Story of my Life

Somehow I managed to take NO pictures this past weekend. That's bad. The pictures help me remember what's been going on around here!

James left for the Arizona District Convention on Friday and came home today, so that meant another party weekend for the kids and me. Strange... they're not as fun when they become common rather than rare. Ha! We still had a good time, of course, but it's not very fun to make a habit of being left behind! This next weekend will be #3 in the past 4 or 5 weeks. James will be going to the Colorado Convention solo, too. (I'm dying here!!!) It's just the way things worked out this time. I've actually been coping much better than I would have thought (we'll see how I do this next week!), but I'm going to be SOOOOO ready for our New Mexico Convention--the one I actually get to GO to! :-) The kids, too. Though I must say, it's been really nice to be able to have some normalcy around here. When we're on the go all the time it's so hard to get anything accomplished and I end up saying, "I just want to say HOME for a little while." And when I'm stuck at home for a couple of months I find myself saying, "I just want to GO somewhere." Just can't make some people happy, I guess. ;-)

We had a nice, relaxing weekend. Played some games, had some pizza parties... and that's about all I can remember! I spent a lot of the day on Saturday working on Sunday School stuff and practicing on the piano for song service. I really ought to make a time each day to sit down at the piano and improve my playing a little bit and perhaps get more comfortable playing more songs--especially if James is going to be gone on occasion and leave that job to me! I'm so limited with the number and types of songs I can play; I always wonder if it's more of a hindrance than a help, you know?! I'm thankful that Joe is doing so well on the guitar and Katie can sing on key good and loud--it really helps carry us through when James is away!

I had strict orders from my husband to NOT push it and try to get to town if it was snowy and I thought I might not be able to make it back up the mountain. Sunday morning was no problem, but it started snowing good and strong that afternoon and covered over the tire tracks on the driveway. Had me a little bit nervous and I was in a bit of a turmoil trying to figure out what to do. I want to do what my husband says to do, of course, but how can you just NOT go to church because it MIGHT get bad??? I called my pastor to ask what I should do and he told me to do what James would want me to do, but if I did decide to come into town he would be sure I made it home safely even if they had to follow me all the way up the mountain. What a guy! Not that I would have expected any less from him, but it's so nice to hear the offer. :-) The roads were very wet, slushy in some places, and a little bit slick at first, but not too bad. By the time I came home, however, they were actually in better shape; no slush and practically dry at places. It had actually warmed up and melted a bit after it got dark--how weird is that?! I was so glad to have been able to make it to both services. And not get stuck and be in trouble with my husband. :-)

Last night we had one final pizza party. The kids had done a pretty good job of wrecking the house during the afternoon and I didn't make them clean it up first. That was dumb. We watched some old Looney Toons (those are so great) and by the time it was over it was getting pretty late, so I just sent the kids to bed. I was too tired to get up and clean anything myself, so I just read the Dilbert comic book we got at the library last week (laughed a LOT) and went to bed. When I woke up this morning I couldn't believe how bad the house really was! You would have thought there'd been a bachelor party here or something! Ha! Pizza boxes and trash and dishes and clothes and toys and junk everywhere. So we did devotions and spent the morning in a mad rush trying to get things put in order before heading to town to get James. Not a nice, relaxing way to start the week, I assure you! Ha! But we got it done and all of the mess and clutter taken care of just in time to drive to the airport.

We picked up James, he treated us to IHOP for lunch, then we came home and did school. It went quite well today, so that was good. By the time we were finished I was sooooo tired and laid down on the couch. I fell alseep and didn't wake up until after 5:00! I HATE late afternoon naps--they just screw everything up. I had some pork chops thawed, so I cut them into thin strips and cooked them with some potato diced up real small and some seasonings, then James fried some corn tortillas and we made pork and potato tacos for dinner. Sounds strange, I know, but they were actually quite tasty. Then James decided we were going to watch Anne of Green Gables. (Is that weird, or what?! My Dad and brother would sooner die than watch Anne of Green Gables! Ha!) Katie loved it. She, emotionally, is sooooo much like Anne--it really scares me a little bit! Ha! Joe... well, he did okay with some of the movie. He enjoyed the articulate way people spoke and found humor in a lot of it, but thought Anne was utterly ridiculous and was extremely frustrated every time she'd burst into tears or say anything dramatic... which was pretty much the whole show. Sam didn't last very long before declaring, "This is a TERRIBLE show!" Ha! Definitely not his idea of a worthwhile movie (he's not much of a TV guy anyway, so he's certainly not going to waste his time with a silly girly movie), so I let him play a computer game for a little while. He did, however, thoroughly enjoy the part where they were at the White Sands Concert and that lady was reciting The Wreck of the Hesperus. He laughed so hard he couldn't sit up--thought the lady was hysterical! Ha! It was great. :-)

Now they've been sent to bed and I'm blogging with a stack of folded jeans on one side and the last pile of dirty laundry on the other. Monday Cleaning Day didn't work out so well today with our trip to town and my late afternoon nap. We got the house put back together this morning, but didn't get the floors mopped or bathrooms cleaned or anything like that. So this week we'll try out Tuesday Cleaning Day. :-)