Week in Review

 SUNDAY: We went to the meeting and joined the Russian group for the talk and Watchtower study. Every other week we have the full meeting in Russian with a visiting speaker from out of town usually. I picked a couple new words to listen for throughout the talk. That’s one way I’m learning. After the meeting we went out to lunch with some friends that were visiting from Wenatchee, including my cousin Hannah. We hadn’t gone out to eat with a big group in awhile and really enjoyed the conversation and visiting.

 MONDAY: Chris and I both worked on Monday…he doesn’t get holiday’s off from driving garbage truck, so I figured I’d go to work too. I stuffed a lot of envelopes! The kids were out of school, so the house was loud and crazy, but I really enjoy working with Kris and am glad for this job however long it lasts.

 TUESDAY: Kris and I went out in early morning service together and had a chance to catch up and visit after a whole month of just work-related interactions. I got to hear about her time at Pioneer School and we got to talk to a few people at bus stops. Then I headed back to her house for a day full of computer work. Once I was home I took a little nap and then went to the meeting. I gave two answers in Russian and picked up our applications for the foreign language class. It starts in the middle of October and we’re looking forward to doing this together.

 WEDNESDAY: I had my follow-up appointment with my GI in Wenatchee early in the morning, so I planned a whole day there. I went to my in-law’s place and they drove me to my appointment and Christa went in with me. No new revelations, just an increase in my milk of magnesia to try. I have to do 2 full weeks on this high dosage to balance things out and hopefully control my IBS with it moving forward. I’m hopeful. After that we went to Costco. Christa said she wanted to get me a present. She is so kind. So she sent me home with a new reversible jacket, a box of chocolates and a big bottle of my favorite wine. A soul renewing kind of present. Then I met up with my cousin Hannah for lunch and to get my hair done. We ordered French Dips for lunch with cream cheese on them. It adds a rich creamy flavor to them and something Hannah introduced me to when she worked in food service when we were teenagers. It was fun to share the memory and the sandwiches again. I wanted to do a blog post all about her salon (coming soon!) and so we spent some time after lunch taking pictures of her and her shop. Can’t wait to share her cute space. Then I got some dinner and stopped in the park by the river to have a little picnic. It was a lovely evening and so I took some pictures and self-portraits by the water.

 THURSDAY: As I mentioned in my post on Friday I woke up from a dream on Thursday morning that just hung on and I couldn’t shake it. Dealing with the stress of the audit and the pressure from my boss and trying to keep everything from my two jobs straight in my head and be on top of it all pushed me to my limit. Thank goodness my mother-in-law bought me some wine, cuz I needed a little glass of it.

 FRIDAY: April, my co-worker joined me at work all day Friday. I was thankful for not only her company, but her assistance is going back through all the files and making decisions with me so we were both on the same page. And then, after I posted my blog post and my mom read it, she decided to pop down for a little overnight visit. It was just the thing I needed. Initially I started stressing over things at the house, but Chris took care of everything and the 3 of us had a lovely evening together. After dinner out in Moses Lake, Mom and I went to Walmart, bought some gifts for her to take home (one was a joke pillow that had us both giggling). And then we went back to the house, had some ice-cream and stayed up till 1 am visiting and laughing some more. I think we both really needed it. I’m so glad she was willing to hop in the car and come be with me when I needed her the most. She is a precious gift. “At least it wasn’t WAR!” Hahahaha!!

 SATURDAY: Mom and I woke up early and went for a walk together around the block. There was a slight cool breeze that reminded me again that fall is just around the corner. Then Mom and Chris came with me to work. It is so neat that I’m able to have them there with me. I was glad to have their calming presence in a place that is causing me much anxiety lately. After work we went to the Sundial Bistro in Soap Lake for a late lunch. Mom and I got their soup special which was a cream of mushroom with green beans. It was like a green bean casserole soup…so amazing. And then the chef made us a special order dipping sauce for our fries that had lots of garlic (which we love), capers and olives. We loved it and I think it would be awesome on a sandwich of some sort. I’d be his taste tester! After mom headed home Chris and I took a nap because we knew we’d be out late with our evening plans. We’d been given tickets to the Quincy Hot Air Balloon Festival by our real estate agent, Deb. The event had scheduled an Elvis impersonator, the hot air balloon glow after dark and a fireworks display. We went early and joined the huge crowd laying out in the middle of a field. We enjoyed the music and watched the sunset through the lightning storm in the distance. ‘Elvis’ did a few songs, but unfortunately because of the storm the balloons were not able to be blown all the way up. They tried, but the wind was too strong and it would have been too dangerous. And then it was time for the fireworks. When they started they were pretty awesome. I’d never been that close to them before and most of them were exploding directly above us. But once they really got going, the proximity became a problem. They became extremely intense and the debris falling from them covered us and all our stuff and I had a bit of a panic attack. It felt like being under fire. I gathered everything and ran to the car in tears…I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We got home and showered off all the ash and went to bed. Not quite how I imagined the evening…

***** edited to add: I have received some very kind comments and phone calls from the coordinators of this event and those involved. It warms my heart that little old me would be of any concern to people, but to those of you who went out of your way to check on me: thank you. We'll be back next year for sure! But maybe sit back a ways. ;) 

Favorite parts from this week: Seeing my mom and staying up late laughing together. It was so good for my heart and soul. Enjoying good food with good people. Getting my hair touched up and having my husband tell me he thinks I’m beautiful.

What little things did you enjoy this week?
Have you ever been to a hot air balloon festival?
Do you have inside jokes with your family? I love them!