I can hear my husband, Scott, cooking dinner inside the house. I'm on our balcony, surrounded by our week-old potted flowers and vegetables. They've done well the past few days, surviving squirrel attacks and persistent rain. I do believe they're going to make it!

It's a quiet evening, except for the odd mosquito passing by, highway traffic and fireworks in the distance that keep surprising our neighbor's dog, making him bark after each loud pop.

It's Victoria Day weekend here in Canada, so fireworks will be heard every evening, I'm sure. I don't mind, but it would be nice if we could actually see them too. We may have to venture from home one of these evenings to get a better view.

Not too long ago the neighborhood's resident cardinal landed on our roof corner just a few feet from me. He's been singing a lot the last few days, but I'll bet I'm happier than he is that spring is finally here.

A week ago I handed in my last assignment of the winter term. The last time I felt this kind of freedom was in August, which was the last time I had absolutely no school-related work on my plate. But this feeling will be painfully short: Spring term begins tomorrow, and I have SO much to do yet before jumping back into class. I've been wanting to attack spring cleaning around the house, indulge in the pleasure of reading anything unrelated to school, pick the fruits and vegetables I want to plant in our little community plot, evaluate the budget with my husband, sit outdoors in the warm breeze listening to the birds and processing everything that's happened over the last few months. In short, I need a vacation... but school continues, as does work. I don't have the luxury of getting away from it all quite yet.

It's great to be able to wake up each morning with a reasonable assurance that I won't come down with nausea at any point during the day. This was my life from January to March, making me a stranger to my fellow students, to colleagues at work, my church family, and even to the sun itself. It wasn't fun. But now I'm back with somewhat more spunk, even though I still feel as though I'm running out of steam. I've achieved something amazing over the last few weeks - I've kept a pretty regular schedule with Admin tasks at the website I administer, I've emerged from my cave to feel the sun on my face, I've eaten more regularly, had the privilege of planning another publication with colleagues at work, visited with some friends face-to-face again (as opposed to screen-to-face), and enjoyed our pastor's sermons *live* on Sunday morning!

What's really been therapeutic for me this last week was my brother's vacation! I needed a change of scenery so badly that I offered to pick him up in the city where he's studying, and bring him home the same day - an eight hour round trip. My husband came along for the ride last Wednesday. The sun was bright and beautiful that day. We took a short tour of the campus, grabbed a Cantonese red and green curry lunch with BBQ chicken, then loaded up the van, and headed for home. My brother's goal during this vacation was to veg, pure and simple, and I let myself fall into this new, relaxed pace in spite of my ongoing work schedule. This weekend was a highlight for us, as our good friend Pete spent the night from Saturday to Sunday. Our cousins joined us Saturday night for a BBQ on our deck, which was the first time our BBQ had been used in at least two years! On Saturday evening we also visited with some church friends and their bright, loving little puppy, and again Sunday afternoon at a local park where the sun seemed to have beckoned half the city to bring their dogs, kids, and even cats for an afternoon stroll. My bro will be home for another couple days, and on Tuesday afternoon we drive him back to university. My husband and I will help my brother move into his summer residence, we'll spend the night, and explore the city a little more before heading back to our usual schedule back home. I don't mind studying and working through summer... my only disappointment will be my family's separation during this time, as my brother will be four stinkin' hours away. *sigh* =(

Serious health issues can lead to unemployment, which can lead to having more bills than money to pay for them, which can lead some toward creative money-saving outlets. My family has developed a respectable repertoire of options, many of which we're employing simultaneously. One of them is to keep our home's heat as low as we can possibly stand it - it's been hovering around 15 degrees Celsius for two or three weeks now, and we've already forgotten what it's like to feel warm. In fact, the other day Mom made a comment about the butter, which we keep in our pantry, and seems to remain as solid as the butter we keep in our fridge. We're confident that with sheer determination and sustained apathy about physical comfort we can keep our temperature here for the remainder of winter.

Another creative debt outlet I've devised is the Sock Contest: "How many socks am I wearing?" Guess the number of socks correctly, and you win the opportunity to buy each of my family members a brand new pair of moccasin boot-slippers! What a deal!!