Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The Annual Pilgrimage

So tomorrow we will be returning to Chicago on a fact finding mission for more material for this blog. I've exhausted all my previous tidbits, so we're returning for more fodder.

No actually we're making our yearly trip back to see family and friends. A couple friends are getting married and we're making a mini-vacation out of it. It's always amazing how packed the itineraries for these trips get. No matter whether it's a week or two. Always someone to see or something to do. I guess it is really a function of trying to pack in as much stuff as possible. For instance, on a shorter trip we would meet groups whereas on longer visits we would try to meet people individually.

There is an interesting thing about the friends aspect of being away. The people you keep in contact with tends to boil down to closer and closer friends. Pretty quickly you lose contact with acquaintences. Then it's friends you many not have known very long or ones you didn't see that often. Losing contact is partly my doing. I can be quite bad at responding to emails while away and our available time to see people while there can be fairly limited. So we concentrate on those closer to us. It is unfortunate because they are good people. It boils down to logistics really. On the extended family side, we see them pretty much at the same frequency as before we left. Except it is more for the occasion of us coming back as opposed to weddings, birthdays, and funerals.

So I'll probably won't be posting during the trip. A couple written posts may come out, but I won't have access to photos. My apologies that I have not responded to comments left here lately. Everything has gotten quite busy. I keep thinking things will slow down after the next event or deadline, but there is only a temporary lull until it's time to start getting ready for the next. I guess that's summer in Montreal. Time to do as much as you can until you have to reinstall your snow tires.

Speaking of, lets all hope the 220k km car holds out for the 2750 km round trip. It is currently making it's fifth visit to the mechanic this year.

Lastly an update on my three resolutions. First I haven't lost any weight since the beginning of the year, though I haven't gained any either. I started running again, but on one run my calf tightened up right at the turn-around point. So I had to hobble back. I haven't gotten back on that horse. And lastly, I still have plans to post once a month in French. I have some ideas already, but just need to sit down and hash it out. It'll help when we get a French keyboard at home also. That's why my text doesn't have the accents when I comment on Flickr late at night.

So take the time to check out some others on my blogroll while we're gone. Or check out my pics or favorites on Flickr. There is some really cool stuff out there.

Later,
Frank.

No comments: