Unplugged

Saturday May 23 was my day to Unplug. It was all Jodie's idea, back in March. And then she encouraged everyone to pick a day in May to Unplug again. I picked the 23rd. Partly because it would be an easy day to Unplug and partly because I was getting close to the end of May and I HAD to pick a day.

It was an easy day because we had plans to throw Dan's parents a 40th anniversary party. It was at Dan's brother's house, so we wouldn't be home for me to even PLUG into anything. So I kind of cheated, I guess. In any case, I chronicled the day for you. It's kind of A Day in the Life of Elizabeth, but here it is!

First was my Weight Watchers meeting. It was a good weigh in. I lost 4.8 of the 8 pounds I gained over the Virginia/Jamaica/Virginia weeks. Yay for me!

Then we headed out for the party. Decorating came first. Katie is good at that, and Champ helped.

Next came the homemade whipped cream! Katie loved helping with cleanup.

Then came grilling. You can't tell from this picture, but Dan is outside doing a funky dance while enjoying the manly grilling duty mixed with heavy (beer) lifting.

Of course, we had cake. Forty years. Wow! In a somber moment, Dan told me that one of us probably won't make it to our 40th anniversary. I think he means me, with all my bad health history. But I'm hoping and praying that I make it to 40! And the BIG goal is 50. We've always joked that at the 50th, we are renegotiating our contracts. I think one of the re-signing bonuses should involve Jamaica on a yearly basis, don't you?

After the party was over, the kids headed outside to play on the swingset. Jackson learned about gravity by discovering that balls roll down a slide.

I got a halfway decent photo with him.

And then Dan and Katie cuddled on the swing.

And this is what happens when you try to pose the kids for a photo:

The day ended with a long drive home (I'm starting to dread car trips with them because NOTHING keeps Jackson entertained) and then a late bedtime. The best part of the day happened then: because I banned both Dan and I from the TV and computer and phone, we actually sat and talked. Wow. Imagine that! It was really very nice.

I do have to admit one thing: I cheated twice on the Unplugging. When we were at the party, my cell phone rang and I answered it. I didn't stay on for long, but I admit I did answer it because I thought there was some kind of emergency. There wasn't. Same thing happened once we got the kids home and in bed. Our cousin Brandi called and I had been playing phone tag with her and her husband for a few days, so I HAD to answer. It was a great conversation, so it was worth the black mark by my name.

Now, I challenge my readers (all six of you!) to try your own Unplug experiment. I really did enjoy mine, and I'm looking forward to doing it again. Thanks for the encouragement, Jodie!