I safely returned  from our last week together and the beautiful Arizona weather head first into a major winter storm this last weekend.   A blizzard pretty much shut down the entire states of North and South Dakota and 90% of Minnesota.  Talk about a reality check!  When I don't have to be out in them, I actually kind of enjoy blizzards.  No one can go anywhere and we all hunker down and just relax and enjoy the company of our families and loved ones.  Unlike the unfortunate folks of the Northeast who have endure the power outages of an ice storm, blizzards rarely disrupt basic services (except travel and even that's not totally impossible in emergency situations). Like all such natural occurrences, it is also a reminder of the awesome power of nature and is truly humbling.  I realize I'm still basking in the glow of our last week and as odd as it sounds the blizzard delayed the inevitable plunge back into the everyday routines. Now that we're digging out and everything is finally getting back to normal, I'm hoping  that I/we can maintain our enthusiasm.  This blog will be a big help to that end and for that Jackie, thank you.  I hope everyone else's reinsertion back into "normal" society is also going well.