While I'm Away ...

I'm still not home and won't be for a few more days.

But, while I have the opportunity, I wanted to check in.

This has been such a fantastic week. I met some of Yibbyl's best friends and immediately liked them! I really enjoyed the time that we spent visiting.

I had a great day on Sunday at Marine World. We rode a couple of the rollercoasters, saw the dolphin show, then the killer whale show, and ate junk food until we were dizzy with sugar overload. But the coolest thing for me was the stingray tank. I was able to reach over and pet them as they came gliding by. That was wild! After a few timid touches I finally managed to stroke one from the top all the way to the bottom and along it's tail. Then it did this startling backflip and swung back around right underneath my hand! It reminded me of a cat sliding under your hand for some more loving. I, of course, was happy to oblige and almost had to be dragged away from that tank since I was loving it, too! We walked a ton and my feet were sore the next day but I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

Yesterday we were invited to BBQ and visit with Jas and his lovely wife and adorable daughter. Also in attendance were two friends of the family (K & L), one teddybear hamster and one cat. K had to leave shortly after we ate but we had plenty of time to visit with L and we decided that we adore her and are going to adopt her as our friend, too, whether she likes it or not!

Around 6pm we loaded up in the cars and headed over to Cal Expo to watch a magnificent fireworks display and had the chance to meet Jen, Monkey, and their family, too. Most of the pyrotechnics were accompanied by patriotic songs but my favorite, by far, was the segment where they played the Louis Armstrong song, What a Wonderful World, and they matched the fireworks to the lyrics! "Fields of green" - green flashes of brilliance, "red roses, too" - red flashes of brilliance, "skies of blue", "colors of rainbow," all the way through until he sings of the faces of people going by and then there were happy face fireworks in the sky! I kid you not! Smiley faces all around us in the night sky! And when he sang that the looks and how-do-you-do's really said "I love you" there were red hearts all around us in fireworks! I'm a sentimental fool, perhaps, but it made my eyes get all misty.

And through it all my hand was being held by Yibbyl.

I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly blessed I feel.

Today's Plan: Make sure that man knows how lucky I feel to have found him.