Vacation part trois

Okay now where was I?...............

Oh yes, the next day lol.  We slept in a lot this vacation, I'll tell you that right off the bat.  We never get to and definitely needed the rest so it was magnificent to be able to do that.  I remember, however, that most mornings were freezing in Mom and Dad's house as they leave the windows open  at night so as to keep the home cooler during the day.  Understandable.

Our children truly enjoyed hooking up with all of their friends, especially swimming at the pool.  Today, however, we decided to pay a visit to some special friends of ours.  The Melchiors.  Jeff Melchior has been a good friend of mine most of my adult life our personalities can find humor in almost anything we see or hear.  It's a fantastic friendship in my opinion.  We could talk for hours about everything and even if we don't see eye to eye we still respect each other's opinions and occasionally are swayed to agree, rare, but it happens right Jeff?

We had a most uncommon experience years back where I spent a good 2 hours bearing my testimony of things possible to Jeff in his life if he chose it.  There were steps to consider on certain aspects of his life and I remember having the strongest impressions that all those things he was stomping his feet at not getting right this second were always his for the taking but he might be looking in the wrong places.

One day, finally, he met Julia.  A beautiful red headed South African girl.  All we heard before meeting her was how like me she was.  Great!  Of course we knew we'd love her right away! My husband is  also South African.  South Africans have an amazing cultural bond between them that is great to experience and I loved watching Julia bring out my husband's SA accent and recall his Afrikaans.  Such a wonderful culture that I had already been exposed to and loved and now I get to live with it every day, I'm spoiled rotten.

We drove up to their house, this was the one day that it decided to rain and rain and rain some more without letting up.  No complaints from us.  Was a driving, visiting kind of day anyways.  We found their home without trouble and got to meet their ambitious dog, Milo.  Such a cute boy he his aren't ya!  I was and still am amazed that they even fit into that apartment with all of the medical supplies that Jeff needs for dialysis but we were at home and cozy just the same.  I was so happy when I saw their smiling faces.  You never realize how much you miss people until you can't be around them as often as you're used to.

We drove into Olds for a bite to eat I think it was Bill's Steakhouse but I'm not sure if I have the right place.  We had a very rambunctious 2 yr old that thought running around was all the rage.  Food was incredibly good.  I myself had some poutine that was considered an appetizer and bigger than my personal pizza lol.  Thai pizza that was so unbelievable good this chef needs to go into pizza business if he can, was to die for!  Of couse the SA's had lamb, no surprise there and said it was very well done.

We have this weird habit, however, of locking into intimate, important conversations more often in public than in private.  I think it's a habit because Jeff and I went out so much talking at restaurants getting stuck in good conversation and the occasional debate, sometimes heated but not always.  Tonight was no exception.  I'm sure the people around us were having important conversations of their own but I caught more than one table eyeing us during our conversation with a look of intrigue on their faces.  I'm flattered that we are so interesting to them.  We are the elite after all right Jeff? Rofl.  Sorry inside joke that, our closest friends and spouses know though now don't you.  Strong feelings of good futures, poking fun at the kids and things they used to do one of which Jeff still uses to this day lol.  Reminiscing of past events too funny and spectacular and numerous to mention.  ( If you all knew everything about me I'd shock the crap out of you trust me safer not to know lol)  Was amazingly fun and a wonderous night of laughter, friendship and love.  I love and miss you guys terribly already.

Then came the drive home, which let's face it after 3 days of driving to get there 3 hours is a piece of cake.  I remember falling asleep a couple of times but mostly I remember the way the rain fell on the prairies,  the ways it smelt of mountain freshness, and............. the traffic in Calgary!  Oi!  And, the rise of the Lethbridge lights in the distance.  Feels like home.  Big smile on my face.  Eyes flutter shut.