Celebration

One year ago today, my son was married in a beautiful ceremony full of love and beauty.  

Two of my favorite pictures from the wedding.  

There are lots more here

As unbelievable as it seems, a year has passed since that gorgeous April day and today they celebrate their first anniversary!


My prayer for you is that you both have many happy years ahead.  


One of the secrets to a happy marriage is this


Love the Lord more than you love each other and love each other more than you love yourselves.


Happy, Happy Anniversary!

Thank Goodness for Friday

It's Friday and I'm joining Mrs. 4444 for Friday Fragments.  

I'm late, but I'm here!  After a perfectly terrible week, I'm sitting out in the back porch with the superhero writing my Friday Fragments post.  I hope there's a fragment left of my poor old brain.  The superhero is playing Sudoku and I came out with my computer and told him I would write my Friday Fragments while he played Sudoku.  When I told him that, his reply was Friday Framents???  Then he said I don't even know you!  I said thank you, that's great blog fodder and then he said you know I'm copyrighted!
That man knew I needed a laugh!


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So did I say it's been a bad week?  Instead of telling you about that, I thought I'll tell you a funny story from my past.  And believe me, there is more than one!


When I was in the ninth grade, I went to a dance at our local national guard armory and met a cute guy dressed in madras pants.  **Note....if you don't know what madras pants are stop reading here.**
In today's slang, we started "going out" which means he wrote me notes and called me on the phone.  He mostly called when I was babysitting.  I stayed with a young girl two nights a week while her  mother went to college.  They had a party line which wasn't much different from what we had since I had five brothers and sisters by this time and we had one rotary dial phone on the wall in the kitchen.  So much for privacy.  We'll just say I didn't observe the party line rules.  Even though he was a nice boy, we're going to call him Stalker for the sake of this story.  


Stalker went to a high school on the other side of town and we basically never actually saw one another.  He would send me notes by someone and the notes read "I love you" and that's all......he filled up a whole piece of notebook paper with I love you. Try to remember, he hardly even knew me and I was fourteen.  I think I might have met him at our local theatre once during our brief courtship.


Bored with his notes, I decided to break up and sent him a note telling him we were done with this relationship that never actually started.
I was maybe a tiny bit dramatic in those days.....I WAS fourteen....and my note may or may not have been filled with said drama.


Fast forward about eighteen or twenty years.  Newly divorced, I got a call at work one day from my mother laughing hysterically.  I had received a manila envelope in the mail addressed to me by my maiden name and she and my aunt decided they would open my personal, private mail!  Too curious to wait until the end of the day, I took my lunch hour and flew went to mama's house.  


My mama and her sister were still in stitches about this mysterious manila envelope I had received in the mail.  After giving a lecture on the dangers of violating federal law by opening my mail, I took a look in the envelope and took out the contents.  


To my surprise, out came the infamous break up note LAMINATED in it's original form with a note telling me Stalker had seen that I was divorced and wanted to ask me out on a date.  But if I wasn't willing to date him, would I send the note back as it was one of his prized possessions!  I was mortified!  
Let me just insert here.....I wasn't very popular and didn't have a gaggle of guys waiting in the wings when I was fourteen or when I was however old I was when I received this envelope.


I won't go into the details of the note except to say that in it I wrote the following.......I'm just too young to be in love and so, heartbreaking as it is, I have to break up with you.  But it's not you......and maybe someday I'll look across a crowded room (you may want to excuse yourself and throw up about now) and see you standing in your MADRAS pants and we'll once again be together!


Please know that I was just trying to be kind and not hurt the poor Stalker's feelings by saying I just was not interested.  Besides, I really was too young for all this and was tired of reading those three words over and over and over again.  


I'm ashamed to say I didn't send the note back to the Stalker nor did I respond in any way.  Instead, I threw the note in the garbage and watched for him in my small town and hid my head if I even thought I saw him.  Now you know that keeping a note that long and laminating it is just weird.  Thankfully, he never called because I didn't know what I would tell him.


Note to young readers as if there are any!  Leave the poetic drama out of your break up notes or it could come back to bite you.  


Of course, I eventually met and married the superhero and he loves me even though I may still be a tad dramatic.


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As for this Friday, let me just say.......I'm so glad this week is o.v.e.r.  


Because really?  I'm all fragged out!

Revealing

Back when Let's Make A Deal with Monty Hall was on, my favorite part was what's behind door number 1, 2 or 3.  I would always pick the door I thought the big prize was behind.


