Happy New Week!

What an amazingly gorgeous weekend God blessed us with. And I confess I spent precious little of it outside, but I got a little rest, and more importantly, I got a new car.

Old news to those of you on facebook and Twitter, but, yes, we managed to get a new-to-us car before the Expedition completely dropped dead. I can now drive carpool without my stomach being in knots wondering if I will make it back to the house.

We got a Maxima. And, it's still 3 years old (Expedition was 9) but, hey, some things have changed in vehicles since 2000! It's bluetooth capable, so I can punch a button on my steering wheel, say, "call Troy office" and voila, I'm talkin' to Troy (or, more likely, his answering machine -- I can't ever catch him in the office). The seat moves out to let me out when I park, then back in when I start the engine -- like my own personal concierge!

Yes, I am country gone big city in my car! Driving around like Gomer Pyle saying, "Goooolllleee! What will they think of next?" Just craziness. And such a blessing.

Riley, my, um, petite-ish 11 year old is thrilled that the airbag will shut itself off when a petite-ish person is sitting in the front seat. At 80 pounds, his life's longing has been to sit in the front seat for a while. We already have a fight-reducing plan for that!

Part of my weekend was birthday-celebrating my friend Denise. Some of us from Coffee Group gathered for a brunch and laughed together. Donna pointed out how wonderful it was that we all knew -- Denise doesn't do cheese, I don't do coffee and my Diet Coke was chilling for me when I got there. I hope I never take for granted that I am blessed with a group of women that know. Not just my Diet Coke affinity (if you've been at the COTR for very long, you know that) but my history, my hurts, my peeves, my soapboxes, my laughter triggers. I am amazingly blessed in that group.

I also made a blog roll. Donna, it's quite tasty. Give it a try! I'm sure I've forgotten someone. Please leave a comment and let me know if you don't see you on there!

So here we are on Monday morning. Ever since I have been home with the kids when Ashley was born, I have LOVED Mondays. When the kids were little bitty, Sundays were SO hard, and Monday was a day to re-group, clean up, and relax. Even with the jobs I've had since the kids have been in school, I still generally love Mondays. It's a fairly unscheduled day, and it's kind of like every week's New Year's Day -- you get to start it all over, get a fresh start, try to get it right this time. Ever hopeful, I guess.

I think I'm looking forward to a little big easier schedule than I had last week. But I always am just a little lonely without my family that I enjoyed over the weekend -- it's never quite enough for me.

In July I will be joining my daughter and 19 other 7th and 8th graders on a mission trip to South Texas. Those of us going -- parents and youth alike -- are required to attend training time and part of that is scripture memory. So I am memorizing Ephesians 2:10 right now:

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God has prepared some good work for you to do today! You are His workmanship! May you find His strength and might to do the good works He has prepared for you.