..........weekends are great!

I just love spending the weekends with my family - there's absolutely nothing that beats these special days! For me, one of the best parts of the weekend begins on Friday afternoon after school is dismissed. I've got to back up one step before I go into that. I had one of the best weeks of school that I've experienced in recent memory! Both the symphonic and steel drum bands were at their finest last week. Not one day passed that we didn't make some great headway towards our performance goals. I'm working harder now than at any other time in my career. I don't mind the work; and in fact, I enjoy it quite a bit when I'm not having to deal with some idiot adult that is so hell bent on pushing their own agenda, that it gets in my way. Well, enough of that. The end result was that the students rehearsed brilliantly last week, and work was a blast! My time on the podium is very rewarding under these circumstances, and teaching music is a distinct privilege for me. Now, back to the weekend. After school on Friday, I met Lisa at Bohemia, were we sat quietly and sipped an outstanding cup of coffee for about an hour. While we were there, a couple of my students came in and sat with us. They are both pretty good kids who expressed the same enthusiasm that I had for our week of rehearsal. After coffee, we got some takeout and went home for the evening. When we got home, Megan had already arrived from college for the weekend, and we stayed up until about 10:30 watching TV, talking, playing with the dog, and just sharing some laughs. Sounds dull? It was heaven to me. Having both the girls home and sharing time with Lisa and them is about as good as it gets. Saturday allowed me to sleep in until about 8:00 AM. I made some coffee, watched some news, got ready, and went uptown to pick up some flowers I had ordered the week prior for Valentine's Day. I got my flowers and cards, gave them to all the girls in my family, we had some breakfast together, and then began our individual Valentine's Day plans. Megan went with her boyfriend to Winston-Salem and had an early dinner at Red Lobster. Lauren went to the movies with some friends, and Lisa and I headed to Winston-Salem for an early dinner at Bonefish Grill. All the restaurants were packed. We arrived at Bonefish around 4:00 PM, to find that we got the last available table for walk-ins. Wow, I had some good luck! I'm still amazed. After dinner, we went to Krispy Kreme and got some doughnuts (all the doughnuts on Valentine's Day are shaped like hearts). We then did a little shopping and went home, where we enjoyed some quiet time of our own. On Sunday morning, I slept in until 7:45, made some coffee, had a doughnut, and got ready for church. I went to church and came home to have lunch mom and the rest of the family. Mom still enjoys cooking Sunday lunch for us all. Today we had country ham, biscuits, pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and cooked cabbage. During the day, we just sat around and enjoyed each others company. We talked, watched some TV, and made plans for the week. Lisa made a special beef roast dinner for the girls. After dinner, we packed Megan up for her journey back to college; and Lisa left for a workshop that she has out of town tomorrow morning. It may snow tonight, so she left early and is spending the night there. I guess all that sounded rather boring, but it was the best time that I could imagine for a weekend. Nothing major happened, we didn't go to a big sporting event or concert, and the thrills were minimal. There's nothing more important than family to me. Sitting here, I realize how very blessed I am on so many different levels. I have a very good job, a church that provides me with spiritual guidance, and a family that is second to none. I love my weekends, when I can settle down and appreciate all that my life holds. For all these things in my life, God is to be glorified!