Saturday we went to check out Lincoln. It was pretty awesome. We left around noon and got there about an hour later. Our first stop was La Paz, Mexican restaurant. It was rated as the number one restaurant in Lincoln. It was obvious as to why. The atmosphere was awesome- very much like El Sol in Harrisburg (made me realllly miss that place)- with Mexican-styled paintings and architecture. They started us off with uh-mazing tortillas and salsa. I got shrimp and chicken fajitas, while Michael got Enchiladas La Paz. Yummm!! We finished with flan with orange liquer. It was delightful!
Our next stop was the Sheldon Art Museum, located on the University of Nebraksa campus. It was pretty cool to appreciate art together. It was our first art museum adventure. There were some really neat paintings. They had the "A Mother of Seven Children" by Dorthea Lange (below)! We decided as a couple that we much prefer paintings to pictures, though. Michael got me some really neat tree earrings that are made from recycled wood. I'll have to take pictures and post it.
Then we journeyed to Cool and Collected- a neat antiques market. We purchased a little painting of a sunset in the background and the outline of leaf-less trees on the glass- my favorite kind of picture. Being around "antiques" always prompts a conversation about how the things we have won't last long enough to pass down to our kids. Stuff made today is so cheap and mass produced and intentionally not built to last so you have to keep buying new. It's ridiculous...
Next we went to Ten Thousand Villages. It was located in this awesome part of town called Historic Haymarket. It was their downtown trendy area. It had lots of bars, restaurants and cute little shops. Basically it is a bunch of old warehouses that were repurposed into the aforementioned businesses. To boot, it had some cool train station piece to it that looks like it's being developed. I got a nice necklace that has a bunch of colorful beads to go with many outfits. It was made in India. I love it!
It was around 9 PM before we left Ten Thousand Villages and we were quite hungry. We went to Buzzard Billy's Cajun Restaurant by recommendation of one of the Ten Thousand Villages workers. It was amazing. Probably one of my first Cajun dining experiences, so I didn't have much to compare it to. We started out with Jalepeno Cheese Sticks. Then we ordered the following 2 dinners to share (descriptions directly from their menu):
Chicken Czarina- Medium gulf shrimp, sliced mushrooms, and green onions sautéed in a Creole style Parmesan cream sauce, ladled over a hand breaded, fried chicken breast. Served atop rice with vegetables.
The Cajun Combo- It doesn't get anymore Cajun than this. One blackened catfish fillet, a half order of jambalaya, a cup of seafood gumbo and hushpuppies.
They were awesome. After dinner, we were stuffed and tired with about an hour drive ahead of us. We made it home safe and sound before midnight and zonked.
As far as work goes, we met with our supervisor on Thursday to touch base and she said that we are doing a great job and she can tell that we really care to keep doing better. It's always awesome to hear recognition of your hard work. She said she has her cell phone on and by her side when we are working because she's so used to getting calls about the chaos that ensues with new alternate house parents. That made us feel really awesome. Not to say we haven't had our share of crazy times, but we handled them well and used our resources- the assistants and residential on-call. That gave us a huge boost of motivation to keep on chuggin'. One of the kiddos that we really began forming a solid relationship with was moved to another cottage. We were kind of upset about it, but figured it is happening for a reason 'cause God has a plan and vision bigger than we ever see.
Overall, the behaviors that involve limit testing are dwindling. They are getting the hint that we are wising up to their antics and learning the rules ourselves and aren't pushing too much anymore. That's not to say that we think things will get easier. We have quite a few new kiddos and I get the sense that the "honeymoon is [soon] over". It seems these boys go through a cycle where they initially are open to the rules and expectations, then they realize they are here for the long haul, get angry about the monotony of the program and that they are expected to respond to authority, act out, get corrective teachings, then most seem to calm down and learn "how to play the game". Some, it seems, require more than what this program offers and push the limits and get themselves relocated. So... we will see how things go here in the next month or so. School lets out in about a month and a half and that, combined with nice weather, could be an interesting mix.
On that note, I'm off to enjoy the final hours of our weekend off! :-)
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