Life on a Sunday

To wake up on a Sunday morning, without an alarm clock, but simply because it's time to wake up, is perhaps one of the most delicious feelings ever. I'm sure all of you who wake up with me before 6 am every day agree, don't you?
I had a restless night of sleeping - no matter what I did, I just couldn't seem to stay sleeping for longer than an hour - but I still felt rested when I woke up. Husband was on worship team this morning, so he was gone by the time I actually got out of bed.

With a cup of re-heated coffee in hand, I quicky cleaned out the fridge and freezer, a task I'd been meaning to do for over a week. I confess that there were some tupperwares full of nasty tucked in various corners.  Let's just say that I had to take the trash out right away.  I loaded up the dishwasher and set it to clean.  I ran a load of laundry and then hung it up to dry - our clothes dryer has been on the fritz for a few months now, so I channel my inner Spaniard and line dry my clothes in the basement. 

After getting dressed (and, I think, looking pretty dang cute), I headed to church for the early service, which I almost never do.  I wanted to be there just in case a friend showed up.  Our first year of marriage, Husband and I carpooled to work with one of his co-workers, Mike, every day, (I was car-less due to totalling my car two weeks before our wedding, and the friend was car-less due to the fact that he'd been in jail for some drug and alcohol-related things), so we got to know him pretty well.  Over the years, Husband has stayed friends with Mike, walking with him as Mike became a dad, went back to jail, and more.  Last week, Mike called asking for the name, address, and number of our church, because he wanted to give it a try.  This is the first time Mike has expressed any interest in going to church at all, so I wanted to make sure he know at least one person in the congregation.  (Husband was on-stage behind the drums.)   Both Mike and his mom came, so pray with me that they'll come back again!

I came home and did a little work on the agenda for our Student Council retreat - it's this coming weekend, and I hadn't even started on a rough agenda yet.  I'm pretty excited for it, even with just my tentative outline.  This group is fantastic, so it's going to be amazing.   We'll be up in the mountains, away from cell phones and noise and distractions, with the aspen trees changing from bright green to glimmering gold.  It's going to be lovely.

When Husband got home, we headed out to my family's house in the forest for a little homemade pizza lunch.  Ginny came with us and played with the "big dogs" for a long time.  They're two Siberian Huskies, and when she comes over, all three can be seen tearing around the backyard at breakneck speeds.  Ginny, when feeling slightly overwhelmed, lies down with submissively until she's "fooled" them, and then gets up and runs as fast as she can again.  (Currently, Ginny is completely sacked out, having been worn out from her play time.  I know the big dogs are the same way at my parents' house.) 

Ginny, right now, seriously worn out.

An old picture of the Huskies, but at least you get to meet them.

Mom makes the best homemade pizza using dough from Whole Foods.  Seriously, if you haven't tried their multi-grain dough, you need to.  It's amazing.  She gets the crust crispy, tops it with the most delicious veggies, adds a few pieces of pepperoni to bring out the flavor, and, without even realizing it, we're eating an incredibly healthy, delicious pizza.   Mom mentioned today that she'd love if it we someday moved out there near them.  She said they would respect our privacy - well, she'd teach Dad to do so.   Sister, Husband, and I all laughed hysterically... poor Dad... he's the best dad ever.  I bet if we ever decide to sell the townhouse, we could be easily convinced into looking near them.  It's a lovely area, with soooo many beautiful pine trees.

After a quick stop by DQ to get a blizzard for later, Husband and I came home.  We each took a quick "nap" - his consisting of actually sleeping, mine consisting of reading a book, and then he headed back to church to get ready for youth group, where he is a sponsor and the youth worship team leader.

I'm now parked on the couch, my usual Sunday evening spot, with laptop in place, working on the content for my online class.  Last year I had to create the class from scratch, which meant I spent a minimum of 10 hours a weekend on the computer - it was misery defined, and I hated teaching the class.  This year I'm just tweaking what I already had, improving it, adding to it, and overall, enjoying it much more. I actually have time to grade the work and give my online students meaningful feedback in a timely manner.

Anyway, that's my Sunday.  I hope to finish the work (depending on of I let myself get more distracted or not) soon, and then get to do a few "getting ready for the week" things.  And then off to bed, to hopefully sleep peacefully until morning.