A little bit of everything

A very full week:
Mike--"robottery" commitments (mentoring robotics team and teaching pottery) + dedication to exercise (running every other day and racket ball) + mountains of paperwork to do with house fire recovery, and more=A LOT!
Rita--meetings, appointments, exercise activities (zumba  and water aerobics), weekly writing commitments, Bible studies, the daily joy of piano playing, and a girls overnight =A LOT OF FUN!

Sunday we waved goodbye to Sara and Jared as they headed back home to Arkansas.

 
Sweet memories remain and a very meaningful gift sits on the window sill which represents our desire for the 'new' house--to practice hospitality. Mi casa es su casa, is our motto.

Monday
Mike hasn't been to Monday meal at Stephan's since robot build-season began in January. He goes directly to robotics after the Red Barn.

I went to Monday night meal and got to hear about the winning "Flying Heron" (# 1 out of 20 ice sculptures at the professional competition in St. Joseph, MI)...

 ...and see the impressive trophy.

Tuesday, busy writing, no photos.

Wednesday
Can you guess where I am?

Yes, I chipped a tooth last week and had to have it repaired.

In Thursday's photo, you see the where, but what was I doing there?

Van Buren Public Library

You guessed wrong. I wasn't checking out books, I went to a poetry reading.
My contribution was I Love Ruthie, by Phil A. Smouse.
And, yes, I photographed yet another county Garfield statue to add to my collection.

Friday
My neighbor/friend, Glenda, and I joined a group of women that are experienced scrapbookers for an overnight at Wandering Wheels. It went from 3pm to 11am the next day. We had so much fun learning from the creative ideas of others, and playing with their toys (scrapbooking tools). You can tell a true 'scrapper' by the mountain of luggage. When I arrived with only one load, they wondered whether I'd come to the right place.
My project was to reassemble, in some attractive fashion, the series of saved photos that tell the story of the original house that Mike built.

We chose our bunk or sleeping spot and finally all was quiet sometime after midnight.

Saturday
The ladies who sponsored the event, as a fundraiser for the Serenity House, were up early cooking breakfast for us.

Breakfast around the fireplace

Glenda's favorite phrase the whole time was "I like it. I like it a lot!"

Michael also 'overnighted' but with no sleep and not nearly as much fun. As the deadline for shipping the robot draws near, hours are extended. The FIRST program aims to replicate the life of an engineer--resolve a problem in a given time frame with available resources and set guidelines. You thought only doctors have strange schedules?

The grand finale to our week was being able to attend the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra's concert held at Taylor University. (Mike did get back just in time to attend, and didn't fall asleep during the program!) And, the cherry on top, or two cherries--we were given three complimentary tickets at the last minute and our DIL came with us! (Stephan is competing in Wyoming this weekend.) There was a third cherry--Karen invited herself to dinner with me before the event!