Weekend Reflection # 21

I decided to be a rebel this week and use the old WR header!

This week has flown by and has been pretty good. We've gotten some much needed rain and my garden is loving it! I'm loving it too because it means we have to water the garden less! Yay! Several of our plants are flowering so it won't be long before we've got some tiny veggies! We already have some tiny roma tomatoes and we're hoping the cucumbers will be next! Our okra and broccoli have shot up like crazy this week! I have some zinnias that are coming along nicely and I can't wait to cut them and put them on our supper table.

Last Sunday, we enjoyed lunch at a local Mexican restaurant with some friends from church. We ate and then sat around talking for about two and a half hours. We hadn't been able to do that in a long time because of all the construction we've had going on. It was nice and just lots of fun to be hanging out with friends.

On Wednesday, another friend and her children invited the girls to go swimming. They were gone for about six hours and had a blast! I hung out at home with Jeff and read. I finished reading Tales From the Bed by Jenifer Estess. I enjoyed the book very much. I learned alot about ALS and wonder what it would be like to know you are dying and that you're going to lose your ability to walk, talk, swallow, breath, etc. Jenifer was diagnosed with the disease and instead of locking herself away, she and her sisters created Project ALS. It was a fascinating story about her journey from the time of her diagnosis to her death. I'm not certain that she believed in God or understood His sovereignty over all things and that made me sad.

On Thursday, Caroline had her last ballet class of the summer. I'm happy for the break and look forward to only having to tow her to piano lessons once a week. It'll be nice to stop running back and forth so much!

On Friday, I started preparing for Jeff's 5 day trip to Valle Crucis, NC. He'll be attending bagpipe instruction school from Sunday, July 1 through Friday, July 6. My FIL and BIL came over in the evening to start putting up j-channel for the vinyl siding that goes on the front of our home. I'm very excited about this project because our house will look so much nicer! Friday night, my nephew, his friend, and my BIL came over and watched Breach with us (see more about this movie below). It was a fascinating movie and I've been thinking about since Friday. I was already familiar with this story but the movie made me think about so many things. It is said that Mr. Hanssen, who is serving a life sentence for his treason, is in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day. I cannot imagine that. I would go crazy!

Saturday, I got up early and got our crew movin'. My FIL and BIL came over to put up the vinyl siding. Jeff helped them while I cleaned house. They finished the siding and now all that's left is for me to paint the front door and trim and also the shutters. I'm not looking forward to painting those but the door and trim should be a breeze. Hopefully when Jeff returns, it'll be done and look like a totally different house. I'll post before and after shots as soon as we're through with it all. I will say that the siding made a world of difference! In the evening, Jeff and I left the girls at home and went shopping for Logan's 13th birthday present. Since he'll be gone on her birthday (July 5), he wanted to get her present and give it to her beforehand. After spending most of the evening finding just the right deal, we got it and gave it to her. I'd love to tell you what it is but you'll just have to wait until Thursday to read about it and see pictures!

Today we enjoyed a wonderful worship service with our church family. We've been studying the book of Esther and I'm learning alot. After church, we came home to pack the car up for Jeff to leave. He left around 2pm and I hope he's going to enjoy his time and learn alot. This is the only time each year that we are ever separated. It's very strange without him around the house. The girls and I plan to pass the time by sewing and watching tons of Jane Austen movies! We have every version of Pride&Prejudice that's out and we're also going to rent Emma and Sense & Sensibility. We may even go a little wild and rent Jane Eyre! Can you tell that I love Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte?!!!

Speaking of movies, I thought I'd throw in what we've watched this week. First off, we don't watch alot of regular tv. We are HUGE sports fans and that is why we have cable. If it weren't for sports and Lost, the cable would be out of here in a New York minute! Since we don't watch alot of regular tv, we rent movies. We recently switched from Netflix to Blockbuster Online and are loving it! I know alot of you recently started renting movies via Netflix and they're great. Let me just say though that Blockbuster Online is way better! I love the fact that you can take movies you get in the mail back to the store and get a new one instantly! When you do that, they also immediately ship out the next movie in your online queue. It's wonderful and you see twice the movies you'd see otherwise. Anyway, back to the movies we watched this week....The Last King of Scotland was pretty good. It is based on the reign of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. If you have a weak stomach, don't watch it. The harsh reality of the movie kept me thinking about it for days afterwards. Another movie we enjoyed this week was Breach. It was a well made movie and was very interesting. I have read plenty about Robert Hanssen over the years so I was excited about seeing this movie. Again, it was a movie that really made me think. Throughout the movie, I couldn't help but feel compassion for Mr. Hanssen. Jeff is always saying that I have this incredible need to save the world! We also saw Miss Potter recently and loved it! It is based on the life of Beatrix Potter and was wholesome, clean, and just plain good! Great family movie and especially meaningful if you love Peter Rabbit and other books by Beatrix.

That about does it for our week! I hope you week went well! To read more WR's, head over to Judi's!