Vacation and the start of my 3-day weekend! (Friday, 07/10/09)

I have (or had) 6 days of vacation to use before Mid-August. So I asked my boss if it was okay if instead of taking those six days all together in one week, I could take the next six Fridays off, giving me six three-day weekends. I told him it would allow me to get most of my work done during each four days, and he wouldn't have me gone for such a long period, in which he'd have to reassign my work. He agreed, and told me he'd look into it. The following day, I was given the okay!

That being said, Friday was my first of six three-day weekends I'll get to have!

First thing we did after waking up and getting breakfast, was head over to BioLife to give plasma. It's an extra way to get some cash, so we've been doing it when we can. They recently opened up a new building, and at times they have free child care while you give plasma. We decided to try it out, and were pleased. The play area for the kids is secure, and nicely outfitted. The kids had a great time in there while we were plugged up to the machines.

We put in "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" when we got home. The kids watched it while I worked on some home videos and Lydia worked on some of her stuff. Lydia left at 11:30 to go have lunch with one of her friends, so I made one of my favorite foods. Now if any of my coworkers read this, I didn't eat potted meat. We had none! I made lemon pepper fish fillets! And oh, where they good! I fed the kids and we all took naps. Malachi was put in his own bed, but since I decided that I was going to crash on the couch, I gave Mysia the option of sleeping on the floor in the living room. She thought that would be cool, and it saved me from fussing with her to take a nap. I knew she'd want to stay up and play, and I didn't want her to keep Malachi from napping. It also turned out well, because to her it made me a "cool" daddy. Just because I let her sleep on the floor! ....on the floor!!!! Crazy kid!

When Lydia got back, we packed into the car and headed on an hour-long drive. Our destination was Circle of Hope, a Christian girls ranch that Lydia's sister, Adria, works on staff. They have horses, chickens, cows, ponies, longhorns, dogs, and cats. Mysia was thrilled that one kitten was gentle and allowed it to hold it. In fact, Mysia had that kitten in her arms for most of the time we were there. She was so fond of that thing.

Now if any person who is reading this thinks that Mysia needs a kitten, and is getting the notion to go buy her one... STOP! Lydia and I are not cat lovers. I'm sorry, but we're not. We hope to someday get a dog, but even that is something we are not looking into for the time being. That being said, let me go back to my story........

Malachi was thrilled to be able to roam around and look at all the animals. The first things that really caught his attention were the geese, ducks, chickens, hens, roosters.... and boy, what a racket! I made sure that Malachi stayed back far enough so that he wouldn't loose a finger. Every time one of the roosters crowed, Malachi would echo back! It was so funny!

Another thing that Malachi got to do was feed the calves. They had a great big bottle of milk that they feed them, and he got to hold it through the fence. It was funny o watch them fight over the bottle while Malachi was trying to hold it. I was afraid that Malachi would try the bottle, but I guess he knew better. Mysia just stood back with the kitten in her arms and watched. She wasn't about to let that thing go!

Lydia decided to get on one of the horses. Once up there, she was short enough that they had to adjust the stirrups up as far as they could go. We was finally able to get Malachi interested to sit on a horse. However, it had to be with mommy! After Lydia was done, I decided to go ahead and get on. They then had to adjust the stirrups once again! I wasn't on there long before Malachi wanted up with me. So we rode a round for quite a while, and he didn't want down when I decided it was time to get off. So, we put him on there all by himself as they led the horse to the hitching post.

It was beginning to sprinkle, so we headed indoors, and not much later they had supper prepared. We ate, enjoyed some conversation, and then headed home. Like usual, we gave the kids showers, and put them to bed.

I got to talk to my brother BJ for an hour. Come to find out, he obviously keeps up with this blog! He asked on whether I had heard from the police on those guys who egged my house on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I haven't. But I'm sure I scared them good enough! Anyway, BJ and I had a good talk, mostly about the Scripture. By the time we got off, it was bedtime!

~Matt