1.  I won’t lie, last week was a train wreck. A. Train. Wreck. By the time we got to Friday night I was seriously contemplating a change, like maybe moving to a deserted island. We had all the big feelings going on. I settled for Panera takeout instead of putting the house on the market, but it ran neck and neck for a while there.

Heidi

2.  I talked with Bee for almost two hours on Saturday morning. I said it before and I’ll say it again – there is nothing like the gift of a sister, bio or chosen, who will go into battle with you at the drop of a hat.

3.  BrightSide took the kids to repair a wheelchair ramp on Saturday. The early hour seemed daunting to Bear until he fleshed out the full plan. “Breakfast?? And lunch?!? I’m in.” Don’t tell me we don’t know the way to our kids’ hearts. On the who-thought-that-was-a-good-idea front, T-man used an automatic nail gun for the first time. Lawd almighty.

4.  I met up with members of the Praise Band that afternoon to attend the funeral for our bass player, and while I was sitting in the pew I realized it was the first funeral I’d ever gone to alone. Which I just realized sounds weird since I said I was with friends from church. I guess I mean it’s the first funeral I’ve been to without BrightSide. It was a bit disconcerting.

5.  Saturday was chock full. Between the ramp repair and funeral we squeezed in lunch with BrightSide’s parents. There’s nothing quite like having Grandmom ask how the school year’s going and hearing your kid answer, “Well, I’ve been getting bullied a lot.” Oh. My.

6.  We watched the ACC championship game on Saturday night – WHOOP, WHOOP WAHOOS – then BrightSide took the kids to a bonfire. At 11:30. At night. I really do wish I could have gone, it’s been years since I’ve been to a bonfire, but staying out well past midnight when we’re switching to Daylight Savings Time and I have to leave for church by 7:30am? That’s a solid No for me.

7.  I’ve decided we are messing with the natural order of things with this Daylight Savings Time nonsense. The sun’s out when it’s supposed to be out, it is what it is, we’ve got no business tinkering with that. For the love of all that’s holy, leave the clocks alone.

8.  The youth group hosted a spaghetti lunch yesterday to raise money for summer mission trips. They were responsible for setting up, cooking, serving, “hosting,” and cleaning up during/after the luncheon which meant I was responsible for prompting, prodding, urging, and directing them to do their various jobs. Repeatedly. Facilitator note: Getting sixth grade girls to do anything other than flock together around a room is like trying to separate the herbs in an Italian seasoning mix. Alphabetically. In gale force winds.

9.  This earned me the weekend’s Mean Adult Award (addressing youth group members playing ball during cleanup): “My friends, I say this with all the love in my heart. If I see any of you playing while we are still cleaning up I will come over here and Thunk You On The Head. This is not your parents’ job. We are helping out of the goodness of our hearts. This is your mission trip luncheon and it is your job to finish before you play.” Bless all the precious children. All the precious, lovely, attention-span-of-a-gnat children. And the youth group leaders say Amen.

10. For those of you wondering how the food thing’s going, I ate a turkey burger and broccoli before going to youth group last night then caved and ate pasta with four pieces of buttered french bread. Four. I will probably pay for that indulgence but dammit, it was worth it. I think.