Lately

Just a quick list of some of the things that I've been enjoying lately:

*Meeting up with a few high school friends in Lethbridge for lunch and visiting. It was just like a great movie. We laughed, we cried....

*Running Showbiz Kids. I know I've said it before, but I love Tuesdays! And this year I'm lucky enough to get to do it on Wednesdays, too!

[Insert picture of 27 adorable children here.]

*Watching my grandchildren take part in their ward's Primary Presentation. So fun!

*Going for lunch at Cora's with a few women from my ward. When I told The Mr. how great it was he said, "You should do that more often." SWEET! This is one time when I will definitely be obedient to the counsel of my husband. (giggle)

[Insert picture of six incredibly gorgeous women here.]

*Finding a super deal on some costume hats for Showbiz Kids. Who doesn't love 75% off?

I'm hoping the fun keeps coming!

Dixie

Go Home! Go Home!

A while ago The Mr. and I went to a church social. A western-themed church social. (And let me just preface this by saying that The Mr. was so excited to have an excuse to wear his cowboy boots.) Anyway..... after the barbecued beef-on-a-bun and the steer roping demonstration, we were told to form a big circle for square dancing. This is the part I was especially looking forward to.

The professional square dance caller was especially good at his job, and quickly had us learning a few basic tricks. We knew who our partner was, who our corner was, who the side couple was, who the head couple was, and most importantly, where "home" position was. We could soon do-si-do, allemande left and promenade with the best of them.

We apparently surprised the caller with how quickly we had caught on, so he decided to teach us some more advanced steps. He warned us that things might get confusing, but comforted us with this great advice: "Remember where your home position is, because no matter how crazy and mixed up you get, you can always go 'home' until you get your bearings, and then you can start up again when you feel ready."

After a few minutes of success, our little group of eight started falling a little behind and getting tangled. We knew we were in trouble, until one of the ladies in our group yelled, "Go home! Go home!" We all promenaded back home and waited until we were ready to join in again.

I've been thinking about this and how true it really is. When life gets crazy and a little too hectic and confusing, it's so nice to be able to go home and regroup until we feel confident enough to take on life's challenges again. (Of course that only works if our homes are places of peace and happiness.)

Moving on to a different story, but with a related theme, I've noticed how my 86-year-old mother is also longing to go "home" as things here on earth are getting pretty tough for her. As her body weakens with age and leukemia, it's interesting to observe that the things she's concerned about, all have to do with going home to be with loved ones again.

I think I've always known it, but between square dancing and spending time with my mom, I'm realizing just how important home really is. I'm recommitting to placing more emphasis on both of these homes.

Dixie

Room 805

Last weekend The Mr. and I travelled to Banff to attend a Law Society Convention. The activities were being held in the historic Banff Springs Hotel. Several years earlier we stayed there on business, and were put up in a swanky room, which was quite a treat. Since we were paying for our own room this time, I knew it wouldn't be quite as luxurious as the last one, but still expected a fairly nice room. After all, this was The Banff Springs Hotel.

Upon our arrival, we were told they didn't have our reservation. After 20 minutes of waiting, we were finally told we could stay in Room 805. Apparently, in an effort to apologize for the inconvenience they had caused in losing our reservation, this was to be an "upgraded room with a spectacular view of the valley". How exciting! We could hardly believe our luck.

We took the elevator to the top floor and began to wind our way down the corridor towards Room 805. Something struck us as unusual, though, when we realized that the farther we went, the narrower and shorter the hallway became. At one point my claustrophobia started to kick in, and I began to wonder if I would make it.

"You can do this, Dixie. Just think of the end goal -- the upgraded room with the spectacular view."

Finally, at the very end of the hallway, we came to our room and opened the door with anticipation. And immediately began laughing. There it was -- Room 805 -- the tiniest little room we have ever stayed in! It was a triangular-shaped room with the corner cut off. As soon as we stepped into the room we were practically touching the bed. This picture was taken right in front of the door:

And if that wasn't funny enough, we noticed this little door cut right out of the wallpaper:

Here's what it looked like from farther away:

What's that all about?

I do have to say though, the room really did have a spectacular view ...... if you walked over to the very edge of the wall and looked out a small little window.

Dixie