What's Up?

It's been a while since I posted.  In fact, May was probably one of the lightest posting months I've had in a while.  It's been an interesting few weeks.

Yesterday was our annual Homecoming Sunday at church.  It was packed!  We had a special speaker and a joyous time of celebration and worship.  I really enjoyed the service yesterday (even though it was hot in there and the worship center was packed).  One part that was extra special for me is that I had the opportunity to take the official Homecoming photograph!

Last weekend, King J had a long weekend.  He works for a large state university, and the Friday before Memorial Day was a furlough day.  In the days just before the furlough day, he had to work a few long days, since he was on a temporary project.  They have a budgetary policy requiring them to not work overtime other than for emergency situations, so whenever he works extra during the week, he takes off early at the end of the week.  In this case, the extra time off came after the holiday weekend.  He took off the day after Memorial Day, which gave us a five day weekend. 

We decided to take a short staycation for our anniversary weekend.  For the most part, we disconnected from the our electronic tethers and left the internet world behind. 

Friday and Saturday, we spent the days working on a few projects around the house.  It is so nice to tackle some of the ever-present homeowner tasks! 

Sunday, we had the opportunity to serve at our church's first Military Appreciation Brunch.  Active duty and reserve military personnel and their families were invited to our church for a brunch as a small "thank you" for their service.  That afternoon, we had a cookout at our house.  The temperature hit the mid-90s that morning, so we finally gave in and turned on the A/C.  It didn't take long to realize we had just the fan and no A/C.  We were all glowing a little by the time the evening was over.  Princess E had the opportunity to spend the night with her cousin, so King J and I had the night to ourselves.  Being the wild couple we are, we spent the evening sitting in the swing out front, sipping on a glass of wine, watching the lightning bugs glow and listening to the symphony of frogs, crickets and birds. 

Monday, we still had most of the day to ourselves.  After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to take in a movie.  We don't go to the movies, at least to grown-up movies, very often.  We only found one that even remotely appealed to us, and it was a stretch.  We had no A/C at the house, so a movie was a good way to spend a couple of hours staying cool in that heat.  When we arrived at the theater, imagine our surprise (shock?) to realize movies are now $10 for adults!  Frankly, neither of us wanted to see the movie badly enough to pay that much for it.  Instead, we did some of the things we enjoyed in our early years.  We took a long drive on the backroads of some of our neighboring counties.  We enjoyed the quiet time together, just looking at the fields, cattle and horses.  We stopped at a little country store and bought two lottery tickets, too.  We don't often have time to slow down and just enjoy each other's company for a few hours.  It was a real treat. 

Tuesday, we again tackled a project off the to-do list.  With that, our staycation was over.  It was productive and relaxing at the same time. 

We had the A/C serviced later in the week.  Thankfully, it was a relatively minor repair.  Unfortunately, our heat pump's days are numbered.  We are hoping it will last through the summer, but it will surely have to be replaced before winter.  At least we have time to shop around and find the best deal, and hopefully take advantage of the tax credits available until the end of the year. 

I'm really behind on visiting blogs.  I promise I haven't forgotten all my online friends.