Has it really been a WEEK?

Holy cow.

I'm so sorry. I never meant for this much time to pass between blog posts. I've been busy. Not extraordinarily busy, but I have been kinda busy.

Here's what you missed:

Caroline didn't have school on Friday. It's her winter break. Please don't get me started. As far as I am concerned, they have had three winter breaks thus far. . . Christmas, two (count 'em) TWO sets of snow days, and now this 4-day weekend.

Oh, and it may become a 5 (or more) day weekend. She appears to be coming down with a cold of some kind. Yeah, I'm thrilled beyond words.

Edison was also off half the day on Friday, and off today. He has a major term paper due in a few weeks, and the rough draft is due this Friday. We had a brief "come to Jesus" meeting tonight, and minus his TV this week, he may just get it turned in on time. (Don't get me started on that, either)

Our weekend was full, but good. We went out to dinner with my parents on Friday night. We went to my second favorite local restaurant here. This is my favorite. But, in second place, this place deserves a visit if you make your way to our neck of the woods.

And for those of you who are wondering, NO, I didn't eat healthy on Friday night. I had a seafood sampler, and all of the seafood was fried. I enjoyed it -- but realized that a grilled salmon, or even a lean steak would have been a better choice. Oh well. .. life lesson learned.

On Saturday, one of my precious friends at church had the pastors' wives (and me) over for a Valentine's tea. She included me -- partly because I'm her friend, but also because I'm a female member of the church staff -- and it was really cool. She treated us to homemade quiche, all sorts of wonderful appetizers, chocolate chip scones, a delectable tortellini salad, and HUGE heart-shaped sugar cookies.

It was so fun to sit and talk with our pastor's wife, my mom, another friend whose husband is on staff, and my friend Janet, our hostess. She has been praying for us all month -- and she gave us a special gift as we left. It was a wonderful day -- although it went longer than we had expected. She said "11 a.m. until 1 p.m." but I didn't get home until 3:30! Yikes.

On Saturday, I had planned on making us a turkey dinner for Valentine's Day. I know that's not very traditional -- and with my longer-than-planned tea -- it didn't happen. I baked the turkey, and sliced it for later consumption. We have enjoyed delicious homemade turkey sandwiches on homemade honey whole-wheat bread. Kinda made up for not having a big turkey dinner on Saturday.

Oh, what did we eat? We ordered out pizza. We opened Valentine's cards, and a gift or two from Arizona. (Thanks Mary & George -- I actually got teary-eyed when I pulled out Fireproof) The kids loved their gifts, and the chocolate. (They're my kids!)

I baked a white cake (round pan & square pan) and turned them into a heart. I made homemade buttercream frosting (tinted it PINK) and Caroline put red sprinkles on it. Of course, if we'd have opened the box from AZ sooner, we'd have seen the four containers of Valentine's sprinkles they sent to us. (whoops)

I'm sure we'll be making sugar cookies soon, and we'll use them again! :)

On Sunday, our small group had our annual Daytona 500 get-together. There was lots of great food, including homemade pork barbecue (using the pork loin from Tuesday night) and my favorite dessert: Peanut Butter Sheet Cake (like TX Sheet Cake -- but with Peanut Butter). I will post the recipe sometime soon. It's amazing.

We watched the race -- enjoyed it. Even though it was cut short by weather. I was sad that my guy didn't fare so well, but the season has just begun. It's gonna be a great year!!

Today, it was back to work -- only both kids were home (see 1st paragraph!) Edison babysat Caroline for me while I was in meetings this morning. When I got home, we realized that Caroline was starting to exhibit signs of a cold, so instead of taking her to Edison's orthodontist appointment (that's right -- we got to go there, too), Mark came home with her and stayed while I took Edison to W. Knoxville.

While we were out there, we decided that stopping by Hobby Lobby and Cedar Springs Christian Store were in order. I got some acrylic paint, fabric, and yarn at HL (not for the same projects) and then at Cedar Springs, Edison and I both picked out CDs. Mine was a special $6 CD -- and we listened to it the whole way home. It was really good!! Here's a link. It's really good -- and only $5.99 in the store. Really. I wouldn't lie.

So, tonight was kinda boring. Hamburgers, broccoli, and baked potatoes for supper. Edison was "forced" to work on his term paper until it was bedtime, and I've been sequestered in my room, on the laptop.

After catching up with some friends on facebook, I realized that I hadn't blogged in nearly a week, and that brings me back to where I started.

So, I guess that means I'm done, right?

Now I'm off to read YOUR blogs!!!