It Is Trish

I’ve got to jump back to Sunday night in order to catch up.  Sheesh.  I’m having a hard time blogging every day lately.  I think part of that is because it’s felt more like real life instead of a vacation, and I haven’t blogged about real life in real time for a couple years.  But I’ve also been sick, so I’m going to ride both of those excuses for as long as possible!

On Sunday night,  I went over to Mike and Libby’s at 5:00 to hang out with Libby and her two sons Jonah and Graham before our connection group.  It was great to hang out with Libby while vaguely driving a toy car over a carpeted road map and calling it “playing.”  At 7:00 our connection group gathered, and it was SO GREAT to see everyone again.  This group is one of the things I miss most about Dallas, and I want every small group I ever participate in to be just like them.  I love that we are a group of old and young, male and female, conservative and liberal, married and single.  Our commonality is pretty much only in loving God and loving each other, and because it is always so encouraging to spend time with them.  

On Monday, I went out to lunch with Ashley.  She’s hoping to go to England with GEM in January, and we met during some online fundraising meetings.  Since she lives in Dallas, I suggested we meet up!  It’s always nice to spend time with someone who is going through the same stressful thing you are, because it somehow doesn’t feel so stressful when you know you aren’t alone.

I went back to Mike and Libby’s after lunch, and as soon as I walked through the door, Libby put the boys to bed.  I generally like my friends’ kids, but it is so nice to just have grown-up time.  I’ve always loved my conversations with Mike and Libby, and this was no exception.  They were huge encouragers during hugely transformational times for me: while I went through counseling and while I decided to go to Greece.  They know more about my fears and desires than most people, and they always make me feel 100% loved and accepted, even when we sometimes don’t agree.  AND they bring doughnuts and coffee to the conversational table, so obviously they’re keepers.

Monday night I went back to the Pamurthy’s house.  They’d come back from Portland the night before, but they were all in bed by the time I got home.  We had a big Indian feast for dinner (my request), and then we played Rummy and Apples to Apples.  We talked about some plans for when we are all in Athens at the same time, which I am still so excited about!  Then Sanjay went to bed, and Chrisette and the kids and I watched an episode of Empire.  At this point, my cold kicked into high gear, and Chrisette told me I should stay with them another day and rest.

“No, I have…plans.”

“Change them,” she suggested.

“No, I….that’s hard for me.”

But after half an hour of coughing and sneezing and internally processing this new possibility, I agreed.

Which was GREAT!  I slept until 2:00 p.m.  Any questions of whether or not I’d needed the rest were instantly dispelled.  Especially because after waking up long enough to eat some ramen, I went to sleep for another two hours.  I woke up with the kids and their new nanny came home.  I sat in the living room with them for awhile.  I like their new nanny – she’s sweet, great, and the first thing she said to me was, “They really miss you.”  Exactly what my jealous heart needed to hear.  They left for capoeria, I ate some toast, and then I went back to sleep at 8:00 p.m.