Long weekend away

Home again, home again. It's nice to be home. I like my home. I missed my husband and being able to snack whenever I wanted to. :)

This weekend was the women's retreat with the womens from church. I was also a part of the planning committee that arranged everything going into the retreat--oy! Lots of work! I had a lot of fun doing it, and a great time working with and getting to know Linda and Joanne, but in a lot of ways I was totally relieved on Friday because that meant most of my work was done.

My favourite part of the weekend....well, I had several favourite parts. One was doing lectio divina, basically listening to scripture, writing down one word or image that pops out at you, doing it again, and hearing what three or four other people heard. It was really cool, powerful. I felt like I was hearing passages I had read several times for the very first time. Also getting to know women with whom I attend church but have never really gotten to talk to before was awesome! I also got to reconnect with a lot of my friends who I haven't been able to see very frequently since I started working with the po-pos. And also getting to whack the heck out of Tina's drum during the worship time was awesome. I don't get to play my drum enough (and forgot to bring it up with me this weekend.) Her djembe is also quite a bit larger than mine, which was neat as far as getting different tones and sounds out of it, but it was a bit awkward to hold when I wanted to use the edge nearest to myself. Also, my smaller drum can be held under one arm (usually my left) while I play it, and I also usually use the clack of my ring against the wood when I'm holding it like that, which I missed with the larger one.

The weekend was really wonderful, and I made lots of new friends and found out that I'm actually capable of doing more than I think. I'm getting more and more excited about Frodo (there were six babies there this year with their mommies) and not having to work outside the home for at least a year. I got to know a woman at the retreat who had seven children in eight years--beginning at the ripe old age of eighteen! I was shocked and amazed and then amazed some more at her life. She and her husband lived all over the place, hauling their little ones around the globe everywhere from Belgium to Rome to India. Sounds good to me. :)

There are so many more things I could share, but suffice it to say it was incredible. I'm so glad I went. I'm so glad Linda asked me to be a part of the planning side of things. It was great making new friends. And most of all, it's good to be home again and see my husband. We spent two hours talking last night after he got home from work. Neither of us could seem to shut up--just wanted to share our different weekends and all the stuff we did. I love that man, and I'm having his baby in just about five months!