Glorious Easter

What a wonderful weekend and what a wonderful celebration of our Lord's resurrection.

Collin was off for Good Friday and I decided to take a day from school to be home with him. We had a full productive day working in the yard and completing other projects on the home front. It is wonderful to see green leaves on the trees once again and to have a zig-zag of velvet green carpet underneath your feet that needs a straight edge trim from the lawn mower. I mowed, raked, and trimmed the better part of the day. Saturday, we did more of the same.

Sunday morning we were up early and off to church. We had wonderful services and a big crowd. The evening services were canceled. We went to Mom and Dad's for lunch and then on to Collin's parents for the second half of the afternoon and a dinner meal. Collin's brother, Craig, and his wife, Arista arrived from Milwaukee before we left to come home. They were home for a few day's visit.

It has been another busy week. Besides our usual work week, Collin's father had knee replacement surgery on Monday. We've spent quite a bit of time at the hospital. Although he has had quite a bit of pain, Papaw Bob is doing quite well and is recovering. His PT tell him he is doing great. We hope he can go home soon.

Oh, for the beauty of springtime. Thank goodness it has returned.

Marcia

Weekend in New Orleans

Spring Break was quite eventful this year, but the best was saved for last when Collin, Bryan, and I traveled on Thursday to New Orleans to spend a few days with Micah and Rhyne. We had a wonderful time. Thursday night, we had pizza and watched a movie before calling it a day. Both Friday and Saturday were jammed packed every minute with sight-seeing, shopping, or eating. Bryan crashed on the couch at his sister's apartment and Collin and I spent the night at the Providence Guest House, a property of the seminary. Here's a recap of our itinerary.

Friday

We began the day with a tour of the Garden District driving down St. Charles. The houses and gardens were beautiful and we saw an occasional trolley car.

We drove to the West Bank and crossed the Crescent City Connection which spans the Mississippi to see Micah's school and she also drove us by the church they attend.

We stopped off at a drum shop for Bryan to do some browsing.

We spent the afternoon at a shopping center. We took in Kirkland's, Dress Barn, World Trade Market, Pier I, and the guys took in Best Buy. I am somewhat envious that Micah has such great shopping opportunities in the big city.

We headed back to the apartment, picked up Rhyne from his day at the seminary, and went to Landry's Seafood for dinner. We had a great meal and enjoyed dining outside on the deck with a fantastic view of Lake Pontchatrain.

Saturday

We began early once again. Bryan had never been in the French Quarter so we headed out for more sightseeing. We had quite a walk stopping off at Jackson Square. The cathedral was beautiful and the horse drawn carriages are always captivating. People were everywhere.

I'm always taken by the buildings, balconies, wrought iron, and plants.
We perused the market district and saw trinkets, t-shirts, jewelry, galore, but Bryan was taken by one particular display that had a lot of instruments hand crafted. He selected a couple of them to bring home.

By this time, we were hungry again and sought out another unique cafe in the quarter to have lunch. We walked backed to the car and headed to Baton Rouge. Our destination goal was the campus of LSU. Bryan was interested since we were so close. It's a beautiful campus and it was huge. Another university to add to his list of those toured. We headed back to stop off at a Tanger Outlet Mall where Micah and I enjoyed the afternoon and the guys had an equally good time across the interstate at a massive Cabela's. We reached the city about 7 and had dinner at New Orleans Seafood and Burgers.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed home. We took the Causway to come home to enjoy the lake; it's beautiful and Bryan had never been across.

The weather the entire weekend was beautiful; sunny and in the 70s and 80s. Wish you could have been with us.

Marcia

March Madness

It's been a long time since a post update. With the arrival of March, it seemed my life turned into one of mayhem and suddenly, here we are near the end of March. The daily routine keeps me busy, but looking back, here's the list of extras.

1. Bryan has had a number of things going and I've spent some time helping him with projects for school and for church.

2. I always have a Mary Kay Open House in the spring and fall. As I checked the calendar, I could readily tell I had to get in gear a little earlier than usual to get ready and host the event which came off the first weekend in March.

