We woke up at 5:30 am, we hit the road by 6, and we were stuck at the border until 11:30. Ew. I blame this completely on my brother. We are moving him to Texas, and at the same time making a nice family vacation out of the trip. Knowing it would probobly take us 25-30 hours to get there, the fact that we were still in CANADA 5 1/2 hours into the trip was not exactly comforting. Dave forgot to pay a certain bill, which had to be paid before he could get into the States, and so we all became miserable.


"There once was a man with the most remarkable ability to paint. He could capture beauty in a brushstroke, with a keen awareness of the detailed imagery all around him. Then he went blind. His family was poor, and once he got old, they put him in a home. The place was ratty, unkempt, and contemptible to any functioning artisan in terms of aesthetic beauty. Upon arriving, his family tried to apologize for his sub-par surroundings. The old man faced the nurses with a smile and said, ' It's beautiful.' When asked how he could say that without seeing a thing, he said, ' I've already arranged the whole thing in my mind. It's perfect.' "



Undoubtedly my dad told us this in the hope that we would draw a connection between our situation and the blind guy. Life is a mind game? hmm... I think the point was that if you can't change something, pre-arrange it in your mind to just relax and enjoy yourself. Life is too short to let the little things bother you. Point taken. My brothers can be fairly entertaining, and so I must admit- the time at the border wasn't all that bad.

After about 2 days, we made it to Texas. The week here is flying by, and so far it has been fantastic. The weather is hot, but bearable, and we still manage to play some pretty competitive volleyball, tennis, mini-put, and the classic "beat eachother up in the pool" game, which never seems to get old. We keep ourselves entertained- it really doesn't take much.
I'm coming home on Saturday, but the family will be here/ Tenessee for another week. It's always nice to get out and travel some more, but there is always something nice about coming home, even if it will be a bit lonely...

I'll miss you Dave- but Christmas isn't that far away!