cursing the squirrels
7. Family barbeques
8. Impromptu dinner parties
9. Lounging in the sun
10. Ending up in places I didn’t think I would be

Hope your weeks have been as filled with crazy wonderfulness and joy as mine!

We spent this beautiful spring day running errands and moving a friend, very busy for a Sunday…Ended with a lovely barbeque and a bottle of red wine.

The highlight of the meal, though, was dessert. Isn’t it always? So hard to not start with it! A huge platter of fruit and a delicious vanilla pineapple dip.

Melissa’s Super Yummy Fruit Dip:

Somewhere between moving into the new house, changing jobs last year, and gutting the home office after the roof leak, I lost my copy of “I’m a Mountain” by the lovely Sarah Harmer. All I know is that after loading up all my albums into iTunes last May, it did not make it in.

And it’s been bugging me. Gone the way of dryer-eaten socks, hair elastics and single earrings, I can only guess.

I have been especially introspective in the last months, thinking a lot about my place in this crazy wide world and finding the inspiration to continue that journey in the most unlikely places.

The missing album was part of a weird Sarah Harmer soundtrack that I needed to hear, as part of my reflections and meanderings through lives past. Starting with “You Were Here” (out on my own for the first time), continuing with “All of Our Names” (trying on my first “grown-up job”) and leading into…the AWOL album.

This week, downloaded “I’m a Mountain” from iTunes and have had a good listen, so my mini-soundtrack is complete. It is completely bizarre, the way certain pieces of music tether you to specific events and periods of time. That album is somehow linked to the very beginnings of my existentialist ponderings…

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I encourage you to check out ‘Escarpment Blues‘, a documentary about the environmental debate surrounding the gravel mining in the Niagara Escarpment.

I got home from work a bit early today, sent some emails and caught up with some friends on Facebook. Looking at an absolutely adorable picture of a high school friend’s son started me thinking about that time of my life, what was happening and not, and who was in my life at the time (I watched the entire series of ‘My So-Called Life’ last week, so that may be part the meander down that lane).

Now that most of the initial hubbub has died down with Facebook (ex’s friend-ing or not friending, reconnecting with long lost friends or intentionally lost friends…), I am finding that it is a great tool. It really helps me keep in touch.

My friends list is a mish-mash of people that I have known at some point in my life thus far: elementary school to today. (I choose to take a ‘hm, do I know this person in some way?’ approach to accepting ‘friends’.) Browsing through my home page, I see how busy and diverse these people’s lives are and it amazes me how many things my collective friend’s list has accomplished. Doctors, mothers and fathers, world travelers, adventurers, artists and musicians, students and successful professionals in every industry! It was overwhelming at first, and the urge to compare accomplishments surfaced more than a few times.

But today, looking at this ‘News Feed’, I am just struck by how huge life is. I have been trying to take note of the things that are SO…VERY…IMPORTANT and trigger me to over-react and loose my marbles a bit. What I have noticed is that it happens pretty frequently, if only in my head.

So a LOT of things are that important? Not so much.

The details about what seemed like the most important thing IN THE WORLD yesterday, last month, 15 years ago, are really rather fuzzy as I sit here today. It seems so obvious, but that really clicked for me.

New day realization: ask yourself: “Will I remember this in 15 years?” Let the rest fall away

….I remember exactly how cute Jordan Catalano was.

You are managing to dive beneath the waves more often now, Gemini, and spend more time in the calmer waters below. Although it feels like you have so much to accomplish and are wasting precious time…a small, but convincing, voice keeps reminding you: you are where you need to be.

So unbelievably cute. Happy Monday.