The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was supposed to be Phoebe's last day with us. Her people had been traveling overseas, and her dad was supposed to be home on Sunday. I soaked up the whole afternoon with her because I knew she was leaving that night. But while I was fixing our homemade pizza rolls for dinner, he texted and asked if she could spend one more night. He was back on US soil, but he was too tired to drive the rest of the way home yet that day. So we happily kept her one more night. More bonding time with Ryan is never a bad thing, Phoebe decided, and I agree!

* Monday morning, Phoebe's dad showed up before he went to work and they shared the sweetest reunion. He was worried she might have forgotten him, but SO NOT THE CASE!!!! Since her mom wasn't back yet (she stayed overseas an extra week), Phoebe spent the work hours with me throughout this week too. Since Monday was September 11th, she curled up and watched documentaries with me all day. When the end of the afternoon came, I packed up all her stuff and she went home with her dad for the night. Braeya stepped outside our bedroom (very cautiously) for the first time in a month.

* Pheebs was back on Tuesday, snuggling with me while I worked on my computer. We held our first small group meeting that night, so I spent the afternoon baking cookies and assembling the house for our meeting. I know I already blogged about that, but we thought it went really well, and we were grateful.

* Pheebs was extra snuggly on Wednesday. She did not want me to put her down THE WHOLE DAY. I think she was feeling the weirdness of shuffling back and forth between two homes! Despite dog cuddling duty, I did manage to make a new recipe that was delicious. Philly sloppy joes!

* I worked at my volunteer job on Thursday and finished assembling the newsletter for the week. (That's one of my jobs at the school.) I have gotten really great feedback on the newsletters from different people, which is really encouraging. Came home to more kisses from Pheebs, and then that night, Ryan and I ran some errands, which included road rage at the gas station. Apparently we took a guy's pump. Whoopsie!

* We had SO MUCH FUN on Friday night, and I can't wait to tell you more about it. We met up with our friends Jon and Julie. Dinner (AND STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES) at Ivanhoe's! We had a great evening and were grateful for that double date!

* Ryan had a much-deserved day off yesterday. He made me breakfast in bed, and then spent his day off working in the yard, which pretty much made his entire day. I scrapbooked. We were both in our happy places. Then last night, we went out for our date inspired by the letter S. It was FUN!