Further Up and Further In

Okay, I definitely thought I posted this on December 31st, but apparently not. So now I’m just way behind, but oh well…here it is!

I did this last year, having gotten the idea from Linda at sundrymourning, and thought it’d be fun to do again this year.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?

I learned that I can, in fact, go running on a regular basis, and love it. I helped raise a puppy.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Here is my 2007 New Year’s Meme. My resolution from 2007 was:

“I think my main resolution for 2007 is to really get in shape. I’ve gotten a good start in the past few months, but I need to keep at it. Also, to find a place where I can ride regularly. Which is scary and intimidating, but I want it to happen badly enough that I can push through that. I hope.”

Well, I did both of those, at one point this year. Yay! I did start to get in shape, and sort of slacked off around the holidays, for a bunch of not-very-good reaseons, but the fact that I started doing it, and found a workout format that I loved (taking the dog running/fast-walking, with the iPod), encourages me that I can get right back into it now that our schedule has sort of calmed down.

I also did find a place to go riding - there’s a stable about an hour from here where the owner made a deal with me to do two hours of barn work in exchange for riding for an hour or two. I’m on a break from that right now, just because it ended up taking 6 hours out of my Saturday (my only full free day each week) - an hour driving, an hour back, two hours of barn work, and then an hour or two of riding - and I felt like I really needed that time to rest and keep the house in order. But I do plan to resume it sometime soon, because it is just so wonderful to be on a horse!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! My dear friend Elisa, in California, gave birth to a wonderful baby boy named Caden. If y’all think about it, pray for Elisa and her husband, Lee, and for Caden - he (Caden) has had a lot of medical problems since he was born in mid-October, and he’s still in the hospital, which is especially hard this time of year. I think they’re holding up pretty well so far, though.

Edited to add: Caden is home now! As of a few days ago. YAY!!!

Also, Elisa’s sister, Laura, who is another good friend of mine, had Ethan this July. I got to meet him over Christmas, and he has the MOST adorable, expressive facial expressions ever! He also looks just like his daddy, James.

Also also, Shannon and Nat, good friends from our previous life group at church, had baby Graham; Tyler and Carrie had baby Maggie; and Jake and Melissa had baby Sam. (All of these friends are both through church AND through school - some graduated, some not yet.)

4. Did anyone close to you die?

I don’t think so. I mean, I guess I would know, right?

5. What countries did you visit?

None.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

A calm spirit, more self-discipline.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I don’t have any in particular, I don’t think.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Two things that are kind of re-stating the first question: I ran two miles straight without stopping and walked VERY briskly another two miles straight without stopping - then did this again several more times over the ensuing weeks. (I also did shorter distances a whole bunch of times, but that two-mile run really felt great.) Also, I re-ordered my schedule around our puppy, Beren. I was afraid that I wouldn’t want to get up and let him out, wouldn’t want to take him on walks, wouldn’t want to deal with him…and while that is sometimes true here and there, overall, I honestly don’t mind giving up some things to take care of him. I never thought I would love him as much as I do. I still don’t do nearly enough for him, but I am very motivated to, which is kind of a victory for me.

9. What was your biggest failure?

This has always been true, but realizing just how big of a sinner I am. (I am trying not to do the beating-myself-up thing where I say my biggest failure was MY ENTIRE LIFE and EVERYTHING IS A FAILURE, because I know objectively it’s not true. It’s just easy to find lots of things that I feel like a failure at, without seeing the things that are victories as well.) I am trying to learn that it’s…well, I was going to say “it’s okay to be a failure” which is true in one sense and not in another, but in the sense that my ultimate destiny does not depend on my success but on the work Jesus has already done on my behalf, it’s okay. It’s not okay in the sense that I need to work a lot harder at things that I am admittedly lazy about…but right now the victory would be more in the direction of admitting that it’s okay not to be perfect, than in the direction of actually BEING more perfect.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I did faceplant on the sidewalk in October. That was unpleasant. I don’t think my nose fully healed, either - it still hurts to touch it. My palms finally did heal, though. I know this is sort of a cliche, but you really DON’T realize how much you need every part of your hadn to work right until it doesn’t. Who knew scraped skin could hurt so much? (Actually, I think I really bruised the heels of my hands pretty hard, which was why it was so bad, but the scrapes were pretty awful, too.)

