Love you Samantha...

Leaving for Hope, BC in a couple of hours. Family Reunion... I'm torn though. My family is usually four strong. Today we leave with just three. Samantha had the choice of coming to the reunion or going to Chicago with youth on a mission trip. Well after 18 hours of travel (including a 14 hour train ride) she is comfortably in Chi town working in soup kitchens, thrift stores and wherever else they put her. I usually forget all about my children when they're not with me. Its the only way I can seem to squash my anticipatoroy disorder. Not for normal stuff like school or whatever, but when they travel great distances without me - that is my goto defence mechanism. **sigh** this time is not so easy though. It feels quite wrong to not only have her so far away, but to be going in the complete opposite direction.

Samantha has changed so much this summer. She's always been confident, but now its gone to a new level. Working at camp has given her something I never could. Two weeks ago she slept in the tent on Friday night with a friend. Saturday she slept in it all by herself!! I don't think I could, I mean sure if I had to... but seriously, she was out there all night on her own. Last weekend we were at the lake with B&K. B has a healthy respect for the lake, almost a fear if you will when it is dark. So just for fun he says "$25 to the first person to jump off the dock in the dark!". Well Samantha was soon $25 richer. That was Friday. You'll have to ask her what she did for $50 on Saturday...

Mandy's bringing her I-pad to the reunion, I've had her put a couple of pictures of her sister on there to show people if they're interested. Maybe I'll just keep it with me so i can keep refreshing the picture in my head... I love the internet - last year it kept me up to date on Mandy's every move in Europe. This week Samantha has already scammed some time on someone's computer so I know she is safe - thank you Facebook...

Love you Samantha

Which way to the water?

Last Saturday I was skating at BHP. Tim usually goes with his running group on Saturdays, but me, I still skate. Had the most interesting conversation with a rather confused sr. citizen with a thick accent of some sort. He pulled the car in front of me and the guy I was skating with - always a little leery when a car stops us (something about their 4 wheels vs. my 8!). Out gets the driver, wife in the passenger seat with the window down... and he says- Where is the water? To drink or to swim I ask. To swim he replies.

I tell him he needs to go round the bend to the "beach parking lot". He did not know where this was. Then he says I do not want the beach, I want the water. We go back and forth a bit as I try to explain where it was - no good - he didn't get it. We were very close to the park exit and his wife calmly leans out the window and says - which way is home? I told her that a way - she nods her head and is silent. The guy gives me one more helpless look and gets back in the car to try and find the beach parking lot (where he doesn't want to be... ) It occurs to me as we skate off that I told his wife which way to go home... I'm assuming of course their home is in Winnipeg...