Friday Lunches

At work, my unit (Adult Mental Health) decided that we would try to eat lunch together every day at noon. This has had many positive benefits for all of us.

• Developing a habit of taking a lunch break
• Building relationships with co-workers
• Relaxation
• It makes our supervisor quite pleased
• I believe it makes us all more efficient
• It gives us something to look forward to every day.

During the week, we bring our lunches and eat in the cafeteria. On Fridays, we go out to lunch. One person got the bright idea of organizing our restaurant choices alphabetically in our rotation and then the last Friday of the month is a "Wildcard" choice.

What is so funny to me, and causing me to write this down and ponder it, is how we now discuss whether a restaurant should be: 1) removed completely, 2)given one more chance or 3)moved from the "wildcard" slot and added to the regular rotation. Some of the debates have been very amusing.

The first to lose a spot in our rotation was Buffalo Wild Wings. Per our discussion, the service was too slow for our 1 hour slot. The server got almost every order wrong and the food was not that great. However, on behalf of BWW, there was a lengthy discussion about how it is a great place to go for wings when you have a lot of time and are free to drink a beer or two. I, for one, was not sad to see this one go as I am not a big fan of either chicken wings or beer.

Next up to go on the chopping block was Applebee's. The reason for this is that the Stillwater Applebee's is a test menu site and no longer offers the Santa Fe Chicken salad. That's the only reason. And I suppose since most of my co-workers chose this salad and can no longer get it, it is only fair...but I giggled during the debate about whether or not to ax it. I always get a burger and enjoy myself.

Accapulco's is on the fence. The last time we went, we were seated in the bar section and were served by the bartender. Our service was very poor and slow. The debate over Accapulco's was how we needed to consider that we had never been seated in the bar before and it was unusually busy that day and as one co-worker put it, "We can't give up free chips and salsa!" Me, I love the Chimichanga.

We pulled Culver's out of the "Wildcard" and put it in the regular rotation. And there was great rejoicing in the land of mental health.

Every Monday morning starts with the same question, "So, where is lunch this Friday?" And I will admit, I block off noon to 1pm every Friday and try to schedule my appointments accordingly.

Camping Adventures

I try to be prepared for everything. "Try" being the operative word. I make lists. I make lists for my lists. I recite my lists. I cross things off my list. I thought I was ready for camping. I had lists called "Things to Pack", "Things to Buy", "Menu" , "Things to Pick up Other Places" and "Things to Do Before Leaving".

Even with all this preparation, I forgot things; sunscreen, Neosporin, grill utensils, extra blankets. With all this preparation and planning, I did not get everything done on my "Things to Do Before Leaving" list; my dishes were piled in the sink, the livingroom looked like the aftermath of the Hugo tornado had blown through, two loads of laundry remained in baskets unfolded. Surprisingly, the cats did not lift a finger while we were gone to do any of those chores for me!

Regardless of the things I forgot and the things I did not get done, we had a great time. The weather was picture perfect. These are some of my favorite highlights:

• BB learning how to set up charcoal and manage the coals. It was cute too how frustrated he would get because he would wander off and then come back to flip the burgers but had missed the "burger flipping" window. A good lesson...If you are manning the fire, you can't leave.
• 26 children playing Flashlight tag at dusk.
• The taste of well-done S'mores, Pudgy Buddies and other things cooked over an open fire.
• The sight of the full moon, so bright you barely need a flashlight.
• The feel of a warm sleeping bag contrasted with cool, moist air in a tent.
• The smell of woodsmoke.
• Princess going on a very long hike with her friends and then coming back and looking at me, saying "I know, I know...I'm in big trouble." and then her bewildered look when I said, "No, you're not in trouble. You got lost. You kept your friends safe and you made it back. You learned a lesson and you won't let it happen again."
• Peanut cruising around on his bike and remembering how last year, he was still on training wheels and afraid to try to bike without them because he might collide with another child.
• A very lovely, baby-scented morning holding sweet baby Cameron for a long, long time.
• PH telling me that when Mr. Dan threw him in the air and into the water, he was flying.
• Watching my kids swimming like little fishes.
• Cuddling with Peanut while sitting in the lake.
• Talking with my friends and laughing so hard, my ribs hurt for days.
• Feeling "saddle sore" from riding my bike to the bathroom.
• Watching all the kids put on a show for us in the evening and being so proud of my daughter who wrote it, produced it, directed it...and really came out of her shell!
• Listening to PH narrate during the show.

What I am learning this summer...

To say that my summer has been tough would be an understatement. And I am the self-proclaimed Queen of the Understatement descended from a long line of Understaters, thereby giving legitimacy to my title. However, I can say with equal accuracy, my summer has also been richly blessed:

• I have seen the work of God in extraordinary ways.
• He has showered me with blessings from friends and creative answers to my financial difficulties.
• I have seen kittens from the day of their birth until the day I took them to the pet store to find new homes and continue to enjoy watching one kitten playing with her Mama.
• I have watched my youngest child become a swimmer and jump readily into the waves at Bunker Beach.
• I have enjoyed the laughter of my children as they play a game or make up a joke.
• True, I have been tired, very, very tired.
• I have spent many a night, parked outside the door of the boys room giving stern warnings to settle down and stop swinging from the bunk bed.
• I have confiscated Legos and grounded my children from their bikes.
• But I have also sat with them and enjoyed a movie that they looked forward to seeing.
• Together, we have read 4 of the Chronicles of Narnia books and I have discussed the allegorical components with my daughter and seen her eyes sparkle with understanding when she said, "Ohhhh, so Aslan is like Jesus..."
• I have cried myself to sleep, wondering how I am going to make ends meet only to wake up feeling refreshed and confident that while I don't know the "how", I do know there is an answer and then I have been blown away by the answers that have come.
• I have grown and stretched in ways I would not have thought possible.
• I have fallen down the stairs, in front of my children.
• One child told me my kisses don't work any more but a few weeks later, asked if he could kiss my owie for me and then asked me to kiss his owies again. (Grandpa's talk about how Mommy kisses are magic because they are full of love may have sunk in after all!).
• I have trained my kids to clear their dishes from the table so well that most of the time, they do it without me saying a word.
• My daughter remarked "We have never kept our house this clean before" which encourages me that my plan of Saturday jobs and rotating chores with consistency is working.

In many ways, I don't think I have ever had a better summer.