Head Start

I thought perhaps I would get a head start on some of the goings on around here before I get impossibly behind once again. Currently, I'm just trying to stay awake--the theme of this past week for some odd reason. Another theme is connecting with some of the ladies in my life. It seems like I go through times of social famine, only to be greeted by social feast :) My college friend, who is professionally trained in such things, tells me I'm an extroverted introvert--or visa versa. Sometimes I really like being alone with just Buck and our people and other times I am energized and engaged by connecting with others. I've learned to just let this flow naturally and not fight it one way or the other, because when I'm needed for the social bits, God generally has me recharged by the quiet bits in my schedule :)

This round of butterfly-ing began when my church friend C announced that her daughter found a bit of courage and signed up for their (very small) school play. Of course I wanted to go to the performance! C stopped by our house with my ticket and we got to do some catching up in the doorway, while Buck was off at one of our many appointments this week. She told me that our friend H, who was so helpful at Caelan's wedding, planned to attend the same night as me. Yay!

The afternoon of the play, I spent a good amount of time texting with my young mama friend and then my other young friend H popped up on my phone and asked if she could call. Her father-in-law passed away recently, and his services are next week. I've been wondering how she was, but hadn't been able to connect with her. She was needing a break and asked if  I could take her toddler overnight. I had the play tickets and a breakfast meeting set up for the next morning, so I would need to rearrange some things. However, after we talked and she got the giggles, and then we both did, she felt a lot better. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of connection to reframe things. She said she didn't want me to change my plans, and that she was going to finish decorating her Christmas tree (she only has 4 ornaments, she told me :) and I closed down the work I'd been working on, and got ready to see Cinderella as planned.

As soon as I walked in I saw C and H in the back row, and they saved me the aisle seat. Aww! We three giggled throughout the performance because the kids made the scenes so funny--maybe not on purpose at first, but they definitely embraced the comedic action. A lot of it centered around shoes--which the prince wasn't wearing. Keep in mind there are ONLY four teenage boys in the upper classes--three of them were on stage and one was running the spotlight :) The prince at one point danced with his sister, and later, when he met Cinderella and was at a loss for words, he squeaked out, "I don't know what happened!" H leaned over and whispered, "Puberty." And I nearly fell out of my chair--comedic timing was alive and well in our row, too. The prince told his squire to try the lost shoe on every maiden in the land, he didn't care how old, how grubby, or how infected, everyone got a chance at the shoe. The squire muttered as he walked away, "I did not sign up for this." Upon return, he gave his own foot a try, and announced to the prince, "I tried the shoe on every foot I could find, even my own, just in case." The prince muttered, "Well, I'm glad THAT didn't work out." Seriously, was this stuff in the script? Next, Prince Charming hucked the giant shoe over his shoulder (I'm guessing they couldn't find a sparkly enough one in Cinderella's actual size) and hit the Fairy Godmother in the head! Also, not in the script. It was my favorite show in ages! And C's daughter made an excellent butcher, townsperson, fourth maiden, and carriage wheel (spinning silver umbrella, very clever!)

I got to chat with H a bit in the greeting line (which we decided to duck out of after waving at A), got a hug from a former girlie in my small group--who is getting married in two months! And came home with the songs Caelan sang for her vocal performance classes in my head :)

The next morning, I drove out to my other friend C's country house where she prepared a beautifully delicious breakfast casserole and from-scratch cinnamon rolls. She made me a cup of hot cinnamon tea while her tween daughter caught me up on the new grown-up show she's getting to watch the "appropriate parts" of :) I stayed so long the baby, now two.5 and all the fun that comes with curly red hair, gave me lots of hugs and snuggles, which was a wonderful bonus to time with my good friend. I told myself I would only stay until noon, because we both had lots to do . . . and then I looked at my phone and it was two! I knew that would happen :) 

My next appointment on the calendar was an (early) breakfast meeting with a friend who is becoming an international missionary--that's a big deal! I wanted to get the inside scoop on her plans and to see how much support she'll need to raise (a lot more than when I was support-raising!!) I warned her that I'm not good with words or much at all really before noon. She's like, "How's 8:30?" I almost replied, "Miserable." But instead said, "There are places open that early?" She laughed. I picked 9. I got there on schedule, despite an extended previous evening return by my oldest son, ahem (he was at church). Buck left at like 5 a.m. for work, so a solid 4.5 hours of sleep is fabulous for me (+ maybe one or two more until the boys left for work). . . I almost fell asleep in the breakfast booth waiting for my friend to arrive.

