Monday Meanderings...Jan. 23

Family, Fun, Food.  That pretty much describes our weekend.  Oh, we didn't get to see all our family, that would have been wonderful, I miss seeing my mom and dad; I miss Jason & Lori, Matt & Lily, which is kind of ridiculous because they literally live rightthere; I miss Rebekah terribly (though she'll be home Friday!!!); but we did thoroughly enjoy the four of us and that's priceless.  

Friday night I was finishing working and making dinner (news flash:  make turkey stock out of your Thanksgiving turkey carcass then turn it into turkey & dumplings; yummy, frugal, fabulous!); I knew Mark hadn't had a chance to go to the gym yet, (he's really trying to get there regularly and strengthen those core muscles which will hopefully strengthen his back) so I asked him if he'd like to run over.  Jacob and Julianna decided to go with him and swim for an hour.  Bonus!  I finished up working and finished reading a book (I'm working on the Harmony series by Philip Gulley, a 7 book series centering around a Quaker pastor) while I babysat dinner.  Bliss.  May I add there's nothing like serving dinner to people who have just spent an hour involved in vigorous physical activity, boy did they appreciate that meal! 


Saturday I got up and headed out to the grocery store, the kids did homework and practiced piano, and Mark cleaned some.  After all the groceries were put away we ran a few errands, came home and just relaxed.  While we were chilling, I read an article in Midwest Living about a nearby town, Granville, Ohio.  It sounded really neat, it's not too far, about 40 minutes and we considered running out there to check it out.  In the end though we decided the kids were happily playing, happy to be chill and we'd file it away for another time.  I'd been craving a good burger and a shake, a meal that for 4 can easily set you back $50 so we decided to make that for dinner.  Yum!  A bacon cheddar cheeseburger with shoestring onion rings on top, baked oven fries (the healthy item on the menu!) and homemade malted milkshakes.  What a great way to end the evening.  After bedtime Mark and I spent some time hanging out together, something we don't pause to do nearly enough.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.


Sunday we were up and at 'em early for church and Sunday School.  I'd love it if it didn't start quite so early, but it truly does make me feel like my day's off to a good start.  For lunch Sunday I made toasted ravioli and Mark pulled together an antipasta starring some artisan salami's I had bought to sample the day before.  We all enjoyed that meal so much!  Sure, the food was good, but what was really great was the sitting together, comparing notes on the food, talking over what's going on in our lives, connecting with each other.  (BTW, new recipes, and they really were wonderful.  We all agreed we need to have them again, soon.  I highly recommend.  I've wanted to make the ravioli literally for years and always been intimidated by it.  No need.  Easy and delicious, win-win.)  Sunday afternoon we had a rousing game of Carcassonne, definitely our best one yet, I think we're getting the hang of it, followed by Apples to Apples Jr.  Hard to put in words how much I recommend this one, so easy, yet so much fun!  A few loads of laundry got done in there too, enabling me to keep up on my one to two loads a day which is really making a huge difference; the days of doing 10 loads just to catch up have disappeared!  We were all still so full from lunch we decided against dinner, making Sunday truly easy and relaxing.  Julianna would want me to be sure to mention she won both games.  :)

Sunday evening ended the way Sundays always do around here, we clean out the guinea pigs, pack up the backpacks, Julianna spends forever in the bath.  :)  We put away laundry, straighten the clutter, mentally and physically prepare for the week ahead.


I love weekends like this.  They really restore the soul.  Our next 6 weekends have plans and activities; good things, things that will definitely be enjoyed, but busy nonetheless.  Weekends like this past one give me the boost I need to recharge and gear up for the busy times.


Hope your weekend was restorative too.