A new weekend is knocking on the door and I feel like I just said goodbye to the last one...it was a whole month's worth of faces, fun, and emotion packed into a few short days.
It was a weekend of family and friends - Tom's brother Kenny and his wife Cathy drove in from Wichita, Kansas on Thursday. Their future daughter-in-law Lynn graduated from the Combat Systems Officer Program (with the Academic Excellence Award) at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio on Friday and was confirmed a Catholic at the cathedral in San Antonio on Sunday, so they stayed with us in between. On Saturday, their son Tom (there are lots of Tom Shallues!), Lynn, and several of their friends came to our house for a barbecue.
Only I wasn't there. Saturday morning, I left Tom here playing host (and he had a lot of fun) while I took off for Dallas on a road trip with my friend Darla. We had "an event" to attend with other "old" high school classmates - a surprise 50th birthday dinner for Tully, who had flown in from California to watch the March Madness games with Brad. Jon played host to us in his beautiful home. (Tully, Brad, and Jon all played basketball together in high school.) Another friend, Gina, also attended with a friend of hers, and even my son Tommy joined the party - he lives only a few miles from the restaurant, and I couldn't imagine being that close without seeing him. After dinner, I caught a ride in his new car to check out his house and meet his roommates. Really nice guys.
Tully was VERY surprised, by the way, especially considering his birthday was in December. We really caught him off guard! The pictures are priceless (see them below).
My weary world traveler, Kendall, straggled in Sunday evening, looking very Euro in her new pleather jacket and jeans (she wouldn't let me take a picture - she hadn't taken a shower in two days or slept in 30 hours!) She'd also picked up a cough on her travels. It was so good to see her sweet face, safe and sound in front of me again, especially when she told us about some of their (mis)adventures. There were angels working overtime around that group of girls, that's for sure. It's better I didn't know at the time. But what a blow to my mother's heart when she told me she never received my e-mail! I hate that she went this whole week thinking we didn't care enough to write her.
It was also Sunday evening when Daniel found Sammy, the orphaned baby squirrel, triggering an emotional roller coaster ride that hasn't yet ended. My heart still aches and doubts continue to flutter about my decision. The rational grownup inside of me says we did the right thing...the optimistic dreamer still wonders. In either case, I regret making a hasty decision without first talking to Daniel about it. It was really his decision to make, not mine.
Ken, the Big Brother of 9 boys...and Cathy, who doesn't age...
Surprising Tully...
My Tommy and me...
Gina, me, Tully, Jon, Darla, Brad
