Balance

A perfectly balanced weekend is coming to a close. As I sit on the sofa, relishing in the weekend, my amazing family snore peacefully in their beds. Ok, only one of them is snoring, I'll let you guess who. One of them is likely grinding his teeth, and the other could very well be leaving some drool marks on his pillow. But again, I'll leave it to you to match them with their slumber traits.

B is back from a golf weekend with 5 men he barely knows. He was somewhat acquainted with one of them through church, 2 of them he has met and had brief conversations with, 1 of them he has been getting to know recently, but 1 he - nor I-- had never met. He had an amazing time! Apparently they are already planning the next golf weekend. And frankly, I'm willing to help! It was good to have him go away to do something he loves to do, with new people. People who may very well become golf partners this summer. Awesome! He left Friday, and came back this evening.

The boys and I are glad to have him home, but we had our own fun this weekend!

Friday night my sister's boyfriend stopped to say goodbye to us one last time before he left for 6 months of boot camp. (or whatever they call it) He told the boys the adventures he will have, and the opportunities he will experience, and each of them hung on to every word with eyes twinkling. We don't get to see Ian often, but the last few weeks-- in particular the weeks leading up to 'that day' the boys were able to spend a great deal of time with him. We wish him safety in his duties, and we pray that he will grow and learn while he is there, so that he can return home and be everything God intends him to be. We will miss him!

After he left we went to the neighbor's house to watch their 2 daughters for a brief time until their aunt could be there. Wow. 6 months old and 2. It was so familiar to me with the stages these 2 are in (the boys are 23 months apart) so it brought me back 10 years. Only with girls. Girls with butterflies, and dragonflies, and polka dots in their rooms. The boys had Noah's Ark...which I loved...but girls are so girlie. From there the boys and I came home to cuddle on the couch and watch a movie. Together. Cuddling. Perfection.

Saturday found us waking up to a beautiful rain. Time to clean! We were able to get some housework done, and some laziness in before going to Christian's first soccer game of the year. The first of first games I must mention that did not require an umbrella, a thermos of hot cocoa as well as a mug of coffee, or a blanket. The rain had stopped, the sun came out and it was a beautiful first soccer game of the season. Christian rocked out in the goal, stopping several attempts, and left the game feeling good about the season...even though they lost. Great job Jake!

Saturday evening was spent entertaining 4 of the wives from the golfing trip. We drank margaritas and had some snacks and laughed. Wow did we laugh. 2 of these women I have never spent time with socially, but I truly look forward to our next get together. We're ready to book our weekend away! The boys had playmates to entertain themselves with so it was a magnificent evening.

Today, church, weed pulling, neighbor playing, more movie watching, Benjamin went to work for the art teacher (explanation another time) and I started to get sick.

Even so, sick or not, this has been an amazing weekend for me. It has been such a long time that I have felt so normal. Spent time with such a variety of people. Had a clean house, entertained friends, had quality time with the boys, spent the morning with our GIFT group, and ate some fun food. I am so grateful for this weekend I just wish I could bottle it up so I could open it another time.

Don't get me wrong, I missed Brian. I love spending time with him. But these things wouldn't have been the same with him here. It made me appreciate him coming home. And to be completely truthful, he earned this weekend. He has been such a source of support and comfort in the last weeks. Not to mention he has endured some tough moments of mine, where patience was low, hurt and anger were high, emotions were raw, and feelings were exposed. Losing my dad is a struggle for me. He has been my friend through it all, he is my Blessing. A weekend away was in the cards for him.

For the first time I feel balanced.

But tomorrow is Monday.