The week's end

The past several days at work I have been stuck in classrooms listening to lecture after lecture on the countless services and specialties the Children's Hospital has to offer. Some things are very interesting, others, downright boring to listen to. So when last Friday at three o'clock rolled around I couldn't have been more ready to get home. With my parents in Albuquerque, Haden and I had the house to ourselves.

Friday afternoon we braved the traffic to head to the apartment complex we were hoping to rent from, only to be disappointed when we learned the apartment we wanted was gone. Kicking ourselves for not acting faster, we moped our way to dinner and tried to enjoy some pizza. Not until the end of the meal had we talked ourselves out of our lousy moods, remembering that if God wanted us in that apartment, he would have given it to us.

At home the house was quite and I chose the movie, "The Class" from my parent's lovely On Demand list. It's a great French film, one that Haden would recommend. I couldn't give you my full opinion, the last thirty minutes I couldn't keep my eyes open. And when the film is in French you don't have the option of just "resting your eyes" and listening. Haden had dreams in French that night, not really sure how that works.

Saturday morning was spent raking leaves in the backyard. We have a huge maple--the great thing about the leaves is they are as light as feathers and very compactable. The thick layer of leaves covering most of the yard fit into six bags.

Growing up, I hated raking leaves. But I guess times have changed because Haden and I had a very enjoyable time out in the sunshine and crisp air.

We then headed back over to the apartment complex we wanted to rent from to at least put in our applications so if something else came up we wouldn't miss it. As we were in the office filling out the paperwork, someone came down and put in his notice on his one bedroom apartment. As it turns out, this apartment was bigger than the other one we wanted, and for quite a bit less each month. We couldn't pass it up. We move in early December and visitors are always welcome.

Why is it that we have such a hard time trusting the Lord's plans in our lives?

For my birthday Haden surprised me with a night in a beautiful hotel downtown complete with champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and a delicious breakfast. We also ate at one of my most favorite Denver restaurants for dinner. Haden kept the whole thing a secret from me and the time away from home was a perfect way to celebrate.

If only he could have taken the Broncos out of their bye week to make it a 7-0 season, now that would have been a real gift.

The weekend was topped off with dinner at a delicious Asian restaurant with my parents and a few presents. At the end of the weekend, I couldn't help but think about how blessed I have been now for 23 years.