this is a good one

The girls are in bed asleep. The last three nights Eleanor has slept through the night. It is amazing what kind of perspective you can get on your child waking up at 5:30 am when she has hardly slept at all the night before... and it was the day after daylight savings - so I counted it as if it was 6:30 am... and today they "slept in" until 6:10 am - whoot! Thanks so much to those of you who thought of her and prayed for us or sent your sleepy vibes our way. We are much refreshed.

This past month has been an extreme emotional roller coaster, from some of the worst days I've had in recent memory to definitely some of the best. Speaking of some of the best days, here's some pics from our cruise.

At the "captain's reception", the formal night on our cruise.

The view of "Los Arcos" in Cabo San Lucas, from the ship.

Me at the taco place that Wade researched in "Lonely Planet" that we totally trekked into the locals only area to find. It was next to a Mexican construction sight and it was awesome. I seriously do not know why I EVER doubt that guy, for real.

Dressed up for dinner. You can tell how relaxed we were by the fact that we had time and energy to stop and take pictures of ourselves in the mirror. Sigh. Sweet life.

As far as the worst goes, I am feeling better about a number of things, I got some new perspective recently. I had become bogged down by a lot of relational stuff going on, and by some drama in our neighbourhood. Then on Sunday, our pastor shared a bit about the legacy we leave behind us, and shared this clip of Bono receiving an award from the NAACP. I started thinking about how differently I felt about the things I'd been struggling with when I thought about them from the perspective of what I'm willing to suffer for myself vs. what I'm willing to put up with if I know it will leave a better world, legacy, attitude or neighbourhood for my kids. I would rather not have conflict with anyone, ever. I hate it. But I'll fight a hell of a lot for Sophia and Eleanor. They rock.

Speaking of how much they rock, when we were on our way home from Alberta, Sophia was noticing the signs at airport security with all the "do not" symbols and began to "read" the sign that had various weapons, liquids, and a skull-and-crossbones poison symbol crossed out. She said, "That sign says, 'No lotion, no knives, no guns, no pirates.' " Yep, we agreed, no pirates. Darn good thing. If I'd had all my new perspective, they'd have been some sorry-ass pirates for sure.