It’s rainy and cold outside. I miss the sun. The past week has been crazy here at home. We have Kari’s cat, Prescott, staying with us. He’s a beautiful cat and is larger then Rufus. Rufus is quite excited to have a partner to play with so is constantly picking on the poor cat. I think he likes it, the attention. But it drives me nuts because they go rolling around and I don’d want either one to get hurt. Rufus is also obsessed with the kitty litter… so Prescott’s litter box is in the bath tub. I can’t say he keeps the cleanest room… but it’s at least kept the kitty litter in the tub and not ALL OVER THE FLOOR! I don’t think we’ll be getting a cat of our own any time soon. Anyway, the cold has kept Rufus and I inside a lot more and unfortunately I’ve been drawn back to the tv. I had been doing really well of not watching tv in the morning, or only watching the Today Show and then turning it off. But not the past couple of cold days. Hopefully we’ll get back into the routine next week. Well off to grab some lunch and a shower.

So I went to the dentist today. This is one of my least favorite doctors visits, because I hate the sound and feeling of the sharp metal scraping on my teeth. It drives me nuts. Luckily, though, I go to a great dentist, the father of a friend, and my dental hygenist is the mother of 3 of my piano students. This makes the time in the chair go by at least a little faster. I had a great check up, and now I don’t have to go for another 6 months!

So Rufus’ 1st birthday is coming up and I had the GREAT idea yesterday that we should have a birthday party for her! And invite everyone we know with dogs as well as our friends that have come to know and love Rufus! Maybe have a picnic-ish thing maybe… outside our apartment and such… and then we can take all the dogs up the dog park which is within walking distance of us. So much fun! I think it’s a great idea!

Well at the moment this week is looking a lot better then last week. Last week just got so junked up with so much to do that I really couldn’t enjoy myself in everything. Well… wait… let me correct that statement because a lot of the things I did were really fun, and I loved being with the people I was with for a lot of it, but then when I was exhausted and had to keep pushing through the week with early mornings and late nights filled to the brim… that’s when I didn’t enjoy myself.
We returned from Lake Champion in New York yesterday. We had 9 jr high kids up there for a retreat, and I must say it was quite fun! I feel like I was able to spend some better quality time with the girls that we took and began some good relationships. These were girls that I’ve known pretty much since we’ve been at the CMA but haven’t invested in since they’re jr high and i work most of the time with the sr high girls. But this weekend reminded just how much I love jr high kids. Now granted 8 of our 9 kids were 8th graders… but still they’re a blast.
This week includes the teaching of all but one of my lessons, picking up my dog from the in-laws on wednesday as well as taking their cat while they’re out of town. We’ll have AYF and I’m going to do my best this week to try and figure out how to do a sr high girls retreat between now and June 14th. yikes.

Well off to check on my lasagna! Mmmm yum.

So I haven’t been home a lot lately. With the Easter weekend we were in Williamsport until Monday, late afternoon. And that evening I taught a lesson and then spent my evening in my bedroom while Karl had guys over Bible Study. Then Tuesday… well, I went for a doctor’s appointment and then went grocery shopping, came home, took Rufus for a nice walk, vaccumed, picked up Karl for a meeting, ran home, taught two lessons, drove back to Williamsport and spent the evening there for a concert and some time with friends. Today I headed with Karl to church at 9am and watched 9 little kids for our Stay at Home Mom’s Group, followed by a lunch meeting and then finally home to clean up before I teach another lesson. Well, I don’t know if you were that interested in knowing all that I’ve done since Sunday… but it’s just to show how busy I’ve been this week and how much I’ve been away from home. When I’m not home in the mornings I never feel organized or feel like my home is clean. There are always dishes in the sink, dirt on the floor and emails/laundry/money/and other junk to take care of… I dislike the feeling of disorganization, I enjoy having everything in its little spot… and piles really drive me nuts. Theres one on our dining room table that I try to get rid of but I think its been there for about a month now. I also have a pile of all our tax forms… speaking of which I need to finish those up. So a busy week it’s been so far and I’m sure it’ll be just as busy til the end.

Jr High Retreat in New York this weekend… looking forward to it!

So this weeks been a bit crazy. Well maybe not as crazy as it is back to normal after my week off healing from surgery. I had all but one student this week as well as an amazing Wednesday night AYF. I also get Karl home an extra day this week since the church office is closed today for Good Friday… yea!!! I must say preparing for Wednesday was about all I did Tuesday afternoon up until the event. We had a Passover meal for our kids… well when I say meal, maybe more of a tasting. We didn’t do the full supper but we had all the elemental foods and blessings… plus explanations for it all so the kids could follow and understand why we were doing what we were doing. I along with two of our other leaders sat back during the meal so that we could do the behind the scene things and serve. But watching all 30 of our kids sitting around on the floor at these tables participating in the passover celebration was amazing. Hearing the first break of matzah, being able to serve our youth by washing their feet and hands and watching them try things that were a little out of their comfort zone… it was great! It was worth the hours of preparation!

Though I’m a bit sad that I won’t be seeing my family for Easter, I know that we have to be here in State College. Easter was always a holiday that took place at home for me since my dad was a pastor. It was always fun though because I’d see my extended family, so even though I saw my parents recently I won’t see the out-of-towners. I am quite thankful though that Karl’s family is a bit closer, so Sunday we’ll head to Williamsport to celebrate with them, which is great because I love the people up there! So here’s to Easter! What a great weekend!