Dearly beloved...

We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of one whole month since my return from a lovely get-away to Minneapolis with Glenn.  As now I am in the depths of teacher conferences, doctors appointments, secretly getting the house and other affairs ready for my parents to come for Christmas, kids home for the entire Thanksgiving week, and making meals, let us reflect back on the beauty that was five whole days of TIME. 

TIME to attend the temple.

TIME to see a movie and have the theater all to ourselves.

TIME to experience the out-of-control craziness that is Mall of America.

TIME to take a picture by the Michael Kors sign.  But not to go in.  Not with those prices.

TIME to be as amazed as I imagine Porter would be in the Lego store.

TIME to head up to the banks of the Mississippi River and walk pretty much all the way to St. Paul.

TIME to admire the color and uniqueness of the Farmer's Market.

TIME to enjoy the downtown atmosphere.

TIME to ride a bus down to a Scandinavian store and deli.  Because why not?

TIME to enjoy the freshest guacamole (like we watched her make it right there at our table) at a fancy Mexican restaurant that we were maybe a little under-dressed for.

TIME to walk a couple miles to see this sculpture.  Which apparently is a big deal.

TIME to take a picture of myself as a crossed a (rickety-looking) bridge that spanned a very busy freeway.

TIME to sit at a wanna-be Parisian crepe shop and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate that I was convinced had a little java in there.  But no caffeine buzz, no foul.

TIME to find a bahn mi food truck and decide to get one for lunch.  (It wasn't Nom Nom, but it was probably pretty close.)

TIME to eat the bahn mi in the two-story Target.  It was a little chilly outside.

TIME to get the yummiest turtle candies from Candy Land.

TIME to get a cupcake (or two) and bring them back to the hotel room and eat all by myself before taking a nap.

TIME to pose in front of the Mary Tyler Moore statue on the way to the airport.

And now, as this idyllic moment in time goes the way of all the earth, we give our sincerest thanks. Yes, this trip will always be remembered most fondly for its gift of TIME. It did for me what few others, if any ever have. It gave me a chance to be independent, feel cosmopolitan, and exercise my agency in ways heretofore unknown. And then get to hang out with my husband when he was done working. We will never forget.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.