Callie loves manga; specifically "Fruits Basket". She has been reading her books for most of this vacation; she brought 13 with her. She was on the computer today, but she was still reading. She found a site with the "Fruits Basket" series online. Brent has been enjoying himself with his cousin, Grace. He is learning what it is like to be the older sibling. Grace wants him to snuggle, shop and have tea parties. So cute. Maybe he'll see his older sister in a different light now.

We have learned a lot about ourselves on this holiday. First, we are no longer Washingtonians. We feel out of place here and have missed our New Mexican home since we left it. We also learned that friends and family are important and making time for them in our lives is essential. We have learned just how much we have changed since we left. We feel completely out of sorts with the pace of life here. Our friends and family remark how much they have slowed during our visit, and we still feel that everyone is in a hurry! We had planned to do a bunch of shopping during our return to civilization. But strangely nothing appealed to us in the malls. My daughter got bored after the first few stores and we didn't finish the mall. Turns out we really didn't need stuff. We just thought we did. We hardly got anything at all. Our perspective is different now; I like it better.