And ending to a good day

Church was great today. I was asked to give the closing prayer in sacrament meeting. I was really hoping that I'd be able to feel the Spirit so that I could have a meaningful, heartfelt prayer. And I did. And it was. And I went to gospel doctrine class feeling really great.

Our missionaries are leaving. Elder R and his Eternal Companion will be released from their mission on Wednesday. They will be sorely missed. They have done such a wonderful work here in our area and we have grown to love them so much. It will be hard to see them go. So tomorrow we're going to the park for dinner to say good bye and thank you. It should be a great time.

This afternoon I took a nap. It was close to 2 hours long. 'Nuff said.

I cooked dinner today instead of resorting to cold cereal and eggs or leftovers. My family hates leftovers & I hate cold cereal. So there's no happy medium there. Popeye was happy to have a hot meal before going to work. Usually, on Sundays, I wake up late from my nap that I can't get a hot meal on the table before he heads off to work (thus resulting in the cold cereal and leftovers). His being happy makes me happy.

I've been wanting to go say hello to our new neighbors that just moved in this week. So when I was cleaning up from dinner, I saw that they had just pulled in the driveway. So I grabbed a jar of peaches and headed over to say hello. They are young. They love kids (even though they don't have any of their own right now). And Popeye being a cop was the deal maker for them (which is nice to know that there are no meth labs being brewed across the street). They were pleasant to talk to. I had been wanting to take them peaches all week long and finally did it. And boy was I glad. Mrs. A told me that she had been talking to her sister about how no one in the neighborhood came to say hello and that she was thinking of baking bread to take to everyone else. I am so glad that I took that first step towards a good neighborly relationship.
We have our Christmas party coming up and it will be a wonderful opportunity to share a wonderful night with this new couple. They only drink on occasion (like work Christmas parties, etc...) and they don't smoke. While we were visiting I never heard a curse word or the Lord's name used vainly. I'm just really excited about them. And I'm glad.

I talked with a friend earlier about some issues I had with her (she was invading my territory calling-wise) and it went over well. She was appreciative of how I handled things & spoke to her. So now we're good. She also happens to be my visiting teacher and came to visit me last week. I know, SHOCKER! My VTers NEVER come. So that was nice. While we were visiting we were talking about our kids. Her oldest just turned 16 and is just a nice kid. He doesn't give her a whole lot of grief and makes really good choices. I asked her if she ever told him how much that means to her and she said, "No, not really." So today while we were talking I asked her if she had done it yet & she said, "Actually, no. But I will." So I challenged her this week to single him (and the other kids, too - there are 6) out and give him praise. So often we take for granted the "good" kids (Optimus Prime is my good one) that they often get lost in the cracks because we're busy trying to keep the others on the straight and narrow. So that was my challenge for her this week. And she is supposed to return and report next week.
Apparently she thought it would be wise to issue ME a challenge. ME! Her Royal Highness!!! She wants me to go to bed before 11:00 in the evening 5 of the 7 days this week, starting today.
Uh huh. That's going to be a tough one. I've been hitting the sack past 12:30 for the last 5 days or so and she thought it would be expedient for me to accept this challenge.
While it will be easy for me to fall asleep by 11:00, something's going to give. It will be one of a few things: my home and the cleanliness thereof, my projects that are sitting here on my desk, or my laundry. So hopefully I'll be able to pull myself together enough to get things done during the day & prioritize my time in such a way that will allow me to keep on top of things.
And it's only a week, right? So, my house can suffer for a week.

And I think lastly, maybe not, I have my doctor's appointment this week for my ultrasound! Be on the lookout for that post! We get to video tape it and I'll be posting it Wednesday night! The cool thing for me is that it will be in 3D as opposed to the 2D crap I've had to deal with for the last 4 babies. It leaves me a little nervous because I am a self-proclaimed expert when it comes to deciphering ultrasound photos. I mean, I saw Optimus Prime's 'unit' before the US tech did. But this will be a new experience for me. So wish me luck! And THINK PINK!!!!

Okay, one last thing and then I'll be done. On the note of babies, today was the last day for me to enter to win the "Best of Both Worlds Sweepstakes" at gapmaternity.com. (Yeah, I'm still humming the Hannah Montana song...and you're welcome for that tune in your head now.) I've gone to their website daily (really! DAILY!) since August 4th in hopes of being the grand prize winner. The grand prize winner gets "The best of both worlds"!!! Which is: $1000 shopping spree to gapmaternity.com (which I could really use since almost all of my maternity clothes are WAY too big) and about $3k in baby furniture, supplies & clothes from gapbaby.com. Now, I still have a crib. But Thor is still sleeping in it. And I'd really like him to have a bed (the crib is convertible) so I could use another bed for baby #5. So if it's too much to ask, would you ALL (and I mean even you readers that don't leave comments, because I know you're out there & I know where to find some of you) PLEEEEEEEASE ask God above to grant me this thing. I really, really, really, need to win & it would really, really, really help a lot. So, um, pray - will ya?

I think that's it. It's just been a great day & I thought I'd share. I hope your weekend was wonderful and that this week will be nice and smooth for all.

I'm off to read your blogs now!

**Little update - like, 1 hour post original post - Popeye just came home with the officer he's training & he wants to come to Mr. Fantastic's baptism on the 26th. I didn't even have to invite him, he asked if he could come! How cool is THAT!?**