Busy busy busy

I'm back from my pulpit, hooray! I love going, but it does take a huge chunk of time. Saturday was the holiday of Tu Bishvat, the birthday of the trees. So instead of writing a sermon, I led a discussion on Haiti and the environment. Then I basically (blatantly) copied my mom's lesson plans for youth group, when we made decoupage pots and planted seeds. For adult education we did a Tu Bishvat seder (modeled after a Passover seder). I then tutored my two kids, and was back home by dinner on Saturday night.

Except that we didn't actually have dinner at home, because we got a last-minute call from Dave, to come over for a surprise party to celebrate Elbie's 30th birthday. All of my friends are turning 30 this year... I feel like I'm observing it all happening, waiting and wondering how I'll feel in two years. The party was quite fun. Interesting, also, because most of the people in Dave and Elbie's circle are evangelicals or born-again (they're how I know a few missionaries). So the conversations about God and Bible are always fascinating.

Sunday we went to go see Matt and Erin's baby Ayden. He's 5 lbs, but I swear, that pound and a half less than Xander makes all the difference in the world. He was so tiny!!

Speaking of Xander, he's doing better, but we did have a slight scare on Friday. He was coughing a ton, a deep wet raspy cough, so we took him into the doctor's. He was diagnosed with an ear infection and more bronchial issues. They gave him a breathing treatment in the doctor's office, and then gave us inhaler to take home. The poor kid must think we hate him; every day he gets two doses of an antiobiotic, and has to breathe for about 10 minutes with a mask. We were assured that his breathing problems now are purely coincidental and not related to the hospitalization in August. And it's not indicative that he'll have asthma later on.

Oh yes - and in a "bragging about my husband moment" - I know nothing about cars, right? Well, apparently my front tire was low. Sarah at HUC saw my car in the parking lot and called Jonathan on the phone to tell him (because she knows I'm useless). When I got home, he was waiting with the air compresser (which apparently we had in the garage - who knew?). He went out in the literally freezing ice and snow to blow up my tire, so I wouldn't even have to drive to the gas station. Isn't that sweet?!