My Monday Post...recap of the weekend

This has nothing to do with my weekend, but just something God's been speaking to my heart...

One thing I don't want to do is live my life in guilt. I don't want to live my years wishing I'd done better about the past and walking in guilt of it. I don't want to make decisions based on guilt. I need to face the reality of my problems and in Christ's strength overcome them. But after they've been dealt with, let them go, because Christ paid for it all when He died on the cross. He set me free from shame, guilt, sin and death! Praise God.

Lord, help me to live in your liberty. Help me to not base my decisions on guilt or what others think, but what is right and how your Spirit leads. Amen!

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Valentine's Day was very busy for us, and not quite what we had planned, but turned out to be a special family time.

We got after getting to sleep in! I usually get up at 5:30/6:00 with the hubs, so sleeping in 'til 7:30 was a luxury! I drove to the gym and did my workout. I pushed myself super hard, going 7 miles on the elliptical. I was gettin' myself ready for a nice dinner :) I'm actually really glad I did it. And I got there early enough that not everyone was hogging the equipment.

Then I went home, cleaned myself and my home up and created the program for my piano session at Weatherly Inn. The time there was sweet. Several of the residents were singing along, and hearing their accompanying voices reminded me that despite their Alzheimers state, music is a powerful thing. Brings back ageless memories. Some that were popular were I'll Be Seeing You, Younger than Springtime, Somewhere My Love, and I even threw in Lavendar Blue (Dilly, Dilly) from the 1940s So Dear to My Heart. An old man next to me started singing Baby Mine and tears came to my eyes. That song forever reminds me of my Amelia. So even amidst the hubbub inside the room, her memory came fresh to my heart.

I forgot to mention that in the midst of all this, we had our blue-eyed nephew, Jacob, in our care!

When I came home, I got ready to go to an yearly dinner. We ended up taking Brilla with us! And after me saying in my last post that there was no way this was happening. Ha! God sure has a sense of humor. But it was great. We had so much fun wiht B coming along because we would've had to go all the way to Tacoma to drop her off, then drive up north 30 min, drive back south another 30 min.. Our dear friend DeLynn had offered to watch Brilla. And we were thankful for that because all of our usual sitters (whom I even called 2 wks in advance!!) just happened to already have plans - even the single and non-dating ones :D

We ate a yummy, though over-priced meal. I got a gorgonzola, demi-glazed New York steak with mashed taters and roasted zucchini. Mike got the salmon with a kind of pilaf. Truth be told, I could have made just as good dishes at home for a fraction of the price, but it was nice to get away. We don't eat out that often these days. Then we went to the mall and walked around. Yes, one of our favorite things to do if you haven't noticed! But really, they had a Borders and play area for Brilla, the main reason why we went. And we thought we'd grab a dessert in the process. Our laugh for the night is when Mike and I looked up from our magazines at Borders just in time to catch Brilla picking her nose with one of the tissue papers that was separating pages in a book. Well, looks like the real thing, don't it? ;)

Insert: my sweet hubby surprised me with a dozen gorgeous pink roses! I have just today gotten time to separate, trim, etc. and place them in the perfect vase. He also gave Brilla just the right gift: a Happy Valentine's Day balloon! She loves it! She was thrilled that it was a heart AND had two 'P's on it (ya know, HaPPy). The simple joys at 2 years.

We ended not getting dessert, so after putting Brilla down for early retirement, we ate our dangerous triple-chocolate brownies we already had at home. Munched on those and watched a recent episode of Law & Order. It was a good one.

What a beatifully blessed day.