Last Weekend

I got to teach Bodypump 90 on Saturday morning. That was a great way to start the weekend. 

I am spending a lot of my time reading in The Lord of the Rings trilogy right now. These books are so celebrated by so many people that I respect that I made it a goal to read them in 2014 and I should finish by year's end.  

The very least I can say is that these books are not overrated. It almost feels as if all the reading I've ever done has prepared me to enjoy them as much as I do. 

I've already started quoting from them as often as it is possible in general conversation, making me either awesome or obnoxious, depending on how big of a Tolkein fan you are.  For instance, when my husband turned on the light while I was still in bed this morning, I said, "The yellow face! It burns us!"  I heard him chuckle as he got dressed before I fell back to sleep with a smile on my face, too.  

At church Sunday morning, my friend Tricia invited me to meet her for tea later that afternoon.   I wasn't sure who all was going to be invited and then who all would be able to come, but I was so happy to see some of my best friends around the table when I arrived.  Shown left to right is Deltra, Tricia, Kim, Cody, and me.

The restaurant, Tea with Tracy, is actually owned by Tricia's sister and one of her nieces was our sever.  It was a beautiful, warm place.  I asked my friend Tricia to order my tea since she is a real expert and I have learned that it is best to let someone who is passionate about something make that decision for me until I have enough experience of my own.  I ordered for myself some hot soup and pecan pie. Everything was delicious. But the most delicious part was the conversation with my dear friends.  It was an impromptu meeting that was such a blessing.  We all agreed that we hope we can make it a regular occurrence. 

Friends of ours, the Parkers, moved from Connecticut to California about a year ago to live and work on and then buy a mandarin farm. We ordered a box of their fruit and it arrived yesterday.  It's like having a box of sunshine in my kitchen, especially since it was been grey outside for days.  Living in this cold, dreary climate, I begin to understand why kids relished getting fresh oranges in their Christmas stockings once upon a time. It really does feel like a luxury to have access to this delicious fruit in winter.

I purchased some of the tea my friend Tricia ordered for me at Tea with Tracy, it was so delicious. It's called Cream of Earl Grey.  Apparently, it's Earl Grey with cornflowers, bergamot oil, and vanilla. I've been brewing and enjoying that, too, as I read my books.

Something else I accomplished last weekend that I want to tell you about is organizing a charging station for my kids' devices.  We didn't have a designated place where my kids could charge all their devices- Nintendo DS, tablets, Kindles, etc. So the chords and devices often got misplaced, causing a lot of unnecessary anxiety and stress.  And I know that my kids are going to be getting even more devices for Christmas this year, thanks to the generosity of our family, so this was a pressing problem. This mesh, three- tier desk shelf was only ten dollars and each girl gets their own shelf.  (I am using the bottom shelf until our youngest is old enough to need it.)  It's not an adorable solution, so I don't expect anyone to pin this picture, but I think it will work well for us for several years at least.