Oddly at Peace

This is one of those weeks when I could be up to my neck in stress. I'm not complaining. I'm actually having a blast! One day I'll look back on my life and ask, "How did I do that?" The obvious answer is that my strength is not my own. That would be impossible. I fully believe that God is giving me strength and peace during this hectic time! He's also blessed me with a quick nap each day this week. :)

This week's schedule (starting with last Friday):

Friday night
Mom gets in. Yea! She's here for the East Texas A Cappella Celebration that Clearly Vocal hosted on Saturday. We eat supper with cousins Jeff and Becky and head to the house while John goes to the office to print the programs for the show. John's home around 9 and we hit the sack around 10. Not too shabby.

Saturday
Big breakfast. Then we head to the park to let the kids burn off some steam. Light lunch back home; still recovering from the huge breakfast! After lunch, we leave the kids with Mom and head up to the church building to prepare for the ETAC. Six a cappella groups sang with genres ranging from gospel to barbershop to contemporary Christian to choral to jazz. The concert is a huge success that night. We get home by 9:30 and fall asleep around 11.

Sunday
Mom's here, so we get to sleep in longer than usual while John goes to praise team rehearsal!
9:00  Should be class, but I'm typing up and making copies of a map and schedule of the ladies retreat on a copier that is acting up!
10:00  Church
12:00  Due to Jonas's pitiful behavior, we decide to let Mom get on the road; we pick up Jack-In-The-Box tacos and go home
I get my afternoon nap!
3:30  John goes to elders/staff meeting
6:00  We all go to the Gathering. I should do a whole other post about The Gathering, but basically it's the Glenwood-run inner city church where we also serve a meal. I teach the teenagers, and it has been amazing.
8:30  Home

Monday
6:00  run
8:00  Johnathan to school
9:00  Kalleigh to school, John to work
9-12 Make copies of info for ladies retreat, work out most room assignments, talk to camp director about our last minute schedule changes, etc.
Lunch
1:30  Pick up Kalleigh and go home
3:00  Pick up Johnathan and go home to do homework/write thank-you cards for those who helped with the ETAC
5:00-8:00 Clearly Vocal rehearsal
Sometime during rehearsal, John's mother arrives. She was in town for her brother-in-law's funeral that was in the DFW area the next day.
Home around 8:30, Kids down by 9:00, visit 'til 10, and then of course we watch 24.

Tuesday
6:00  run
Not my day to carpool Johnathan, so thankful "Mr. Zack" picks him up!
8:00  John and Martha leave for DFW
9:30  Ladies Bible Class
Lunch at home with Kalleigh and Jonas, and then they go down for naps.
Marinate steaks.
It's bread baking day for my Amish Friendship Bread, so I get them in the oven.
Quick nap until the bread is done.
3:00  Johnathan gets home
4:00  I give a voice lesson.
4:30  John and Martha get home.
5:00  Supper is on the table
6:00  Baths for kids
7:30  John and I meet the rest of Clearly Vocal at Starbucks to talk about a replacement for Danny. He's dropping out. :(
9:30  Home to visit some more and then of course we watch LOST.

Wednesday
6:00  run
8:00  Johnathan to school
9:00  Kalleigh to school, Martha heads home, John to work
Jonas and I hit Wal-Mart and then head home.
"We" put the groceries away and then Jonas settles down with Miss Patty Cake while mommy catches the much needed quick nap.
12:00 Head back to town to get John for lunch.
1:30  Pick up Kalleigh and head home
3:00  Pick up Johnathan and head home to finish thank-you cards and do a load of laundry and make the kids eat something healthy (okay, PB&J) for supper
6:00  Praise team rehearsal
6:30 church
8:00 home
Put kids to bed, make guacamole dip for John's all-day staff retreat tomorrow, start taxes and blog. :) Obviously not in bed yet.

Plan for Thursday
6:00  run
7:35  Mr. Zack picks up Johnathan for school--yea!
9:00  John to work
10:00 Conference call with Stef, Sherri and Aunt Karla to talk about final ladies retreat stuff and pray
Thankfully nothing is scheduled the rest of the morning and afternoon, so hopefully I'll get some more laundry done, clean a bit and sneak in my nap!
3:00  Johnathan gets home
5:30  Sing at KE Cellars with Danny
10:00  Home to crawl in bed and watch The Office

Plan for Friday
6:00  run
8:00  John's day to get Johnathan to school
9:00  Kalleigh to school
Pack for the retreat at some point.
Go with Stefanie out to Lone Star to set up the table decoration for the ladies retreat and get our stuff in our room. From there we drive a couple of hours to Athens, on the other side of Tyler, for a Clearly Vocal Concert.
8:00  CV Concert for the Henderson Performing Arts Center Fundraiser--A Big Deal
12:00  Probably get back to the retreat.

Saturday--A Much-Needed Ladies Retreat Only Day. It's a silent retreat, and boy do I need that.

Sunday
8:00  breakfast
9:00  church
11:00 hopefully leave on time
1:00  hopefully arrive in Edom, TX on time
2:00  Clearly Vocal sings at "April in Edom."
5:00  pick up children from the Dean's
6:00  back at The Gathering
8:00  crash

The rest of this week/weekend is just going to fly by, but oh, it's going to be so fun! Do not feel sorry for me! Some prayers for continued strength would be appreciated, though. :)

Now ... off to bed!