erranding, eating, running, visiting, and much more

I have nothing particularly fascinating to report today. I had a lovely past two days. I did a lot which makes me happy, and it also makes me happy that I'm off tomorrow as well. I guess that's the nice thing about catering after I get off work on Friday - I have 3 full days off, plus Tuesday morning.

Yesterday J decided erranding in PTC was more exciting than erranding in Atlanta so he ventured down to pick me up. As we left my house we noticed his tire was flat. After driving up to Union City where he bought it, they told him they didn't have that tire and sent him to PTC. Down there they discovered it was just a nail and patched it. There goes half the afternoon. In the meantime we did have a nice burrito or two at Moe's and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. We also contributed to the American economy and I got a lovely pair of Clarks flip flops. I'm in love already. Now that I have my brown Tevas and now the black Clarks, I shouldn't have to wear regular shoes anymore.

While at the Avenue we ran into Tracey, the wife of one of J's classmates, Cameron, that we're both friends with. She was with her mother-in-law who had just arrived from South Africa and they invited us over to eat. We had a lovely dinner complete with a game of croquet (I beat J) and some jumping on the trampoline with the munchkins (thankfully before dinner). We got to talk about SA a lot. It was nice to remember some of the amazing things I saw down there. I'd really love to go back (Adri - make a plan!)

This morning I got the day off to a good start by starting week 3 of my "running" program. Still not running a whole lot, but it's baby steps and manageable and I feel like I'm making progress.
Then I went to church and heard a great message. It was about landmines (figurative for all you smarty pants out there) that can destroy relationships, ways to avoid them, and what to do when they happen. The moral of the story was, if you approach a situation where someone has been hurt first you can't just skip past it. It has to be dealt with. And the way to deal with it, regardless of who is at fault, is with gentleness, humility, and forgiveness. It was a lot about marriages but I could think of a lot of situations in my friendships that could benefit from practicing this. It's amazing how many relationships aren't growing to their full potential because of harsh words, pride, and unforgiveness. I like when I go to church and remember what they talked about later that day :-P. We'll be doing really well if I can remember it later this week.

After church I went to lunch with some of the singles group from my church. I met a lot of people, but got to have quality conversation with a girl that I found I have at least a few things in common with.

From there I picked up Michal and we drove to the parents. And when I say we, I literally mean it. I drove to the neighborhood and then gave Michal her first lesson in driving a stick shift. She did a really good job. It's scary to think that my baby sister will be getting her learner's next month. Not scary cause she won't be a good driver. Scary cause she's the baby and she'll be old enough to drive soon. I sound like an old person talking about how kids grow up so fast. Maybe I am.

After the driving lesson we went over to the house where my parents' small group meets. They were grilling and all the family members were invited. It was nice to meet the people my parents are getting to know.

In case these two days weren't long enough already, I came home and put together a shelf to go over/behind my toilet that was made up of about 97 little tubes and screws. I'm my own hero sometimes :-D.

During all this excitement I got to talk to my two most far flung siblings. Such a busy, busy day... I also got my first paycheck from catering. It was a good thing cause it cost me nearly $40 to fill up my car today. That's a record for me.

That's enough for now. I'm going to read and go to sleep or something equally exciting.