Weekend

There have been few weeks as busy as the last in our house .......things conspired to fill every afternoon and evening and scheduling and juggling skills were needed on an hour by hour basis.  We even had to call in reinforcements to help.   I can see from several of my friends Facebook statuses it was a tough week for more than our household.

My week finally ended with a 10pm pickup of Lindsay from youth group and as I sank into bed my whole body was exhausted.  Nevertheless I was up at 7am Saturday and off to a Jazzercise class and then we decided to take the rare soccer-free Saturday and head to the States to do some clothes shopping. 

We all needed something and the thought of a mini road trip and a day as a family are two of my top 5 best things in the world.  The little bit of snow overnight Friday scared a good number of people off the road and out of the outlets so we have no border waits, no traffic and no crowds or line-ups and had a very pleasant few hours getting bargains.  I was especially delighted with a great deal on my new workout shoes......delight that turned to disappointment when we got all the way home and found I had left them in a store at the outlets........a bit of a damper on an otherwise lovely day and I am presently working on a plan to get the shoes back to me somehow as the snow today precludes a 2 hour round trip for a pair of shoes!

While shopping David spied a long board and thus his day became focused on this thing he really badly wanted.  I ceded decision making to Allan on this one as I have no idea what a long board is, what the things to consider  are etc and if this was a good deal or not.  We waited until the end of our shopping to make a final decision and with David chipping in half of the cost from his holiday money (a sure sign he wanted this badly!) we came home with a long board.

Allan and I were reflecting on the way home how that feeling as a child of wanting somethings so badly and then getting it (or not) still resonates today and we can both recall how it felt to get that thing (for me a First Love doll and later a bike) and how great it is to be able to give that to our children.  Lindsay was equally glad I sprung for a pair of funky and trendy Osiris skater shoes for her.

 We ended our day with a grocery stop at Trader Joes and a very pleasant meal at the Olive Garden before we encountered a very gracious border guard who overlooked our greatly exceeded daily shopping limit and waved us through.

As always on these days - we laughed (mostly at Lindsay's inappropriate but stinkin' hilarious jokes while banning her from ever repeating them), we talked, we sang, we caught up with each other, chatted about what is coming up this week. 

Although it was a long day it was a break and a time to reconnect as a family and that is fuel for the week ahead for me.

Now if I can just figure out how to get those shoes home I could declare it a perfect day!

Bad iPhone shot of waiting at Olive Garden