Just Catching Y'all Up

It's been a pretty good week so far--a busy week. It hasn't been terrific, since Mark has spent most of the week in bed, but at least we haven't been in the hospital for six days. That counts for a lot!

Tuesday was our inspection, as I mentioned. We passed with flying colors (although, as I also mentioned, this wasn't really about us. It's about the condition of the housing unit.)

In the evening, I went to hear the Chehalem Valley Symphony. They were playing free at GFU, and I really wanted to see them, but when evening approached, it was clear that Mark wasn't going to be able to go. I don't particularly like doing these things by myself, but I wanted to go so badly that I dressed up and went alone. I'm glad I did. The music was, of course, incredible.

I only had one irritation--and that only mildly. Because this event is free, people sometimes bring their kids. Fine. Great! But please, ladies and gentleman, if you know you are likely to have to take Jill to the potty part way through, consider sitting near the rear rather than in the front row. And when you do come back in, wait until the end of the piece and don't allow her to run down the aisle ahead of you to the front of the auditorium! And if little Jack just can't sit still anymore, there's a huge grassy area right out the front doors that is far preferable for chasing his imaginary friends than down and across the aisles. Sigh ... Ah, well, it was still enjoyable. Very relaxing.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I did a bunch of running around in the morning, basically just chauffeuring people to different schools and to the church. Then I stopped at Walmart to pick up a gift for Andrea's daughter's baptism, but the one lady in the jewelry department was swamped so I left. Ran home. Okay, I drove home, put a pot of coffee of, heated some soup, and vacuumed a rug just in time to have lunch with my friend, Jen Spink, who works across the street at the junior high. We had a great time, just catching up on each other's families. When she went back to work, I went into town to pick Mark up from the church and to make another (this time successful) attempt at getting a gift for Hailey.

After dinner, I went to the baptism. I'm SO glad I was there, but I had to take Brendan because Mark wasn't up to watching him and Kaitlyn was at a track meet. With him being tired and restless, I spent most of my time trying to keep him quiet. He did okay, really. He WAS quiet--just, like I said, restless. Things really got juiced up when John brought 3-year-old Emma up to watch the baptisms. A couple of times her grandmother and I both thought she was about to propel herself over the railing of the balcony. Yikes! Also, being so young, she has little volume control. Whisper? What does that mean? As one of the people came up out of the water, she cried out, "Is it my turn to go do that now?" No, Emma, not quite yet. :)

Today I volunteered at the preschool. I had so much fun! I didn't really want to go, but Lori (teacher) asked me if I would fill in for someone else since I hadn't been able to make my regularly scheduled time last week. Once I got there, I just had a blast with those kids. I don't think I could handle doing that every day, but they are so fun, so full of life and energy. Spending time with them, seeing life through their eyes, really helps put everything in perspective.