a long weekend...



A flower shop in Leuven, Belgium


I love 3-day weekends...even when they're a bit busy.

Ian had a wrestling tournament on Friday evening. It's the BIG one for our school...the one we host...so it was important. He did quite well...but in the end, didn't place. He was bummed. And so were we. But we were ready to get home...finally at almost 10pm.

Saturday involved sleeping in. I planned on it. I don't usually like to sleep in...but on Friday night I just knew I was going to sleep as long as my body would let me. I got up around 7:30...and yes, that is sleeping in. If I get up later than 8am I start to feel like half of my day is wasted.

There were some things that really needed to be done around here...outdoor chores that had been let go due to all of the rain and a busy schedule. The chicken coop was the biggie...those poor girls. It was such a mess. But Chris helped me and we cleaned it up in under an hour and it passed The Girls' inspection. Do your chickens do that? Go in after you've cleaned and peck around...as if they're inspecting your work? It cracks me up. Speaking of the girls...they have not laid one single egg in WEEKS. I know they slow down...but a complete halt? I'm attributing it to the cold temperatures...

Saturday afternoon Ian went to a birthday party which turned into a sleepover...and Seth went to a birthday party....getting home around midnight or so. Chris and I took that time to watch some movies...The Open Road and The Book of Eli. They were both good...I borrowed them from the library for FREE. Better yet! I will say they both contained language...and Eli contained some suggestive material and quite a bit of violence...I think they called it "brutal violence". And yes...in some scenes, it was. But the story was good...and the end was unpredictable...and I like that.

Sunday was church. Worship was sweet and the message was good...and timely. Afterward we stayed and chatted with friends for a good while...I don't think I got home until close to 1pm! After that...we just hung around at home. Ian recuperated from his sleepover...Seth went to another birthday gathering...Chris practiced guitar for the band he recently joined...and I read blogs and books and magazines. We ended the evening with another FREE movie from the library, The Blind Side. It was good...I cried a LOT. Like, the whole time!

Yesterday was Ian's 13th birthday. THIRTEEN. How is it that my BABY is THIRTEEN? Wow...it's official. I have teens... We hung out during the day....we opened presents and ordered his new scooter. We baked cupcakes and relaxed. Then around dinner time we headed over to our favorite restaurant. We eat there for every birthday...it's become our tradition. It's a great local Chinese place...and we order the same thing every time.

And now...the weekend is over...and I am exhausted. I am off to a very slow start this morning...but I have so much to do. Bible study...baseball sign ups...wrestling tournaments....lunch dates with friends...not to mention, classes start at the community college this week. I signed up for Creative Writing II and got in...but the Ceramics class I want is full. BUT, I'm going to go to it anyway and hope the instructor allows me to Add it. The scheduling of the classes is pretty convenient...Creative Writing from 11-12:15 and Ceramics from 1-4:15, both on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think that'll work out quite well. These are both classes I need for my Bachelor's...and they're both available at the community college...which is GREAT as it saves me mega amounts of money vs. taking these same classes at Chapman. They'll take longer...16 weeks or so vs. 8 weeks. But you pay for that class acceleration...and to be honest, I don't want to rush through either one. I think writing and doing pottery until the end of May sounds pretty fun! Yes, it'll take longer to reach the goal of a degree...but that's OK. I'd rather have less in student loans at this point. Debt and I are not friends.

OK...well that pretty much wraps up the weekend recap...if you made it this far...I love you. If not...I still love you. And I don't blame you one bit for tuning me out... :)