Girls' Weekend- among other things

So, I do realize that today is Thursday. And I am about to blog about last weekend. It's been 4 days since I've gotten home. However, it's been a very busy 4 days.

Last weekend I got to go to the beach with 4 girlfriends. Heidi, Andrea, Leah, (who never blogs) and Amie, who doesn't have a blog. (Darn those non-blogging friends!) This trip was a brain-child of mine a few months ago when I was insanely overwhelmed with my house and my kids and everything about what was going on in my life. So Heidi did all the research and found the house and put everything together. (Thanks Heidi!) I'm not feeling nearly as overwhelmed any more thanks to some baby gates and other disciplinary tools, but it was still totally fun and I didn't realize until afterward, how badly I needed something like this...how lacking I am (was) in close, intimate relationships with other women.

We left on Friday evening and drove to an area just outside of Lincoln City. There we found a quirky little house with two bedrooms and one bathroom. The "themes" of the house were Narnia, Coke, Pirate with a hint of Country Cottage. And it wasn't as if each room was a separate theme..every room was each of these themes. I always wonder about the people who own and decorate beach houses. Pretty much every beach house I've ever been in is "quirky". Anyway, it was cheap! And close walking distance to the beach.

It's funny...we didn't really do anything that is very blog-worthy. Friday of course we talked the whole way there, and then talked well into the night (like 3am- which for me is nearly unheard of) then we woke up around 7am and had breakfast, and talked...then we went to the outlet mall and did some shopping, then we went to lunch at Mo's and talked. Then we ran a couple errands and went back to the house and talked and talked. Then we had dinner while talking still and talked well into the night again. I had to go to bed around 12am or so (I was driving and knew that if I didn't at least attempt to sleep, I wouldn't be a safe driver). Although I lay in bed for a LONG time just listening to them. I think the rest of them went to bed probably around 3 again. Then we got up in the morning around 7-8am or so. I took a shower and since the sun was finally showing it's face, I decided to walk down to the beach on my own. I walked a little ways and then sat in the sand for a while and had a personal worship session with God and tried to soak up as much of the sun as I could. Then I walked back and began breakfast. Of course we talked all through the morning and all the way home.

So as you can see, we mostly just hung out and talked. If I would have known beforehand that that's all we were going to do, I would not have been as excited about the trip as I was...but it was so nice to be able to sit and talk like that. Without children interrupting, or chores or things to get in the way. We were able to really connect with each other and talk about things I would have never thought I would be talking about with a group of women. It was awesome! The biggest thing that I learned over the weekend is that I am not alone in so many ways. The things that I deal with in my marriage, the things that I deal with in my life and the things that I deal with in my head. I have always felt isolated in many ways, not knowing who was "safe" to talk to about things. But I no longer feel like that. Amazing how much things can change in only a couple days. So it was a very, very good weekend.

Monday night we got together with my family for a last family gathering before my brother went back to work from his "leave". He is in the Marines and has to fly to Okinawa (again..he was there for 2 years already) and then he is stationed on a ship indefinitely. 20 more months until he is home for good.

Wednesday night we had some extended family over for dinner. An aunt of Josh's that I'm not sure he's ever even met, along with a second cousin and a great aunt. It was fun to meet them.

Today, I took Jayden into the hospital to get a VCUG test for him. It's basically a test where they put a catheter in and fill his bladder and then empty his bladder to test for any blockage. We're trying to figure out why he's still having urinary issues. There was no blockage..which is good I guess, but not helpful in determining why he's still having problems. *sigh*

Tomorrow is Josh's last day of work. Well, at his old job. Monday is his first day at the new job. It was a very difficult decision for him to leave the small company that he works for. But he's really excited and the pay raise is significant which we definitely need. We've been barely scraping by since we bought the new house. A family of 7 is expensive!

So there you go. An update on our week in a nutshell!