A Post of Colossal Proportions

I know… I know… I always seem to start out a post apologizing for not posting in a long time. Well, I’m not going to do that now. I was busy. Get over it. :-)

I guess I should update on a few momentous occasions that happened since I posted last August.

Late August 2009 – My brother married his sweetheart after a whirlwind courtship. Seriously, they courted for two weeks before becoming engaged, and then were engaged for almost seven weeks before their wedding. Whirlwind is right. On the Thursday before the wedding, I made eight chocolate cakes that I then stacked so that we only had four nice tall cakes before getting ready under extreme pressure (aka. very late!) for the bridal shower. On Friday, between directing and cleaning the entire gym for the reception, I had a cleaning job to do and I was exhausted. Saturday morning we got ready for the wedding and headed into town to take pictures of the bridesmaids and bride getting ready and do some last minute decorating and frosting. Before we had time to blink (figuratively), the ceremony was starting and Dad married the happy couple and it was all over. The reception and cake were lovely and the newlyweds waltzed so elegantly. Then they rode off into the sunset and started living their happily-ever-after!

Following right on the heels of the August wedding, we started prep for my sister’s November wedding including wedding dress shopping. After much contemplation, my sister decided that with some altering, the dress at the bridal shop would be perfect. I was asked to be the maid-of-honor and we found a beautiful silvery green fabric for the bridesmaid’s dresses. Booking the facility, printing invitations, and gathering decorations followed. I did some of the altering on the dress and it was ready the week of the wedding.

With watching the health of a certain sister, baking all the cakes fell onto my shoulders to do on Thursday. It took WAY longer than we thought and we made it back to our house late for our own bachelorette party. Oh well! At least, we got some ice cream! We had a lot of help setting up the day before the wedding, decorating the cake and arranging flowers. The rehearsal was full of laughter and we did it through three times to make sure we got it right. The grooms' mother and friends made a delicious dinner that evening that we purposely stopped and enjoyed. Afterwards, we went back to the cleaning and rest of the prep. My brother and sister-in-law graciously opened their home to us as the central station for all the wedding prep, so we ended up back at their house popping cookies into little bags for wedding favors. We tied them with brown raffia and attached little green tags.

November 7th, 2009 - We started the morning of the wedding out leisurely! It was marvelous! We finished our hair and makeup before we headed into town. We let the bride go get coffee with her groom for awhile and then he dropped her off at the facility. Our next step was getting ready and changing and taking pictures. Then we were whisked off to the other building to wait because people had started arriving. At 1:24pm, I took the bride over to the main building and we waited in the scio. At 1:27pm, precisely, Jay escorted Mom up the aisle to her seat and the wedding began. I walked up the aisle with the flower girl (very shy, but very cute!). Then, as I stood there watching (and holding the brides' bouquet), Dad married them.

Once cake cutting, photographs (that were hilarious) and visiting were over with, I helped the bride change and the bride and groom were off. We stacked up some of the chairs and pulled out our dancing CD and my little brother and I led the Virginia Reel. We also danced the Patty Cake Polka and the Posties Jig before we decided to clean everything up. After cleanup, we played Volleyball for a mere half hour and then we headed home where my brothers, sister-in-laws (with their children) our good friend, and the family just chilled. It was a late glorious evening!

November 8th, 2009 – I only mention this because it becomes more important later on. While playing volleyball Sunday evening with our game group in town, we noticed a huge fire right about where our house is across the valley. After some phone calls to the house, we were finally able to gather the information that it was the next door neighbors’ house. We packed up and sped home (yes, sped! I beat some of the fire trucks even!). By the time we got home, indeed by the time Dad and Mom went down there, the house was already lost. A very late night and few gallons of hot cider later, the fire had died down enough and everyone left. Because I know some of you will understand this when I say it: watching your neighbors’ house burn down is an interesting experience.

Christmas 2009 – We had a nice quiet family Christmas with the two married young couples. It also included a stray dog and a small herd of runaway cows or maybe it was a runaway dog and stray cows? Oh, well. I think either would work. The owner came and got the dog that evening, but it was a few days before the cows were retrieved and taken home. Anyways, we had our traditional turkey dinner and then a dessert feast later on. A relaxing afternoon and quiet time just visiting with the family. The day after Christmas, we were invited to an ice skating party and thus far it has been the only ices skating we’ve done this winter. Some of us also attended a special Christmas program at some friends’ church and had lunch afterwards at their house. It was a perfect opportunity to show them all Chinese Numbers! We quietly rang in the New Year as always.

February 2010 – I started working part time for the crisis pregnancy center here in town which services the whole valley. It took me a few weeks to settle into the routine and even now I find some things that surprise me still. I am officially the Office Manager/Receptionist, so I see most of the clients that come in. Thus far, it has been a very interesting job and I’m really enjoying it!

My newly married brother and sister-in-law announced that they have a baby on the way!!! My sister and brother-in-law also announced that they have a baby on the way!!! Several of us had our suspicions in both cases, but it was very nice to know for sure! This summer is going to be wonderful!