Well, I have my very own door to reveal today!  And it is with great excitement that I reveal!


First let me say that when I moved to this house that is now my home, it had been built for a man and his boys.  The words masculine and minimalist come to mind.   You know some girly stuff had to happen!  


Since there's only one door to pick from let's open it to the old bathroom.  



Hollywood lights.  

Original vanity

Old fiberglass shower

Major drain moving

Pushed the wall back and made a half wall and framed for tile

Beautiful new vanity

Love the countertop 

The new and improved tile shower

Hollywood lights gone...new lights 

The new bench in the shower and the new toilet!  Tall for us old folks!

Look closely to see that we even have new fancy dancy soap dispensers.  

We are loving the new bathroom and have vowed to keep it neat and organized.  We've yet to see how long that lasts.


You know how it goes when you remodel one thing though......now the bathroom we've been using while the renovation was going on looks so outdated.  Another project for another year  day.


It was fun watching it all come together.  For a few weeks I wasn't sure my choices were just right....but now that it's all done, we both really like it a lot!


And there you have it folks.  The big reveal behind door number 1.   Turns out it was the grand prize!

I woke up this morning realizing that Friday had rolled around yet again!  

So with that I'm joining Mrs. 4444   for Friday Fragments.

You may or may not remember the whole psychiatrist episode last Friday when I told her that I was no longer having inappropriate crying?  Well, that has changed.  Now I'm crying at everything...good, bad, happy, sad or indifferent.  I think I may just be a big cry baby! 


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Nope, bathroom reveal isn't ready yet.  


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But the good news is that TAX SEASON IS OFFICIALLY O.V.E.R. We are very grateful that God has seen fit to bless us with business and I would never want anyone to think I'm complaining.  But it is nice to have the old boy home again!!

Sadly, I don't guess we won't be doing this like we usually do the few days after the season ends.....because neither of us somebody didn't make reservations at our favorite beach.  

I desperately tried making reservations at several parks a few nights ago, but alas, all spots were filled.  Our favorite is filled because of Earth Day.   

But...we did have a really nice day.  Most accounting firms are closed the day after tax season ends so nobody jumps off the local bridge because everyone is so tired and needs a day to rest.  We took a nice long walk together and later in the afternoon went to a movie.  As much as I didn't want to, we went to see Hunger Games and loved it!  It was not at all what I thought it would be and had several really good themes.  Unless I totally missed it, there wasn't one curse word in the movie, which just goes to show you can make a good movie without the cursing!

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Apparently blogger has decided that I want the new format.  I don't.  They didn't get the memo about how I hate change in any form!  So I've got it and don't know how to revert back or even if you can. 

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Hoping your weekend is wonderful.  Maybe I'll post again before next Friday.......but for today.....I'm all fragged out!  

It's Friday again......

And on Friday, I try to participate in Friday Fragments because the word fragment suits me!

Thanks to Mrs. 4444 for hosting Friday Fragments.  Head on over to visit her!


I do feel fragmented with the bathroom remodel going on and can't wait until it's finished to show you how pretty it is!  But not yet!


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I love my Kindle, but the bad thing about it (or the good thing about real books) is that you don't see everything....say about the author.  I'm reading a book right now about a woman who gets divorced and in the title it says memoir, but I'm not sure if it's a true story or not.  I want to know because she's right on the mark when she talks about the emotions of divorce!


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I had an appointment with my psychiatrist this week.  Yes, I have a psychiatrist....I highly recommend you get one too!  I was working my courage up to tell her I had weaned myself of one of my medications because I wasn't having appropriate emotional responses and to tell her that now I was, but not inappropriate ones.  SO......I thought my appointment was for a certain time and on my way to said appointment, her office called to say I had missed my appointment.  I BURST into tears.....well, that's appropriate right???  Just say yes........they quickly told me to come in later that afternoon.  Now I had to explain why crying over a missed appointment is normal.  She was very sweet about it and told me I knew myself better than anyone HA! and that I seemed to be doing just fine without that medication!  And she didn't tell me to find a new doctor.  I was afraid she would.  Did I mention I suffer from anxiety??  Oh, yes, I'm not crazy.....just anxious.  and maybe a little crazy.  I'm also pretty sure she's including me in the book she's probably writing!


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I know I've said this before but tax season is almost over!!!!   This makes me very, very happy.  Except for the part where we didn't make reservations at our favorite RV park on the beach and now they're filled......oh, well.......I'll just be glad to have to superhero home before 8 pm at night!  


