And thus ends your weekend....turn back over and go back to sleep.............

Honest.

Highlights of the weekend:

1) I fell asleep sometime after 1am Saturday morning; woke up to get my medicine, found it hard to sleep (even during the early morning hours) so I took a pill to help me sleep, and sleep I did.

All day.

Really.

Missed the draft, the thunderstorm; heck the new Pope could have stopped by and I wouldn't have known.

Finally, around 9pm-ish, I got up to take night medicine, eat a little, and go back to bed after catching up quickly on the draft picks of the day. No depression in this episode. I was absolutely spent after the previous four days.

Gosh, I used to be able to stay up 21 hours a day with little problem. Now I have no problem staying in bed that long......

Today was Youth Sunday at church, which, for me, is the cool Sunday where kids get to do some stuff I usually do and, therefore, thankfully get a bit of a break.

What do I mean? Picture this:

Here's the order of worship and who does what:

Announcements: Me

Praise & Worship: Me and my daughter

Opening Prayer, Lord's Prayer, Gloria Patri: Me

Responsive Reading: Me

Hymn of Praise: Led by me

Special music: I sing in the choir; when the men of the church sing, I'm there, and I do a solo the first Sunday of each month.

Children's Sermon: Me

After meet and greet, we all sit down (except me) to listen to, well, me (prayerfully speaking through the Spirit and not by my pea-brain).

Then, responsive hymn, led by me.

Intercessory prayer time, led by, ah, me.

Tithes and offerings: Ushers can't pick up the plates themselves, I have to go down and give them to them.

Benediction in the closing circle: Usually me, but I can and do hand that off to a few I have confidence in to do it well.

The end...

Except for having to run to the back to shake hands; which is so important to some people in the church; but I see as rather plastic. Point being this.....our church has two ways in and out that are used constantly every week. So, I see the same people most weeks, and lots of parents picking up children after children's church elect to go out the side door, and I really need to be plugging into those families, being they are the future of the church. No, that does NOT mean I push anyone to the side; but the physical make up of the church and the "tradition" of the pastor at the front door after service actually are keeping me from some very important contacts and conversations.

Tradition that doesn't matter versus relationship. I guess Tom Brokaw had this problem when the producer of NBC Nightly News had a brainstorm one day and said, "Tom! You don't have to sit at that desk during the whole show!!!" Imagine the desk purists of network news watchers. They probably haven't watched since.

Then, after church (oh, first)---Robbie got sick shortly into our trip, so I turn around and take him and Mom home, and Rachel and I head back out and still get there with two minutes to spare. :)

Now, after church it's Dad/daughter time. Get gas, buy a snack, drive across town to Lowes for a plant, some potting soil and some pebbles for her science project. Chilly outside in the garden center, so I end up giving up my suitcoat and putting it on her so she'd stop chattering (neither one of us was expecting 48 degrees at 2pm). After much walking and deliberation, she picked her plant. We then discovered their bags of soil and rock were, well, I can't pick 'em up anymore, so, we pay for the flower, and go through the parking lot to the yikky WalMart (hey, it was close) to buy aquarium rocks and a small bag of potting soil.

Done, mission accomplished.

SIDEBAR: The reason why I can't stand that WalMart is the same reason why I can't stand every WalMart I've ever seen except the one in Ashland, Virginia. Too big, too many people walking where I should be able to drive, overall lack of courtesy, and usually, too many lines, not enough lit-up registers, except today, I did walk right up, so kudos to them for that.

Oh, and let's never forget the time I went up to a friendly Wal-Mart employee to ask them where I could find something, and, their answer was, and I quote, "UUUHHHHH???" Yes, they grunted at me.

Now, back to Sunday---

When I was young a fast food stop was the closest experience to heaven, being I lived in the middle of nowhere. My kids don't have a clue. Case in point; it's not good enough to go get fast food, we (being our kids) want to go to our distinctively favorite (and different) locations, so, off to Burger King for Rachel, and across the street to Wendy's for Robbie.

By this time we are past the 3pm hour. It feels like the ride home from church that won't end until it's just time to turn around and go back the next Sunday.

Finally, we're home. Robbie's feeling better (he gets the darndest migraines which make him throw up, and, after awhile, he gets better.....)

Mom takes Rachel to Awanas, I pick her up, we have a discussion of spiritual concepts, and good night to the kids.

And so, here I am, ready to kick again, knowing at 7am tomorrow I have no choice but to "kick it into gear" so family is fed, clothed, etc.

But, having said that.....another 21 hour nap sure has its pull, too.....