Valentine’s Day 2010 – A few days before the weekend, my brother and sister-in-law decided to come up and visit us. They had originally wanted to come at New Years, but their vehicle needed a new transmission and his work schedule is crazy. What a delight to see our niece again and spend some time with them all!

March 21st, 2010 – We had been very much looking forward to a good friend visiting us during her Spring break and we were able to “baby” her quite a bit because she injured her knee. As she knows our “group” here, we invited them all to our house Sunday afternoon for Bible Study and dinner and games afterwards. There was only one person in the group that we did not tell because we wanted to surprise him and the double take he gave was a sufficient reaction for all our efforts. We had an extra party on Thursday as well playing indoor games at the community center because our friend could really partake in those before we all headed up to my brother and sister-in-laws' for pizza and more games, also in honor of my brother-in-laws’ birthday. It was a marvelous visit and we have so many fond memories of it! My only regret is that my friend and I didn’t get much one-on-one visiting in with my work schedule and our planned activities after my work hours.

And, the latest date of importance is today (April 12th, 2010). Today, the deed was recorded for my parents’ purchase of property “next door”. This is the property that lost the house in a fire last November. The owners decided that they were not going to rebuild out here and offered us the property first. Through some circumstances and direct leading from God, my parents purchased the property. Now, we will be quickly turning the existing shop into living space and moving down there. The close proximity has been a huge blessing already. Four o’clock tea coming up! :-)

Until next time,
am

Fall - A changing of seasons

Fall is the changing of so many things. Not just the leaves, grass, trees, etc. As I think back on the last few autumm's we've had, it was the season of the biggest changes for my family. If you had told me five years ago where I would be today, you could have knocked me down with a feather! :0

Fall 2004 - We were entrenched in politics. We lived, breathed and ate politics! My eldest sister worked for an official campaign and my dad worked for a state party in a tech position. The rest of us were volunteers. The late nights, the long hours. More often than not, we were in the depths of despair when each election came around, and while that election was no exception, it was somehow different. Our presidential candidate won, though he did not take our state and most of the good candidates statewide lost.

Fall 2005 was the culmination of a tragedy that began in January. It was with the heaviest hearts that we realized we could not do anything more about it. The healing and rebuilding came next. Yes, I could say it was a long, painful process, but it's not over. We are still suffering the devastation. But, God is merciful. He is our hope! We can look back and begin to see the blessings in the aftermath.

Fall 2006 was a joyous time for my family! My oldest brother "brought a girl home to meet the family"! In actuality, she flew to our town. :) Wanting our yard to be perfect for his girl, he supplied us with sod to lay in the backyard that he'd sprayed out a few months before. While we still jokingly resent the work we did, we had such a good time doing it! The excitement of gaining a sister-in-law grew for all of us. They were engaged and began wedding plans in earnest!

Fall 2007 brought the most dramatic change for all of us. We packed up the entire house, loaded it into two trucks and three vehicles and we were off for a new place, a new town and a new state. It was thrilling, hard work, and slightly frightening. We'd been in one place for over eleven years. One becomes attached to the same old; the familiar. I headed back "home" for a month to finish up my job and then I joined the family on Thanksgiving Day. Thus began life without my three oldest brothers within a few miles.

This Fall is an exciting time. I'm finally an aunt!!! I've longed to be an aunt for many years and now that it's finally happened, it's as grand as I'd imagined. And will be even grander when I get to meet my little nephew and the second one arrives! In just over a week, my four sisters and I are flying to West Virginia to visit my best friend and her funny sisters. We'll be attending our first ball, too! So, we are making ball gowns and learning dances.

My younger sister arrived home after six weeks living with my brother and sister-in-law and helping take care of the nephew, the house, canning, etc. That is the longest she has ever been away from her parents and we are all adjusting back into somewhat of a routine. She came with my older brother when he moved all his belongings up here in anticipation of moving here next month. I am very close to this particular brother, so I'm completely delighted that he will be nearby again! Plus, it's just strange doing some things without him!

Stay tuned for more fall memories...

What a Labor Day!

It's official! I'm an aunt! :D

After too many years of longing for nieces and nephews, I finally have one: a nephew! My eldest brothers' son was born around 6:30pm last night and bears his father, grandfather and (late) great-grandfathers' name. Yep, he's the fourth! And, boy will he have big shoes to fill!

All of the family is ecstatic! Not only is he the first grandchild on both sides, but he is also the first great-grandchild! He will probably be one spoiled child, but a well-behaved spoiled child. My brother and his wife will be wonderful parents!

The past is still vivid

I enjoy uplifting movies. I enjoy sad movies. I enjoy ecstatically happy movies. I enjoy ponderous movies. I can pretty much enjoy at least one movie in each genre. But, it's the movies (or character's) that really touch people or remind them of their past that they remember the most; all their life sometimes.

I am not emotional. I do not cry during movies. I will occasionally tear up a little, but no out-and-out tears from this girl. I don't cry over much in life to be perfectly honest. Maybe it's my father's genes. "I am very British" I like to say.

But it's my father who teared up at the end of Zero Hour with Dana Andrews.

I think I would too if I lost my own father at a tender age to an airline crash...