my weekend at home

Here's the rundown on everything that happened going into this weekend and coming back:

• I told Sarah before we left to go to the Stinemetz' house that we would be going home. Her look was not one of joy. She began to think about the details she THOUGHT I might have missed. She smiled soon enough, though.
• Friday morning, I played football at the annual Turkey Bowl at HBC. The highlight of the day (at least for me) was when I lost my left shoe, my pants, and almost my boxers while I dragged a few players from the other team. I did not lose the football, which was the most important part. All that made me thirsty, so I drank a 2-liter of Cherry Coke by myselph.

• Friday afternoon, I met the newest member of the family. He's adorable, and he tells the best jokes. You should have heard them. His name is RJ Volz. Holding him was weird. I hadn't held a newborn since Nathaniel. He did not spit up on me, though, cause he loves his white Uncle Jeff.
• Friday night I went to Cousin's Tasty Chicken with my parents. I eat with them there every time I go home. I think I like the broasted chicken more than I like my parents...or maybe not. I'll get back to you.

• Saturday, we hung out with Shawn and Heather in the early afternoon, and then at Josh and Maureen's for dinner. Josh was hilarious. He made me tell a joke he brought up. I think he was afraid of crossing the line with his wife. Then again, he crossed the line more than once, and then he would start mumbling some compliments in an effort to redeem himself. Maureen wasn't falling for it, though.
• Saturday night, I decided out of nowhere to shave for the first time in a month. No shave November ended early. Much to my delight, I still only had one chin.

• Sunday we went back to Heritage for the first time in years. It was a little weird going back to a more traditional church now that I've been at New Hope, but it would be spurious of me to say I did not enjoy it. Oh yeah, Pastor used the term "spurious consecration." It was awesome.
• Sunday night we visited the Gathering. It was like a little piece of New Hope at Heritage. We both enjoyed it. The only sad thing was that everyone there was in our small group when they were in junior high. Now they're in college.
  
• Monday we tried to leave for home, but we got pummeled with snow. We didn't make it very far before we turned around and headed back to Aunt Sue's place.
  

This is the best time I've had at home in years. RJ probably has a little something to do with that. The last time I went home and met a new family member was four years ago when I met Elizabeth. I think the other thing was that we had time to relax, and we didn't to drive 24 hours to get there. It's been a while since we had quality time to spend while visiting home. The last few times have seemed like a whirlwind, and I was more tired and aggravated when I left then when I got there. Three more weeks and we'll get to do this all over again.