Play Day at the Park

Our Children's Ministry Director from church scheduled a "Kids Play Day" at a local park. It was today at 10:00 this morning. I really wanted to put forth the effort to get Katie and myself to the park in order to meet new people. I've tried to get a little more involved with church jobs, so I can meet all kinds of people. I sound pretty pathetic because I really don't have any close friends. It's amazing, when I was single my close friends got married; therefore, I was a third wheel. I got married and the women my age were having children - out again. Now, I have a toddler, the women my age have older children. Ugh!! I've basically become a social friend, but no real close friends (this statement doesn't not include husbands). I've always put family first all these years and that's all I know. Well, this thought process isn't helping Katie in your social skills. Yeah! I know, she'll develop friends when she gets to school or in some activity. God knows my heart is sad about this situation I've put myself in. I've been talking to Him about it and then I saw the notice in the announcements Sunday about the Kids Play Day. Thank you God! At least I'll put forth the effort to meet people and hopefully I'll either rekindle on old friendship or ignite a new one. More importantly, Katie will get to meet and play with children her own age. At first, I was scared because when I'm nervous, I can say some pretty stupid things. WHY?!? Of course by the time it's out there and I try to reel my words back in, I'm getting the dreaded silence and strange looks. So before I got out of the truck, I took a deep breath and asked God to watch over me and my tongue. I was just going to take it easy and go with the conversation. I have to say I had a good time. Right off the bat, I saw a few ladies I knew. Two of the three women, I was in their Sunday School Class a few years ago. They are real sweet girls! Their children are (of course) much older than Katie, but it was nice to get to know them once again. I didn't get to fully catch up with their lives, but I didn't want to seem badgering. The other lady, Sash, has a little girl Katie's age, Sophie. I've mentioned Sophie in my past postings. Sophie and Katie (or "Soapie" as Katie calls her) had a good time trying to keep up with the older kids. The park we were at has a small water area (sprinklers & water gun). I'm glad I took Katie's swim suit because those girls went running back and forth between the slides & playground and water area. I got to video a little bit of it, but I was having too much fun talking and laughing with my company. I'm so glad we did this. Unfortunately, Sash is a teacher (works full time) and just an acquittance. Lord willing, this might be a start to a new friendship. I kept telling the girls this was such a good idea and I would love it if we could do this again. They all agreed, so hopefully they were not just saying it. I did learn a few things with the girlies. If we ever decide to build a house, I have the name of a contractor. It's strange because I know the contractor, I went to school with him & go to church with him and his family. The only thing is I didn't know he was a contractor. Laura, the girls told me of two different condos we have to stay - "The Lighthouse" and "Phoenix." The Lighthouse is newly refinished because it was destroyed by Katrina. Delaine & her husband always liked to stay at the Phoenix. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/promo/genericPromoLandingNav?id=Q407FreeDineNavPage Sash & her husband are going to Disney World this fall with their children. They found this really great deal and she said children under 3, eat free and won't be charged the extra fee. I told her about Doug and myself wanting to take Katie to Disney World, but we felt she was too young to know what's going on. She disagreed. She told me once Katie saw all the characters from the movies, she would understand and remember. She said it was hard to pass up such a great deal. Above is the link and it does sound great. Delaine, Julie & their families went together last year and they loved it. I don't think Doug and I can take advantage of this great deal right now, but maybe you can. I nearly hated to leave my company, but we stayed there for two hours, Katie was getting tired and we had to stop by WalMart before going home. It was so sweet, Katie had to tell everyone and I mean everyone "Goodbye!" She had to tell some "Goodbye" twice before she was comfortable leaving.

I had a video ready to post - our short trip to the beach, but Google's video site is temporarily down tonight. Hopefully, I'll get it and another video posted tomorrow.

Take care and God Bless You!