The Crazy, Beautiful, Busy Weekend

What a weekend we had!  Sometimes these kind of weekends wear me down a bit.  Other times, like this one, I wake on Monday mornings feeling energized and fulfilled.  I'm most thankful for the latter!

I am not one that you would call a 'people person'.  I'm just not comfortable around strangers and I am certainly not good at instigating conversations.  Yet, in God's sense of humor, He chose to make me highly relational.  And it is when I get the opportunity to invest and share in the lives of those I know and love that I feel most fulfilled.  Hence the energy I sense today rather than feeling spent.

Jim spent the weekend in Arkansas' Delta country attending our nephew's high school graduation.  He, Meagan and Davin left Thursday morning for the West Memphis area.  I mention that fact because if he had been home, my comings and going would have been a lot less.  He is a home body.  Having spent the first seven years of our marriage traveling non-stop for work, he really, REALLY enjoys staying at home with his cows and his pond and his garden -- and his wife.  LOL!

Thursday night after work Will and I had to make a trip into Houston to pick up his tuxedo for Junior Prom.  We have learned the hard way that you never want to put off your tuxedo rental pick up for the last minute.  When you do, you are almost certain to either be missing something or something will not fit.  This time, everything was perfect.  So, off we went to dinner at his choice of restaurants -- Subway.  He certainly is a cheap date!  Since we didn't have to wait for a table at Subway, we finished our meal with plenty of evening ahead of us.  We decided at the last minute to go see a movie -- "Dark Shadows" was the next one available. 

(As a side note, it was nothing like I was expecting from the trailers!  Still a little on the 'campy' side, but all in all, we liked it.)

Friday after work, I stopped by Houston Garden Center for some rose bushes.  It was a spur of the moment decision, but I really, really want a flower bed by the back door.  (A project for this weekend if we don't get it completed before then.) 

After picking Will up from football practice, he wanted to go to a percussion concert at school with some of his friends and Brian was hiding out (ie. watching television) in his room.  Stacy and Albert had asked Jim and I to dinner for Friday night...but with Jim going out of town, we had to decline.  Rather than spend my night at home alone with the flat screen, I decided to take a chance and see if they were still available.  They were, so we met at "Waller Mexican" (our pet name for our favorite local restaurant) and had a really nice and relaxing meal catching up.

Saturday morning I was scheduled to meet Kelli in Bellaire to tour the Southern Living Showcase House.  It was the last weekend of tours and I love Southern Living Homes.  Kelli is always up for a house tour.  It feeds her designer's heart to get new ideas.  Plus, I needed a little time with my girl. 

We walked the house in a little under an hour.  We were taking it all in as slowly as we could with fifty to a hundred people milling about.  I love a new house that feels like an old house.  This one certainly fit the bill.  The architectural details made it feel like a home that you might tour on The Strand in Galveston.  It is not my dream home (it is two story)...but it is beautiful.

After soaking in all the beauty and discussing what we liked, what we didn't like and what we would tweak a bit...we headed over to La Madeleine's for brunch.  We talked houses and decorating and kids and life and dreams.  It was a great day!   And then it was time for me to head home and begin getting Will ready for his Junior Prom.

He had called me while Kelli and I were at brunch to ask if I would be willing to ride with one of the other moms who was chaperoning their group.  It seems someone else couldn't make it at the last minute and she didn't want to be by herself driving these really loud and slightly crazy teenagers to dinner and then the dance. 

Off we went, first to take pictures at the country club then we dropped the kids off for dinner and went to a place next door to eat ourselves.  We dropped the kids off at Prom and went to see a movie.  We were a little late getting in to the theatre, but still enjoyed "What To Expect When You're Expecting". 

We arrived back at the Prom just before it was over.  Picked up the kids when they came out and headed home.  Oh, was the ride home so much quieter than the ride there.  They were tired!  Still excited, but tired!  When we got home, Will and Cali changed clothes and headed out to an after party.  I loaded a few pictures to Facebook so that Jim would be able to see them the next morning and fell into bed exhausted.

Saturday night, Bri had come over to see Will off to prom.  She was so disappointed when she found out I was going with them.  It seems my sweet baby girl had come over to take me out to dinner and a movie so that I wouldn't be home alone.  (Brian was having a date night with Jasmine.)  She suggested we do Sunday lunch after church instead.

Well, let's be honest here, I didn't go to church on Sunday morning.  I slept until a few minutes before church services began.  Not Sunday School, mind you...Sunday Morning Worship!  We met at Mc Alister's Deli just after noon and had a wonderful meal and catch up time.  I miss her.  I really do.  I know she is where she is supposed to be...but I miss hearing about her day and what is going on at work.  (A recent promotion!  Woo Hoo!  You go, girl!)

After a nice relaxing lunch, we headed over to the movie theatre and saw "What To Expect When You're Expecting".  LOL!  That was really okay with me.  Especially since I had missed the first part the night before.  I could understand the interconnections a little better.  The movie is funny and touching and a little bit sad at a few points.  But then again, our hearts are very tender about some of the subject matter.  We laughed, we cried, we tried to hide wiping our eyes from the theatre full of viewers...and then we headed home.

Well, she headed home while I went to return Will's tuxedo and avoid the $20 late fee I would have incurred if I had waited until today.  I fully intended to just pay it instead of making the 45 minute drive into Houston...but since I was already going to be in Cypress I figured why not drive fifteen more minutes and get it over with.  Then I stopped in at Home Goods just to browse about and take in all the beautiful things.  I picked up a few storage boxes that were on clearance for our home office and headed home.

And that's were I stayed as I counted down the hours until My Hero would arrive.  I ran out to meet him in the driveway, helped him unload and then we started feeding the cows, and picking the garden, and feeding the fish, and fixing the fence, and moving the cows...and catching up on our Crazy, Beautiful, Busy Weekend!