My dad used to warn us that if we ever had a really exciting time doing something, we needed to prepare for our “after-high low”. In other words, what goes up must come down, and our moods are no exception. For years I rolled my eyes at his theory, but now I’ve come to embrace it. Sure enough, any time I have a great weekend or a great time out, I have to let myself back down to “normal” again. Well, if that theory holds true, I’m going to have a lousy Monday. Not only were yesterday and today great days, but tomorrow promises to be exciting. Monday is looking drearier by the moment.

Thursday night Luke and I had a campout in our back yard. We made a bed on the trampoline, bought some snacks to enjoy, and grabbed some leftover glow necklaces from the freezer to light up our party. In typical slumber-party fashion, we had a hard time settling down and actually going to sleep.

Friday morning I bought myself a viola. The children have started violin lessons, but I haven’t had an instrument to play. Our teacher suggested I compare violins to viola. We are going to switch everyone over to violas instead of violins, and now I can join in the fun. Laura, Luke, Amelia and I will have our very own string quartet. Laura’s already eyeing the cello, but I’m going to insist that we make some progress on the violas before branching out.

Once I returned home with my new (used) viola, Michael was working hard on the kitchen. He’s actually putting drywall on the walls!!! You have no idea how encouraging it is to see wallboard in the kitchen! I quickly heated up lunch for everyone and then rushed off to my hair appointment. I spent over three hours at the hairdresser being pampered.

Friday night I made supper and we enjoyed a social time with my sister and her family. Joyce had been here most of the day helping Michael with the drywall project, so I was more than happy to serve her family supper.

After supper it was time to gear up for my campout with Isaac. We shopped for a few snacks, and then when we returned home Isaac started a campfire out back. We sat by the fire until it was very late. By the time we crawled into our sleeping bags, we wasted very little time falling asleep.

This morning Isaac woke me up at 6:30 eager to head to the farmer’s market in downtown Bloomington. I tried to put him off, but then decided I should just seize the moment and enjoy it. We tiptoed out the door and walked briskly to my favorite Saturday-morning breakfast haunt, Kelly’s Bakery & Deli. A cup of coffee and giant cinnamon roll were the perfect beginning to the day.

We brought a roll and some coffee home to Michael who was already getting started on the kitchen again.

Then I loaded up the rest of our violins and headed to the music shop to get them converted to violas, so to speak. By the end of the day we had violas to play, and the four of us all made a joyful noise the best we could. I can’t wait until we can play a real song together!

Joyce came over today and she and Michael worked very hard. I made cheeseburgers on the grill for lunch and ran to the hardware store to fetch supplies for the work crew.

Tonight I’m exhausated, and I begged off sleeping outside for a third night in a row, thanks to rain in the forecast. But Mike and Amelia are eager to take their turn!

Tomorrow is a big day at church. It’s our annual Fall Picnic and festival. It gets bigger every year! I’ve been asked to take photos, so that means I’ll have a blast getting in everyone’s faces and trying to get those elusive perfect photographs. Every time I photograph an event I’m so grateful for digital photography. What did I do when I had to worry about using up film? My children don’t even know what negatives are.

Must run for now. The rain has started and I think my bedroom window is open.

Love,

Christie