Wonderful Weekend

I love weekends. . . at least the ones when I don't have to work and can actually spend some relaxing time with the family.  Rachel called a week ago Thursday and asked if she could come home the following weekend.  "Is this a rhetorical question ?" I thought.  "Of course you can come home.  We would LOVE to have you!"  Then I remembered that I was scheduled to work on Saturday.  Sad!

Miracle of miracles, I remembered a favor I had done for a co-worker (taking the last part of her shift the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so that she could get away earlier on her holiday), and I called in that favor.  When I phoned and asked her if she'd be willing to switch her Friday for my Saturday, she graciously complied.  Hooray!!

It's such a joy to spend time with adult children.  They are appreciative, interesting, gracious, and just plain fun to be around.  We slept in on Saturday, went to the driving range, listened to Adam play in Festival, shopped, went to a birthday party for a friend's one-year-old, watched a movie, and got to see a really awesome basketball game. Adam also participated in National History Days.  Truthfully, after having four kids do multiple projects for this event, I'm kind of happy to see it end.  Adam and Tanner did a good job on their project and learned a lot about prosthetic limbs.

Back to the basketball game.  Adam and I are diehard Duke fans--Matt and Mike kind of go along for the ride--and we sadly watched the Blue Devils get mowed down by Maryland on Wednesday night.  (The good part about whenever Duke loses is that my brother usually calls me to rub it in.  He is a Terps fan.  Sad but true.)  Adam and I still had Saturday's game against the Tar Heels to look forward to, and the Dookies delivered.  Man, it was fun to watch the Blue Devils dominate, particularly since the Tar Heels have owned them the past few years.  I wanted to get the above shirt for Adam for Christmas, but they didn't make it in his size.  This is Matt's shirt, but Adam is happy to model it.  He MAY even grow up to be a more avid fan than I am. . . maybe.

Mike and I are both a little stressed out by work right now.  He is working way too many hours and has lots of demands being placed upon him and deadlines to meet.  We've talked a lot lately about trying to find a better work-life balance, and we haven't come up with any definitve answers yet.  After going to the driving range yesterday, however, we sensed that hitting the links together every week or two may help.  I have gotten better at telling the hospital "no" when they call and are "desperate" for help.  Lo and behold, they've managed to find other nurses to come in and bail them out.  I still haven't solved the dilemma of the unit being run so tightly staffed that it's simply exhausting to be there, but I have realized that that's not my problem to solve.  Anyway, my hubby sure gets tired sometimes.  This is how I usually find him on Sunday nights.

I wish that I had gotten a few pictures of Rachel while she was home, but she likes to get her picture taken about as much as I do.  Didn't want to spoil her weekend, but it was great to have her home. . . even if it went WAY TOO FAST.  At least I'll get to see her again when Karen and Andrew graduate next month.