Three Men and a Lady

For the last few days, I stayed at my parents house with the boys. Erik was at General Council in Indy and I had several appointments in the Naperville area, so I camped out at the Elton Hotel. On Thursday I was able to have dinner with my best friend Angel, and another friend from Junior High and High School. We went to Maggianos in Oak Brook. It was fun to dress up and actually have an entire evening of mature conversation. The three of us reminisced about our times together, and we talked about how difficult high school was. Angel, Shannon, and I were all friends from 6th grade through our Junior year. We had 12 years of catching up to do. It was a great evening and we made plans to get together again. After that night I have been thinking about my teenage years and how they have determined where I am and who I am in life. That's a whole other blog in itself...

We leave for vacation in four days. Erik and I are going to the Smokey Mountains with another couple from our church. We plan on hiking, rafting, and just relaxing and enjoying being out of Illinois for a few days. The boys will be with my aunt for two days and then my mother-in-law for two days, and then it's off to my mom's for one day. They will be like little nomads, wandering from place to place. A trip like this requires gobs of preparation. I have to pack for me, and then for the boys. Erik packs for "himself" but really, I dictate what he puts in that suitcase. So I am really packing for four!

I'm off do laundry so we can have clean clothes on our vacation...then we'll just dirty those clothes and I'll do laundry again. The cycle never ends.