Two hours later . . . she had another appointment. I decided I'd accomplished this much, I should run the errands I've been putting off! The trip to Hobby Lobby was fun, as always. I got to bump into my neighbor and her daughter while they waited in the endless lines (why only two open registers???), so that was fun, too! The trip to Walmart was cringy as always, and they didn't even have the two things the internet promised would be there. Lamesauce.

I almost got gas (because the van light is a-glowing) and I almost went to the pharmacy (which is Walmart cringy with sketchysauce on top) and I almost went to the grocery store to get the last of the Thanksgiving prep items--but Buck texted that G$ had sliced a chunk of his fingernail off at work, and then G$ called me asking where wound supplies might be found, so I decided to just come home and unload the few victorious purchases I'd made in my quest for holiday cheer. After adding a layer to the already-covered wound (but I got to see the picture, yikes!) I decided errands are for chumps, and I'm not one of those ;)

That all happened a solid two weeks ago, so I'm not sure where I left off and where I need to pick it back up. Let's see . . . Buck went from making thousands of pies to sick with a gnarly cough. His boss said he could come home early one day, and he had enough gusto to go tree shopping. We decided on a pre-cut tree, even though last year's was a bit on the dry side. We stopped at the gas station to fill the truck with fuel and saw friends we haven't see in years at the pump in front of us. Before I even knew she was in the vehicle, L jumped out, pulled my door open, and gave me a hug with my seatbelt still buckled! She immediately followed this unexpected embrace with the question, "ARE YOU A GRANDMA YET?" Lol! We had a quick and enthusiastic catch up on her teen and middle schoolers and then ended up following them to the hardware store, where they were Black Friday shopping--oh yeah, it was Black Friday :) That means  I missed a couple of things . . .

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I was invited to a little work lunch with the marketing team I find myself part of--my first work lunch in 20 years? It was a restaurant Buck and I have tried the two other branches of, but hadn't yet been to this location. For some reason, I ordered the messiest thing on the menu--with the boldest-colored sauce--and splashed it all over my bright, white sweater. And this is where having long hair comes in very handy, lol :) My boss and a very expectant coworker each gave gifts out at the table. I didn't know this was a thing! I received a cheese tray that has an inset "Gather" in the corner, and a monogramed bag which has been perfect for my trips to the post office to mail packages. The smaller, matching bag inside fits all the extra sewing stuff that crowds my sewing box. It's not meant for that, but it works great for that :) The expectant co-worker, who has since delivered a baby boy, gave me some homemade orange-colored something in a jar and a little bluebird of happiness (Olive ate the box, it was pink and apparently looked tasty).

After lunch, I stopped into a nearby Target to try to find the candy sticks that once again eluded me, and just got Rolo tubes instead--they remind me of my grandpa :) The good thing about this compromise was, this allowed me to finish all my package sending nice and early! When I arrived home, I needed to get going on some Thanksgiving preparations. I wonder if that should be a different post? Hmmm . . . 

I know, I'll add in a little trip Buck took to the farm to catch a ride in the Jeep the boys bought to . . . take on adventures . . . :) They discovered that under the carpet, there was no floor, so that made for some strong exhaust fumes in the vehicle--but they fixed that mostly with some big sheets of plywood. They are having a great time with that vehicle, and even made a video about it! Now, when I played the video, a video Caelan made the same day showed up directly after. The contrast between the youngest boy and the eldest girl made me laugh--God picked their personalities and He did a great job. So here's a Crew mash-up. (Upload size made me break it back into two videos) Enjoy! :)

By the way, in the photos above, Graysen is wearing the green jacket Buck got from his first non-Cali employer--back in our 20s. G$ loves it. It's a solid-good coat :)