Hello, and happy week after spring break to all! I hope everyone had a lovely week! Mine was absolutely fantastic! I will give you here the abbreviated version, as I am sure most of you have better things to do than read my blog for hours on end. Extended versions are always available upon request. :)

Thursday prior to spring break: Rode into Arlington with Megan a day earlier than originally planned to surprise Charles. He wasn't completely surprised, which was slightly disappointing, but being able to see him in person was still worth the trip.

Friday: Lunch with Charles at Cafe' Acapulco. Yum. Purchase of my new pink iPod for music-listening purposes on the flight to Honduras.

Friday Night: The highly anticipated mystery date with Charles. Began with a trip to Target where he bought me a super cute case for my super cute iPod. Followed by a drive to downtown Dallas where we saw the Dallas Children's Theater performance of Sleeping Beauty. Amazing. Points were definitely awarded for superb date-planning. Ended the evening with a late-night dinner at Johnny Carino's. Very good.

Saturday morning: Wake up at 3:30 AM so we can depart for the airport at 4:00. Plane leaves at 6:30. We are on our way to Honduras!!!

Saturday afternoon/evening: Arrive in Honduras. Briefly check in at the hotel, then head to the mission to pass out flyers for upcoming VBS. On a mountain. A very steep mountain. Not an easy task. Order pizza to share with the youth of the local church. Make it an early night. Asleep at 8:50.

Sunday: Church/VBS in the morning. Attempting to command the attention/cooperation of 300+ children who do not speak our language. Interesting to say the least. Nap time in the afternoon in preparation to do it all again Sunday night, this time with about 100 kids. Good times.

Monday-Tuesday: Days spent painting, painting, painting. More shades of blue than I thought could be legal for a single building. Nights spend conducting VBS for approximately 60 kids.

Wednesday: Another day of blue paint. Allison and I paint a pretty spectacular mural we entitle "El Dia y La Noche" on one of the walls of the daycare yard. We are proud. Dinner at Power Chicken followed by dessert at the Godoy's house, which overlooks the city. Gorgeous.

Thursday: Final work day. We have more time and people than work to be done. Spontaneous 20 minute group sing-a-long of Disney songs ensues. Jim and Mario get in a car accident in the crazy Honduras traffic. Final dinner with Honduras friends.

Friday: Morning shopping at the local market. Fly to Roatan in the afternoon on one of the most questionable-looking planes I have ever seen. We are only slightly comforted when we discover it is a Rolls Royce. Relaxation phase of the trip commences.

Saturday: Wake up to rain, which clears in time for a canopy tour of the jungle. (Translation: approximately 1 mile of zip lines through the top of the jungle. One of the most amazing experiences ever.) Canopy tours ends in a park where we get to hold parrots and monkeys. Rain comes back just in time for our hour-and-a-half horse back ride. Made for quite a memorable experience. Rain clears again. Snorkeling and kayaking occur. Several come back with battle scars from the coral reefs. Delicious dinner as the sun is setting. In bed at 8:30.

Sunday: Church in a tiny little church building with just our group. We pray hard that the only road leading to the airport will re-open in time for us to catch our flight. 2 hour layover in Houston where Megan and I enjoy our first Dr. Peppers in 5 weeks. Finallly land in Dallas around 9:00PM. Quick trip to Bueno before all the Abilene folk (except me) make the drive back to A-Town.

Monday: Spend the entire day with Charles. Morning is spent being introduced to the life of Charles. We visit his adopted grandmother and go run some errands on UTA campus. Lunch at Bueno. Side stops at the Cingular store and CVS before driving to Ft. Worth to see "Dolphins" at the OMNI theater, followed by a visit to the Planetarium and a brief excursion through some of the museum exhibits. More creative date points awarded. Swing by Charles' parents house so I can meet his parents. Dinner at my house with my parents and brother and sister-in-law. A very good day. I think maybe I like this boy, and I just might have to keep him around a while. :)

That pretty much brings us to now. Tomorrow will bring lunch with Charles, a visit to my mom's school, and picking up Jackson so the dogs and I can make the trek back to Abilene. I would have to say that, all in all, it's been a pretty fantastic spring break. I am sad to see it end.