What the heck?: It must be Love

The text read, "clear your calendar from Friday night to Sunday night. I want to take you away for your birthday." *sigh* Is that sweet or what? I know I'm going to disappoint a lot of people when I tell you that my first reaction was not one of excitement and enthusiasm but something more like this:

"This weekend? Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what we have going on this weekend? Gabe has not one but two soccer games and a soccer party, it is our turn to put up flags for September 11th, Christian is playing a tennis match and has Homecoming and we are in charge of the neighborhood Walk and Talk. We can't possibly be gone. Who am I going to get to cover the myriad of carpools and events?"

I am happy to report that my sweet husband never knew of my evil thoughts because I pulled myself together as I thought about the implications of my reaction and my decision. How often does my husband do something like this? (Rarely. O.K. never) Is there ever a good weekend to be gone?(no) And the clincher.. was that I have been praying for an opportunity to feel closer to my husband. Certainly there has been no animosity or hard feelings between us. It's more a lack of opportunity due to time and distance and...let's be honest... technology. "They" say the definition of an idiot is someone who does the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result. I regret to admit that for the past long while in my quest for better communication with my husband I qualified perfectly. Lucky for me, the Lord heard my prayers and blessed me with two good friends whose patience and example have pricked my conscience and opened my eyes. I may still be squinting somewhat, but I can definitely see better. As it turns out, the mote I thought was in my eye was really a beam and the responsibility and opportunity falls to me to make a change. This trip only helped to solidify my resolve. It was a sweet, sweet birthday for me.

And the location of our getaway? Let's just say we had a BALL!!

THE 2010 U.S. OPEN

Have you ever seen the show, Monk? About an obsessive compulsive detective? One of his quirks is that he has to count everything to make sure that they are in even numbers. This guy was the real deal. He was counting the tennis balls on this airplane. No kidding.