I got up Saturday morning and started packing for our impromptu trip to Abilene. We left at about noon and had a nice little drive over there, just over 2 hours, I think. We always stop at the K-Mart in Sweetwater because they've got such great deals. This time was no exception. I made out with two new skirts, one denim and one khaki, a t-shirt and a pair of shoes. We decided to call it my early birthday present. :-) We got to Abilene and checked into our motel at 4 or 5:00, I think. James had put in a bid on Priceline and we ended up at the Mariott (whoa!) for the same price that Motel 6 in Carlsbad charges. CRAZY. My folks had gotten a Red Lobster gift card for James for his birthday last month, so that's where we went for dinner! YUM. Fiesta lobster rolls and clam chowder--with those terrific garlic cheese bisquits. Just nothing like it. :-) Afterward we stopped by Target and I bought some happy, happy, happy socks to go with one of my new happy, happy, happy shirts!!! I LOVE THEM! I'm wearing them right now, in fact, and they make me very... you guessed it--HAPPY! :-) I'll have to post a picture of them one of these days. Anyway, we went back to the room and tried to get everybody to bed early because we knew we had a full day ahead of us on Sunday.
We loaded up on Sunday morning and drove the 15 miles or so to Merkel to be in church with the Lunas there. We had a good service--we always do there. There always seems to be such a spirit of worship with the Lunas. They are good people. After service we went back to their house for the usual feast: tamales, enchiladas, tacos, fajitas, beans, rice, brisket and all of the other things I forgot to mention--all fresh and completely homemade. There's always enough to feed a small army and even though we eat ourselves sick we barely make a dent in it! Sister Luna just loves to cook. We had a really nice visit with them, as always.
By the time we had finished gorging ourselves we were sooooooooo ready for a nap! We drove back to our nice room in Abilene and crashed for a couple of hours. We drug ourselves out of bed to get ready for church again, this time at the Church of God of Prophecy there in Abilene. Some of my family attends there and we were going to go join them in service. We got to the church just a few minutes before 6:00 and there was already a guy in a pick-up sitting there, waiting. The sign said they had Sunday evening service at 6:00, so we waited until about 6:05 and then called Uncle Hobert. (We hadn't told anybody we were coming--we were just going to show up there.) He felt soooooooooo bad, but said that the pastor had decided to cancel the Sunday night services until the end of August--something about everybody taking vacations and not having the money to pay for the utilities on the church building. Crazy, hu?! Anyway, I explained the situation to the other "visitor" who had showed up for church, then we drove over to Uncle Hobert's house to visit for a little while. It wasn't the evening we had planned, but it was really nice to be able to sit and visit for a while--we might not have had that opportunity otherwise. God knows.
We got up this morning and roamed the mall a little bit. I bought another skirt (!!!)--it was from Christopher & Banks and it was $9.99, so I couldn't pass it up! I also got a shirt for $2.95. I love it when I can find a shirt there for that price! :-) We also stumbled upon Davy Crockett, so we bought that, too. I've been looking for that movie since before our trip to San Antonio in the Spring--you know, the one from the 50's starring Fess Parker. The kids were sooooo excited!
We got home at about 3:00 this afternoon and unloaded the car, then unpacked and got things cleaned up. I wasn't feeling very good today and didn't feel up to doing anything just real productive, so I sat down with the kids and watched our new Davy Crockett movie! I bought it for the kids, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I hadn't seen it since I was a little kid and although I remember liking it then, I really didn't have very high expectations. Definitely a keeper, though! I kept telling the kids to be quiet so I could hear what was going on! Ha!
The kids were soooooooooo wound up tonight and we had a terrible time getting them settled down for devotions and bedtime. In fact, this is what Sam looked like prior to and even during devotions...
Trying to get it adjusted just right...
Oh! Oh! Oh! One more picture--I couldn't NOT share this! When we got the mail there was a package from Emilee for me. I ripped it open and was totally wowed by what fell into my lap!!! Just look!!!--
21 handmade cards! 21 handmade Coca-Cola cards! 21 adorable handmade Coca-Cola cards!!! Could you die?! WOW!!!! We usually don't do birthday gifts for each other anymore (we've got too many kids to buy for these days!), but I'm sooooooooooo glad she made an exception this year! These are sooooooooooooo great!!! I LOVE YOU, EMILEE!!!!!!! (You guys have got to click on the picture so you can see it enlarged--the one on the bottom left is the one to me from Emilee, the rest are blank and ready to be used at my leisure! WOW!) ~sigh~ What a friend!!!
Then there are other kinds of friends. I got a phone call from one of them a little while ago saying, "Just think, you've only got 3 hours left in your 20's and then it'll all be over!!! You'll never be 20-something again... isn't that so sad?!" Yeppers, Tammy is a real pal. I think I'm going to show up at her house at midnight and show her just how much spunk this 30 year old still has! Ha! The thought of being 30 really doesn't bother me at all. (Of course, if Tammy keeps it up it might start getting to me! Ha!) I always wondered if getting old would bother me. Not yet. I think I've learned that you can have a whole lot of fun at any age, so it really doesn't matter! As a teen-ager I thought I was having more fun than anybody should be allowed--and I probably was! I loved those years and I wouldn't trade them in for anything in the world. But there is absolutely no way I would go back to them if given the chance! And at that point in time I never would've imagined myself having so much fun being a mom. This is even more fun than being a carefree teen-ager! My kids are such a blast!!! Who knew?! I'm rambling--I'll spare you. Life is Grand. It's just that simple. ;-)
~Bec~
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