Not a bad Monday so far...

Wait, did we just have a weekend? Because I barely remember mine...

Half my weekend was taken up with a Christian conference for teen girls. It was a couple hours on Friday night, and all day Saturday. Only a couple teens from our church went, but I wanted t go along to check it out--I'd heard of this conference before, but had never been. I think I enjoyed it as much as (or more than) they did. The speakers were obviously gearing their talks toward teenage girls, but the music was just my style. I think I even discovered a couple favorite new artists. So it wasn't a bad way to spend the day Saturday--it was just a long day.

Sunday was church, with a potluck dinner afterwards, which stretched the day out a little longer. We got home, and no sooner did we walk in the door than we got a call that Wayne's granddad had died. Wayne and his mom, Lorraine, live with his grandfather/her father. When they got home, they found him sitting at the kitchen table, but face-down on the table--his favorite spot to relax and roll cigarettes. Tony took off right away to be with them, while I called my mom and made arrangements for her and Dad to watch Ari so that I could go be with Wayne and Lorraine too. At this point, Ari was in desperate need of a nap and had hardly eaten lunch, so I knew she would be even more of a handful than usual if I tried to bring her along. Luckily, my awesome parents were willing to watch her on such short notice, and as we talked, we just decided they would keep her overnight. Mondays are Mom's day to watch Ari anyway, and we figured we'd probably be out late anyway, so it would make no sense to pick Ari up after she was already asleep for the night, just to bring her back in the morning.

I packed Ari up quickly and tried to lay her down for a nap at Mom and Dad's, but she was having none of that. Finally, after a few of my failed attempts, Dad went and got her and prepared to feed her. I heard later that she ate great for them and was in a good mood, which was a relief to hear. I felt so bad dropping off a tired, hungry baby. (And, believe me, I offered her just about every kind of food there was at the church potluck, and she refused ALL of it--even the stuff I know she likes.)

When I got to Wayne and Lorraine's, the funeral home workers were there, along with a police officer (and, I think a coroner). I greeted Wayne and Lorraine with hugs, and stayed with them in the living room while the funeral home workers and Tony, Pastor, and Dawn cleaned up in the kitchen. After that was all taken care of, we all went back to Pastor and Dawn's house, to get Wayne and Lorraine away from their house and to keep them company for a while.

My heart is breaking so much for them. Wayne is one of our closest friends, and his mom is one of the sweetest, most generous people you will ever meet. We have known them both for over 9 years, and they have become especially dear friends in the past few years.

So I get into work early this morning, feeling on the verge of tears. I have barely seen my sweet little monkey all weekend, and I'm still hurting for Wayne and Lorraine. Add to that my perpetual tiredness, and you have one very weepy Sara.

So my boss comes in to work today... well, let me back up a little. The general procedure around here is that when someone new is hired, they have a little reception for them--usually first thing in the morning, with breakfasty-type foods like bagels, pastries, coffee, etc.--so that they can be introduced to everyone. Because I started working here as a temp, then as a long-term temp, before finally being hired as a permanent employee, I never got a welcome reception. I tease my boss about it every now and then--like, for example, when someone new is hired in our department. Of course, I don't mind at all that I never got a reception--it's just fun to give her a hard time about it.

When I had my review with her on Friday, she mentioned that the company used to do a "promotion breakfast" with newly-promoted employees--every so often they would have one, and include whoever had been promoted since the last one. She was a little unsure if the company was still doing it, though, and she was racking her brain trying to remember when the last one was. Of course I couldn't miss the opportunity to tease her once again--saying that since I never got a welcome reception, I wasn't going to hold my breath about this promotion breakfast either.

So this morning, Sharon comes in carrying a huge basket, which she sets down in the empty desk area right behind my cubicle. Then, she loudly announces to the room that I got promoted, and since I never got my welcome reception and love to tease her about that all the time, she had made some goodies to celebrate my promotion. In the basket were homemade (yes--homemade) blueberry and raspberry/lemon muffins, and she also brought in a homemade fruit salad, and a box of chocolates (stating, as she opened it, that she had to bring chocolate because she knows how much I love it). Everyone gathered around the food display and congratulated me on my promotion, and I had to fight back tears. You see why I love my job?

She fretted out loud about not having any "pretty plates" (all she had were red plastic ones), and I couldn't resist the chance to jump in with, "Man, so not only is my reception 3 years late, but now I don't even get pretty plates?" I love that I can joke around with her like that.

And let me just add, those blueberry muffins are to die for, which I have already told her about 3 times. What a fanstastic way to start what I thought was going to be a dreary Monday.