Back a few days....

Thursday of last week Alayna and I drove down to pick up Justin from the airport. We were a few minutes late getting him as I waited for her to get out of her last class. It worked out okay because his flight was delayed leaving Charlotte, due to delays in Phillie. Why one affects the other is beyond me but I guess air traffic control knows what they are doing. One can certainly see why that industry is so high-stressed! I had gotten us each a burger from Late's plus an order of fried cheese curds for Justin, as he requested. Yes, they would be cold by the time he got them but he was fine with it.

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Once we had him collected and I hugged the stuffings out of him, we headed toward the Mall to get his tux. After we stopped at one Men's Warehouse, we realized that there was yet another in the Mall next door, not this free-standing shop we spotted. I just knew that was too easy! His suit fit perfectly, except for the white shirt being incredibly blousy on him. The shirts are sold according to neck size, not waist size, and while the collar could have been a bit tighter, he was able to keep himself dressed all night long at the reception due to the free fitting collar. Our lunch was enjoyed at the Cheesecake Factory and then we headed for home. Alayna had to be a work yet that afternoon and I think we did well with our time management.

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Justin snoozed in Mom's recliner while I ran over to John and Mona's to get my earthenware jug from them. John, Allie, and JR were planning to have dinner with us at the Green Street but had to cancel because Allie had blood work in the a.m. and had to fast for 12 hours. Since we were going to church first, it was going to be too late for them to eat. John had to work in the morning and likes to be in bed rather early so instead, JR picked up Justin after dinner (9:30 pm when we finished eating) and off they went. I felt badly about Hackmann's not being with us but it simply could not be helped. On the bright side, we did get to sing "Lift High the Cross" during worship, singing with the pipe organ cannot be beat!

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Justin came in rather late and simply wreaked of smoke. I had tried to pull the trundle bed out for him but gave up, so he had to yank it out from under my bed when he came home. After all that, I had trouble falling back to sleep. If it was from the smell, or being disturbed in my sleeping or being hot, whatever it was, I could not fall back to sleep. On my trip home, I realized that I had not a decent night's sleep since Thursday night! And now I must adjust my sleep clock to eastern time again....at least it is not from Italian or Greek time, which is much more difficult by far!

My eyes are still tired, but I am awake!

I'm HOME! Having been a traveling or vacationing girl since May 22nd, it feels good to hear the washer swishing my clothes from the trip, knowing they will go into my own closet instead of the suitcase!

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Justin and I made it to the MKE airport, after returning the tuxedo to the store at Mayfair Mall, with plenty of time to spare. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the brewhouse upstairs at Mitchell Field, where I had a bowl of WI cheese soup and he, a Cuban sandwich. Oh, if only it had been a Friday for our travel----I could have had perch! Our flights went well, no trouble making connections and Justin dropped me off right around 1:00 a.m. I crawled into bed, taking a bit to drop off to sleep, waking with the sun across my face.....yes, life is good!

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Earlier in the morning on Sunday, my phone rang to report that Jamie and Hannah were having breakfast next door at Denny's and would be in the Hospitality Room shortly to open their gifts. Wow, talk about short notice! We had to fly around the room (Justin, Alayna, and me) to get downstairs for the festivities. It was not news to us about the event taking place, just expected a bit more of a heads' up concerning the timing. As I was getting ready, it occurred to me that perhaps not everyone got the reminder phone call so I called Kerry. She had not gotten the news so she rounded up Mom and Lynn to meet us in the Hospitality Room, but sadly, I missed the Schippers departure. Lori called to report that they were on the road early and would have to give me my hugs over the phone instead. She has tons of work to do for VBS and had to get home to take care of it. Lisa was in the hallway when we came out and had to turn back to get her gift and wake Noah. She was taking the boys down for breakfast, which could take place in concert with the informal opening.

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Once downstairs, I got in line to get a doughnut to eat during the gift opening. I met Jamie and Hannah, who were getting a hand-off of the boys from Hannah's mom and her boyfriend. The mom said she was not staying for the gift opening because she had lots to do yet that day. It was only Jamie's family and some of the attendants "present" for the present opening. Oh, well, to each, their own, it seems. There were only a few boxed gifts to open, the rest being primarily cash gifts but it was still nice to see what they received. Lisa and family plus Justin and I stayed later while the rest hit the road to head for home. We went swimming and enjoyed the hot tub until it was check-out time. That felt so good! Justin loved spending the extra time with the boys, although he did not bring his pool pants along, not able to climb into the tub with us.

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My clothes are now bouncing in the dryer, quite the gay load, in the original sense of the word with my jacket from yesterday setting the tone of color. My orange plaid shoes, my swimsuit, and my new nightie all splashing around together. I will need to secure extra hangers for my new tops purchased on my shopping trip with Lori before I left Holmen a couple weeks ago. I did leave a few pieces of clothing behind for Mom to take to Repeat Performance, the MLHS re-sale shop. At two o'clock I am going to see the endodontist to have him take a look at my cold-sensitive tooth and I do not know what happens from there. If he sees something is amiss, I might have him go ahead and take care of it...or not. My regular dentist did not see anything going on but perhaps Dr. Smith will....if he's any kind of endodontist, he will!!!!

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I also must collect some paperwork and VBS materials from church, plus go to the carpet store to make a selection for the new classroom building---again---so it is ready to go once the rooms are painted. The paint day is set for the 20th so the carpet can go in immediately after that so we must be ready. It won't take me but a moment to do that, since the congregation already made that selection last year. Since we are changing suppliers, another color of dark blue must be chosen. No worries, I can do that with my eyes closed, which they might be by that time!