Although, for once, this ‘injury’ resulted from an actual athletic activity. All but one of the bones I’ve broken have been from stupid stuff, like banging into a door or falling down the porch steps or something. So I’m glad that I got this ‘injury’ from going running.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

The puppy, definitely.

Also, maybe Bare Minerals makeup. (I bought Everyday Minerals last year, and that was great, but Bare Minerals is WAY better, and I LOVE it. I’ve only used it for a couple of weeks, but it’s totally worth getting the starter kit.)

For the record, the puppy is by far much more important than makeup.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Brandon, for taking care of me and putting up with all my issues.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Part of me wants to say Britney Spears, but I haven’t really wasted any actual emotion on that whole ridiculous saga, so maybe I’ll just say ‘nobody.’

14. Where did most of your money go?

AFTER bills and necessities, or before? If before, then rent, phones, GAS (good GRIEF), food…the boring stuff. After that, dog-related things, some physical therapy, clothes, books, cosmetics…

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I am going to sound like a broken record here, but the puppy. We saved and waited for a long time, so it was really fun to meet him when he was so tiny, and to watch him grow up.

Oh, also, having the week between Christmas and New Year’s off was SUCH a thrill. I definitely got inordinately excited about that! (And it was SO worth the excitement. Everything I thought it would be.)

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?

Acres of Hope, Shane & Shane; probably also Labor of Love, by Jill Philliips (well, performed by Jill Phillips, written by Andrew Peterson), ’cause I sang it, and Poor Sinner Dejected With Fear, also ’cause I sang it (twice).

Some more:

The Valley Song, Jars of Clay
All The Miles, Sandra McCracken
Ten Thousand Angels, Caedmon’s Call
Livin’ On A Prayer, Jon Bon Jovi (okay, Rachel and I had a silly car-ride listening to this song and singing along at the top of our lungs, so it’s a fun memory)
Behind These Hazel Eyes, Kelly Clarkson (one of my favorite songs to run to, but it’s hard to keep up that pace!)
Wedding Dress, Matt Nathanson (thanks Michael for pointing him out to me!)
Jessie’s Girl, Rick Springfield (because this was the song playing on my iPod when I bit it on the sidewalk)
The Mixed Tape, Jack’s Mannequin (it was the soundtrack to a fun Office montage video and I’ve loved it ever since)
Blue Sky, Patty Griffin
Heavenly Day, Patty Griffin
Song No One Knows, Elizabeth Foster
San Francisco, Elizabeth Foster
When Your Mind’s Made Up, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Falling Slowly, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol
Nashville Blues, Cory Morrow
Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
Starts With Goodbye, Carrie Underwood
Easy Silence, Dixie Chicks
Don’t Stop Believin’, Journey

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

a) Happier, I think. I think. Yeah, I am.
b) Let’s not talk about this one. (Okay, okay. I think I’m fatter. But for a while I was on the way to getting lean!)
c) Richer, I think.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Keep up with my faraway friends. Go running. Find good, new music. Sing and play guitar. Use my energy for thoughtfulness towards others, not just on myself.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Lie around on the couch! Be lazy about training the puppy. Stress out. Procrastinate.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

At home in Charlottesville! So fun. It was very low-key, too, just me and Brandon and my parents and the dog and the cat (who seems to have been okay with the fact that there was a DOG, DOWNSTAIRS!, and who has not, according to my parents, retreated to hide under the bed since her discovery). And we had a lovely dinner of turkey and beef and Yorkshire pudding (YUMMM) and apple pie (again, YUMMM - and even though I made it, I can say that, because the recipes aren’t my own) and other delightful stuff. It was very nice and restful.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?

I definitely fell more in love with Brandon. Also [broken record alert!], I fell in love with Beren. He’s just so cute and fun!