3. My boss got married and our staff hosted a wedding for her. There was much to do, but I specifically did all the photography of shooting, and then cleaning up and processing the photos. You would be surprised to find that it can be quite difficult to find an appropriate album that will hold the photos. One afternoon, I went to a number of different stores before finding something suitable.

4. The school quarter ended and there were grades to calculate and post. Also involved were two late nights of parent/teacher conferences which kept me at school one night until 6 and another until 7. This makes for a very long, tiresome day.

5. Our 10-year old cat, Nala, isn't doing well and there have been a number of trips to visit the vet.

6. Then there are simply other various and sundry calls of duty; haircuts, securing license tag renewals for three vehicles, committee meetings, dental appointments, and Mary Kay meetings, just to name a few, above and beyond that of the the usual day's work, laundry, and house hold chores.

I've been stressed and I've been tired.

But, on a positive note, I celebrated a birthday this month, and my family and friends made it so special. I received a number of beautiful cards and e-mails along with some lovely gifts. I received some money, some decorative pieces from Hobby Lobby, note cards and "froggy" condiment knives, and Collin gave me a gift card for a one hour massage. I asked Collin if he thought I needed some "de-stress" time? My mom had a birthday as well and it was a special treat for me to take her to lunch at San Francisco Bread so we could celebrate a little together.

Spring Break has finally arrived and am I ever glad. Yesterday, I worked in the yard and cleaning the patio most of the day and also helped Collin a little in the shop. Working outside is a favorite activity of mine and I always look around and feel a great satisfaction in seeing the accomplishments of the day. I'm thankful for a warm, sunny day for productivity, because today it's raining. Tomorrow doesn't look to promising, but I can always do housework in the rain, and I think tomorrow there will be plenty of time to focus on my domestic chores. Not only do I expect to succeed on some projects on the home front, but Wednesday, I'm cashing in on my birthday present from Collin, and then, the last part of the week, we're headed to New Orleans to see our kiddos. I'm excited.

Another bonus this weekend, we had out-of-town guests; Jeri and Misha from Tuscaloosa. Jeri is our cousin and Misha might as well be. It was good to visit and catch up.

I always like to include photos in my blogs, but I've been so busy, I haven't had the camera out in a while. Perhaps, I'll make pictures over the next weekend to share, and maybe I'll have pictures very soon of the progress of the yard, patio, and spring flowers as the season unfolds. Thank goodness for warmer temperatures and budding trees.

Feeling better already,
Marcia

Warm Sunny Weekend Equals Weary Back and Muscles

FINALLY. . .beautiful weather in Arkansas. Thursday and Friday were gorgeous days with temperatures reaching into the 50s. It seemed like a major heat wave after so much snow and blistering cold. I had a renewed energy and plans for the weekend.

When I got in Friday afternoon from school, I began immediately on my weekend house cleaning chores to get the inside tidy and the dust out. That left Saturday open for other chores and spending the day outside. I was not disappointed; the day dawned with sunshine and as the day progressed the temps crept on into the 60s. Collin and I were outside most of the day either working in his shop or as in my case, cleaning the yard. Armed with snippers, rake, and wheel barrow, I went to work pruning and racking the leaves from all the flower beds and the foundation of the house. In the late afternoon, our neighbor saw us out working and came over with his lawnmower to help bag the leaves.

Well, my yard looks great for February, but by day's end, my back was screaming "ABUSE, ABUSE!" Thank goodness for a Jacuzzi tub and lots of hot water. You should see all the jonquils though; they are ready to burst into yellow. I can hardly wait. I'm expecting this. . .
just any day now.

Marcia

Season of Love

Last week turned into to another one of those busy blurs. Tuesday, we stayed home for day number 7 of snow, so Wednesday, when it was back to school, I hit the ground running. For all the things that were on my Monday/Tuesday to-do list, I still managed to accomplish everything by Friday.

As Valentine's Day fell on the weekend, Sunday, to be exact, Collin, my forever sweetheart, and I celebrated several days. Friday night, we had haircuts at 5:30 and we planned to eat at Shortie Small's after we finished. It was getting so late that we were starved and we thought our meal was fabulous. We both ordered a steak with cheesy fries.

