Scottsdale, Arizona

We are at Patrick's client's, in one of the most beautiful homes I have honestly ever been in. We have our own *casita* guest house, and I am looking out over the sunset. The house is warm, livable, welcoming — so very much like Sue herself. I foolishly did not bring my camera cable, but will post a set of photos to my flickr account when I erturn so you can see what I mean.

It brings to mind the idea of the best. In the past few days, we have been talking a lot about being the best people/citizens/mmbers of society/parents/etc. that we can be. There are a lot of aspects to that, but the conversation started when I met with the fund manager with the Minneapolis Foundation, where we have our small family foundation. How do we ensure that we are avid, careful yet generous, responsible, donors who do the best with our money? Right now the fund is not fully set, so I think we will just do some low-key charitable giving this year-end. It's a hard place to be in, because right now money is tight and we are still trying to recover from the past few years of financial issues for both of us; though a far more stable future is in sight, it is not here yet. But it feels like we ought to be getting a start on it now.

More musings on being a good citizen later. i'm interested to knwow what others think.

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