Yay Weekends

You know how sometimes you just really need a weekend? This was a long, stressful, and frustrating week on so many levels... and as much as I love my job and the people I interact with on a daily basis, by this Friday I was mentally fried. I kind of wanted to avoid everyone and just sleep until Monday. But then the weekend arrived, and I was blessed to spend time with so many great friends who all remind me why I'm so happy here. :)

I am not going to go into detail on the low points of last week, because the details aren't really important... everyone deals with tough stuff every day, right? That's just life. I get accused of being "too happy" on a fairly regular basis, but it's not because my life is perfect or that I always get what I want. Really, is anyone's life like that? Doubt it. Life really hurts sometimes, and I don't think it is presumptuous to assume you all can agree with me. But at the same time, I have come to realize that even when life hurts, if I just take one minute to look around me, I'll find so many overwhelming reasons that life is, above all, beautiful. And the joy that comes from that is a light that can't be put out.

On one sad note, the Col and his family who have been leading OCF for the last 4 years are moving to Alaska this summer. Col W left yesterday, and his family will follow next month after one of the high schoolers graduates. The whole family has been such an amazing presence in the Lakenheath community, not just in OCF, and they will all be sorely missed. I can't put into words how much they have meant to me and the OCF family as leaders, mentors, and friends. It is so sad to see them go, but I know they will be just as much of a blessing to the Elmendorf community as they have been to us. I was honored to attend Col W's fini flight and farewell luncheon at the end of the week, both great events to honor a great man.

So, what happened this weekend that reminded me of how beautiful life is? To begin, we had a squadron hail and farewell on Friday afternoon after work. I got to catch up with some people I either hadn't seen in a while or don't see very often, ate some great food, and laughed watching a couple friends repeatedly sneak into the food line to grab more of my chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes it's the little things, you know? :) OCF that night was bittersweet... sad to say goodbye to Col W, but happy to know that the group will still be a family and looking forward to welcoming new members as others depart.

Saturday morning was a 5K/10K race on base, and though I tried to convince the weather flight to run with me, no one took the bait. Martin came (so nice to have at least one friend who actually enjoys running!), and there was a family I knew from the Mildenhall weather flight, but overall attendance was pretty low. The upside of this was... I took 2nd place in the women's 10K! Haha. I think I would have been 5th in the 5K (counted 4 girls ahead of me on the turnaround), but only one of them continued on for the 10K, so I won a T-shirt and $5 gift card for the BX. Sweet! Martin took 2nd in the men's 5K (and not just because attendance was low, he is actually super-fast, haha), then ran with me for the second half of my 10K. The weather was great and it was a fun event to get out and run with other people... the 2nd place finish was just icing on the cake. :)

I don't think I have mentioned this before, but I have decided (*cough* have been pressured into by Jose *cough*) to play softball on the OG intramural team this summer. For those who didn't know, I played on my church team in high school, and had fun but was never very good. I've always thought it would be fun to play intramurals, but have been too afraid of dragging the team down or embarrasing myself. The potential for those things is still there, but for some reason I have decided to give it a try this season. The first game is Tuesday, and unfortunately the only practice was held on Friday evening during OCF, so I couldn't go. I was terrified that the first time I would touch a glove or bat in 8 years (yikes, has it really been 8 years since I graduated high school?) would be on Tuesday in front of everyone (including our OG commander/soon-to-be wing commander), so I convinced Martin to run through a few softball drills with me after the race on Saturday. We went out to the field and I was relieved to find that I could hit the ball on a somewhat regular basis, as well as being fairly successful at throwing and catching. I will probably be one of the weaker players on the team, but it is really nice to know I will not be a complete disaster, so chalk that up as a positive note for the weekend!

Saturday night was a farewell dinner for CeCe, one of the weather flight forecasters. It will be sad to see her go (we shared many fun memories at Red Flag in Vegas), but it's always fun to have one last night out with the flight members before someone departs. And as a bonus, this dinner was at my favorite restaurant in Bury St Edmunds! Those sweet potato fries alone can make up for a bad week... ;-) Sunday (today) was pretty low-key, which was nice after a full Saturday. I got to sleep in, which is a major boost on the happiness meter. People say sleep is overrated, but I have to disagree. I really like to sleep. It makes me a happier, less stressed, more productive, and less negatively-emotional individual. Yay sleep!

All of those things may not sound too exciting, but I think the point I am trying to make is that it's everything together that makes me love my life right now. I love all the people that God has given me the opportunity to share life with, and I love the hope and promise of good things to come even when current situations feel hopeless. With all the joy that brings, how can I not be joyful?