Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

Can you believe the weekend is already here? We started out a nice balmy 67 degrees on Monday, and on Friday we've plunged back down into the 30s and 40s. It's no wonder people in Alabama stay sick during the winter months.

As promised, here are some more conversation starters for your jar:

What would be your ideal vacation?
What is your favorite Christmas decoration? How did it become special to you?
Tell what someone said today that made you feel good about yourself.
What is your nickname?
If you won the lottery, how would it change your life?
Tell about a time you were frightened.
Which holiday has the most meaning for you and why?
What is your favorite time of day?
Where do you want to be in ten years?
If you could own a store, what kind would it be?

These are very good. Is everyone working on their Conversation Jar? Have you gotten to use it yet? I'll have more starters to put in the jar (from Jennifer) on Monday AND Tuesday. Also, if you think of one and want to e-mail me or leave it in the comment section, I'll be glad to add those, too. The more, the better. (And don't worry. I'll give you credit!)

Again, our weekend is looking pretty easy. Austin and Mike are heading to a college campus Saturday to a reception, and while they are there they are going to explore the area, visit with Mike's folks and probably hit the new Bass Pro Shop on the way home. It's a pretty sure thing they're going to have a good Saturday.

Katie's spending Friday and Saturday with the rest of us, and Roxie has a game in the middle of the day... which means a late lunch out somewhere.

And, of course, our Super Bowl Party Sunday night with one or two of Austin and Josh's friends. Small, but loud. And I'll prepare enough food for 20... and it will all be gone by the end of the evening. Amazing!

Talking about museums yesterday brought something to mind. I always tease Mike about it, mainly because it was something I didn't know about him until after we were married... but is anyone else out there married or associated with someone who is a "Plaque Reader?" If you know someone like this, the term is not odd at all. If not, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about, so I will explain.

When we married, we went to Washington, D.C. for our honeymoon. I know it sounds like an odd place to go, but it was really quite wonderful. Mike loves history. I love snow. Mike loves ALL museums. I love snow. Mike loved the fact we were going to a place neither of us had ever been. I love snow. Well, I got my snow... 4" the day before we landed, and it stayed with us the entire seven days of our trip. Beautiful. And Mike's dream came true. We were honeymooning in the "Land of Plaques." There are probably more plaques per square inch in that city than anywhere else in the world.

I am a skimmer. I read the title on the plaque. I look at what the plaque is standing beside. I skim a couple more sentences and then I'm off to the next plaque. Mikie "absorbs" the plaque. He reads it carefully. He looks at the object carefully... and then re-reads the plaque again in case he missed something the first time. Can you say, "KILL ME NOW!!!"

We actually have a picture from our honeymoon of me sitting on a bench in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (my favorite kind of museum)... asleep. I just couldn't take it anymore. What takes most people one, two or three hours at the most to go through was taking us six to seven hours... and we still weren't finished.

Almost five years ago, Mike and I had the opportunity to drive down the Natchez Trace. If you've ever been, it is a beautiful ride and along the way, there are places "of interest" to pull over. Well, you know what that means. Plaques in the middle of nowhere. After pulling over to our fifth (AND FINAL) Indian mound and reading the accompanying plaque, I had to put my foot down. (Have you ever seen an Indian mound? It's just a grassy hill in the middle of a grassy field. But the plaques are huge and probably have two-pages worth of information regarding the grassy mound.) Can you say, "KILL ME NOW!!! I REALLY MEAN IT THIS TIME!"

We had the opportunity to visit the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. A relatively small area in which plaques live and prosper. "Mikie, it would be different if we didn't know this story or if we had never heard of Davy Crockett or Jim Bowie or the Alamo. We watched the John Wayne movie before we came. We know what these plaques are going to say. Heck, we could have written some of these plaques."

And, deep in thought and concentration, he continued to read and learn... and I found a nice shady bench in the garden to wait.

This past summer, we went to Graceland with the kids. We had a great time, but not surprisingly, Graceland has almost as many plaques as Washington, D.C. The boys and I breezed through the tour in about 90 minutes... and we enjoyed it. However, Roxie and Mike hung back... reading plaques. As you can imagine, this was very disturbing to me because I had no idea Roxie had inherited Mikie's "Plaque Reader" gene. As the boys and I waited at the end of the tour for Mike and Roxie to catch up (60 minutes later and complaining we had RUSHED them), they were content to listen to their I-pods. I don't have an I-pod. I was not content. When we rode the bus back to the main complex across the street, everyone wanted to see the airplanes... more plaques. And the new military uniform museum... more plaques. And the costume museum... more plaques than grains of sand on a beach! "They" tell you to plan on spending three or four hours at Graceland. Well, we closed it down... and we still weren't finished.

I know there are worse things in life. Being married to a "Plaque Reader" isn't the end of the world. I've learned to adjust. Most of the time now, I just take a quick picture of the plaque in question and say, "Come on. It will give you something to read when we get back home." (I know the people at Wal-Mart think I have the most boring scrapbooks EVER because two-thirds of all the pictures I develop are plaques.)

I'm thinking about getting him a plaque for Christmas next year to put on an attractive stand near our front door. It will read, "In this house lives a wonderful husband and a terrific dad. He is funny, generous and loving. He is a Christian man, a fisherman, a camper, a racing fanatic, an Auburn alum. He is a good listener and great partner... but most of all, he is (and will always be) a "Plaque Reader."

Now, for our sweet little book of the week.

Book

This book is written by one of my favorite Christian authors and her husband, Emilie and Bob Barnes. It is called A Little Book of Manners for Boys, and it would be a good book to read with your little man from ages 4 to 7. It is divided into 14 different sections (including the introduction), and in a short, fun way it talks about some of the following topics: Watch Your Words, Taking Care of Things, A Good Sport, Places Where You Don't Feel Comfortable, Talk to Big People, You Might Do That with Your Friends, etc., etc.

It is very well written, and you could read this for 14 nights instead of your regular devotion. It is a wonderful way to teach your guys manners do matter... even for those of us who enjoy making "boy noises."

While it doesn't totally get rid of all the bad manners (and noises), it does bring up the topics in a good, teachable, age appropriate way. It's a great little book.

Next week starts our LOVE MONTH with anything and everything to do with Valentine's Day... except for our first party on Monday. The party for Monday is for 12 year-olds everywhere, and it is the MOST FUN.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I hope the Steelers win the Super Bowl (in honor of Josh). But more than that, I hope if you don't like football, you're not in a house where you have to watch football!

Take care and I'll talk to you on Monday.