A few quick notes on the week so far.

Just 3 more days of work before my vacation starts! My mom, brother and his girlfriend arrive on Sunday and will be here until the 9th of July so it's going to be a fun and busy vacation.

db and I decided to use our place as our home base and then just do day trips from here. There is so much to see and do within a short driving distance. We've mapped out some plans and just need to go over everything again before they arrive. I guess I should also google map destinations and read about anything else that might be in the area that we should see.

Vacation aside, I also have my run on Sunday with the 7 a.m. start. Wow that's early and it's a long drive from home so I'm anticipating a 4 am rise-and-shine (I think the birds are just starting to wake up at that time). I really hope to finish in a decent time, but I won't think about that too much.

Tonight, I'm just trying to get out for my run. My legs are tired even though I worked in the office all day. It's just tougher to go out and run after work, but I know I'll feel fine once I get going.

***

My cousins were just here on the weekend. When I was 16 or 17 I spent the summer with my aunt and uncle in Vermont looking after my 3 cousins who were 10, 8 and 4 (I believe those ages are correct). It was an incredible summer for me. I loved being there. My aunt and uncle were so kind to me. Even though I may not have been the best at child care I did enjoy looking after them. They were bad and did fight a lot, but if anything it has only made me fonder of them because we went through it together.

At the time I was...let's say...a bit of a troubled teen, so this trip to Vermont was a learning experience that was good for me. I wish I'd been a little less of a troubled teen, but I can't change that now.

Anywho...two of my cousins were here this weekend. R, the youngest, is about to leave for New Zealand to do research for her Phd, while N. lives in Nelson and, as I've mentioned before, is a coffee roaster there. We arranged to have dinner Sunday night, but since they were leaving for Kelowna the next day we also arranged for them to stay over.

It was so nice to see them and see what incredible adults they've become. What I found most remarkable was how close they are as siblings. All that fighting when they were little and it didn't affect their relationships as adults. It made me miss my brother and sister and how much fun we have together. I miss how we can just pick up where we left off and feel completely at ease with one another. So to see my cousins having such a positive relationship really made me happy.

We had a nice dinner. db and I had prepped most of the food earlier in the day so we had more visiting time. db made bruschetta with mushrooms, pinenuts and tomatoes. I made my creamy pesto pasta with green beans and potatoes. We had a salad mix that I had picked up at the market that morning and for dessert I made a mixed berry crisp with fresh local strawberries, blueberries and some cherries I found in the freezer that my stepdad, pw, had given us at least a year ago. I also had some leftover rhubarb and strawberry compote to serve with it and made the cashew whipped cream that is absolutely divine. What a meal.

N had brought his dog Pitou so the cats were kept in the bedroom since Pitou hasn't had much exposure to cats and he looked a little too eager to chase (and perhaps nip a little) when he looked through the window at our kitties. Both of the cats' tails puffed up. Prima was curious, but Gigi wanted nothing to do with Pitou. The bedroom was a good place for them to relax while Pitou stayed over.

At 4 am I discovered that Gigi is an early riser and has stuff to do; therefore, she needs to get out of the bedroom now. I didn't want to wake everyone and put Pitou out in the backyard so I just lay awake and tried to stop Gigi from tearing at the door. She'd give up just long enough for me to drift off and then she'd start up again. At 6:30 I got up and we got Pitou up and moved him out. Sorry Pitou, but I had to let Gigi out of the room as she was going squirrly. Poor little Gi.

Anywho...it was nice to see R & N. Hopefully db and I will make it to Nelson sometime soon for a visit.