22. What was your favorite TV program?

The Office, definitely. 24 wasn’t great this year, and American Idol wasn’t as good as last year, either. Top Chef was okay, but The Office was the only one of my shows that felt like it just kept getting better. (Boo Writers’ Strike! I mean, not boo to the strike, I think they have a good point, but boo to the silly networks and production companies who won’t pay their employees. BOO I SAY!)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nope.

24. What was the best book you read?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, for sure. Man, that was awesome.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Oh, goodness, I don’t know. Maybe Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova? (I can’t do all those funky little things over the letters.) That’s pretty recent, and not so much a discovery as listening to Michael and trying them out (via the movie Once). Also some Matt Nathanson stuff (again through Michael)…goodness, I am really blanking. I will have to check my iTunes to see.

Okay, I checked, and I’ll add Elizabeth Foster and Snow Patrol, maybe Carrie Underwood.

26. What did you want and get?

Lots of things! The Latter Annals of Lystra books (LOVE them so far), The Office Season Three, some clothes, some delightful shoes…

27. What did you want and not get?

I can’t really think of anything, honestly. I mean, there are plenty of things that I want sort of in general, but not that I specifically asked for for Christmas. Well, no wait, can we count birthdays too? The Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea DVDs - they had just been re-released (or maybe released for the first time?) on DVD, and so were ridiculously expensive, so we decided to wait on those. But yeah, that’s all I can think of in particular.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I don’t know. I liked the Harry Potter movie, and I liked Once, and I liked the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and…oh, I have a terrible memory for this type of thing unless I can look at a list of movies that came out this year. I Am Legend was pretty good, and I really enjoyed Juno and Waitress. Actually, Waitress is probably near the top of my list.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was twenty-FIVE! I am finally a grown-up. Haha.

I went out with some girls from work and church the night before my birthday, went out to dinner with Brandon ON my birthday (which is also his birthday), and got taken out to lunch a couple of times over the next week, as well. It was fun to have it all spread out like that!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Lack of stress.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

I still think this question is hysterical. How about “Khakis And Gold Ballet Flats Go With Everything” for work, and “Wind Pants And An A&M T-Shirt Are Comfortable, Okay?” for…not at work.

(I think I dressed pretty well a lot this year, actually, but I definitely got in ruts. So, there were moments of fashion excellence, and long stretches of fashion doldrums.)

32. What kept you sane?

My husband and my dog. And my awesome friends - at work and far away and church.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I think it’s gonna be John Krasinski again, honestly.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Y’all, I am so bad. I really don’t follow politics enough, so I don’t think I can answer this question.

35. Who did you miss?

Elisa and Rachel and Alisa and Rachel (yes, different E(A)lisas and Rachels, amazingly enough) and Andrea and Elizabeth (’cause even though she lives here, we didn’t hang out nearly enough) - my ‘faraway friends.’ And my family, and Brandon’s family.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Lauren!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.

The way you’ve always done things is not necessarily the only right way to do them. (I know, novel, right? But still.)

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

This is going to have to wait…I am having such a hard time with the music questions today!

Preliminarily…

He will allure her
He will pursue her
And call her out
To wilderness with flowers in His hand
She is responding
Beat up and hurting
Deserving death
But offerings of life are found instead

She will sing
She will sing
Oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

How the story ends is
Love and tenderness in Him
Not safe, but worth it
So the valleys up ahead
Or the ones we live
We’ll sing together
We’ll sing together

Coming back later to add - this is still the best song for the year, I think (though all the ones I mentioned above that will make me think of 2007 sum up the year all together as well).

It has been WAY too long since I posted anything! I’m probably going to do a couple of photo-filled posts to catch up, and then hopefully blog more regularly again.

First, as requested by Geof, more puppy pictures (and stories)!

Brandon’s brother Michael visited in August. and had a BLAST with Beren. Here are a few pictures…

Michael had to document the very sad sight of Beren getting a bath:

A present for the puppy: 12th Man jersey! Whoop!

Playing tag

Love the paw here:

Piggy-back ride!

More tag

Michael and Beren

LOVE this one - so secretive! “I don’t think they’ve seen me…I can continue plotting!”

He’s…not easy to pick up anymore.

