Packed Days

It’s unfortunate that the most adventure-filled days are the ones in which I am too busy to blog. That means you hear only the weary wanderings of a bored blogger–instead of the ecstatic explosions of a lived life. Take the last few days:

Friday, I went shopping with my Casandra for our Friday night entertaining, then worked on my quilting a bit. My sister came back into town for a last Hurrah before I leave for Mexico. She, Casandra, Joshua, Daniel, Debbie, and I went to dinner at Olive Garden to celebrate (if that’s what you call it.)

Saturday, I finished the quilt I’d been working on for Nytajok (who went and had her baby three weeks early on me!) I had told her when she dropped by work on Friday (to fill out paperwork) that I’d be by with a gift the next day. So I had to get it done. It’s amazing what deadlines will do to you.

We discovered early Saturday that Pastor Jason still wasn’t better and Cheryl (his wife) had come home sick from work on Friday–so our dinner plans were off. Instead, we made the family Chicken Noodle Soup, Fruit Salad, and Rolls.

I visited Nytajok, saw the baby, and scared the other kids (poor little things!) When I returned, I dropped by my parent’s house, hoping to catch my cousin Joe. Alas, he had just ridden off on his motorcycle when I arrived. But the kids had an announcement. The city finally gave my parents the paperwork they needed to start digging for the addition–so the backyard would be torn up on Monday.

That called for a party, so we started inviting people over. We made Potato Salad and Macaroni Salad and Fresh Green Bean Salad. We made Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. We invited a few more people over. Mom picked some roasting ears. Casandra and I left to drop off dinner at Jason and Cheryl’s (and to ask them if they would be interested in some dirt.) We brought home a bag of ice and started the ice cream as soon as we got home.

We ended up with a nice little crew–my family, the B’s, the R’s, and Steve and Casandra. I sat with H and C R. and took tons of pictures. C told me quite seriously. “You have two John’s. I think you should give one of them away.”

After the younger kids left for bed (the R’s), the “big kids” got into the pool. Between “kicks in the butt” and volleyball and “chicken fights”, we all used plenty of energy–and consumed plenty of overly chlorinated water.

This morning, we just happened to have a visitor from Grace Children’s Home–who just happened to be young (as in, 20). He came to our 20S Sunday School and then sat with us all in the front row–and after church, we invited him to join us for dinner. So, we ended up going out again–this time to Golden Corral–with a party of (only) fifteen. And after dinner, what could we do but go back to my parents’ place and hang out for a while? We shot one another with Nerf guns until Nick had to leave, then decided upon a movie.

We decided to watch “Thou Shalt Laugh–the Deuce”, but since none of us own it, we had to borrow it from Jason and Cheryl–which meant a trip back out to Airpark. Casandra and I had a nice chat with Cheryl, and then we enjoyed the movie.

I finally dragged myself off the couch around six-thirty and went home to do some laundry and get some packing done. So, after a very packed weekend, I am almost packed! Yeah!