The Weekend Wrap-Up

Usually my weekend wrap-ups involve fairly quiet weekends.  Not so this weekend!  Whoa! 

On Friday I watched the Ts so DD & DSIL could close and finish moving.  Late afternoon I took the Ts and the 2 crockpots full of Italian beef (and all the fixings) over to their NEW house for dinner … and I got to see their new house!  I love it … it just feels more like “them” than their old house (while I loved their old house, this one just feels like “them”).  Since most of what was left on the trailer was big, heavy stuff I offered to drive up to their old house to do the final cleaning before the new owners took possession.  My helper T#1 went along; all the way up he kept asking if the new owners would be there, and I kept assuring him that they would not (they were not to take possession until noon Saturday).  As we were driving up toward their house, I notice that ALL the lights were on.  Since DD’s last load would have been in mid-afternoon, I thought perhaps they didn’t realize they’d left the lights on and thought no more of it.  Then I see a half dozen cars in the driveway … perhaps everyone carpooled to DD’s on that last load?  And then I see that the garage door is open … strange but perhaps they forgot?  So I was totally shocked (and more than a little bit freaked out) when we walked in to see the new owners and their friends painting the living room walls.  They were very nice and assured us that they’d do all the cleaning necessary since they were going to make more mess while painting.  (And yes, if you look up the word “gullible” in the dictionary … you’ll see a picture of me! ha!)

On Saturday, I mowed our lawn.  Our old lawn mower needed a serious tune-up … with the money that we would have spent on the tune-up, we could have had almost half of a new lawn mower.  So we bought the new lawn mower!  DH bought one that has a feature called “personal pace”.  It’s a self-propelled mower that will go as fast as you push the mower … it’s hard to explain, but it works … when you mow with this mower, you’re seriously just walking along … the only exertion used is the little bit of pressure used to grab the handle.  After lunch, I went shopping for new couches … not for me, but for DD.  Their new house has a family room in the basement, so they need more living/family room furniture.  We got the kids’ rooms unpacked … that was my job, so I made no promises that their clothes were in the correct drawers … but they ARE in the drawers.  After she put the Ts down for the night, I helped unpack the rest of the kitchen.  There is still a lot for them to do (hang TVs, clean out the homeschool room, and empty the garage … and then hang pictures), but they’re making good progress on making this house into their home.

Yesterday, I was in the toddler nursery during worship … we had 17 little ones!  Whoa!  But it was wonderful working with all those little ones!  After church, I finally got caught up on tidying up around the house.  Late afternoon I went back to DD’s to watch the 2 littlest ones so Mama & Daddy could take the 2 biggest ones to the YMCA … our church rented it out for the evening.  It was a great ending to their crazy, chaotic weekend to be able to go and play with their kiddos. 

Funny thing: I have trouble my lower back, so I frequently have a good deal of back pain … I survived the move without a single twinge … but yesterday afternoon, as I was emptying the dishwasher and was putting a lid in the drawer under my oven, I felt a sharp stab in my lower back … great, just doing the normal, routine things around the house, I put out my back!  It’s not incapacitating … but it’s definitely painful.  <sigh>