We went to the beach in September, and took Beren. I wish we had pictures of him in the water - he was tentative at first (he barked at the waves! “Where are you going?? WAIT YOU’RE WAY TOO CLOSE RUN AWAY!!!”), but eventually splashed around happily with us. He even learned to swim! Sort of by accident. He was wading with us in about six-inch-deep water, but then a wave came and swept him off his feet. I thought he was going to get bowled over, but he let the wave carry him and started paddling away! He doesn’t paddle very efficiently, though, he sort of slaps at the waves with his front paws. SO CUTE.

Anyway, here are two pictures of him at the beach, even though they’re not the ones I wish I could show you (we didn’t take our camera down to the water):

In his crate in the basement of the beach house (he was good down there, for the most part, but he did bark and cry whenever anyone would come by - “Oh! Oh! Are you coming to see ME!?!? I LOVE YOU BE MY FRIEND! ….where are you going? Don’t LEAVE ME!!!” Very dramatic and pitiful):

On the deck, before one of our early-morning walks (my parents were continually shocked to see me up before 7:00 - I NEVER used to get up that early at the beach, but this time I saw the sunrise almost every day! The beach in the morning is WONDERFUL).

Now, some sad (but funny) pictures. Beren got neutered in November, so we decided that if he had to wear one of those plastic lampshade-things, at least it would be festive!

He was REALLY drugged up - he would just stand in the middle of the floor and sort of stare into space, and blink, until someone walked by him or talked to him or something, then he would sort of give a start and move about six inches. Hehe. Also, if his lampshade bumped into something, he would LEAP back in fright and again, just sort of stand there aimlessly.

This is CONSIDERABLY less energy than he usually displays!

He fell asleep in my lap (though he’s not asleep here) - he NEVER does that. Further proof of how drugged up he was.

Sleeeeeepy.

Now some Christmas pictures!

We tried to get him to wear a Santa hat, but…well, this is how THAT went.

“Nooooooooooo!”

Maybe a treat will convince him…

Almost…

“I supPOSE I will cooperate.”

“Is it gone??”

Just a few more random ones…

He’s learned how to give a “high-five”!

We gave him an empty peanut-butter jar today, and he entertained us for about an hour. For the first little while, he didn’t realize that he could hold the jar in place with his paws or his mouth, so he sort of slowly chased it around the kitchen with his tongue, resulting in a lot of twisting around to get his face in it.

Then it got stuck on his face… “DO NOT WANT!”

Then he decided to start barking at it. (Please excuse our FILTHY floor - it’s been raining all day and we have tracked in all sorts of crap, which I don’t sweep up until the end of the day, because really, why bother?)

That’s all we’ve got for now (not that this isn’t a huge entry on its own…)

More pictures and stories to come!

Well, we finally have our puppy. Have for about…three weeks now. Haha. But I have only just now gotten all the pictures uploaded, hence the delay.

Beren is SO MUCH FUN. Except for the fact that he seems to be able to drink AND PROCESS THROUGH HIS SYSTEM more water than I thought was canine-ly possible. He’s learning to at least look at the door now when he needs to pee (and he’s fine with letting us know he needs to do…other functions), but usually that look lasts all of 3 seconds and if we don’t catch it or if we’re in the next room, we’re greeted by a small puddle. But he is VERY good at going to the bathroom outside when we take him.

He’s getting used to walking on the leash, too, and is not fighting it the way he did on his first night home. He gets worn out pretty quickly, either from pulling too hard or when his little paw-pads get sore (CUTE!), and usually collapses with his water bowl after a good long walk. He is SO excited to see me in the mornings, and can barely stay still long enough for me to get his collar on and get him outside. He loves tummy rubs and shoulder-stratches and chin-scratches and just general love and cuddles. He really likes to climb into my lap and chew on his rope-bone, which is the only way I can let him in my lap because otherwise he just leaps everywhere and it is kind of overwhelming. But with his bone, he’ll sit quietly in my lap and chew. One evening Brandon and I were both on the floor, and Beren went back and forth between our two laps with his bone. SO cute.

