If she had the proper words to say,

Two nights ago, I puttered around in the office, knocking out a couple of chick flicks while Philip was at work. I watched The Women and The Prince & Me 3: The Royal Honeymoon (I *know*. It went direct to DVD, I think, if that's any indication. Still, I'm a sucker for that movie series, and it was total fluff.)

The next night, Tuesday, the boys and I worked non-stop for HOURS on their valentine boxes for school. When they arrived off the bus, I took them straight to the BX to pick out supplies. From there, we rushed to Jack's soccer practice, and then back to the BX for the actual valentines (how did we forget those the first time? Honestly!) We came home, and got down to business. Between coats of paint, they wrote out all their valentines, then bagged them up with candy. We'd not been able to find treat bags of any sort, so they used sandwich baggies that they decorated with valentine stickers. Seriously, they went to bed sooooo late that night, and even then, the boxes were only 1/3 finished, but no more could be done until the paint dried more. Later, I felt more tired, and I headed to bed at the early time of 1am, taking with me my new book. Hang on - I haven't written about that here...

Marissa and I first saw the trailer for Dear John several months back, while at the midnight premiere of New Moon. We saw it before subsequent viewings too, and each time, we remarked on how good it looked. She read the book a while back. The weekend before last, we were talking about it again over the phone, and she asked me if I read the book. I told her I still hadn't, and she asked me if I'd like her to mail me her copy. "Sure!" I replied. The next afternoon, she called to let me know that the book would be here Saturday or Monday.

On Monday, I received a package from Amazon.com. I'd been expecting one myself for some things I'd ordered, so I didn't open it until much, much later in the evening. When I finally did, I was thinking, "I don't think this is a big enough mailer..." But it was! It was because it was my own brand-new copy of Dear John, and Marissa had ordered it and had Amazon send it straight to me! Such a sneaky gal, she was!

So... since I was felt more tired, I decided to curl up in bed and read just a chapter or two to "wet my whistle" for reading it the next day. Wrong-O! At 5:30am, I closed the book, having finished it in its entirety instead. It was a good read, and I've got some thoughts swirling on it. I think I'll probably put those down in my paper journal, though.

So I slept for a bit, then got the boys off to school, and then I went back to bed. I got up for the day around 12:45, intending to head to the commissary for our bi-weekly grocery shopping (Philip had gotten home after PT around 9am, crawling straight into bed). While I was in the bathroom, the doorbell rang. (I didn't hear it, as the bathroom heater runs too loudly.) Philip did, and he threw on clothes and answered the door. It was a neighbor woman that I'd not met when delivering treats to the block a few weeks back, as only her husband had answered the door (he'd told me they were all down with the flu, and after I handed him the baked goodies, I came home and scrubbed LAYERS of skin off my hands, just to be safe!). I had told her husband to have her come by sometime when she felt better to chat, and that's exactly what she was doing. Philip ran upstairs to let me know, and I hurriedly dressed in the bathroom and came down.

It was an awkward start, and she saw my house in a state of disarray. There were painted objects all across the table, wire bits littering around them, and the entire "craft bin" was open and picked through on the bench in the dining room (we'd used markers, pens, wire cutters, paper, paintbrushes, tape, staples, etc). In the living room, both of the fluffy blankets we use for cuddling on the couches to stay warm were still out, having not been folded and put in the end table at the close of the evening. I had dishes in the sink - oh, it was just awful! Despite that, she and her 14-month-old were very, very kind, and we chatted for about three hours in the living room - even a little past the time that the boys arrived home on the school bus! Her little one conked out for a nap on the couch for a few hours of that, just so sweet. I was SO glad she stopped by, too. I mean, you tell people to drop by anytime, but it seems like they hardly ever do, you know? Especially when you've not yet met them!

I love how great the response has been since the boys and I delivered all those goodies. I baked for four days straight (I called it my "delayed holiday baking," since it was in January), and then the boys and I spent an entire afternoon delivering big trays of goodies to every single inhabited house on our block (eleven total). It was very, very cold and windy, and we had to come back after every third house to grab more trays, but it was so fun. Included with each tray, I had written our names, address, and telephone numbers on a card, and I let each family know to call if they ever needed anything. Everyone was so welcoming, and we were invited into so many homes for a bit of chatting. The boys took off their shoes in each house and immediately disappeared with the kids of that family. I'd been nervous about it being a Saturday afternoon, but since it was so very cold, every single family was home - amazing! I also learned that our entire block is new, as the earliest family here only just moved in at the end of October. We're all newbies, so we ALL needed welcoming. :-)

Once the boys were settled from school, we dug straight back into our crafting. We finished more "steps" yesterday, as there wasn't so much painting to do. Still, it's not a crafting afternoon until I have to clean wet, red paint (A.J.) off my wooden dining room floors, right? We worked for hours, stopping only to head into town to try a new Chinese restaurant for dinner (we were missing fresh lettuce and tomato for the planned meal, and the commissary had already closed). The food was great, and we were all stuffed when we returned home, going back to work.

I took pictures of the finished boxes this morning, and then I drove the boys to school. We didn't want to risk anything being crushed on the bus, and now they're good for tomorrow's valentine parties. :-)

Meanwhile, I ended up not grocery-shopping yesterday, so I'm headed to the commissary in a little bit. Philip is testing today, and then he may have weapons firing later this afternoon. Jack's got another game tonight, and it's his day to bring refreshments. I'm going to be so ready to curl up for a movie tonight with Philip - I need to relax! We watched The Taking of Pelham 123 (the newer one) a few nights ago, but tonight, I'm feeling more like a rom-com. :-)

The prints - the 4x6 prints with 8 teeny little photos on them - I've picked them up!

...

This is cause for much rejoicing in my world. Yes. Yes, it is. :-D

So.

I've been neglecting my craftier side in a serious way. In fact, I don't even really have a crafty side at all (I like instructions and examples - hee!), but I've not made anything in a really long time (with the exception of Moravian Stars at Christmastime).

So I'm going to embark on a project. Actually, four of them. And dang, if I don't hope that they really, really turn out! I'm nervous and anxious about some of the techniques, but I will do my best.

I'll post pictures when the projects are done and gifted. :-)