IT is Finished . . .and Weekend in Review

Hallelujah—another 3 hours of college credit in the bank! After graduating in May with my AA in General Studies, I transferred to Samford University and quickly learned I still need 60 hours to get my BA in Human Development and Family Science. This summer I knocked out two back-to-back mini-terms, so now I’m down to 54 hours. Progress!

I’m planning to take a full load this fall because that’s where the scholarship money is best. Between now and the start of the semester, I technically have two weeks to breathe… although “breathe” might be a stretch. There are a couple of big work events coming up, but at least I won’t be juggling school and work at the same time.

Back to Friday—finals day. Mini-terms don’t slow down, so we worked right up until the test. I studied for five hours Friday night and a couple more Friday morning, then said a prayer and dove in. I did well, but wow—Human Sexuality was no joke. We covered everything from the tiniest details of conception and birth to the “less common” quirks in people’s sex lives, plus some surprises about human anatomy. Let’s just say it was an education.

Mark came home from the farm Friday afternoon, and I actually made a real meal—meat, carrots, and salad. We ate, watched a little TV, and just enjoyed being still for a while. Not exciting, but it felt nice.

Saturday kicked off early with a quick meeting and a Walmart run. I’d ordered Shipt from Target the day before, but of course I couldn’t get everything from one place. Does this happen to anyone else? Even after Walmart and Target, I still need to swing by Publix for my elusive fat-free cottage cheese and 2% American Deluxe sliced cheese (maybe today or tomorrow).

I know I'm prejudiced, but she is so cute! Her
eyes are so blue.

She is on the back row right

After the game, we headed home. The second we walked in the door, I cranked on the oven and slid the corn casserole in. Our neighborhood throws an end-of-summer party every year, and this one was Saturday night. Even-numbered houses were in charge of sides or salads, so the casserole was my contribution.

Once we showered and cleaned up, we loaded the dish onto the golf cart, swung around the circle, and picked up our neighbors. She brought a spinach salad with fresh figs—absolutely divine. The party itself was such a fun blur: live music, door prizes, tables piled high with food, and at least 200 people milling around, chatting and laughing inside and outside under the summer sky.

I ate the watermelon first :-)

This is a horrible picture of me BUT I was teaching
Lu how to do the delayed timer selfie!

Mark and Dave were being so silly!

Lu singing (story below)

As you arrived at the party, everyone filled out a slip for the drawing, and if your name got pulled, you headed to the front to spin the prize wheel. Each slice of the wheel had something different written on it—but here’s the catch: if you landed on a blank spot, you had to sing in front of everyone.

Lu was a champ and did it.

Me? Nope. Not happening. I love my neighbors, but they’re not ready for my “vocals” (and honestly, neither am I).

Sunday started bright and early—at work by 7:00. I taught Sunday school, and honestly… it was not my finest moment. I’ve definitely had better lessons, and I left thinking, “Well, that could have gone smoother.”

By 11:15, I was headed home. I’d forgotten to mention that I’d meal-prepped lunch ahead of time since the family was coming over after church. Mark was on potato-and-pea duty (with detailed instructions from me, of course).

After lunch, I dove straight into cooking again—this time 10 pounds of chicken breasts for poppy seed chicken casseroles for our Tuesday night young adult group. Somewhere in the middle of that, the dreaded mid-afternoon slump hit. I finally gave in, grabbed a heavy protein snack, chugged some water, and sat down for a few minutes to regroup before finishing the day.

I'm still adding and adjusting
the items in the new little piece of furniture.
I think I like this. I will probably
use the shelves and top for
different holiday decorations, but
these items will be for the
in-between times.

We had nine for lunch, which
is a small crowd for our
family. It was nice to 
be together! I have
no pictures of people or
the food. I was too busy and
trying to be present, so I didn't
take any photos.

After a little downtime, I hopped on the stationary bike upstairs while Mark pedaled away on his in the garage. Multitasking at its finest—I tossed my “work clothes” in the wash and then settled in to watch a couple of shows. We wrapped up the night with a bit more Leanne Morgan. Like I said earlier, laughter really is magic—your whole body and mind just feel lighter afterward.

And that, my friends, was our weekend in a nutshell. How about you—what did you get up to?