The Weekend's Activities

Ok, now that I'm back among the living, here's what happened during this action packed weekend (that probably sent me right into the afore mentioned flu):

First, the GCC staff Christmas party on Friday night. Had a great time hanging out with the Lawleys, Rosanders, Beesons and Kim V. Delicious food and great company - what could be better? We, of course, had the traditional "white elephant" gift exchange - which is actually not your traditional white elephant - they're valuable gifts (mostly gift certificates to favorite spots and stuff like that). But they are exchanged in very unusual ways. It's Mark's time in the spotlight...because he doesn't get enough stagetime! ;) Then Hacienda afterward with a few close friends, and what happens at Hacienda stays at Hacienda!


Saturday - Abby's FIFTH Birthday!! We tried something new by having it in the morning (it's a long story) with Krispy Kreme's, Panera Cinnamon Crunch bagels and coffee - YUM! Nothing like sugar and more sugar, followed by some...sugar! Birthday cake! Needless to say, we had a handful of kids with a lot of energy running around the house. It was a lot of fun, and Abby had a great time being all dressed up with her best friends. After the party, a handful of friends hung around, had some lunch and and watched Wrestlemania 2005 in our family room - "Kids Against Corey" - it was insane! At one point they were jumping ON him from the couch at he protected his sensitive mid-section with one of the cushions. They LOVE Mr. Corey, for obvious reasons. Who else (besides their dad) would put up with that?


Saturday night was the big Christmas program at church when the kids got to sing on stage. There's nothing more entertaining than watching your kids' personalities shine on stage in front of hundreds of people. It's amazing how different two kids from the same parents can be. Jacob started on us a couple weeks before the program - he didn't want to get on stage because he's "shy." That's right - I said shy. Don't ask me where he got this stuff. I've never seen the kid act shy a day in his life! However, when he got on stage...he was all business. Serious look on his face - pure concentration. It was especially funny because I could see exactly what he was staring so intently at - it was the screen in the back of the auditorium that had the words to the songs on it. This is the first year he could actually READ those words, and he was quite pleased with that. He wasn't so much keeping up with the song as he was just trying to get all of the words before the powerpoint screen changed. He did a great job - exactly what we asked of him - his very BEST!!
A study in contrasts - Abby. She couldn't WAIT for this weekend to roll around for her big moment in the spotlight. Truly her dramatic mother's daughter! She was all smiles, huge motions, a few words here and there, and definitely in her element! I couldn't be more proud of both of them - each did their best as they knew how to do it, and they gave Adam and me (and Grandma and Uncle Steve and Aunt Jessica...)the opportunity to sit out in the audience beaming and clicking away.

Finally, Sunday. VIP night at Pages In Time. We invite 360 of our best customers for an exclusive night of shopping after-hours at a 25% discount. We feed them, we do make and takes, and generally just show them how much they are valued. The best part is that most of them seem to really appreciate it. That's always a nice payoff. For being an extra night of work this week, it was pretty painless, and we all earned a bonus of shrimp cocktail and cheesecake - that could make just about anything worthwhile!

That brings us to Monday, the day of the flu. But you've already heard enough about that! ;)