I smiled a lot...

...this past weekend. More than I have in quite some time! By Saturday, EVERYONE in my home was finally feeling better. I don't take a healthy household for granted as it's only the case for about 35% the year.

Saturday was my grandmother's 75th birthday celebration. My mom invited about 30 family members to all meet at a local eatery and surprise my grandmother! Please understand that my grandmother is not the "public" social type, so getting her out of the house to go to a restaurant at all is a feat in itself. Alas, by Saturday morning, she had decided not to go after all. But, heck, she's 75 years old! She can do whatever she wants at this point and everyone understands! At least, those are the rules that I plan to live by when I'm that age! :-) The great news is that the whole family still wanted to get together even though my grandmother wouldn't be there. Lunch turned out to be the most fun I've had in a very long time. It wears on me a little with two demanding and sleepy young'uns in tow, but I'm glad they were there to be with the family, and I always enjoy showing the little munchkins off! :-)

Sunday was church. I don't know if it's just me, but I've been getting a lot more out of Sunday morning service than ever before. The sermons have always hit home, and are just what I need to receive spiritually. But it feels like my soul is penetrated more these days. I believe that it has everything to do with the point that I'm at in my life. Day-to-day, I am holding on tight to the Lord unlike ever before. I used to feel that I was in control, and that life was smooth sailing. I have been humbled to the nth degree over the past few years; life has really taken some painfully sharp turns that you can never be prepared for. So now, when I'm sitting in service, my spirit, heart, mind and soul, are MORE THAN READY to receive the Word from the Lord.

My friend Joel's mom had her surgery last week. I was THRILLED to see her at church on Sunday morning! Brought tears to my eyes; I wasn't expecting her to be there so soon. That is one of the most beautiful families that you'll ever meet. Thanks for your prayers for them.

Afterward, Olie, Cass, and I had lunch with Ifie! We had so much fun. Ifie is really good with Olie. He is migrating into a 3-year old (in less than 4 months) and I'm usually unprepared for some of the things he says and does at any given point. He really loves Ifie, though, and had a blast with her! After lunch, I took her up on her offer to head over to the mall with me so that I could replenished my makeup stash. I can't believe she's in her second week of college already. It's so cliche, but the years just go by to quickly.

I went to bed at 7:15pm last night and woke up at about 1:15am because I thought I heard Olan fall out of his bed, and then again at 1:30 because Cass started crying and needed changing. It's almost 2am now, so I'm going to go now and get another 3 hours of sleep. Not bad, huh?

Later gators!