A Good Day!

I don't think I've ever dreaded my birthday...so I'm not going to start now! Last night I followed Elena's instructions and said "good-bye to 34" and this morning "hello 35"! It does seem a little surreal that I'm now at THAT number in life...ya know, reflecting on where I am and what I've done so far vs. expectations set when I was "young". But God is gracious and I truly can say that each year he refines me in character and cultivation of a quiet and gentle spirit tossed with a smidgen more wisdom than the year before. If that keeps up for the rest of my life, I think I will rest well in my old age.

My last post about the gradual adaptation of my crazy elimination/rotation diet? WRONG information! Dang! I consulted with another (evidently more informed) nurse this week at the doctor's office and it seems that I indeed did NOT misunderstand the doctor's first advice of cutting all my "intolerance" items cold turkey. Gobble-gobble. So I'm back to sticking to my meager list and trying to maintain the weight I'm at AND keep my brain balanced by eating the right combo of weird foods. For lunch today: Amaranth hot cereal with cherries and almonds, baked sweet potato, plain. Mmmmm....actually it's not to bad compared with some of the concoctions I've come up with.

Anyway, I think and talk about all that enough to drive me crazy so onto topics of more enjoyment! Last weekend we took a mini-vacation (which turned into a day trip) down to Springfield for Eric to play in another disc golf tournament. The kids and I stayed out of the heat as much as possible by going to fun places like the Bass Pro Shop and a bowling alley. Eric won his division (woot-woot!) and then we used the discount passes that came with his players pack to Fantastic Caverns to go on the little tour they offer.

It was perfect for our family since it was relatively short and you ride in their little tram thingeys. Zane wore his monkey leash (ha...I've never used one of those for my kids before but it's great!) and actually stayed relatively calm the whole tour.

The plan was to camp after going out to dinner, but night was falling fast and it ended up being the hottest day of the year thus far...once we got on the road this was the look of our eager campers, so scratch that idea:

This weekend promises more fun times...tonight we are going out to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner, my mom is coming to visit tomorrow, we take the kids to Eric's parents tomorrow afternoon, then we have two OTHER people's parties to go to followed by friends meeting us out on the Plaza and Sunday a birthday lunch at Eric's mom's when we go pick up the munchkins...whew! Aren't I glad the maid came yesterday as a special treat?!

So color me impressed if you made it through all these ramblings today...I guess it's my birthday so I can write a totally unrelated mish-mash of a post, right? Have a blessed day yourself, dear reader! ~Resa