Monday Musings

Spring Break is over and that alarm went off bright dark and early this morning. Dropped my girl off for track practice just before 7:00 a.m. in the dark; these kids should be home in bed! (Forget the kids - the MOM should be home in bed! LOL)

Last week's Ultimate Blog Party was incredible. Three cheers for the gals at 5 Minutes for Mom for hosting it and to Pamela at Happy Panda for coordinating the prizes. They had right at 1500 bloggers participating! Whew!! Glad I didn't have to clean up after them!

And wow! I hit the jackpot! I was so excited to win a blog makeover from Shauna at See My Designs! Thanks, Shauna, for sprucing me up! We're still tweaking a few things, so please be patient.

In my blog hopping last week, I happened across a couple of other contests and drawings; some were connected with the Blog Party and some were not. In addition to Alene at Makeover Monday's contest, Iwas thrilled to win the book The Comfort of Home for Alzheimer's Disease: A Guide for Caregivers from Lori at Writing Canvas. Also, I "met" Tami at Tree Swing Reading who is doing an "Alphabet Soup" book giveaway for 26 days, and I won Day 8 - The Perfect Life by Robin Hatcher. So getting the mail will be a fun experience over the next week or so while I wait for these to arrive.

It was fun meeting some new friends last week as well, both officially through the party and spinning off other links. There are some great gals out there who love the Lord. And what a bonus to discover some other common connections as well! When you get a chance, stop by and say hello to: Sandy at Jesus and Dark Chocolate, Julie at Pragmatic Compendium, Connie at Little Red Hearts from God, Kim at Scattered Stones! There are others I met as well - I'm still sorting and sifting!

I fixed dinner for our new neighbors/long-time friends Saturday evening as they were still in the midst of their move and we enjoyed visiting with them over my new favorite, Chicken Enchilada Casserole. My boy is pretty quiet, and I think it will take the guys a little while to feel their way back into whatever friendship they settle into. The sweet surprise blessing has been the girls. Their daughter is a year younger than my girl, but the September 1st split puts them two years apart in school, and they had never developed a close friendship. Well, that may be about to change. We live in a 30-year-old neighborhood, and there aren't a lot of kids. My daughter had lost her best friend in bicycle-riding distance to an out-of-state move a couple of years ago and has really missed having a good friend in close proximity. She was over there all day Friday and most of Saturday helping move boxes, helping AG organize her room, and they had an absolute blast together. It made me want to cry to see the gift God placed in our lives.

Well, I'm off to take my sister on some errands. She has just over a week before she heads back south of the equator. Have a great day!