Always something to smile about on a summer Friday

Hello.

Thanks so very, very much for the kind words and support. We are doing our best to take our time, breathe deeply, support each other, and find joy where ever we can.

This photo of Ken and Dean isn't super current -- a trip to a local Mexican restaurant at the end of May -- but it's sort of just quintessentially them, and us; we're savoring little events like this to lift our spirits.

Friends of ours in Ireland were kind enough to send Dean the World Cup insert from their Sunday paper a few weeks ago. Here's Dean, really the moment he opened it, filling in all the results to-date. It was wonderful to see him learn right away how to do all the math calculations to know which teams had to do what (win, by how many goals, while that team ties or that team loses by two) in order to get out of the group stage. He's faithfully kept the chart up each day, and now we're poised for the last two matches this weekend.

Spain, being the team of our beloved Fernando Torres, was our top pick all along (since we knew in our hearts that the US wouldn't be advancing to the finals this time). Although he's had a tough tournament, the team has been brilliant and we're hoping for a win on Sunday. We'd like to see Uruguay take 3rd. With Ken's being of Dutch descent, we had a fondness for the Netherlands team until we saw them play -- WAAAAY too much flopping for our taste, and overall we just aren't as enamored of their style of play.

I tell you, I don't know what I would have done to get through the days if we didn't have the World Cup to occupy us. Viva la futbol!

This morning, after I dropped Dean and two friends off for their last day at zoo camp, I drove past a family that was clearly packing up the car to leave on vacation. It made me so happy to see them, getting the last of the gear stowed and full of anticipation for where ever they were going. It's lovely to let someone else's joy be contagious.