Dad and Sherry

My dad sent me this picture last week of him and Sherry.  Loved it!!

He's been telling me I need to get a few recent pics of Holly and Trevor.  Do I please my dad or incur the wrath of my kids?  Well, I have to live with them! The last best picture I have of them together was taken as they walked in front of me on Easter at the Lincoln Memorial.  LOL. There is less opportunity for those pictures now too, since they are not together as often as they used to be!  Love you, Dad, and I'll work on it.  :)

Back to school

I spent Saturday making sure Holly had enough food to take back with her. Robert fixed a few things for her too and helped clean out her fish tank.  Holly did last minute laundry, deciding what to take with her and packing up.

Robert loaded the car up, and we were out of the house nicely early--about 7:30!  Foolishly, I didn't check the weather report before we went.  Expecting it to hit 50 (which had been predicted earlier in the week), it was foggy and misty in DC, in the mid 30s.  Brrr!  I was not ready for that!

We borrowed a moving bin to get everything from the car to her room. Brilliant idea, and we'll have to do this again when there's a lot to carry in or out.  We moved everything in two simple trips, unpacked all of the cooler food and went to Walmart to finish up shopping.  We stopped at Chipotle to get her a burrito to eat for later, and then went to the McDonald's near campus for a quick lunch.

Parking at school is a giant pain.  You can only park by the buildings for 30 mins. at a time, and I'm terrified to go over after getting that parking ticket last year.  Parking in the garages in not convenient, and it's $3 an hour for the privilege to park!  Holly's used to racing around campus (on foot), but I'm not!  So we parked in the garage, tried to check out an unfamiliar classroom, and picked up a few books we're renting from the bookstore.  We went back to her room, where we hung a picture, and hung up clothes that she'd brought back.  Time to go get my car again, bring it close by and finish up a few more things in her room.

Easy drive home, but after McDonald's, and car food consisting of Good & Plenty, Coke, and pumpkin seeds, my stomach was blech.  Instead of the usual endlessly flipping radio stations to try to find something good, I had burned a couple of Skip Heitzig sermons on CD to listen to in the car.

It was a good day, a nice end to a great 5 week Christmas break.  It was wonderful having my girl back home. Spring break is just two months away, and I'm guessing this semester will fly just like second semester did last year.  Now to get back into the routine of regular life.

Finals nights of break

Robert made his long-famous chile rellanos for dinner before Holly left. There were extras that we packed up for her to take back.

Nope, I did not intentionally create the Mexican flag.

Last minute shopping

Holly and I went out to do some last minute shopping. She was looking for a few specific items before heading back to school.

We went out to the mall, and she found just what she was looking for. I thought the post-Christmas sales prices were fantastic!

We ran by the Christian bookstore to find a gift book for our sweet friend Susie, who begins chemo for stage III colon cancer next week.

We stopped at Target, where Holly picked up a few more items.

She'd been planning this trip to coincide with taking us all out to dinner at Cheddar's, so we called Robert and Trevor to meet us at the restaurant.  We were seated in the bar area, which was quite lovely and warm. The menu's been revamped, and that was nice too, a smaller selection with several choice items remaining. She had ribs, and the rest of us ate fantastically giant burgers with french fries and ranch dressing.  It was such a special treat!

The four of us went to Petsmart so she could grab a few things for her fishtank.  We each bought our bettas last Christmas, and surprisingly they are both still alive. 

She had been looking at tablets for school. Her computer gets a lot of use, and the side is broken, preventing the lid from closing. She wanted something that she can take to class when necessary.  Robert and Trevor presented her with a bunch of info, and she looked at a handful of options at Best Buy, eventually settling on an iPad mini.

Such a nice afternoon/evening out with my girl and my family, and good that we got those last minute things done before she heads back to school.

It's a New Year!

I have lots of posts to write, things we did that I want to note, pictures to post--I'll backdate.

A friend's post on Facebook last week spurred me to commit to reading my 365 day chronological Bible again--a Bible set up to be read every day, with events in chron order, over the course of a year.  I first used this book eight years ago. I did pretty well, whatever that means. To me, it meant that I got all the way through September. I'm still pretty happy about that.  There have been a couple of other years I've begun, but I've never held any commitment, making it only a few weeks, or into February, or into spring.

So I made that spur of the moment commitment last week, asked around if anyone wanted to read with me, that we could encourage each other, help with accountability.  Within two days, I had a group of THIRTY-THREE women who want to join a FB group for this purpose.  Wow!  Oh, I know the numbers won't hold up. It sounds like a nice idea, but it's hard to keep reading, every day, every week, every month.  But I was surprised by the response.  Oh, I know it's not really true, but I have this image of a lot of my friends that they are perfect at reading their Bible every day, lol. The group is where my worlds collide, with many of my dear loopies, a couple of friends from elementary school, a family member, a few locals, plus a few friends of those who have joined. 

Several things I need to prioritize and organize this year, quickly.  This horrible job has sucked all life from me, and I need to change.  I hate that place. I need to focus on Trevor's junior year, helping set him up to be in the best position for college apps later this year.  Just a year and a half until he graduates, and I want to consciously be spending that time with him, just as I did Holly.

But the only way all of that's going to come together is if I get closer to God, reading His Word every day. I'm desperate for that.

Foolishly, I have been taking the easy way out, opening my computer, passively people watching on FB, looking at news websites and following whatever other pointless things I find.  I need to be more purposeful with my time, not only in the mornings, but all day.

Interesting, this was along the same theme as our sermon at church today.  We've been going to a new (to us) place for several weeks.  Judy and Kurt met us there today.  We started in Galatians today, such a parallel!  Funny that as I sat there listening earlier, I didn't see it--that didn't come until writing now.

So I'm looking forward.  The best is yet to come!

Things randomly placed on my counter . . .

 . . . which are entirely appropriate when you take a second look.

Trevor

Doing what he does best, mysterious and unknown (to me) things on his computer.

Just after installing a new motherboard and processor on his desk top (and doing something with drivers on his laptop?).  He's happy.  I'm happy.