Lots of Blessings

Today starts the beginning of a new week, and I'm looking forward to lots of fun events. Today is Father's Day, and I am looking forward to see my dad this evening for a family dinner. Wednesday evening I join my husband at a special work dinner where we celebrate the men in blue and have an enjoyable evening with his good friends and co-workers. Thursday is my monthly mommy meeting with a group of the sweetest, most fun gals ever. Too, I get to start shopping for a glamorous maternity dress this week, to wear to my brother's upcoming wedding. It is five weeks before my baby brother is hitched- how the time flies!

Last week was a great one! Last Sunday I went to two church festivals (one in the morning right after church, the second in the evening at another location) and had lots of great food (gyros and loukomades, which are fried dough balls that are smothered in honey and sprinkled in cinammon...yummy!), saw family I haven't seen in a long while (and we happily got to tell the news of our Great Expectation to them all), and enjoyed the very beautiful weather.


On Tuesday my husband treated me to my first every pregnancy massage...it was at a lovely salon called "Maximus" in New York, and basically is very similar to a regular Swedish massage, except that the tummy and lower back are pretty much avoided. I really enjoyed that treat, and needed it! I hope he'll treat me to at least one more before I'm due ;-)

On Wednesday, my wonderful mother-in-law had a dining room set delivered to my home, with a beautiful break front, and a chandelier made of brass with frosty glass covering the bulbs. It was from an estate sale, and replaced my very old, rather beaten dining room set that was too small to entertain very large parties with. I told her my dream of having large family get-togethers sitting around my dining room table, and when she saw this set, she knew I would love it (and she's right!). The chairs are made of heavy wood with ivory upholstery, the table enlarges with two additional leaves to seat twelve very comfortably (and even more, squooshed together), and the matching breakfront is exquisitely carved and elegant. It is very much my taste.


On Thursday, my amazing parents surprised me by visiting- just to clean my house. They knew I had been feeling a tad under the weather, and could not tolerate the fumes of cleaning supplies, so they came by equipped with sponges, buckets, rags, and more, to clean my house from top to bottom. Who does that?! I was very surprised and touched. I lay in bed with kleenex while they washed my windows, sweeped my floors, cleaned my counters and dishes and even the chairs, oven and sink. They vacuumed the whole house, even the stairs, and said they'd come back another day to finish.

Clearly, I have to have a great, big, delicious dinner for my parents and mother-in-law to show them how grateful I am. They are very special people, my husband and I are very blessed.