Agenda:

Savor the moments
Hang out with Birdy and George one last day
Go to the library to help George with a school project
Watch Princess Bride
Take Flash (who had school today) to the dentist this afternoon

Tomorrow I get to see all the little ones that I’ve missed over break. I get to start a new unit in the tech lab and the last subject of the school year. It’s crazy to think summer is not so far away!

I’ve mentioned it before, my love language. I’m a Quality Time girl. And this weekend, my dad and second mom blessed me with some quality time with them. They saved us travel costs and expenses and came to visit us after a brief holiday vacation with other grandchildren.

It was really sweet of them.

And for now, since we’re still in an apartment, my sister played host, opening up her home so they had a place to stay and eat.

Easter dinner wasn’t necessarily a priority for anyone but me, so I offered to put much of the meal together and bring it to my sister’s where she has a beautiful dining room where we can all gather.

We stopped after church to change and grab things for the meal and by the time we arrived at my sister’s, my second mom was finishing the daisy eggs (deviled to the rest of us) and my sister already had the ham in the oven. She slid in our potato casserole and I put the rolls on baking sheets, but it wasn’t yet time for the corn, so I put that in the freezer to wait.

And then I went to visit with my dad.

And visit we did. I was talking with him and my second mom when the next thing I know, Bear is telling us it’s time for dinner.

And I thought, dinner? Wait a minute, I am supposed to be cooking the dinner!

And sure enough, the table was set, the food was hot and served on the table, all that was needed was for us to sit down.

And we did. For a wonderful Easter dinner with my family. Which meant the world to me.

I’m hoping this isn’t a sign that when I finally have a home of my own where people can stay and I can host dinners such as this, that I will burn the meal or serve it completely cold because I got too busy talking. In any case, it’s further proof that my sister’s love language is acts of service. And while she might not feel very loved (because I did very little in the end to help!) I hope she knows how loved I feel by her efforts.

Thanks, Jules!!

(P.S. Thanks for the Swiss Maid donut, it was delish!! I apologize for thinking even for a moment that you had not brought any back for the rest of us! YOU ROCK!)

I hope today is special for everyone; a day spent with family, a day full of laughter and love, but most importantly a day full of gratitude. Thankfulness for a loving God who cares so much about us that he sent his son to be a living sacrifice for our sins – for each and every one of us! That we might live eternally in Heaven with our Lord God!

It seems too simple sometimes to feel true, and it feels so enormous at others for me to feel worthy, but God loves me that much (you too!) and I will be eternally grateful!

Happy Easter everyone!

Agenda:

Hang out with my family including my sister’s family and my dad and second mom.
Try to ignore the sore throat that kept me up last night and pretend it’s not an indicator of an oncoming cold.
Figure out what I’m wearing to Easter service tomorrow. Hmmm…

Happy Saturday everyone!

Agenda:

Get groceries for Easter Dinner
Get Flash a much-needed haircut
Take Flash to the library to pick up his research books (a small step back towards reality)

Most importantly: Remember what Good Friday is all about and look forward to Easter!

I just finished watching “Grosse Pointe Blank” with Flash. Oh, don’t even start the lecture, I’m well aware of the senseless violence, profanity and all out crazy plot. BUT, if you think about it, there is no John Cusak-ish actor in his life that will bring him these crazy movies. We grew up with Cusak movies!

Sigh.

In any case, we both laughed our butts off. Flash kept pausing the movie to quote the line they just said, but he was often laughing too hard to even get the words out.

When it finished, Flash announced that he will most certainly be watching this movie over and over again (we have it on Netflix instant so it’s free). I said, hold on a minute!

“You may watch it again if you can tell me where on the mitten (when a Michigander holds their hand up to show you where they live, they call it ‘the mitten’) Detroit is.”

Let’s just say Flash had no idea.

So we had a little discussion about where WE live on the mitten.

Again, there was little to no idea.

I’m not sure if the state of PA were shaped like my hand if Flash could point out where we lived there, either, but this is frightening me.

