Fun weekend!

Last week was my first week out of school, and Memorial Day was a perfect ending for it! By Wednesday, I had all my chores and errands done, and I was like, hmmm, what now? Diane gave me a half day to write, and that was awesome! Three hours of writing is a beautiful thing. It makes me think if I wrote full-time, I could crank out a book in like six months!

Friday evening, Mom and Grant had a cookout, so we headed out there for some of Grant's signature burgers and some swimming and volleyball. It was fun hanging out with some of Grant's family (his two kids, son-in-law, and granddaughter, and his parents) and his friends. The volleyball bug has officially bitten my brother Kyle now, though--he's already planning another v-ball showdown for tomorrow night! For anyone who has never seen my brother play v-ball, it's like watching a weird mix of Speedy Gonzalez and Fred Flintstone--he is all over the place: diving, jumping, doing his little tiptoe serve, and constantly sacrificing the body.

Saturday, Claire and I had a delightful morning hanging out on the back porch in our swimsuits: me laying out reading my latest library book, The Book Thief , and Claire alternately playing in her "pinkle" (sprinkler), reading her own books, and messing with Shadow and Huck. That afternoon, we took the recycling over to Big Lots, where we found people sitting out selling puppies! We pretended to be very interested buyers of baby chihuahas, chi-weenies, weenie dogs, and a yorkie. (The fallback excuse: "We have to talk to Daddy about this first.") So cute! We had a laid-back dinner at Paul and Diane's that night.

Sunday, we went to church as usual, and after that, a lunch of beans and cornbread and fried potatoes (delicious and nutritious ;), and Claire's nap, we headed out to Madill to an old Mauck familiy friend's lake house for another nutritious meal. We threw everything we could get our hands on in the deep fryer: potatoes, onion rings, breaded crappie, hush puppies, and even some chicken fried chicken!! We also ate some fresh cantaloupe, watermelon, and strawberries, just to get some vitamins in there! Then we got to go fishing on this beautiful lake--surrounded by God's glory at sunset. It was awesome. Claire loved touching Daddy's fish and "helping" him throw them back in the water.

Today, I did my usual Monday house-cleaning, in fast-forward, because at three, Mom, Ty, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Mike picked me up to go watch a movie! Jay worked from home most of the day and then when we left, he took Claire out to Uncle Gary's for some four-wheeling and fishing. She caught her first fish! Night at the Museum 2 was spotty in humor and excitement, but it had its moments. The Twizzlers were excellent, as always. Ty and I committed the ultimate movie faux pas of discussing what candy we got for Mom at the dollar store RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE MOVIE CONCESSION STAND WORKER! Gah! Remove foot from mouth.

I hope all you lovely readers had a relaxing weekend!