Here it is Friday afternoon and things have finally quieted down a little bit. I'm able to sit down and put a few words in the blog. It's a nice feeling to have the ability to do that. The problem is that I don't know what I want to post about...the mind is a blank slate...tabula rasa...There's air between my ears...I feel like I've moved into a state of deep "duh."

I will say this...it's the heart of winter now. I know that J and I are going on our ski weekend next weekend...and I am really looking forward to it, even though weather reports have said that next weekend the bottom is going to drop out of the thermometer. We've still got the hotel room with the Jacuzzi and that sounds pretty good. We'll dress warm, ski (beginning lessons for her) and sit in the Jacuzzi...of course we'll have some good food too... It's going to rock... a little romance...outdoor beauty on the slopes...good food...It's a recipe for a fantastic weekend. The grandparents have got Goobs and the Bun...so, we've got all the angles covered. We just want to stay healthy through it all...no broken legs, no twisted knees, nor bruised backsides.

The thing is this...I am dreaming about beaches, exotic fruit, hammocks, and diving again. It's been almost a year since we went back to Davao. It's not fair...I want to run my toes through the sand and lay in the heat. I want to be in a place warm enough where I can sit in the darkness and not shiver. I wonder what it would be like to be independently wealthy...so I could travel here and there without so much as a thought. It's just a thought, albeit a fleeting one.

You know...there's got to be a way to travel for free...some sort of special trial deal...maybe we could offer to be in charge of international documents that need to be sent from Minneapolis to Seoul (Hey, I know it's not a warm place, but it's home...) or Manila...or transport super secret computer chips from the US to a top secret hidden lab in Fiji. Maybe we could be secret shoppers to beach hotels in Phuket or Boracay. There has to be a way...I just can't think of it now... J and I need to sit down and concoct a method that would have airlines beating down our doors, wanting to give us free tickets to any tropical destination in the world. I want an umbrella in my coconut juice...I want to smell like sunscreen...I want flip flop tan lines on my feet. Somebody help a poor boy out...Maybe you have some money that you want to donate to the Samok Family to send us somewhere warm... Dig deep...give from your hearts...help a poor family get warm...Give Samok Daddy a sunburn, help J learn to swim this year...your assistance will help give the kids tans...It's not too late to give...from your heart...

Ha ha ha ha....