Recap of Fun Events, Part 2

To continue with while I was away (and for those of you who laughed at my last post, I wish you could here B actually tell the story, you probably would have laughed much harder!)...

We returned from the farm early on Thursday morning (2am!), only to be awoken early the next morning (8am!) by B's dad, who was worried about us, and wanted to make sure that we had gotten home ok. After the phone call, we were awake, and decided it was time to get up and get to things...we were expecting visitors later in the day, as my best friend K was coming to visit for the first time since September, and since we had pretty much been gone for a week (being sick makes you feel like you are gone, doesn't it?) the house was a mess and we had a lot to catch up on. So, despite feeling as if I needed to sleep another week, I got up, and started to get things together. I cleaned the house as best I could. Spent time with the animals, who I really missed, and got stuff together. Of course, when K called to tell me she was on her way to the house, I didn't feel ready for her to get there and was beyond exhausted. But, I was extremely excited to see her! :) That night, we had seven guests come to the house (the most we've entertained at one time, besides for the wedding!)...many of which were there to see K, because they miss her as much as me! K gave me my birthday present, which was an original Star Wars T-shirt (whoo!), and of course many good stories of the things she has been experiencing. The evening was filled with lots of fun, laughter and good times. We played games, made fun of each other, and stayed up late. Here are me and K, laughing as we typically do...we hardly ever get good pictures together because we always make each other laugh! (Don't mind the boxes in the backround...no, we are still not unpacked, although those boxes have finally made their way out to the garage and the yard sale section...)

The next morning, we again got up WAY too early. B and I had lots of errands to run, and so K came with us to town and went shopping (she loves to shop, especially in her old college town!) while we ran errands. When we returned home, we awaited the arrival of our other friend, N, whom we also hadn't seen since September. We had planned to have a night out (what? A night out...I can't remember the last time I had one of those...probably in September...) just like old times. Of course, as K and I were waiting for N to arrive, we were both exhausted and wanted to sleep...but did we? No... We mostly spent the hours catching up and just laughing. There is nothing like being with your best friend and being able to laugh at absolutely nothing...

N finally arrived and out we went. We visited a few of our old favorite haunts and had a good time. K has a bad habit of leaving her purse at the table when she goes to the bathroom or finds people she knows...and her camera is always there with it. Even though N and I have continuously taken her camera and left her pictures without her realizing it until she downloads the pictures, she still hasn't learned. And so we did it again. My favorite of the night?

Haha. That was very early on in the evening. This is a more normal picture of the two of us:

I've never been a big "party" person...I never went out in college and rarely in grad school and beyond. It shows when I do go out. About 11:00, I was tired. :) But I stayed out with them until 2am, because it was so much fun to just hang out with them and catch up. I truly miss seeing them on a regular basis. By the time I drove us back to my house, we were tired and ready for sleep. But, 8 hours of sleep was not to be, as the next morning, we met with a group of friends and former staff members for brunch at Bob Evans. Here are some of us:

Sitting around the table, I realized how much I missed the group of people I was with. In my previous job, I was a supervisor to 15 students and 1 grad studet (K). I was in the job for 3 years and while it was challenging, I adored the students I worked with. We became like family, and every time we get together, I feel like it is a family reunion. We laugh and have fun and I truly enjoy it. After brunch, we pretty much went our separate ways. K and N had to get home and had pretty long drives ahead of them. I was sad to see them go. I missed them. I am not the best at keeping in touch over the phone, and because of this, don't keep in touch with them the way I should. I resolve to work on this, but must say that Facebook is a lovely thing, because we send each other messages every day, which helps some.

Later in the week was my birthday! To be honest, I am not a fan of birthdays. I don't particularly like getting older, and in the past, my birthday's have not typically been fun. Many times they would pass without acknowledgement, or people were too busy to celebrate, or I had to work, or just something. This year, B surprised me with a small gathering of friends, and he BBQed for us all. I love BBQing. Especially since it means that warmer weather is on the way! And because my hubby is so great at BBQing. :) We spent the evening eating good food and laughing. Here are a few pictures from my party:

My ice cream cake from DQ, which melted a bit, but was still extremely tasty. I LOVE ice cream cake. Yum.

My present, an apron. Haha. I've been in desperate need of an apron, having ruined several shirts and sweatshirts while cooking. B actually listened to what I said and found one for me. It will go to good use.And, a picture of me and B. I love my hubby. :)

Now that things are back to normal, B and I have been getting to work around the farm. Spring is definitely coming, as the grass is turning green, and the gardens are sprouting already! As much as I love Spring, it does mean quite a bit of outside work for us, but I'm looking forward to it. We are also in the process of working on our kitchen (wait til I get a post up about that), and cleaning out a few of our rooms in preparation for one of my former staff members to move in for a few months. He needed a place to stay, and we were more then happy to help him out. We are thinking of getting some chicks to have home-grown eggs (MAYBE, not decided on that yet), and I continue to sign up for more opportunities to substitute. So, while things settle down on one end, we remain busy overall...I think I may have finally caught up on my sleep though, and happily, my cold has gone away.

Despite the fact that the last few weeks have been busy and tiring, I realize that I have been very lucky to spend quite a bit of time with some great friends, making great memories. We spend a lot of days laughing and having good times, and that truly seems to be what life is about sometimes...I am grateful for having the opportunities.