The Shafferland Shuffle

UPDATE: The site I use for my collages is STILL not working, but I found one that works similarly, so I managed to create some collages for today's blog. We'll see if the other site ever starts to work again or if I just need to learn a new one!

* You should very intimately know our tale of last Sunday after the blog this week! I feel like all you did was read about our weekend! It was my last day to spend at the retreat where I spoke, and then we hurried from there to the centennial celebration of my old church! Definitely not our most restful Sunday in all of history, but definitely a beautiful Sunday that created wonderful memories! {And ten thousand husbandly points to Ryan for being such a great support to me that day and ALL weekend!}

* This week was our city school system's fall break, so I had no carpool duties, and I enjoyed every moment of may "fall break." The scenery got extra beautiful while we were gone, and as a bonus for Monday, it was warm, sunny, and Phoebe-filled! YAY! We got to keep her for a few hours that afternoon and evening, and we had a blast! {We, of course, being everyone but Braeya.}

* Does anyone else get as excited over a new set of pens as I do? Ryan gave me these and made my WEEK!!!! So pretty! I spent the day writing and working in my office, looking at pretty trees and meeting deadlines! And that night, while Ryan went to a class for work, I went to a party with one of my friends {direct sales} and played Bingo with Skittles. Not a bad game, my friend. Not a bad game.

* I took Wednesday as a planning day for 2017, so when Ryan left for work, I packed up my bags and went to the coffee shop to plan, dream, work, and pray. It went beautifully until the really loud woman came in and stayed for a long time, telling all manner of stories to her friend. I know so much more about her life than I ever meant to! After lunch, I went for a long walk and continued my planning at home - in the quietness. :)

* Thursday was a great day to stay home: too bad Ryan had to go to work. It was classic fall, with blowing leaves, much rain, and multiple excuses to have more coffee. We had to run some errands in the evening, but when we got home, we crashed on the couch and just rested. Much-needed!

* Because of Ryan's class on Tuesday night, we had to reschedule Tuesdays at the Table for Friday. We will not discuss what this did to my OCD. We had some friends over who helped us tremendously with the renovations on our house back when we first bought it, and it was fun to let them see the finished product! They brought their kids, and we had a blast making our own pizzas, drawing on the chalkboards in the garage, playing Barbies, and trying to lure Braeya out from under the bed! {That worked as well as you might imagine.}

* Yesterday, we spent most of the day at my parents' house, so Ryan could work on some projects for them. Any time he has an excuse to play with power tools, it's a good day! He crossed a lot off his list, and I got to hang out with Mom. {We made donuts with her new donut pan!!} Poor guy...when we got home, he sat right down and went to sleep!! And I sat and looked at the pretty flowers he bought me.