Post Ad Litem

After class on Thursday, I just stayed in town. J & the boys drove down, arriving about midnight, in order to go to an appointment with the guardian ad litem early Friday morning. After about 5 hours of sleep, we went to the appointment, only to be told we'd been given the wrong time & would have to wait another hour. Ugh! I was sure glad I had brought a book! Boot & J got very bored & restless, but Pie was just fine because he had thought to bring his video game. After that appointment, we had lunch at BW-3, where we all ate wings & the boys won scads of toys from the claw machine. J won a Wonder Woman doll, too. The boys were so sweet...they gave a teddy bear they won to a darling little boy who was eating at a table near us. Boot even said it was okay to give him the Diego (from "Ice Age") he very much wanted for himself. After lunch, we conferred with our attorney for awhile. We picked up some groceries on the way back to my grands'. Once there, J started roasting a chicken while I fell into a deep nap over a Mary Engelbreit magazine. She & the boys watched James Bond with my granddad while I napped. J woke me just in time to make the mashed potatoes for dinner. We had some nice visiting time before bed.

Saturday morning, we visited some more, over a big omelet & sausage breakfast that J & Pie made for us. Then, we went down to visit J's folks. Her mom seems to be doing really well, although her blood sugar had a recent rise. She was really with-it, though. We took her some rose lotion & handsoap & a pink button-down shirt for J's dad. They were pleased with those, as with the Guideposts magazines my grandmom sent along. After the boys had gathered their swag bags, heavy with fruit & candy, we headed back to our "bed & breakfast" in the woods. We stopped at Target & Pie was able to buy himself the Lego Star Wars game he wanted. Once back at my grands', my aunt Jeanie called, so I got to talk to her. Then, we went to dinner at Los Mariachis, where I had their fabulous chile verde, pork chunks with a green chile sauce. After hours more visiting and Ohio State game watching, we all went to bed.

In the morning, we went to church, where Brendan preached on Esther. That was really interesting for me because I wrote a paper on Esther last fall. We visited for a long while at coffee hour and were presented with a going-away gift of a door knocker by the congregation. It's brass, with a blessing from the Psalms on all those coming & going from the house. Just lovely. I don't think we can put it on this door, but when we get our own house, it will go up right away. I spent some time talking pastor talk with Brendan in his office while J & Boot went over to check on the house. Then, Laura happened along, fresh from visiting the Buddhist temple with Kat. I talked to her about Sabbath practice & religious intolerance for awhile, then we hit the road. On the way home, Pie chose to ride with me so that he wouldn't have to tolerate his brother's incessant chatter. He played his video game & I listened to Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, each stopping when the other had something to say. We stopped at an outlet mall & poked around (I found a nice preaching outfit with grey skirt & red sweater set), then had dinner at Bob Evans before finishing the last leg of the trip. I spent the evening planning October dinners while Boot did homework, Pie played on his computer and J relaxed on the couch. After the boys went to bed, we watched Without a Trace before heading to bed & fairy tales ourselves.