Life goes on

Wow, what an awesome trip to Belize and Guatemala with my cousin / great friend. It was travel at its finest - we got a little under the skin of the countries we visited, experienced lost luggage, heat, humidity, tarantulas under the bag, scorpions in the clothes, Mayan ruins, rain forests, coral reefs, haggling in rudimentary Spanish, taxi breakdowns and met some wonderful people.

Like any great trip, I learned more about myself and the world and questioned my perspectives and assumptions. I hope to get my backblips up soon! I felt so warmed and comforted and happy to read comments that people had left while I was away. I'm looking forward to catching up with all of you.

We had a wonderful time, but I was glad to come home to my husband and son. I arrived in the wee hours of the morning so it's technically part of today. I was greeted with kisses, hugs, a clean house, flowers and my favourite bread and chocolate.

I went to work on 3 hours sleep and got through the morning only to be told that two of my closest friends had been fired while I was away. I don't know why, but I suspect it was because they valued people's growth and creativity over the bottom line. They respected people for their strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses and mistakes. I am shocked and angry. I used to work in a place that cared about employees as people. That is gone for good.

After work, I went to a secret garden that one of the people who was let go had shown me. The garden was so full of beauty and colour, life and growth, all of the things my friend values - values we share.

The flowers were lush and the bees were feeding madly in the early evening light. An oasis of civility in the middle of my city.