Best and Worst of the Weekend

In a word: jumbled

I like delivering bad news first, so I'll do the not-so-great parts of the weekend first.  There's not too much, so here's the meh:

1.  Dave complains regularly that my car is messy. 

*Newsflash: Cleaning my car fell to the bottom of my List of Priorities when children entered my life.*  I don't have the time, and frankly, I don't care.  My time is better spent doing things that actually help the house run smoother.  However, in an effort to stop Dave from weeping like a child every time he sat in the front seat of the family truckster, I cleaned, waxed, and detailed my car on Saturday.  I'm not saying it wasn't nice to get it done.  It was nice.  I had a lot of other things to do that day, but I did it, and he was happy.  But, all the things that I needed to get done still needed to get done.  The worst part was not spending the time doing the job, though.  The worst part was that it rained the next day.  Yes friends, that blew. 

Wah wah waaaaaah.

2.  My sister wasn't feeling well. 

Say a little prayer that my sister gets well.  She had a brief hospital visit and is now on pain meds, but she's got two kids and my brother-in-law travels.  By the grace of God, my mom is helping out.  But they're both going to be exhausted, and I want my sister to be healthy again.

3.  I didn't have time to do any baking. 

I often think of all the wonderful things I would do if I didn't need to earn a paycheck...  I wanted to bake cupcakes or cookies or bread, but the aforementioned "car washing fiasco" combined with the demands of two adorable little kids and a job sucked away all my time and energy.  There's always Mother's Day, right?

And as for the best, the list is always long.  The best parts of my weekend were:

1. Date night. 

 Dave and I got to work together on Friday, which meant we had the same schedule.  That meant that we could go out and do a little Easter Bunnying and catch some grub together.  We were thrilled with the excellent service doled out by Monty, our remarkably dry-humored server.  Outstanding!!  I delighted in my Kung Pao Spaghetti from California Pizza Kitchen.  I relished the strawberry cheesecake.  The true highlight, though, was enjoying an uninterrupted hour talking and laughing with Dave.  Sometimes, I feel like we get so caught up in trying to make ends meet and take care of the kids that we sort of forget what it's like to just hang out with each other.  We're best friends, after all.  It's good to remind ourselves why.

2.   Dave came to church. 

 After church he said, "You know, Jesus wasn't such a bad dude."  Fer realz.  He liked the part about Jesus cooking the Apostles a breakfast barbeque after a long night of fishing.

3.   Decorating the kids Easter baskets. 

The challenge, of course, was decorating a basket appropriately for a boy.  How would I accomplish such a feat?  Silk flowers were definitely a no-no!  So, I chose animal prints.  I made a pipe cleaner/toilet paper roll flower, clipped on some bugs, and fashioned a simple, real florist-y bow.  Cute and chic, just like my kids!

4.  My in-laws celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary! 

Frankly, I find that amazing!

5.  Summer salad. 

My mother-in-law makes this epic salad of macaroni, peas, cubes of cheddar cheese, sliced olives, and some sort of mayonaise-y dressing.  It's amazing and I think I might have had a summer salad hangover this morning.

6.  Girls and their Easter baskets. 

Is there a sight more endearing than that of little girls in their frocks opening their eggs and munching on the nastiness of gummy worms?

7."The Sound of Music" was on ABC Family. 

Dear Julie Andrews, I love you.  Love, Natalie.  I've seen the movie about a million times, and I listen to the soundtrack at least once a week.  I know every song.  This time, I took care to notice the costumes.  Oh my!  Elsa's dresses are divine.  And Maria's green pencil skirt when she comes back to the von Trapp house after running away?  Swoon.  I sometimes think I was born in the wrong time.  I wish we still had pleated nightgowns and tailored dresses and travelling cloaks.  The music, the costumes, the dancing, Salzburg (I want to go!)...it was a wonderful way to spend Easter evening.

My weekend was a mixed bag, which is how most holidays are for me.  I have a difficult time with big, all day family events.  Dave's family is really loud, and I get overwhelmed with all the noise and people and conversation, so, by the end, I'm usually too drained to enjoy it any more.  I need down time in the middle, and I rarely find it.  However, I loved remembering what Easter is all about, and celebrating His renewed life.  I loved seeing Alexandria and Marcus play and laugh and giggle.  I loved Easter dresses.  I loved feeling happy.