This Past Weekend

On my way home from work on Friday, I saw this beautiful rainbow, and that's when I knew that this past weekend was going to be good one.
When Ben got home that evening, we went to The Melting Pot for dinner. We had never been there before, so when Groupon advertised a daily deal ($40 worth of food for $20) a few months ago, I decided to go for it. We weren't really sure what to expect when we got there, but I was glad that Ben thought to make a reservation earlier that day. Apparently, everyone was there to use their Groupon (it expires at the end of this month), and it was packed! The host walked us through the restaurant to the back and sat us in a very private square-shaped booth with a burner on top. Ben decided that since we were on a "date" that we should go all out, so that's what we did. We decided to go with one of the Big Night Out 4 Course Dinner "package deals" and were so glad that we did. We had the spinach artichoke cheese fondue as an appetizer, salads, and our entrees included a little bit of everything -- lobster, shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, tuna, pot stickers, mushrooms, potatoes, and broccoli. Everything came to the table raw, and our waitress told us approximately how long to cook each thing in the boiling pot. It was so much fun! And as if all of that food weren't filling enough, we finished the meal off with dessert. Milk chocolate fondue with all sorts of things to dip -- strawberries, cheesecake, rice krispies treats, bananas, pound cake, brownies, and marshmallows. Needless to say, we were stuffed when we left!

On Saturday, we spent the day at the YMCA in Buda volunteering at the Special Olympics aquatic competition. Overall, it went really well. There were 439 races total (79 more than last year!), so our schedule was pretty tight, but with the help of a few very awesome volunteers, we actually finished ahead of schedule, which is pretty much unheard of. Ben's parents also came to help out, and they had a blast. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures (I was too busy running the volunteer table in the morning and then timing for lane 6 in the afternoon), but I do have quite a few good stories.

• At one point during the morning, a group of three women were standing near my table talking about how much they loved one particular athlete named Nancy. They talked for a few minutes, and after two of the ladies walked off, the older lady explained that the other two work in the office building that her daughter Nancy cleans. Apparently, Nancy makes and gives out invitations to all of her friends and co-workers for all of her competitions, and these 2 particular ladies had driven all the way from Cedar Park to watch her daughter swim. Pretty cool, huh?
• While timing the athletes in lane 6, I quickly learned that it wasn't enough to keep track of just their time. At the end of each race, almost every athlete pulled off their goggles and looked to their left to see who had come in before them. Several of them would then ask me, "What'd I get?" At first I thought they were asking for their time, but I soon learned that that was not the case when they would reply, "No, what medal did I get?" Keeping track of their time was easy, but keeping track of their time and keeping track of what place they came in? Not quite as simple.
  
• Between the races, I often talked to the athletes that were lined up at the "ready bench". I had met Brittany earlier that morning, and while she was waiting for her turn to swim, she told me all about her boyfriend in the green shirt with the blue sticker. I asked her to point him out to me, and who did she point to? That's right -- Ben. My response was, "You're right. He is cute." I didn't have the heart to tell her that her boyfriend was actually my husband.
• I overheard Kyle introduce herself to most of the athletes that she was timing, ask for their name so she could cheer them on, and then tell them that she would be keeping time for them. One sweet female athlete's response was, "You promise?"
• And last, but not least, one of the male athletes that came in first place looked up at me as he grabbed onto the side of the pool and exclaimed, "I swam so fast that my pants fell down." You gotta love the honesty.
  

At the end of the day, we were pooped. We came home to rest for a little bit, and after Ben mowed the yard, we decided that neither one of us really felt like cooking, so we went to Serranos for dinner. Right after we ordered, Abby and Allen walked in, so they joined us. Even though we only live 3 miles away from one another, Abby and I don't get to see each other nearly as often as we like to, so it was fun catching up. Let's do it again soon, Abby. And maybe this time we can even plan it out ahead of time. ;)

On Sunday, we went to church, ran a few errands, and then caught up on a bunch of house stuff that we have been neglecting. We did 6 huge loads of laundry and thoroughly cleaned both the inside and outside of our cars, and although it doesn't sound like much fun, it was actually really nice just spending the day at home with Ben. I love the fact that he doesn't have to work all weekend anymore, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.