Susanna Hoffs would be proud.

Wow, what a crazy weekend! I think I need a weekend from my weekend.

I will not get my Annual Conference notes posted today. I plan to start working on it tonight and try to get the first installment up tomorrow. I will, as usual, give you my notes as written at the time along with commentary.

My weekend was busy. It was the good kind of busy, though. Here’s a glimpse:

Friday and Saturday I attended Annual Conference in Birmingham (details on that coming tomorrow). I am the Lay Delegate for Edgemont; if you have no idea what any of that means, don’t worry. It’s not important to the story. Not that this is a story. Just a recap, really.

I left Birmingham around 3:30 Saturday afternoon. I pulled into my driveway at 5:30. The kids came out and got into the car. I stuck my head in the door and said hi to Misty. Then the kids and I were off to Pizza Hut (my second time at the Hut that day). We had dinner with a couple of old high school friends (Kevin & Kimanthi) and their families.

Just so you know, Pizza Hut (in Florence) on a Friday night is not a great idea. The service was pretty horrible. The other guys and their families got there about 10 minutes before we did. They’d already ordered. We sat there several minutes before anyone came to take our order. Then we sat and sat and sat and sat.

3 families. Two toddlers. 6 kids total between the ages of 2 and 15. No food. This is a bad situation.

Eventually everyone got food. I’m not sure all of it was right, but everyone got food. Ours came out at the same time as one of the two orders placed 10 minutes before ours.

After Pizza Hut, all of us met back up at Deibert Park, along with another high school friend (Jennifer) and her 3 kids. Misty met us there as well. We spent a couple of hours visiting and either watching the kids gallivant or chasing them around the playground. Luckily ours are old enough that we don’t have to do much chasing.

One of the best parts of the evening? I never once heard, “Can we go home now?” Being the parent of a 13 year-old boy, you hear this a lot. Saturday, he was either entertained enough or wise enough to not ask that question.

We had a great time catching up with everyone. I see Kevin and Kimanthi every couple of weeks (that should become more frequent). I haven’t seen Jennifer in a few years (even though I do follow the happenings of her household in blog format). I enjoyed getting to see everyone and getting to see their kids run and scream and act like kids. (Both at Pizza Hut and at the park).

Pictures were made. I hope I get to see some of them…

At one point I noticed The Boy with a group of several kids gathered around him. He was obviously giving them instructions for something. Since his sister was playing close by, I assumed his plan involved tormenting her in some fashion. Luckily the assault didn’t last long. Then he brought them over to unleash his horde of minions upon me. Again, it didn’t last long. Instead it turned into a series of races with me as the finish point that ended with one of Jennifer’s boys doing a face plant into my right butt cheek. I told them that a finish line was probably a better idea than a finish point.

The Girl made a new friend over the course of the evening. Before we left she and Kevin’s eldest were planning and plotting a way to get one of them to the other’s house. That will happen soon and probably often.

My day finally ended and I finally got home around 9:00 pm. It was a good day and absolutely worth the long hours.

Yesterday was no less busy. After the typical Sunday morning routine (band practice, worship, Sunday School, family lunch) I still had a full schedule. At 2:00 I had Annie rehearsals. My nephew’s 6^th Birthday party was also scheduled for 2:00. I did not make it.

As soon as I left rehearsals, I headed out to Happy Hollow for an evening on Shoal Creek (which thanks to Wilson Dam is much more like a lake than a creek). A family from church invited all of the youth out for swimming, kayaking, and hotdogs. Everyone had a blast. I spent about an hour out in the water floating around in a kayak. I want one. I need one.

At one point I paddled out of the slough and into the main creek. I met up with Kevin and his daughter tooling around on a waverunner. Of course, it was not quite as coincidental as it sounds. We were just around a bend from his house, and he and I texted back and forth about where we were. But it was fortunate timing.

We finally returned home around 8:30 last night. Another long, busy day in the books.

Today, though, will be no less busy. I have a meeting at 5:30. I have rehearsal at 6:30. I have to get the grass cut at some point between now and then. Should be a fun day.

I guess it’s just another manic Monday.

(Wow, that was a long way to go just for a Bangles reference.)