......mmm....a big cup of hot steaming coffee. It'll take a BIG cup of coffee to discuss everything, and is there a better way to chat about anything than over a steaming mug of freshly brewed goodness? Coffee...you are so wonderful, so warm, so giving of your caffeine to my bloodstream...what a good friend...anyway, I digress.

So, what's up? Well, there are two worlds at play here - house and head. What's going on in the house? It's CRAZY man! I've been travelling a little this week, hockey season has turned into "playoff season" and the month of February is looking awfully busy, work is nuts, but what else is new...... (take a sip of Joe) I don't want to talk about it anymore...

Then, there's what's going on in the head. (Take another sip) Again, so many topics that I have been wanting to go off on lately, that it's baffling where to start. (take a good, long pull) ' Tomorrow is the 3rd anniversary of my dad's passing. I re-live every moment of that whole week when this time of year comes around.....and although every year gets a little less painful, I do still think of him and the journey's he took me on from childhood to my own religious foundation, to actual journies across this country, to his final journey living with cancer...... I think of my 7 siblings at this time and wonder what they are thinking right now.  I look at my mother, the one he was married to for 54 years and wonder how much she misses him.....

Actually, what has been occupying much of my head time lately are the blissful thoughts of gardening. It was minus 52 with the windchill here this past week, luckily I was on the other side of the country when it hit, but I did get to feel the minus 40 temperatures upon my return home.  The best way to cope is to think that in just a few short months, we'll be cutting the lawn and tilling the garden and planting the flowers...... yep, just a few more months..........

As we finish our cup together, let me take this opportunity to reiterate a few long standing truths...politics suck, the superbowl is far too commercialized, Britney still needs help, the writer strike is a GOOD thing, winter is a long but oh-so-necessary season, and it's good to be alive today!!

Anyway, what would you like to say over a hot cup of coffee?