(I just quizzed him. He can indeed mostly identify where we lived in PA and was even able to tell me what state we used to live right next to (New Jersey for those of you that don’t know where we came from. And I’m even further relieved that when I just asked him what state is to the north of Michigan, he was able to tell me with certainty that it’s Canada. Whew. There is hope yet. Not much, but some.)

Well, let’s just say something was amok with the pork tenderloin roast. My guess is that the portion of pork that I had in my possession was not quite the same sort of pork portion that my second mom thought I had.

Because broiling for 6 minutes on each side yielded a remarkably raw tenderloin roast.

So, I changed plans and put it in the oven for 45 minutes, until it was past time for us to leave to go to church.

And when we returned, I put it back in the oven but wasn’t sure how long between the pork getting hot and the pork drying out completely so I finally took it out and cut it open (again) only to find it cold, so I just stuck it in the microwave.

So we had broiled, twice baked and nuked pork tenderloin roast for dinner.

With potatoes that were likewise, twice baked, broiled, and then nuked.

With a side of warm applesauce that had been put out on plates when we thought dinner was originally going to be ready.

DeLISH!!

(It actually wasn’t too bad, but I want credit for cooking three meals instead of just the one.)

Now, if only I could get the pan that was broiled and twice baked clean.

Agenda:

Cook a pork tenderloin roast for the first time.
Attend Maundy Thursday services tonight.
Take chubby puppy for a walk.

Today is a gorgeous day! Flash and I are really enjoying our time together this week. We’ve played a lot of games together, we’ve had so many laughs he keeps saying that should be a blog post in itself (if only I could remember them all!) and we’re getting some much needed rest! No homework, no trumpet, no stress of any kind! This has been such a wonderful reprieve (can I admit now that I’m getting a little antsy about getting back to school? I’m missing the kids!)

I’m trying to decide what tattoo to get. It’s a rather spur of the moment decision, but the timing is right and I want to take advantage of the opportunity.

I’m also thinking about a piercing of some variety. I’ve ruled out one in my navel. All those stretch marks would surely offend everyone who saw it. Maybe my lip? Or my eyebrow?

And I’m planning a vacation. Somewhere out of the country. Somewhere exotic. Dad has a timeshare in Mexico, but that seems too tame. I mean, if you’re going to go for it, you really need to live it up, right? Maybe Argentina, or Zimbabwe, or perhaps Africa.

It’s a lot to decide right now, but you see, I have this chance, and I just feel as though I should seize it! I went to give blood today and in answering the questions I shared that I had been accidentally poked by a used needle. One that we use to check the blood sugar of a Kindergarten student at my school. I was poked sometime this winter, I don’t even remember now, but it was before I gave blood the last time because I remember talking about it with the woman who took my information then. She said it wasn’t a problem. As it turns out, it is. A big one. Not only am I banned from giving blood for a year, but they have to track the blood I donated last time and monitor the patient that received it.

I am hoping beyond all hopes that they don’t TELL that patient that there is reason to be concerned about the blood they received. I know we can never be too safe, but a little five year old girl from a very good home who happens to be diabetic just isn’t really a big cause for alarm in my book.

But, now that I have a year of not being able to give blood, I figure I should take care of all the other things on the list of prohibited activities that would have otherwise banned me. So, a tattoo, a piercing, travelling somewhere exotic,…I’ll leave the other questionable activities for someone else.

Okay, I’ll admit, I’ll leave all of these activities to someone else.

And I’ll be more than just a little sad that I just started giving blood regularly and now I can’t. But I’ll be back next year. I’ve already marked it on my calendar.

Agenda:

Give blood.
Contribute creatively to a meeting later today.

And for the sake of accomplishment, I will run a couple of errands while I’m out and about. I’ll deposit a check, I’ll mail a card, I’ll return a few items that need returning and I might even drive by a couple houses. Just to look, ya know.

And if it’s a warm 50 degrees today, I might even take the chubby poocher for a walk.

How’s that for a plan?!