First of all, thank goodness for IMing and e-mailing, AND, of course, for cell phones. I teased Sandie the entire time she was here by saying that I thought she spoke with her family more when she was away from home than when she was actually there. She spent so much time either IMing, cell phoning, or e-mailing that all the "powers that be" w/re these things must have been going crazy. But, of course, there were reasons for all those messages.
Because of Ben's interest in the military (and enlisting), Sandie wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Things seem to be moving pretty fast in that regard, so I can understand her wanting to be there. GETTING THERE was the problem--now, I love Sandie, but I didn't want to drive all the way back to Ama (a small town outside of New Orleans) since I will be going back to Lockport this week. So, she called her daughter and son-in-law to see if they could meet her half-way (or so). They graciously agreed!
We decided to meet at DON's for lunch, with a small side trip to SAM's before our meal. Kati and Jeremiah drove into the parking lot about 3-4 minutes after we had entered the restaurant, so their timing was perfect. We had a really great lunch, too--oh, remember my little tease??? Here's what happened: Sandie was doing something at the table (who knows what!) and she side-swiped her glass of water right in my direction. Ah, yes--it spilled all over the table and I was just lightning fast in getting out of the way (I know my kids are questioning that "lightning fast" comment, but it's true) and got nary a drop on me. We did notice, though, that the water had gone almost completely across the table as well, nearing Sid and Jeremiah and Kati (or at least, their foods).
We managed to wipe up the water relatively easily, with additional help from our waiter. Sandie used her napkin to wipe up most of it, so he brought her another set of utensils. Of course, when we noticed the additional spillage, we started wiping that up as well. Lo and behold, I NEARLY spilled another glass, but again, my lightning fast speed prevented that from happening. Needless to say, by the time this was over, we were all a little insane.
Our meal at DON's was delicious, as usual, and our waiter was exceptionally good today. We've had him as our server before, but today, he was really funny and efficient. We really had a nice time there, and I think Kati and Jeremiah enjoyed their meals as well.
After finishing up our meal, we unloaded all of Sandie's stuff from her visit plus a couple of items she got at SAM's. Then, they were on their way back to Ama, and we headed back to our Cottage.
Sid did a little work on the cement that still lies around our carport before we went to Mass at 5pm. Fr. Bob did an excellent job with his homily today. I took back home a little nugget of inspiration--how to find a "touch-tone experience" in our lives, an experience that proves to us that God is part of our lives. He told us that these experiences, the ones we KNOW come from God, help us to determine whether other experiences are from Him as well, and not from "you know who"---I just love that little phrase, and I can tell you that we have had some of those "touch-tone" experiences in our lives and can place God smack-dab in the middle of them. Thanks to Fr. Bob for this special little nugget today!
After Mass, we went to DQ for supper. I think those burgers are starting to get to me, so I'll probably refrain from those for a while. I may just have to stick to their breakfasts--really good food there.
When we got back from there, Sid and I had some computer work to do. We switched printers--I took back my old printer and he took the new one. The old one prints pictures better, which is what I do; the new one does fine for regular printing, and that's what Sid does, so it works out perfectly. Then, I got my old scanner and put it to work as well. Thanks to Sandie, we weren't afraid to try.
Then, Sid asked me about the Microsoft Works (Word??) program that I used to have on my old computer. Apparently, the folks at Best Buy restored our old computer to pre-new status and removed it from our computer. However, Sid showed up at my desk a while ago and showed me something he had printed. He found the NOTE PAD program and will be using that. Believe it or not, he remembered that because some of his students at another school used to send "dirty messages" to one another using that program, and he had to deal with that when he was teaching. I guess something good came from it after all--he now knows about that program.
Well, Folks, I guess that's it for tonight. I already miss Sandie, but I'm sure her family is glad to have her back. We'll have to do this again before long. Hope she enjoyed it as much as I did--and as much as Sid did, too.
Have a great evening and a terrific tomorrow.
HEARTFELT BLESSING: "Rejoice in your strength, rejoice in your talents and powers, rejoice in the wonders of your own nature. For there is far more in you than you ever dreamed. So whatever may come, you are greater than it all, richer than it all. And knowing this, why should you not be glad?" --Christian D. Larsen
NOTE: Yep! Bad things happen--that's life! But, we own goodness in our lives, and that is much more important than the evil (or bad things) that enter our lives. There is nothing we can't handle (with God's help); we can be bearers of joy and we can follow the directive of the apostles: 'count it all joy'. Always find a reason to be glad."
