Choices, choices everywhere (with some thunder!)

It's the little things that stand out.

Radio. In the Azores, we have one channel to listen to in the car. (One English station I mean.). Today, I put the radio on "scan" and just listened as station after station rolled by playing songs after song. Country. Elevator. Rap. Metal. You name it. I heard it. In English.

We went for a swim in my parents' neighborhood pool. It's literally right out their door and will be a great "beat-the-heat" activity while we are here. And ... being weightless is really good when your body feels like it weighs a million pounds. While we were swimming, a storm rolled in. Thunder. Sidge asked what that noise was. Our island doesn't get thunder or lightning (minus ONE evening we witnessed a majestic lightning storm last summer.) Thunder. Lightning. Just the sound of thunder made me instantly realize that I was back home

My mom watched the kids, and I went to Target. For an hour. By myself. The choices ... incredible! I thought to myself, "I want to just go and look at coloring books." And there was a whole selection of coloring books. (I'm pretty sure there isn't even one place on the island that I can buy a coloring book.) Entire rows of snacks. Entire rows of cereal. It's incredible.

The choices can overwhelm you. Mom K. called to ask me what kind of donut holes my kids would like. Ummmm .... I have no idea. Can't tell you the last time I even saw a donut hole. Kind? No idea. Please just pick some out for me.

We live in a fantastic country. A country that allows us more freedom than we can ever imagine. If you haven't lived outside of the U.S.A., just take my word for this. It feels sooooo good to be home.

I love the U.S.A.!