Sisters Weekend

 Back when I was a missionary my four older sisters somehow all ended up in one place and that was the first annual sisters weekend. When I got back and got married, just three weeks later my parents flew me to Pennsylvania where Cindy lived for the second one (but my first). We did that for years; we would rotate houses and host and do fun things where we lived. We've had some drama ones (mostly because one of my sisters and I have had a hard time getting along well since I was 20) and some where we invited our parents, like when we went to Vermont for my dad's 80th birthday celebration or when we went to Rochester for my mom's 80th. One year our sisters weekend was when we spent the day at my nephew's wedding and one year it was our family reunion at the beach. Our last one was our first travel one; we went to Charleston and it was a cool city to visit but I had a rough time. I got very sick and felt so feverish and cold about halfway through so that wasn't fun. 

This year it was my turn to host and I suggested some places to travel but no one got very excited about my options and I wasn't going to press forward without some enthusiasm. So we pushed it from the fall to the spring and because we have no extra money right now, I said can it just be at my house, please. The last time they came here was 10 years ago (actually my one sister didn't even come that year) and somehow I was also sick and Josh was out of town last minute so I also had to take care of our young kids. It was pretty miserable and some things were said that really hurt my feelings so I was feeling a little, no, a lot, anxious about this time. But, I asked my ministering sisters to pray for me and I prayed a lot and fasted and worked really hard to make everything nice and hoped for the best. 

I spent all week working. I was subbing a lot, cleaning a lot, running so many errands to make sure we had everything I needed, and cleaning some more. They got here Thursday evening and we chatted a bit before everyone went to bed. 

Friday I drove us out to St. Clement's Island only to learn the water taxi isn't working (the website was wrong) and suddenly we had nothing to do. I was super bummed and frustrated but kept my cool and we decided to go hang out in Leonardtown. We went to Kneaded and visited Amanda for some tasty treats, walked down to the wharf, visited the Old Jail, even saw the stupid Moll Dyer rock (not my doing), three of my sisters went into the cat cafe to pet cats for 10 minutes, we had a nice lunch at the Front Porch and then went to the Salted Scoop for a flight of ice cream. (Which reminded me of when Sarah, Michelle, Kori and I did that at Disney and it made me happy).  We came home and played Loaded Questions and I made dinner and then we went to see Pride and Prejudice at NTP. I had already seen it with Josh and liked it better the first time but they did a great job and I think the sisters mostly enjoyed it. I catch myself taking things personally and can get upset if they don't like something or complain about it because it feels like they are rejecting or complaining about me since I picked the activity but I tried very hard not to feel that way this time. I am trying to not constantly seek their approval--after 45 years of that, it is time to be done! Friday was also Lily's last day of high school. I got to see her off but wasn't here when she got home--can't believe she's done. She was happy that on Friday she won the senior Iron Chef award--another of her goals accomplished!

 

 

Saturday we had talked about going to D.C. but we decided to stay closer to home and go to Calvert Cliffs instead. It was a beautiful day and we had a lovely walk to the beach, although a lady warned us about snakes and after that both Cindy and KayLee were super jumpy and nervous. We did see a copperhead but off the path so it wasn't a big deal and we wouldn't have noticed it if someone hadn't told us about it. We saw lots of turtles and the plants/flowers were beautiful and the beach was nice. Then we went to The Pier in Solomon's for lunch and it was good. We drove around a little bit then came home and played a few games. Then I had Curtis make us a fire and we had pasta salad and roasted our brats and had smores outside. It was such a beautiful day-I'm so grateful we had perfect weather while they were here. We played some bocce and talked. I'm grateful to have sisters who are all living the gospel and who can help us navigate taking a daughter to BYU and filling out mission papers and all that fun older kid stuff. 

 

 

Sunday we went to the LP ward sacrament meeting and then home for brunch and then they left for the airport and I went back to church for our second hour and then the linger longer and then a baptism. The girls had camp meetings and Josh had temple recommends interviews and then we watched the Amazing Race. Today I feel so tired and I had a doctor appointment and found out I am anemic so that's fun. I also asked her about my weigtt gain and she said there wasn't anything to be done between my PCOS and what she assumes is peri-menopause. Super. 

I forgot the best part of the week was Lily's scholarship dinner on Monday. She won a scholarship from the Rotary Club (only 15 out of 130 applicants) so she and two guests were invited to a special dinner at Olive Garden (Curtis and I went since Josh was sick and didn't want to be social) so we got a free and delicious dinner and she got money and it was a lovely evening. I don't usually get to hang out with the big kids if we have to split up and it was fun; they are some cool cats.  It was also Emma's chorus concert so Josh and Brandon went to that and then I hustled over there as soon as dinner was done and caught the last number that all the grades sang together. Then Josh took them to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and I ran a few errands. Tonight we're off to another scholarship awards ceremony, which is awesome but can I just say how happy I am that we are more than half-way through May?