He’s 12 weeks old now (I think? yeah, that’s about right) and is so much fun. Very expressive - our favorite thing is to make him tilt his head to the side in confusion. A lot of things will do this, most notably talking in a different voice than he is used to (more high-pitched voices really do the trick). He is terrified of the mop bucket, LOVES his squeak toy (though see Brandon’s blog for his initial reaction to this toy), loves to play tug-of-war, and has learned to sit. We love him tons and are SO glad we got him!

Some photos:

Beren at 5 weeks, already loving his tummy-rubs

Beren at 7 weeks. This cat was REALLY friendly (it’s Heavensown’s cat), but Beren was kind of unsure.

Beren exhausted on the drive home (10 weeks). He had had a fit of hysterics and FREAKED OUT that we were driving him away - I’m sure being drenched with rain on the way to the car didn’t help, though - and finally exhausted himself and fell almost asleep. He had to keep an eye on me, though.

Beren whined and whimpered pretty much the first 24 hours we had him home, so we cuddled him a lot.

Brandon holding our demon puppy (I’m gonna have to learn how to use red-eye reduction, because Beren has one blue eye that is ALWAYS red in pictures - yes, one blue eye and one brown eye, pretty cool)

Beren finally sleeping in his crate.

The Kulps came over the next day to meet Beren. Celia was a little bit unsure, but Bennett was totally relaxed. She kept reaching for Beren and saying “Pupp-y? Pupp-y!” SO CUTE.

Rachel A. with the puppy the night before she left Charlotte.

Patty T. with Beren - so glad we could see her on her trip before she goes far far away!

This is my FAVORITE picture of him. He’s totally not supposed to climb on the gate (he’s really strong enough to knock it down by now), but this is SO cute and so much his personality.

“I must carefully determine the threat posed by the yellow alien squeaky toy.”

Beren reclining with his water bowl.

“It’s…it’s the spiders…they want me to tap-dance! …I DON’T WANT TO TAP-DANCE.”

Mid-tummy-rub.

TIRED puppy. He still sleeps with his legs out behind him!

I don’t know if I posted about it last February, but we almost bought an Australian Shepherd puppy then. We ended up not being able to for financial reasons, but we’ve been saving, and it looks like we’ll actually be able to get a puppy in July!

We had wanted to get a dog sometime this fall, but after Brandon’s trip to Germany was cancelled, we decided to move it up a bit. Brandon found Heavensown Aussies online, and we set up an appointment to go visit and pick out a puppy. After playing with them all for almost two hours, we decided on this one:

(Photos taken by Donna Fowler)

We’ve named him Beren (from the tale of Beren and Luthien, in Lord of the Rings), and we think he’s adorable. I think the above pictures were taken by the breeder when he wasn’t more than a week old or so. We have a bunch of pictures that we took when we went to go out and visit for the first time, when he was about four weeks old, and some more from last Saturday when we went to visit again (we want him to get to know us a little bit before we take him home). The latest ones are on the computer at home, but here are a few more:

Here I believe he was ferociously attacking a towel. Quite the fighter is our little puppy! (Actually not. He’s the most laid-back one of the bunch. This was more of a snuffle than an attack on the towel.)

Cutest thing ever - Beren really likes to sleep with his back legs stretched out. We have another picture of this from this past week, but again, on the home computer…

Beren with his brother, “Prince Charming.” They were licking each other when this was taken. SO cute.

Puppies enjoying a good meal! This was right after Tinkerbell (Momma) ROLLED OVER while the puppies were mid-nurse, all still attached. They all sort of flew up into the air and then settled on the other side, unconcerned.

We’re REALLY excited. We get to take him home after he turns 9 weeks, and since that’s when we’re planning to be in Virginia, we’re gonna get him sometime the second week of July, maybe the 9th or 10th. Yay!

Yesterday afternoon I up and decided that instead of just dropping off the skirt that Rachel was borrowing, I would see if she could have dinner, too. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier. Brandon had an exam at 6, and I knew he probably wouldn’t be done before 8, so it only made sense for me to eat with Rachel on my way home from physical therapy instead of picking something up and then going home and eating it by myself.

