When my feet finally hit the ground back in Houston, I had spent seven days in the desert and seven days on an island, logged over 5,000 miles of car and air travel, and endured nine airline flights.

I enjoy flying, but nine flights in seventeen days were a bit much. But on the flip side, during all my travels I had an opportunity to cross paths with dozens of people from all walks of life and backgrounds.

Yesterday morning I woke up with a craving for blueberry pancakes. Pancakes are one of the easiest gluten-free breads to make and are simple to whip up for a quick treat.

Countless gluten-free companies offer flour blends for sale, but because of the tapioca I’m allergic to most of them. And the others (such as Pamela’s) include buttermilk, a no-no for me because of the dairy.

However, after three years of searching, I finally found a blend that bakes beautifully and tastes close to the real thing. Best of all, it is affordable, and will save you from buying expensive prepackaged mixes.

This morning as I was dropping my sister off at work, I passed two side-by-side real estate companies. Both of the businesses were displaying electronic scrolling signs, but with contrasting messages.

To the casual observer there was nothing unusual about these six hours.

I’ve often thought about how fascinating it would be to have a time machine. I would not want to go into the future—quite content figuring out the present, thank you—-but it would be an incredible experience to relive some of the most momentous events of the past.