Happy Mother's Day

I had a very busy weekend so far. Starting on Friday, which was supposed to be my day off, I had to attend a class at work on time management. I am still not sure exactly why I was included because almost all of the other people in the class were managers, supervisors and group leaders, but I figured, why not, let's see if I can play with the big dogs. The class was an all day affair and actually was pretty informative. There were lectures and then hands on implementation of what was taught, work simulations, etc. After our last exercise, we were given a clock that we built during our simulations. So, the benefit for me was, a free lunch, a clock, and some hands on experience of what managers do to try to make the work flow easier and keep the wasted time to a minimum. Oh and 8 hours of overtime.

After class I went to visit my Mom and ended up staying for dinner. My brother BBQ'd and we played cards before and after dinner. Not a bad evening and I figured I would just get my banking, food shopping and other various errands done on Saturday. I would be wrong. LOL

Saturday morning I got up early and started on my laundry. I got tied up on the phone though, and never made it out of the house on time. So I skipped the grocery shopping and banking, and decided I can do that on Sunday, since the rest of my day was pretty full. I made my way to the post office and then to Manchester to pick up a birthday gift for my friend Elaine. She and I went to High School together and her birthday is on the 28th. We were having lunch at noon so I wanted to make sure I had her gift with me. I had planned on picking that up last weekend, but got lazy and never made it to the Mall. I wandered around the Mall for 20 minutes before I saw the perfect thing. She has 4 grandkids and she's always bringing photos of them for me to see when we get together so I picked out a pretty photo album that holds 48 photos. It's got a bright yellow sunflower on the cover. I also filled a gift bag with various chocolates and a Powerball ticket. I hope she remembers me if she gets lucky.
Anyway, we met at Cactus Jack's Restaurant, which serves very yummy Mexican food. It was awesome to see her again, and since we figured out it had been almost 2 years since we last managed to pull this off, we ended up sitting at the restaurant after lunch for about 2 more hours, chatting away. Of course, she pulled out her envelope with recent photos of the kids and grandkids, so she was thrilled when she opened her gift bag and saw the photo album.

By the time I left the restaurant it was after 3pm and I headed home to take the dog out and make sure he was fed. I then headed over to Eric and Jessie's new apartment. They moved in about a month ago and Jessie called earlier in the week and asked me to come hang out with them. Jessie had prepared a wonderful dinner and we then played Monopoly for several hours. I got my butt whipped, but that's ok. Right before I left, Eric handed me a box from Zales Jewelers ^insert eye popping here^. Inside was a beautiful, delicate tennis bracelet with Opals (his birthstone) and tiny diamonds. I was floored! Sooooooo pretty. It is a combination Mother's Day and Birthday gift. He said he knew my birthstone is Emerald, but I already have a lot of Emerald stuff (he's right) so he decided on the Opal. He couldn't have made a better choice. It's lovely and although I don't wear much jewelry, I will wear this. He was a little disappointed that I didn't cry. He said he always goes for the tear factor. I will be sure to brag and show it off every chance I get.

So, that brings me to today. I still have to pick up some groceries and I did my banking online already. The rest of the day will be relaxing and hanging out with Cal. I spoke to Sara on Friday and she 'might' stop in for a visit this afternoon, but she still has 2 more finals to take so she's got a ton of studying to do. She also has to start moving out of her dorm soon since Graduation is next week.
On Friday, I am taking a half day off work to go to her Academic Awards Ceremony. She will be getting an award for maintaining a 3.5 average and I think she gets a special colored cord to wear with her cap and gown. Then Saturday morning is the BIG DAY! I'm so so excited. I am sure it is going to be a three ring circus since Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. are the Commencement speakers but I wouldn't miss it for the world. Pictures to follow! ;-)

I hope all you mom's have a Happy Mother's Day today.