Workshop weekend..

I sit here in the Phoenix airport where H & I missed our connection to San Jose. We were stuck on the runway at ABQ because of "weather delays" in Phoenix-"Don't worry about your connection-all the flights are running behind" Well, we landed here and there was no rain, not even any turbulence and it appears that our flight was the only one with the "weather issues". Now I feel distrusting of this reason for missing my flight. Like the airlines are plotting just to keep their profits up in some way. At any rate, we are stuck here for 3 extra hours. We should be on the road to our condo near Santa Cruz, California as I write this. OK-now breathe! Now the clouds really do look dark and thunder is predicted so who knows when we will get to face California rush hour traffic at this rate. To top it off, there is a bird flying around our heads here in the terminal-a bird-no kidding. Hartley says this is a bad sign-is it? He seems to like us alot because we have been eating sandwiches and have crumbs I guess. Not a normal sight in an airport in my experience.

The good new is we are going to a great conference this weekend on the beach in CA with none other than Mark Allen-yep the Mark Allen-famous triathlete extraordinaire. He is doing a workshop with a Shaman called "Fit Body, Fit Soul, a Visionary Way to Health, Balance and Well-Being". We rented a very nice (we hope) condo on the beach to enjoy the great Mother Ocean while we are taking in education and spirituality. This workshop is something we know nothing about so should be interesting. We were told to bring pocket knives and hiking shoes. Some kind of art/self exploration exercise, I guess. I am just hoping this will make me a really fast triathlete and secretly make Hartley want to do an Ironman. He is still injured from Soma so not looking good at the moment. Guess i will be running on the beach alone this weekend-bummer.

Looking forward to the weekend-OK now we have only 2 hours to wait..then California rush hour on Friday in a rental car for 2 hours. That should be fun!

On a brighter note..

Here is my granddaughter Lane, making a snow man on Thanksgiving here in ABQ.

In honor of Sara..

Today would have been my oldest sister's birthday. She would have been 58. Sad because she died so young-52 years old of Multiple Sclerosis. It was a sad day in December when I got the news while traveling around the country of Chile over the holidays. It was sudden, she had been doing pretty well but got an infection and in one 24 hour period, she was gone. Traumatic moment for me that day of the phone call, in a foreign country, shocked beyond belief. We got home on New Years Eve, 2001. Wasn't 2001 sad enough? There were 300 people at the funeral-it was surreal-this is my sister's funeral? I think of the daughters Sara left behind and how cruel it is that they don't have their mom anymore. I think wasn't it just yesterday when Sara was taking care of me as a kid and we were creating plays to perform for the neighborhood? Losing a sibling is up there with losing parents, only closer to home. I remember calling her on her last birthday alive. I remember where I was, what we said and that is a gift. Amazing really after all those birthdays all those years. And the thing I am most grateful for is that the last words I said to her on the phone on December 23rd, 2001 were "I love you".
Happy Birthday sis..

Think I will go and tell my loved ones and friends I love them again today..you never know..