Truly, I think everyone should be able to take advantage of the 4 day weekend more often. It is so refreshing and I think America's work force would be for the better if its laborers were as rested as I felt at the end of my Thanksgiving 2009 break. I'm not saying anything crazy like once a month or anything, but perhaps every 2 or 3 months wouldn't hurt. I suppose that is what vacation time is for. I digress.
Thanksgiving Day was nice and lazy. We slept in, watched the parade in the background as we slowly cleaned the house a little, nothing too demanding at all. We then headed over to a friend's house to chill as we waited for the arrival of a few other friends as well as Leni's parents with which we would be eating dinner. There were ten of us...not too few and not too many...just right if you ask me.
On Friday morning, Leni and his father got up before dawn for a little hunting. I was going to post a picture of the gutting process but I'll spare you :)
On Friday afternoon, we loaded up the truck with camping gear and the dogs and headed up to Barnwell Mountain where we like to go 4-wheeling and camping. Also in attendance were Leni's parents and their 2 hawks and 3 dogs as well as 3 other friends and their puppy. That's right...2 hawks, 6 dogs and 7 people. That's right...animals out-numbered the people!
The 4-wheeling portion of the trip was quite successful! We'd been hoping to take out a landcruiser that the guys have been building to send to Liberia for a missionary family but it just wasn't quite ready. We did, however, take out our 4-runner as well our friend Josh's 4-runner. Our 4-runner is gray one on the right and Josh's is the blue one on the left.
It was a first trip (aka "shakedown"...see post with shakedown discussion) for Josh's 4-runner and since it is a stock vehicle with no performance modifications like Leni's, no one quite knew what its limits would be. In the end, we were very impressed! Josh has graciously fixed up this truck for his brother-in-law, Brett, who obviously has yet to receive it. Doesn't it look great?
Josh's 4-runner did require some tows and some winching here and there but on the whole, I think its performance surprised everyone!
The other cool thing about the wheeling trip was the opportunity to share this recreational hobby in our life with Leni's parents. We got to take them out and it was wonderful to see them having so much fun. I could see the wheels turning (so to speak) in Leni's dad's head as he started asking questions about what it would take to get his own truck to perform similarly.
Check out this video of Leni's truck doing it's thing:
When we returned home on Saturday night, we were definitely (and happily!) exhausted. I think I was passed out by 8:30 PM. It was nice to get up, go to church, and then come home and rest for the afternoon and evening before returning to work on Monday.
Now, it is on to my final few work days before Leni's graduation weekend. My replacement started work this week. Meet Bri:
I originally hired Bri back in 2008 to work on our Ministry Staff here at The Pines. She helped facilitate the various programs that we offer that spring. Knowing her skills, we asked her to apply for my job back in the late summer/early fall when we started advertising for it. Probably close to 25-30 resumes were submitted and the camp director interviewed 10 or 12 people and through it all, Bri was offered the position and gladly accepted. It is great to have her here to overlap with me for 2 weeks because it is allowing me to work closely with her and orient her to her new role.
Other things to be excited about this week include a visit from The Pines' former Executive Director, Linda, whom I adore and cannot wait to see on Thursday! Visiting for the weekend will be another former Ministry Staff member, Stacy, who worked the same year as Bri 2 years ago. Should be another weekend for the books!
11 days until Leni graduates
Keep It Real!
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