Praise the Lord, hallelujah, go to church.....

Track is OVER!!! Barrett qualified to go the Amarillo Relays in the 2400 (mile & a half) and the 1600 (mile). They tried to have the meet about a week ago, when it was in the 40's and raining/sleeting, but ended up having to cancel it. But unfortunately for Barrett, they cancelled it AFTER he ran the mile & a half in that miserable weather. I have never felt so sorry for a kid (all of them actually) by the end of it he was dripping wet & shivering. He said he couldn't even hold his head up when he was running against the north wind and the sleet. Miserable. But, on the day they finished it up, last Tuesday, the weather was gorgeous, thank God! He ran the mile in 6 min. flat, which I thought was really fast, but he probably got about 10th or 11th place, I'm not sure. But i do know he didn't get last, there were 4 or 5 kids after him. The winner (from Bowie) ran a 5.18. There are some speedy kids in Amarillo. But I was so proud of him, especially considering he didn't get any genes for long distance running from either his mom or dad! :-) He told me on the way home he was so happy because that was the last track meet he would ever have to run in......AMEN brother!
The last couple of weekends we have been "kidless" and it has been kind of weird. Weekend before last, both of them went on a youth trip w/ the church. So, being on our own, Lon & I started out the weekend by sleeping in (well actually only I got to sleep in, Lon had to take the kids to the church by 7am!) anyway, we went to lunch at one of our favorite spots....Basil Doc's. Their pizza is to die for, not to mention the basil bread w/ olive tapenade. We decided to try one of their "white pizzas" that is drizzled w/ olive oil instead of tomato sauce. I never dreamed Lon would go for something like that, but he informed me he is becoming a "man of the world" and trying new things......:-) OK--whatever. Anyway, the pizza was delicious! We got the Pinnarello, which had fresh basil, sun-dried tomato, mushrooms and cheese. (Notice, not any meat...again, very unusual for Lon....maybe he IS becoming a man of the world :-) Then we went to what has become one of our favorite activities-----a Tascosa baseball game. We absolutely love watching them play, and the son of a friend of ours plays 2nd base. Plus, they are pretty good this year, even beating Amarillo High once. Tascosa easily has the nicest, most beautifully groomed field in this area, no one else even comes close. They mow the grass in a pattern, just like the big leagues. It is something the Tascosa dads take alot of pride in, as they should, it is gorgeous. Baseball is such a fun game to watch at the high school/college level. Lon's love of the game has rubbed off on me, he has taught me so much about it. It is sooo much more complicated than I thought, which makes it so fun to watch. Finally, we rounded out the day with more Italian food at Carino's, which included drinks and dessert! It was so nice to just leisurely enjoy the day together, we even managed to get a nap in!!
This past weekend, we ended having a few hours to ourselves when Barrett went golfing w/ his buddies and Gracen went to Brush w/ Art with a friend. It was a miracle that they didn't have games, but barrett's baseball team was off this weekend and gracen finished up w/ volleyball a couple weeks ago. So..... I was able to talk Lon into going to the mall w/ me, you know, being a man of the world and everything, he ought to enjoy the mall. Well, he was patient for a little while, but I knew I was pushing my luck, so we didn't stay too long. But, it dawned on us that we are not that far away from the kids totally doing their own thing on the weekends, which is bittersweet. On one hand, it will give us more time to spend together, which we look forward to. But, on the other hand, it means they are growing up and it won't be too long before they are gone from home, which makes me sad. Just last thursday night, it was Wonderland Night for our school, and for the first time ever, they both went w/ friends and Lon & I didn't go at all. Which was GREAT, don't get me wrong, just different. The last few years, they totally hang w/ their friends and only talk to us if they need money :-), but at least we were there. Not this year, they were totally on their own.....well, for the most part, they still needed a ride home! That night as they were getting ready to head out, barrett said "Momma, remember when we would go to Wonderland, just me, you, daddy & gracen and we would stay together and not go with our friends?" Yeah, I do remember it, for me it seems like it was only a couple years ago. In fact, our very first "Wonderland Night", when barrett was in kindergarten @ Paramount Terrace, I got talked into riding the Rattle Snake River Ride (I have a personal rule not to ever ride water rides....gross!) and sure enough one of those water cannons exploded right when i was in front of it, soaking me from head to toe! Everyone in the family thought that was just the most hilarious thing. Not me. Needless to say, Wonderland Night ground to an ugly and screeching halt after that! And to this day, you will never, EVER, catch me on the Rattlesnake River Ride. I just smile & wave as those morons go splashing by. Even considering that, it is still a precious memory that seems like happened only yesterday......Now, kind of like track, we only have one year left of "Wonderland Night" then we'll be done for good. High school kids don't have Wonderland Night....*sigh*