Saturday morning we were up early and on the road by 8:00 to Little Rock for the day. We traveled with Dennis and Regina to an RV show which was housed in the State House Convention Center. We had a great time touring camper/trailers/motor homes all day. Since we love camping and are quite the enthusiasts, it was exciting to see the newest models for the season even though we are very pleased with what we have. We had lunch at a very nice Mexican restaurant and headed home shortly after 6:00.

Sunday morning, we were up early and off to church. As the day came to a close I thought about how blessed we are and how much love we have every day--not just one time a year. I thought about all the different types and kinds of love we had shared over the weekend. I have the love of family, a wonderful husband and three children. I was fortunate to share time with both Collin and Bryan and took time to send Micah and Rhyne a note expressing my love. We have many wonderful friends at church and those we know from other avenues which fill our lives with happiness. We have parents to share special moments as we did Sunday at lunchtime, and we have the love of our heavenly Father as we worshipped Sunday with fellow believers.

Love does make the world go round and what a lonely place it would be without it.

Happy Valentine's,

Marcia

Winter Blast--Day Six At Home

Home again! Some 3 to 4 inches of snow fell during the night and we awakened this morning to yet another beautiful white blanket. It is a different snow from the last one--more like powder with less ice and the timber is gorgeous. The scenery looks like something you'd see on a postcard. They tell us that more is on the way. We may be out of school by July 4.

We've had a great weekend. Saturday, Collin and I drove with friends to Mountain Home. They needed to pick up a boat and pull it home. It was good to get out for the day even though this isn't the best time of the year for a scenic drive. We had lunch at Colton's; my selection was soup and salad. Warm soup hit the spot on a damp, cold day.

And then, the Super Bowl game. We came home from church, fixed up chicken strips and fries, and had our own private party. We have become Saints fans by default since we have a direct connection to New Orleans and we sat glued to the TV. I was worse than Collin; he sat with the computer in his lap multi-tasking, but I didn't want to miss a moment. We were so excited! Micah called almost the instant the game ended. She and Rhyne went out into the campus and driving around town to see all the celebration. Now, without a doubt, everyone knows "Who Dat" is.

Go Saints,

Marcia

Six Weeks of More Bad Weather

It's GROUNDHOG'S DAY. . . and in Punxsutawney (puhnk-suh-TAW-nee), PA, the traditional site of the scientific experiment, the groundhog did, indeed, see his shadow, and we can expect more of winter and no sign of early spring.

I had time to research this tidbit and include it today in my post since I am home, again, yet another day from school due to snow. Although it is wonderful now to be home on these cold, chilly days, I see a repeat of last year's makeup. I have a feeling I will not see a Memorial holiday as I will probably be in school that entire week to makeup the 5 snow days we have missed thus far this winter. And. . .it could get worse. What if we get more snow? Remember, the persimmon seeds are "spoon" shaped.

All that aside, I've been outside with the camera and I wanted to share a few snapshots. Snow is beautiful on the ground after a fresh fall. Collin thinks we probably got about 10 inches at our house.

We've also been bird watching again. Filling the feeders seems to be a continual task and it is just birds; the squirrels have disappeared. We have an unbelievable number of feathered friends who have taken shelter with us over the last 5 days and a number of new additions to the ones mentioned in an earlier post. A red-headed woodpecker has joined the clan. I have tried numerous time to catch a good picture of him, but alas, he is a tricky fellow and either gets on the back side of the feeder or flies away before I can catch him. If I get lucky, I'll post him later. He is a rather handsome fellow. We also have at least 4 doves who have come along as well. Yesterday, we actually saw 1 robin.

Take a peek at these two beauties. We have 2 couples of red birds. I have named them Fred and Wilma, Barney and Betty. We've seen all 4 of them at once, but again, they are not cooperative for the camera so I had to catch them individually.

Well, perhaps there will be more melting today and I'll back in school tomorrow.

Marcia