Memorial Day Weekend 2006

HELLO!!!! Yup, I am back from a LONG weekend. I had planned to write a fabulous entry sometime this weekend but ended up taking a nap each day instead. Nice, but I always wish I didn't due to the pounding headache I have when I wake up. We refer to it as the "Sunday Headache" in our house since we usually get the headache during our Sunday afternoon nap. (If we actually have time to take one)

Do kids get Sunday Headaches? Maybe that's why they're so ornery when they wake up. Hmm.

We had a good weekend, not counting the Sunday Headache thing. Friday Greg and I had a hot date stained our fence. It was a lot of work, but fun. I have decided that most household projects are much more fun when we do them together. Not only do we get things done in half the time, but we get to actually have conversations. We tease each other, we slap each other on the butt. It's great! I feel closer to him when we work side by side. It's not exactly fawning over each other at a romantic restaurant, but hey, I'll take it.

Saturday it was freezing cold and rained a lot, most likely ruining all the work we did Friday night, but whatever. We got tired of watching our money being drenched in water, so we set up our three-man tent in the family room and hung out in there for a while. That night we took the kids out for Italian. We sat next to two different teenaged couples that were out on dates and resisted the urge to go to their tables when we were finished to say, "You see, THIS is what happens when you have sex." pointing at our unruly children. We also entertained the option of letting our kids sit with them while they ate so that it would have a nice, lasting affect on them. In the end, we did neither. But we did think about it.

After dinner we met Greg's sisters at our house for dessert and some lively game-playing. Before we had toddler-sized children we did this quite a lot but have since stopped because we are all old, tired people that can't stomach staying out past 8:30pm. We lived dangerously this weekend and they stayed until at least 10pm. We played Cranium Whoonu and I highly recommend it. We were all four giggling like schoolgirls. Yes, including Greg. Good times!

Sunday we went to church, took a Sunday nap that gave us Sunday Headaches, then the boys played in our still-constructed three-man tent while I made a potato salad and a macaroni salad, de-vined the grapes, cut up a pineapple and cut celery sticks for snacking. By the time I finished making everything and cleaning up I was DONE being in the kitchen. We had a very lame dinner of...I don't even know. The kids had rice or something equally as boring that I pulled out of the fridge.

Monday morning I went running. And--get this--you are going to be so proud of me. I ran for 21 minutes without stopping!!! Yep. Me. Twenty-one minutes. The girl who couldn't even run TWO minutes without puking my guts out. I still have no idea how I did it. When asked later I said very "athletic" types of things like, "I just hit the wall and went right through it." and "I pushed through the pain and then it was easy". Check me out. I am COOL.

Around noon we went to a BBQ with some friends. It was cold, but bearable unless the wind was blowing. A-Boy helped himself to the watermelon, then kept putting the rinds back in the bowl when he was finished. I'm sure everyone appreciated that. Mini-Man spent the whole time delirious, having skipped his morning nap. We ate greasy hot dogs and reminded ourselves of why we love the fat free kind. We chatted with friends, met new ones. It was a lot of fun!

After naps we went to Greg's sister's house to shoot the breeze in her beautifully landscaped backyard. A nice, relaxing afternoon.

We had a great weekend, but I couldn't help but feel guilty for not being where I thought I should be. For as long as I remember my mom's side of the family has gotten together at the cemetary on Memorial Day. We clean the bird poop off the headstones and put flowers on the graves of loved ones. Grandma tells stories about those who have passed before us. Elouise, who got hit by a car when she was in her teens. Uncle Newt, who I am told I was the spitting image of when I was three. (We were both bald.) and finally my Grandpa. He died when I was 12. I don't remember a whole lot about him, but the memories I do have make me smile. When I pulled the ligaments in my leg he promised he would whittle me a new one. He rubbed me with his whiskers when I gave him a kiss. He always said I could have a cookie when i was too scared to ask Grandma.

My memories of Grandpa are towards the very end of his life on earth, after many strokes. His talking was slurred, his movement was slow and deliberate. The body he had didn't seem to fit the spirit he had inside, he was all spunk. I can't wait to sit down with him after I die and find out who he REALLY is.

This is one of the reasons I why I don't like living so far away from my family. It always seems silly to me to drive 9 hours just to put flowers on graves, yet every year, not matter how much fun I am having I always miss it.

May we all set aside some time to think about those who have gone before us. Happy Belated Memorial Day!