Next Steps

For more than two months now, this evening's been marked in my calendar as "Mandatory Parent Mtg @ OPRF, 7pm."  That short note in my calendar doesn't begin to tell the story.

Baird attended the meeting tonight, since it fell on a Wednesday and I was busy with Commander duties for Awana.  When I returned home, I was greeted at the door by a very enthusiastic Erin, who couldn't wait to show me OPRF's academic catalog, her placement test results, and a plethora of other papers included in the packet Baird brought home:

Even tho it was getting late, Erin and I spent almost an hour together, going over the papers and her class preferences.  She's even begun to fill out the worksheet at the back of the catalog that spells out her four-year academic plan.  Her excitement over this next phase of her life is palpable.  She's focused.  She's thrilled.  She's more than ready.

I can't believe in just a few short months, I'll have one daughter halfway thru her high school career, and another one just beginning.  As I fell asleep last night, I found myself wondering, once again, how it's gone this fast.  The days may be long, but certainly, the years are short.

Weekday Dinner with Friends

Given the craziness of modern family schedules, it can sometimes be difficult to plan a get together with friends.  We're in close contact with our friends, the Rennys, but it seems like forever since we had them over for a meal.  This afternoon, Erin invited the Renny girls to come over and hang out for awhile after school.  As JRenny and I were making the arrangements for the playdate, I said, "Why don't you guys just come over and join us for supper?"

The Renny girls love our pets, and K especially likes it when Erin takes out the birds:

I served one of Erin's favorite dishes, chicken and rice casserole.  It sat alongside fresh bread, green beans, and a salad featuring cucumbers and avocados.  Yum.  Good food + great friends = fantastic homemade week night fun.

Thanks, J, for the beautiful flowers, the good company, and the tasty salad!

What Goes Up...

...must come down.

After hosting a casual meal with friends from church after service, Baird and I looked at each other and knew the time had come to kick the Christmas tree to the alley.  This is one of my least favorite activities.  As much as I love Christmas, I hate taking down the decorations.  I usually put it off far longer than I should.  This year, however, our tree was looking a bit lopsided and droopy, and we both figured we should put it out of its misery before it started making its post-Christmas protest by dropping every single one of its needles.

So, in the course of about an hour, our tree from went this:

to this:

{Big Sigh}

Just eleven more months until we do it all again.

New Year's 2011

We rang in the new year with poppers and sparkling red grape juice.  It was fun and low key and just perfect.  I, for one, am thrilled to death to put 2010 behind me.  I actually can't remember when I've looked forward to a new year quite this much.

H A P P Y   N E W   Y E A R ! ! !