Adventures of Paul and Cheri: Just what the doctor ordered!

Well, on Friday mornings the time goes to pottery class! And it is absolutely a WONDERFUL way to pass some glorious time. I will post some of Paul's creations soon ... he is FAR more interesting than I in his pottery. Nevertheless, this is my first attempt at something useful and clever. Thankfully there is no deadline as to the learning process! For now I'm just enjoying the process. Our instructor, Patti, keeps reminding me that there are no rules and regulations in creating pottery, but honestly, having been a ballerina for all of those years, and then an instructor after that, the whole concept of no boundaries is just absurd to me! I'm working on it though. I'm having one heck of a time with the glaze on this piece, so as I struggle Patti tells me to just live with it for a week or two before I change it. She's so much fun. :-)

In celebration of Paul and I surviving the first quarter of this very tough start to 2011, we had a dinner with good friends. (l to r, Mark, Janine, Patti, Dan & Paul) For all you foodies, we served Coq Au Vin (and very much missed Beth being here for it - everyone was actually saying "hi Beth!" in this picture) and a good time was had by all! the food was a collaborative effort and it was all delicious, as was the wine! We played a few rounds of Scattergories and laughed HARD! The evening was absolutely delightful and pretty much JUST what the doctor ordered! It really has been a nail biting kind of year thus far. However, always the optimist, we know it's getting better and that all of the endurance has been for good. We continue to be blessed and life is good.

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In other good news, Christian continues to improve by leaps and bounds. He and I played football together a week ago this past Saturday. We also played Monopoly Jr. (with his daddy, too). Christian and I took a walk, played the wii, did an art project, talked about important things (like if I thought God or the fairies came first!), and we watched a movie. It was the sweetest visit I can ever remember and I am the most grateful Nana ever! It is so amazing how the blessings of life work.

My brother in law, Paul, remains hospitalized while they try to figure out the inner workings of his heart. He's really had a challenge of it with a blood clot and some out of rhythm issues and has logged some hard days. They transferred him from the local hospital to a heart hospital in Nashville and feel he is in much better care at this point. We continue to pray and send good thoughts to he and Cyndie, and know it is just a matter of time before they find the answers for his perfect healing and he gets to go back home.

My sweet friend Teresa is hanging in there and doing quite well under the circumstances. She lost her husband, Britt, just 3 short weeks ago very suddenly. I did get to go to Atlanta and spend a little time with her and it was wonderful to get caught up and spend some time together. Although I just cannot imagine what her little heart must be going through, I am very impressed by the manner in which she is approaching surviving it all. Teresa, we love you. God bless you. AND Teresa just passed the 4th part of the CPA exam! CONGRATULATIONS! I love knowing such smart people!

I also was able to have coffee and gossip time with Sabrina whilst in Atlanta. Oh, so sweet!