Sunday recap... :)

What a busy weekend it's been! First I am proud to announce that my wall quilt was very well receive by the bowling alley and raised $215 for the youth bowling league. I worked on it until 3 a.m. Saturday morning (hemming on the binding) and my fingertips are sore and needle scarred, but it was well worth it. I was so nervous dropping it off as all I could see is the "flaws" and I was so worried they'd say "you want us to really raffle off this????" But it got ooohhed and aaahhhed over, and I had the pleasure of seeing people look it over and buy tickets as I drank a cup of coffee. The reception it received did my heart good. The woman who won it last night is active in the bantam section of youth bowling (gives stickers out to the little kids when they score well), so I am sure she will appreciate it. Even the manager of the bowling alley bought tickets! What a relief it's done, and it did well. I had told Eric I hoped it would make at least $200, so it exceeded my expectations for it. Considering it was raffled over the course of only a single day, to people there for youth bowling in the morning, and the Valentine's Day Couple's tournament that afternoon/evening, I found that to be impressive.

Secondly, you could have knocked me over with a feather this morning at church. Reimond, Aurora, and Patrick all were servers, and I helped with the fellowship after service. It was Reimond's first time as a server and it was so fun to see the three kids together helping out. Rei did well and said afterwards that it was really fun to be participating instead of just sitting. There was another woman helping for the first time with the service and communion as well, so people were kind to small errors. I had made a pan of bars ("Heath Bars", out of the St. Peter's Lutheran Church cookbook) that turned out nicely and disappeared fairly quickly. As fellowship was drawing to a close, Rei asked how long we needed to stay. I said until the kitchen was cleaned up and closed, and HE started washing the dishes! Patrick then grabbed a towl and started drying... I was dumbfounded! I was so proud of them, and the looks the ladies (and some of the men too) gave them were priceless! It made my day to have them pitching in like that!

Reimond went Friday to Saturday to a hotel in St. Louis for an Animae convention (cartoon/manga-style comics and cartoons). He went with Kimmie, and they shared a room with a few other older kids (friend's of Kimmie's family). He had a wonderful time! He came home animated (forgive the pun) and really feeling like he was a part of things, like he found a group of kids he really fit in with. It was amazing to see how happy he was, and to hear him talk about all he saw and did. I had told him what my expectations were of him for attending this event, and he did what he was supposed to. I was so glad to see he had fun and made some new friends. Aurora told him he was "never allowed to leave for a weekend again" because "it was too quiet around here without him!" I told her next time maybe she should go too! It was very quiet around here though, and I am not complaining in the least! Brianne spent time with friends and went out each evening; Cliff worked and then met up with friends as well; Even Patrick was out with friends Friday and Saturday night and had a friend stay here last night. Only Aurora had a low-key weekend like I did, and yet she and Brie went out for the day yesterday and tried on Prom dresses at the mall.

Poor Eric is bored to tears in Arkansas. Hopefully he and I can spend time today/tonight playing Everquest together online to help him pass time and us "be" together for a bit. He and I talk on the phone regularly, which I appreciate (he's so thoughtful!), but I miss him the most on the weekends.

I am very frustrated with my cat Rosie at the moment: this morning when I laid out my clothes on the bed to get ready for church, she chewed a couple of holes into the bodice of my relatively new cashmere sweater that Eric got me just after Thanksgiving... She's never chewed clothing before, and I don't know what made her do it today. It's not totally ruined, but it cannot be repaired to be invisible... I need to get a clear iron-on patch for the back of it (to stop it from unravelling) and I can then maybe try to reweave it a little bit... No matter what I do it's going to be noticeable, but I can wear it for casual wear, just not for dress any more... Grrrrr!

I told the kids that today is going to be a chores and homework day, all afternoon and maybe into the early evening. Then they can play tomorrow (no school, President's day). I got midterm grades on all of them. Rei's were not as good as I had hoped (although looking at his scores I see where he needs help); neither were Patrick's, although it is clear he is doing better than the end of last semester. He and I went over them and discussed where he too needs to be making a better effort. Aurora's were very good, as expected. I did get a jolt on Saturday when I was informed there was someone at the door for me. The mail carrier was there with a registered letter that I needed to show id to receive, and sign for in three places... It was from the school telling us that Patrick would not be eligible to graduate in May, which we already knew and had made plans for, as well as a statement of how the school will support him in any way they can to help him complete his goals for fall semester next year. I was relieved that it was something so simple. I had initially got scared it was from a lawyer or something-- a la "You have been Served".... This I can deal with!

Oh, one other neat piece of news: Andrea (my daughter in law)'s mom got married on Valentine's Day to her long time boyfriend! I think that is wonderful news! Tony, Andrea, and the babies live in the lower level of their house, and helped with the reception yesterday afternoon. I wish them many more years of happiness together!