Brisket & Bike Dates

So, I have great aspirations of posting at least once a week, but this spring that just has not been a reality. Maybe I'll get there eventually, but life is just so busy right now that it feels like the weeks just fly by. This week was especially busy and wonderful ...
Sunday:
*Purchase of road bike from a man on Craigslist (I have REALLY been wanting one ever since I did a triathlon on a mountain bike last year. It was very discouraging to watch other racers coast past me as I furiously pedaled to keep my bike's chunky frame moving. Anyway, we finally found a great deal on one & it was well worth the wait!)

*Baby shower for K-tina! It was so fun to get to celebrate Baby E with Kristina. Since she lives in London it's hard to celebrate the little day-by-day changes that she's going through as she & Rhys await the birth of their firstborn, but I'm so glad I got to take part in the baby party!
* Community group at our house! This may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but Josh and I have had such chaotic/weird/disorganized living situations for so long that getting to have our small group Bible study finally meet at our own home was wonderful!

Wednesday:
*I made my first brisket (which was not a highlight of the week, as it was a bit dry) for a big dinner to celebrate the Williams' visit to the States. It was so fun to get lots of our old college friends together & hear how God has been directing everyone's lives.



Friday:
* A couple of days ago, I attended a fascinating conference on sand tray therapy. I tend to be a bit skeptical about strange sounding forms of therapy, mostly because lots of them are quite strange. So, I went into the conference a little doubtful that I would actually get anyting useful out of it, but I ended up loving it! I'm sure at some point I'll end up posting a more detailed explanation of how it works, so I'll just leave it at that for now.
*Bike date! Now that I finally have a road bike & can keep up with Josh a bit better than I could on the mountain bike, we have decided to try to bike instead of driving as often as possible. So, Friday night we biked down the road a few miles to the nearest ice cream shop & then over to the movie theater to see The Soloist. This was an excellent movie that I highly recommend to anyone. Not only was the story wonderful, but the acting was amazing, as well. Jamie Foxx & the other actors/actresses who portrayed mentally ill individuals did such a great job that at times I could actually SMELL my old job (where I worked with chronically mentally ill adults). The movie brought back lots of memories of trying to coax my paranoid schizophrenic clients into meeting with me; or worse, trying to convince them to sign their treatment plans ("no, signing this paperwork does not give us permission to do experiments on you/kill you/lock you up/etc., it just gives me permission to keep being your counselor").

So there you have it ... a few excuses for why I haven't blogged lately :)