Monday, June 23, 2008

Whirlwinds Abound!

Well, I am about as exhausted as I get, right now. We've had a busy and wonderful weekend, seen a lot of people, and done a lot of stuff. The first memorable event that started it off on Friday was going to Leila's baby shower (I always have to think when I have a friend whose name starts with L: Leila, Lanae, LeeAnna, LeeAnn, Lila, Lori, Lois...what is this? Their moms sure have messed with my messy mind! I'm glad though. I wouldn't give up knowing even one of them.). Leila goes to our previous church. I was hesitant to go when we got the invite, for the awkwardness, but then I saw the hostess of the shower at WalMart and she greeted me before I even saw her, and assured me that I ought to go. Hot dog! It was great to see the ladies there. And of course, Leila's beautiful baby girl, Marian Marie! God is so good!
The next day, Saturday, there was a wedding reception for Kim, who was in Katie's first youth ministry small group--again, from our previous church. I got to know her mom from the Bible studies we attended and other events. She was so caught up in the impending engagement and all the hoopla that she didn't realize for months, I think, that we'd left the church. Ha! That was kind of amusing. And we saw a lot of the same ladies as I'd seen the day before.
Our next event after church yesterday, Sunday, was a good-bye potluck and bbq gathering for our friends Lanae and Scott and their three sons (who are Tim's closest friends)...alas! Scott's in the military and they are moving to Denver. So we attended that and again saw some of the same people we'd seen at the previous two events...which was again wonderful, if it didn't signify their leaving! (And one fellow who we saw for the first time in four years asked Gary what church we're attending now--turns out he's looking to change as well! We couldn't more highly recommend a church than where we're going. It may not be for everyone--which is a good thing, from my human perspective--but we love it!)
Last night, still Sunday, we were having our friend Jay over for dinner. Of course, that was a blast--I blogged about it just previous to this post. It was an upbeat intermission between Lanae and Scott's goodbye party and their sons coming over for a couple of days while they pack up.
Yes, and this morning, Monday, Lanae's three boys came over. We took them along with us to Mt. Vernon to get Katie's food handler's permit and then to Red Robin to document her ability to work there. Took Katie then to a babysitting job, and I've been home pretty much ever since. Yow. I'm tired! We were going to have Lanae and Scott over for dinner. No meal ideas were coming to mind, exactly. I always make homemade mac n' cheese when the boys come over, at least for lunch, and I'd cooked up some pot roast I had ready to go in the fridge, but it wasn't enough for all of our dinner--so I started on making some tuna-rice casserole. I started the rice, but couldn't find the tuna that I was convinced was in the pantry. (If you saw our pantry, you'd know why.) Gary brought some home. Meanwhile I made cornbread and a pumpkin dessert, but then also needed to make cupcakes, partially because it's my friend-neighbor Stacia's birthday (and our pastor's too, but he doesn't get our cupcakes today). Lanae called and cancelled--they're not done packing up. "Oh, that's quite alright. Just come tomorrow and eat whenever you want. I don't mind at all." And it's true. It was actually a relief, if she only knew!
A couple of times, I've had to sit in our recliner a few minutes, and let the blood go back up from my ankles. My friend Lanae is exhausted, but I'm wondering if it's possible for her to be more tired than her crazy friend who's going to miss her terribly.
I'm not done yet with this busy, people-filled weekend, either. The boys are staying overnight, complete with muddy shoes, socks and pants from a trip to the creek, mysterious puddles all over the kitchen floor that apparently aren't thanks to any of them, and lots of questions regarding "Where did so-and-so go?" (Over the river and through the woods, maybe..) "Have you seen the clone fighter that was just here?" (Oh, of course! Third pile of junk to the left...) "Where are my flip-flops?" (Well, I wasn't tracking you when you took them off, so retrace your steps...) And my questions to them, "Would you please close that door?" "Could you eat your cupcake over your plate?" I think I'll slip the boys a sedative, pile them up and rest my feet on them. Just kidding. I love those boys, who are all boy in the extreme, and we'll all miss them. They may conk out pretty fast thanks to their own level of busy-ness and excitement; at the moment, they have recruited Gary to be outside lighting firecrackers to finish off the day. I know they'll be awake around 7 a.m., too; they don't sleep in. Denver, be ready for these boys' arrival. We will all be wishing Denver weren't so far away!

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