Overall, a good weekend

This weekend was pretty busy. I went home to preach at a church that is in a neighboring town to my home church. I led worship/preached there this summer, and the pastor asked me back. That's the main reason I went home. But, my weekend started long before this morning.

I said a short grace at the meal at my cousin's wedding reception a few weekends ago in the suburbs of Chicago. I was honored to be asked by my aunt and uncle. They are fantastic people, and I was glad to be of service. My aunt and uncle had wanted to get a hotel room for me and pay for my car expenses for getting there, but I told them that wasn't necessary because I was planning on going to the wedding anyway, and I was leading worship on Sunday, so I couldn't stay overnight. So, this past week, they emailed me telling their plans to come to SeminaryTown for some R&R after having spent much of the last year planning/organizing for the wedding, and my aunt made the wedding dress and bridesmaid dress. (She's VERY talented). Anyway, they were going to stay in a quaint little town about 20 miles away, but they couldn't because everyplace was booked or way too expensive. So, anyway, I digress. They ended up staying in SeminaryTown. They emailed and asked if they could take me to dinner on Friday. I laughed a little because I had heard they were coming my way, and I was going to invite them to a concert the seminary was having on Friday, but they emailed me first. So, we made plans to go eat and then come see the concert.

When they got here Friday, we didn't know where to eat, so we talked with some friends who were around, but nothing was really sticking out. Aunt and Uncle are kinda fancy people, and the only places around here I've been haven't been very fancy. But, Aunt remembered a place in nearby Quaint town that is good. So, we went there. We made it back in time for the concert, which was PHENOMENAL! Oh MY GOSH, was it great! There are good singers, and there are great singers. These people were GREAT singers. I myself cannot carry a tune in a bucket with a mule helping me, but I appreciate those who can sing because Ma was a fantabulous singer. She has sung at numerous weddings, funerals, community celebrations and dedications, has won community wide karaoke contests, and has done a gazillion solos at church. When she sang, boy, people listened. The soprano of the group reminded me of Ma, and it was rather nice to hear.

After the concert, the relatives left, and some pals and I went to the winery. I had a good time. I like being sociable.

Saturday morning, I woke up super early so I could get ready and go home (About 3 hours from the seminary is where my "home" is). Sis and BiL's neighbors who are moving (next week) invited us to go with them to the Wildlife Prairie Park in Peoria. So, I went and we took the boys and it was a good time. I love parks and this was a nice outing.

Then Sunday, I led two worship services at neighboring church. Things went well, except I made a bunch of mistakes in the first service. But, to my credit, they were not all my fault. There were several errors in the worship bulletin and I rolled with the punches as best I could. I got good comments, and I hope that the people were able to hear a good word today.

YS (Younger Sister) came to the late service today, which was nice because she doesn't come to church very often. But, she came today and it was good to see a smiling, familiar face out there. I love YS dearly. She's a wonderful sister and a great friend. After worship, we went to visit Ma. She knew who we were today, before we could say anything. I was a little afraid at first because she just looked at us like we were random people. But, that could be because she was walking around without her glasses on. She said someone "stole" them right away from her. I went to the nurse's station and they had a bunch of glasses there. I saw a pair that looked like hers, so I took them to her, and they were hers. A nurse came and wrote Ma's last name on the inside of the earpiece so that there would be no question next time.

Ma was still pretty quiet, but she talked a wee bit more this time. She also looked less like Grandma looked. The doctor came and looked at her the other day, and he thinks she has arthritis in her back and hip. IT sucks because she's in a lot of pain all the time. Yikes. They are going to try some things to get her feeling better. I hope it works.

While we were sitting in Ma's room, a lady came in and sat on the bed next to me. Because the place Ma is happens to be a locked dementia unit, that gives you an idea that all the people there are fairly bad off. This lady launched into this story about how she was SO mad at her husband because he didn't wait to eat dinner til we were there. I talked with her a while and went along with her story. I figured her husband was probably dead and she was living in the past. I said a couple of things about how I hoped she could forgive him, and how we had eaten before we got there, so everything would be alright. And near the end of our conversation she said, "I feel better now. You helped me think through these things better. I can see how our lines could have gotten crossed. Jack probably thought he was doing it the way I wanted. Thank you, dear." Our conversation probably lasted about 15-20 minutes. Ma and YS just sat there looking at me like, "What are you talking about, Trish?" Because I didn't want to dismiss her as whatever, because if the woman were cognizant of what was going on, she'd probably feel bad for "interrupting" and then being angry at her probably dead husband for nothing. Then an aid came and took her back to her room. YS told me later in the car that she was totally impressed with my mad skills at calming the lady down and helping her be less angry at her probably dead husband. Because this lady was MAD. CPE skills in real life, folks. Learn 'em, love 'em, live 'em. :) Ha.

Anyway, so then YS and I went to my childhood home (which is not the same as "home") and we cleaned out the freezer and took the trash to the curb for pickup. We also did some home repair and YS took some of her things to her house. Then, I got a massage! (YS was going to school to become a massage therapist). It felt awesome, but I need to make sure to drink plenty of fluid so I don't have a "healing crisis" tomorrow. After the massage, YS took me on my first 4-wheeler ride around town. That was fun.

I stayed "home" a little longer than I'd planned today. I chased my nephew around and we played for a while. He was getting crabby cuz Sis wouldn't let him play in the bathroom, because he wanted a bath. Sis and BiL do league bowling on Sunday nights, and BiL's niece comes and watches the boys. But, she doesn't have enough hands to watch Sunscreen AND give Howard a bath. So, I gave him a bath and we played and had a lot of fun. The only thing is, it is REALLY hard to get him out of the tub because he loves it so much. And, he's been doing this screaming thing lately, where he'll get mad and just start screaming at whomever is making him angry. So, there was an instance yesterday and one today where after he started screaming, I got down at his level and let out a semi-loud yell. He did not like it either time, but I thought it was funny. I'm mean like that.

When it was time for me to go, I gave Sunscreen a hug and a kiss bye-bye, and then I gave Howard a hug and a kiss goodbye, but he started crying because he knew I was leaving. I felt really bad and I had to turn around and leave the house even though he was bawling his eyes out. Then I felt AWFUL because I had to go back in because I left my tennis shoes in there. He was still crying when I went back in, so I picked him up and held him, and he dive bombed my face with a big, wet baby kiss. I went and sat down with him for a minute on the couch and he got down and pulled me toward the floor to play with his toys with him. I did that for a little while, and then slipped out without him seeing. I had told him bye-bye a million times, but I still feel bad for going without saying goodbye the last time. But, it probably kept him from crying again. I love those boys (and my first born nephew, too!) so much I could puke. They are such special little people. I am anxious to see what they will be like when they get older. But, I am happy with them being wee ones right now.

Anyway, this has been a really long, rambling post, that probably means nothing to any of you, but whatever. I enjoyed my weekend for the most part. I am loved.