A word about the skirt Rachel’s borrowing: I LOVE lending things to people. Especially things that I myself love very much. This is most apparent in my love for lending my favorite books: I want my friends to enjoy all my favorite books as much as I have, as well as wanting them to know the part of me that loves that book. I find that as people read (and love) books that I’ve read and loved, they know me a little better. And I am always seeking for my favorite people to know me a little better.

I don’t think I’d thought about this, but it turns out it’s the same way with clothes. I was SO excited for Rachel to borrow something of mine. I wanted to be able to share the part of me that just LOVES that white skirt (the one she borrowed…it’s white cotton, below the knee, sort of fitted at the top but flared about halfway down, sewn together in panels – gores? – that start out narrow and then flare out) with Rachel. The best part was that she also borrowed one of my favorite tops – black strapless, with a lace overlay and a ribbon that went under the bust and tied in a little bow – and one of my favorite necklaces (chunky green beads of various sizes). It’s a SUPER cute outfit on her, and it just made me so happy to be able to let her wear it (instead of buying a whole new outfit for the rehearsal dinner she has to go to).

Anyway, Rachel came over on Monday to try on all of my dressy clothes, and decided on the white-skirt/black-top combo, but I happened to be WEARING the white skirt to work that day (I changed into sweatpants while she was trying things on, never fear – I was not pantsless for my entire lunch break!), so I had to bring it to her yesterday. The plan was for me to drop it off at her house on my way home from physical therapy, ‘cause my route went very near her street, but then I realized that we should have dinner, and we decided to meet at Zaxby’s.

Now, Rachel had never been to Zaxby’s. I was excited – yet another chance for me to share something I love with a friend! Y’all, I REALLY love Zaxby’s. I don’t crave it too often, just ‘cause it’s SO heavy and I feel full for about five days after I eat there, but I LOVE it. The closest one is over by Rachel, and it’s not a shopping center we go to very often, so we just…don’t get a lot of Zaxby’s. But like I said…I LOVE it. I always order the Big Zax Snack, which is a piece of Texas toast, three chicken fingers, and some fries. Their honey mustard is awesome, too, so I usually dip the chicken fingers AND the fries in the honey mustard. And if I don’t get a drink, which I don’t often do these days (yay for my Nalgene!), it’s not expensive at all - $4.32 total for an incredibly filling meal.

Rachel got the Zaxby’s club, and enjoyed it greatly. I was so excited to have been able to share THAT with her too! I may have been TOO excited, actually, ‘cause I was just a wee bit punchy. We both got a great deal of amusement in my telling the story of making a fool of myself the week before at physical therapy (it involved jumping on and off of a stool, which apparently I am incapable of doing without a little sort of kick and flap of my arms…I believe “butterfly princess” were the exact words used to describe it), and then in my sort of dancing along to “Hey Ya” by Outkast (I did a little head-jerk at certain points, to emphasize various lyrics in this incredibly deep and poetic song).

It was just a lot of fun. I did manage to remember to give her the skirt (I kept imagining myself forgetting it and having to drive all the way back home and all the way back out to give it to her, since she’s leaving town tomorrow and has to work right up until when she’s leaving), which was kind of a victory for me, since I’m not great at staying on top of those kinds of things. I even managed to get home in time to watch American Idol, which: Jordin = awesome, Blake = not quite so awesome, and the winning ‘original song’ = sounding exactly like “How Great Is Our God,” by Chris Tomlin. And then Brandon came home, the mighty conqueror of the daunting Hebrews-Revelation exam, and I presented him with a celebratory cinnamon roll purchased from Fresh Market.

All in all, it was a very good evening. And tomorrow, I have the day off, ‘cause I’ll be working most of Saturday, helping with graduation. I have a huge list of house-projects I want to do tomorrow, and I’m trying to be excited about completing them but not to the point that I’ll beat myself up if I don’t get them done. And we’ll probably go out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate the end of the semester and of most of Brandon’s seminary work, and then Pirates of the Caribbean 3 comes out on Friday, and we’re thinking of going to see that, and then graduation (and maybe riding?) on Saturday, and then life group cookout on Sunday, and then Monday is Memorial Day! All in all, a good next few days coming up for the Cozart household!