Three day weekend

We have really enjoyed our three-day weekend. It's amazing how much-needed this break is! I mean, W and I just had two weeks off of school/work, but I have just been exhausted. Should a person really need a vacation AFTER a vacation? Maybe so.
On Friday afternoon, after school, W and I went to Market Fair, this mall that's nearby that has some fancier fare. We had fun in the toy store, where W played at the train table. W enjoyed a small bowl of sugar-free chocolate ice cream, which really is quite delicious. He got it all over his shirt, which really bothered him, but I was able to Shout! it out when we got home. It was super-cold; I think the high on Friday hovered around 17.
When we awoke on Saturday morning, our temperature gauge read "4.3". That's right. FOUR-POINT-THREE DEGREES. I immediately called my dad, a complete weather freak, to let him know about the cold. Seriously, I cannot remember actually being somewhere that got that cold. Even when I was at Smith I don't recall the temperature getting that low; I think I would have remembered that. So it didn't get much warmer on Saturday than it did on Friday, but we got out and about. We drove down to Hamilton because there is a Chick-Fil-A with a decent indoor play place. First, though, we went to the Barnes and Noble there; they have a really nice Thomas train table set-up. While W was playing at the train table, Mike and I switched off watching him and wandering around the bookstore. At one point, we smelled something a little (well, a lot) funky. Mike, angel that he is, volunteered to take W to the bathroom to change him. God bless him. Mike said it was the worst diaper he's experienced in a VERY long time. Very tenacious poop ALL OVER. I think he had to resort to dampening the paper towels, which W did NOT appreciate at all. Boy, was I glad I missed out on that one.
After that, and lunch, we did a quick trip into Wal-Mart to get some hygeine items for Levi Sunday. Once a year, our church has what we call "Levi Sunday". After a brief worship service, the congregation disperses and goes to different work stations to work on service projects for the Trenton area. There was a station for assembling lunches for TASK (Trenton-Area Soup Kitchen), one for putting together hygeine kits for folks and one for making cards for shut-in's, nursing home residents, and hospital patients. After working a while, we all enjoyed subs from Wa-Wa. Yum. Oh, and everyone wore jeans. Bonus, on a day as cold as it was. It's called Levi Sunday not because of the jeans, though. The Levites were set apart to do service in the ancient Temple; our church strives to avoid making a distinction between worship and mission/community work, or hearing and doing. I think it's so important to combine the two; too often, we think of a church building as THE PLACE to worship God. However, our worship of God should be evident in our daily lives and actions, not just for an hour on Sunday.
Anyway, after church, we went to a neighbor's house for their son's 2nd birthday party. It was really time for W's nap, so we didn't stay long, but it was fun nonetheless. I think W was a little done with celebrating birthdays, as we had been to another friend's child's 2nd birthday party the evening prior. He was a good sport, though. He's definitely a bit of a wall-flower, especially around big crowds and people he doesn't know, but so are his parents, so he gets it honestly.
We watched the playoff games yesterday. Can I be honest? I am SO GLAD the Eagles didn't win. Philly fans can be really obnoxious; it was bad enough that the Phillies won the World Series. I don't think any of us could have survived a Super Bowl victory! While watching the games, I managed to get some laundry done, as well as a draft "dodger" sewn for the bottom of our front door. The door just doesn't fit well, and even though we also have a storm door, the cold air comes in sometimes. So I got a little bit of corduroy fabric from the Red Tag section at Jo-Ann's and sewed a tube, filled it with bird seed (hope it doesn't attract critters!), and volia! Drafts dodged! We'll see how effective it is...
Mike took W on the train this morning. This is sort of a weekly outing for them. Since Mike has a monthly parking and train pass for his NYC commute, it doesn't cost a dime for them to take a little ride. They ride from Hamilton up to New Brunswick, get Dunkin' Donuts, and ride back. W loves the train, and Mike adores the alone time they get. I get to vacuum and catch up on whatever else needs doing. Everyone wins!
Back to the grind tomorrow. But really, I love my job. It IS work, but I enjoy it so much, it doesn't feel like "work". I know how fortunate I am to have my child in such a wonderfully nurturing environment, especially since I am in the same building with him and can sneak peeks into his classroom every once in a while! It really is a dream-come-true.