Potpourri

No, not the scented stuff.... I'm referring to the variety of topics weaving their way through the sulci and gyri of this thing I call a brain. What I did last night, what I'm going to do today.... It's free association day, where my post may lead in a thousand different directions.

Brian is getting ready to go out of town for a couple of weeks. So yesterday, he and Noah went out for a "guys' breakfast." Last night, he and Joel had the house to themselves to hang out alone in (and play loads of GameCube and watch movies), and Monday, he is taking Halle out for breakfast. (He and Em have had one-on-one time more recently than the others). I get to go out with Emily today. I hope these are things my children will remember, and that we do these often enough to make a difference.

So last night the girls and I went to a friend's house for the evening. Emily and Noah are both participating in Leadership Training for Christ (LTC), which hosts a convention every Easter weekend. Some of the events/activities featured at this convention are Bible Bowl, puppet skits, dramas, art exhibits, choruses, sign language (song)... The majority of the kids participating from our congregation are 3rd-6th graders, but we have a small group of junior high kids who are doing Bible Bowl. That group was gathering last night to study the first 3 chapters of Luke. While Emily was doing that, another mom and I were reading, editing, and rewriting drama and puppet skits. We took the kids bowling after they finished their studying, and continued our work on the scripts at the bowling alley. (I think if anyone put down their beer or cigarette long enough to notice us, we probably were a funny site... we were reading these dramas aloud to each other, taking different parts and using different voices.) We got a lot done and I can't wait to see the kids working on these skits.

The whole beer and cigarette thing leads me to my next tangent. That was the absolute WORST bowling alley I have ever been in, scent-wise. The smoke smell was the heaviest I have ever experienced. I was literally stripping my clothes off seconds after we got in the house. Everything I had, right down to my foundation garments (what a prissy sounding word... but better than underwear) was covered in stale tobacco scent. All 3 of us girls put our coats and clothes in the wash last night. And I headed straight to the shower to get the smell out of my hair. Today I am snuffling and snorting from the exposure. (Has California banned smoking in public places yet??)

So today Emily and I will probably go out for lunch... Brian has a mens' prayer group this morning, so we will wait for him to get back (probably not till after 10). Lunch seemed to make more sense. She wants to go to Olive Garden.... and that sounds yummy. With the frigid temperatures here, a nice bowl of Pasta Fagioli will really hit the spot. When we get back, it will probably be near time to go to Noah's basketball game. And hopefully after that, we'll finish up getting the house put back together. The main thing left to do is get stuff up on the walls, so I'm not sure how much we'll get done today.