Back from vacation

Hey, all! Sorry to just drop off like that. I've been on vacation for the last 12 days and thoroughly enjoying it.

We were visiting with my family up in Penn Yan, NY where I grew up (well, for my second half of my childhood anyway). Penn Yan is in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of western New Your State. Really beautiful countryside with the grape country and farm lands dotted amongst the finger lakes. I just love it up there as compared to living down here in the "rush, rush, rush" of the Philly 'burbs. Life just seems to taken at a much slower pace in Penn Yan and the surrounding area, and I'm liking that more and more these days (darn Zen practice! ;-).

We stayed in a beautiful B&B while in Penn Yan, the Trimmer House Bed & Breakfast. The house is gorgeous!! The proprietor teaches in China two to three times a year and has decorated the house in a nice mix of old Victorian and oriental decor. Very well done. We stayed in the two room suite at the front of the house. It was so nice to let Amy have her own room with her own TV and then Deb and I could have time together relaxing and watching (or not watching) whatever we wanted. It was NICE! Ahhhh... the simple things you treasure as a parent!

The focal point of the visit was the party/picnic with the US contingent who didn't make it to my sister's wedding last June in Scotland. Mary and Mark flew in from Scotland with Mark's mum for the week. It was so good to see them all after a whole year. Talking on the phone just isn't the same as being with them face to face. With the visit and time spent together, I'm now realizing just how much I missed being able to see my sister. That said, I still think it's so cool that she's making a life for herself in Glasgow, Scotland.

Well, hopefully the posts will pick up in frequency now that I'm back to spending the majority of my time sitting at a computer hooked to the 'net.

Peace all.