Five on Friday (June 1, 2018)

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice! Tell all the nations, "the Lord reigns." -I Chronicles 16:31

1. Camden's first official high school experience (camp) was a success. He came home several shades browner, with a husky voice, and slept all afternoon. He sure does love camp, and this year may have been his favorite. Not only did he enjoy the more mature campers (he says it was awesome to have competitive partners in all the games), but his team won first place in the obstacle course - something he's been trying to do for the last 8 years. He tossed around a lot of "bros" and "shout outs" which made me smile.

Anyone who has a history with church summer camp knows that the week always ends with a bonfire where campers and workers share what the week has meant to them, things they're grateful for, etc. He said that it dawned on him how hard the kitchen staff had been working (you know how important food is to a 14-year old!) and so he "gave a shout out" to the kitchen staff and told them how much he appreciated them and their food. So cute.

before he left on Sunday

2. We're not willing to let something as important as National Donut Day pass us by, so we stopped for Krispy Kreme on the way home from camp.

3. Thursday was our 21st wedding anniversary. While we didn't have time to do much celebrating, we did have dinner at our favorite Mexican spot and then grocery shopped at Aldi and Sam's. Now that's the kind of real-life romance someone should write about.

Brian has gotten quite adept at pulling out my Amazon wishlist to buy gifts, and he gave me a great handmade leather purse along with this electric, heated massager. Ironically enough, I bought him a tiny little handheld massager. I couldn't help but laugh when he brought out my gift. We actually might just swap massagers. The electric one bruised my back like crazy (I'm sure that couldn't be because I started out with an hour-long session instead of the recommended 15 minutes).

4. I've been collecting Amazon gift cards over the past 6 months - Christmas gifts, Administrative Assistant's Day gifts, compensation for work. This week I cashed them all in for fun stuff - the most expensive perfume I've ever purchased, a lighted makeup mirror, a new cookbook, fluffy makeup brush, and Black Panther. You just can't go wrong with retail therapy, specifically when you're not spending your own money.

5. I read THREE books this week, and they were all excellent.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper - a thriller that manages to be G rated, which I enjoy. Scary and a page turner without being gory or nasty.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - this one has been on my "to read" list forever; it started off iffy for me, but by the end I was completely won over.

The Assistants by Camille Perri - I started and finished this all in one day; a great quick summer read.

The best part about summer is the lazier pace. Saturday mornings with nowhere to be are my favorite. Because I'm a creature of habit, I still get up early but then spend the next several hours reading, catching up on social media, drinking coffee, etc. Generally, these slow mornings are hard to come by, but are pretty common during summer. Brian and I are taking meals to two different families Saturday afternoon and we're going to a comedy event at our church Saturday night. Sunday we have our monthly nursing home service and then Camden is off to basketball camp at our alma mater. Happy Friday!