VBS....check.

Done.

Well, there's the little program tonight still to do, but all the hard work is done. Went well. Thank goodness AM was there to take the lead with the older kids - he knew them a lot better.

Kudos to Augsburg Fortress - the songs this year were much better than last year's stuff...although why they think the CD has to have a faux-hip-hop vibe I will never understand. So glad I didn't listen to the CDs until after the fact.

Faith has been positively obSESSED with the songs - she can't stop singing them. Which is a good thing. Glad she's interested and cares. It's been a wonderful experience for everyone involved.

So that means that the final hurdle has been jumped. Vacation is right in front of me. A long drive (which is something I love even without a destination), a trip to the family in Jacksonville, and then the beach awaits. 3 years it's been. That fact keeps blowing me away. 3 years, and it seems like so much longer.

We put together a spreadsheet to help us keep ahead of prep tasks for the trips, and we're sticking to it quite well. The house is in decent shape, and with any luck the last couple of days of packing won't be frantic.

Haven't mentioned the weight for a while - I was stuck at around 207 for a few weeks, and was perfectly happy to do so. Started getting a little lax around dinner time, but as long as I wasn't GAINING, I had no guilt. Well, I have been a little better the last few days and the bottom dropped out - just now I was 201.4, which is probably a little bit lower than accurate, but it does give me a little extra motivation to see if I can hit 200 by the time we leave. Gonna be tough...lots of 'hard to eat well' type events coming up. BUT, nice to say that I've finally passed the 50 pound mark.

Everything is well. Keep checking in!

Matt