Weekend Update

We had a very spring like weekend and it was very much appreciated. We spent a lot of time outside. We're outside quite a bit even in the winter time, but there's no doubt that nice weather brings more people out of their houses. When Helen asks how I can go on a run in the cold or rain I always say that weather's just a state of mind. It's unbelievable to me that there are people in our neighborhood that we have never seen or very rarely seen in the 13+ years that we've lived here! How can you not get out of your house and go on a walk?

On Friday, Derek woke up and came downstairs in his pajamas to watch tv. He thought it was Saturday. I had to break it to him that it was Friday and that he needed to get dressed for school. I let him sit there a minute and gather himself. Don't you hate it when that happens? On the other hand there's nothing better than when you wake up and think it's a weekday and it's really the weekend. Adam always looks forward to Friday because it's show and tell day. He enjoys the process of selecting just the right toy.

Helen took Derek to scouts after school and then everybody played outside. We went out for Mexican when I got home. Derek only mildly complained. It seems our little Mexican restaurant has gotten very popular so we had to wait a little while for a table. It was fine. Everyone was in a good mood and it gave us time to catch up.

We put the boys to bed and watched "V for Vendetta" with Natalie Portman. Yummy. I mean...what a talented actress. We thought it was pretty good. Helen was skeptical beforehand, but ended up enjoying it.

Derek had a basketball game on Saturday morning. The other team made a late comeback. Derek's team was up by 1 with time about to expire when Derek fouled their player. The player hit 1 of the 2 free throws, however Derek's team won in overtime. It was my first time being the scorekeeper. I think Helen was supposed to run the clock, but got out of it. We played on the playground afterwards and then went to Krystal for lunch. Derek inhaled 5 krystals and wanted more. Adam was very concerned that we not eat any more so he could have as many as Derek. He ended up eating 1 and 1/2 before he declared that he wasn't hungry anymore. He takes forever to eat and he always has to go to the bathroom wherever we go - usually number 2 which also takes forever.

We worked out in the lawn while the boys played. Adam loves riding his bike. Derek worked on getting his Air Hog airplane to carry some hot wheels cars, but they were too heavy.

After we came inside, Derek practiced piano. It's especially painful when Derek "learns" a song wrong. If we don't catch it early in the week he will play the song wrong all week and then when we catch it on the weekend and make him play it the right way - he has a fit. We hate it when that happens because we want him to enjoy playing, but it just doesn't seem ok to let him play it any way he wants. We tell him that he can feel free to improvise - after he learns to play it the way it's written.

I had a nice long conversation with my sister, Katie, who lives in Baton Rouge. She's staying busy with her dogs and all the Mardi Gras festivities. I always pictured Baton Rouge as being a lot like Athens in that the university is the town, but Katie says that Baton Rouge is bigger than Athens and that LSU is fairly close but is really it's own town, whereas UGA is, for the most part, Athens.

I stayed up and watched "Saw II". Helen watched the first one with me a few weeks ago, but couldn't sleep afterwards so she refused to watch the second one. Of course, she wanted to know what happened, without any scary parts, in the morning.

It rained into Sunday morning, which made it a great morning to sleep in. The boys got up and watched cartoons. The rain cleared and I went on a long run and Helen made chocolate pancakes. When I came back from my run everyone was at the table eating. Helen was a little on edge and talking to Derek. It seems that Derek pitched a fit about practicing piano. He started saying that there was nothing fun in his life and everything was boring. Helen spent the next half hour making sure that Derek regained his perspective.

Helen and the boys went on an excursion to the school track nearby. The boys rode their bikes while Helen ran.

I stayed home and cleaned and then my sister, Kelley, who lives in Anchorage called. She said it has been really cold and that it was -1 while we were talking. Ok...so maybe -1 is more than a state of mind. Kelley's boyfriend, Paul, works for a locksmith. I asked Kelley to see if he would make me a bump key.

It's Kelley's 40th birthday today! Happy Birthday Sis! Having passed that milestone myself, we discussed how we didn't think that we would be affected by turning 40, but that we were. I think the biggest thing is that your mortality demands to be dealt with. You always knew you were going to die someday, but that someday seems a lot closer at 40! You look back and say wow, I've come a long way...and it happened so quickly. I'm not sure how much farther I have, but I better, fairly quickly, see about getting my life ordered the way I want it and do all the things that I want to do before I run out of time.

I told Helen that she better get all her physical ailments fixed by next year when she turns 40 because I'm sure she's going to have some mental ailments coming to terms with her 40th and the fact that Derek will be 9!

This weekend my Aunt Laverne, Aunt Joan, and Uncle Ray hosted a party for my Aunt Betty and Uncle Roland's 50th wedding anniversary in Clinton, AR. We were sorry that we couldn't make it. It would have been nice to see everyone. Tonight, I called my Uncle Roland and jerked his chain a little. I told him that my invitation must have been printed wrong because I spent the weekend at the Holiday Inn in Conway waiting on the party, but nobody showed up.