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Even though he gets home late, the superhero and I are walking every night.  I'm starving myself and losing weight very slowly.  Very, very slowly.  I now count ounces lost.  The really sad thing is I know I'll have to eat this much less than I'm used to for the rest of my life in order to keep the weight down and I love to eat!


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I think I'll take my fragmented self into the kitchen for my paltry little breakfast!  


Because for now, I'm all fragged out!

Easter and other things.....

Any of you printing your blogs?  I printed my first three years together......since I didn't blog much.....and just received my fourth year in the mail a few days ago.  It's fun to have it in book form even if you can't buy it on A*mazon.  The site I'm using isn't very user friendly, at least not to this user, but I'm determined to print it all one year at a time.  Someday, I'm sure my children will find them when they go through my things and throw them promptly in the garbage treasure having my words to read.

It's been a wild two weeks around here.  The weekend before Easter, one son and the superhero both had wrecks within three days.  Matthew was on his way to my brother's house when he was rear ended.  He tried calling me......the wreck was just at the end of my brother's street......but I couldn't hear my phone ringing.  Yes, I feel really bad about that.

Look you, there's no sense in feeling guilty about everything!  

Thankfully, Matt wasn't hurt and his car was only damaged a little and is still drivable.

Not to be outdone, that Sunday afternoon, the superhero AND Matt were stopped at a red light when they saw a car hit another car on the other side of the road, spin around and start coming toward them......

The superhero said it was really surreal watching the  driver hit and then start coming his way.....he said he thought she would stop before she got to him because she came across two lanes of traffic and a median, but no.....CRASH!
It hit so hard that the truck has to have a whole new cab.  I am so thankful and weak kneed grateful that neither one of them were hurt.  And just a little fyi......in both wrecks, there's a good chance the drivers were texting.....  Please don't text while you're driving.  The person you hit might be someone I love! 


The Saturday night before Easter, I went with some friends to the Passion Play which a local church puts on at our civic center every year.  It was wonderful! So much work went into it and it was like a broadway production.  They told the story of Christ and His great love for us so beautifully.


Easter we had a wonderful church service filled with joyful music about resurrection day.  There was an orchestra and the handbells played.....it was just a joy filled service.


After church, MIL and just half of the children were here for lunch.  I didn't think to get the camera out until Russell had gone to the office.


MIL with Matt, David and Arwen

Me with Matt, David and Arwen

After everyone left, I took mama an Easter lilly and visited for a while.  Mama closed her eyes and seemed to be asleep so I was talking to her caregiver when she opened her eyes and said "my daughter brought me a beautiful plant" Me... "was it an Easter lilly?"  Mama....."I think so".....me..."which daughter?"  Mama....."my favorite"....me..."where is she".....Mama..."right here"!  She is so funny!



And in just a few days, we'll be opening this mystery door and showing off the brand new bathroom!  I can't wait.  

Good Friday.....

Although John Hart died before Easter in 2007, his legacy lives on.........


I'd like to thank John Hart, the creator of the cartoon strip B.C.,  for not being afraid to express his faith for all to see in his work.......

  Our local paper doesn't carry B.C. anymore.  That's a shame.

“Hart believes the Lord put him into the cartooning world for a reason. Every prudent chance he gets, he takes advantage of it. On Hallowe’en, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter—and many days between—Hart’s characters offer messages reflecting the cartoonist’s own firm belief in the gospel message. ‘I find myself trying to put the gospel into practically every strip I create without being obvious about it,’ he says.”

We all think we can define God and what He should and shouldn't be doing.  HE says to us in Luke 19:20

When the multitude began rejoicing and praising God, the pharisees told him to rebuke them.....

He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

It's very clear on this Good Friday that all nature sings out.......I have always been fascinated with the long leaf pines.  When they start to put out their new growth, it looks like little crosses.....I don't think that is a coincidence.....

Have a Good Friday.

This big, wonderful world of bloggers

I have often said that there are some real prayer warriors among the bloggers I have come to know in this wonderful land of story telling, sharing and journaling.

So today, instead of my normal ramblings about nothing of real importance, I'm asking you to pray for our dear friend's grandson.  

His mama tells his story so well and this is the link to her blog about Brian.

Brian is five years old and is starting his third round of chemotherapy.  

Today is his grandmother's birthday and all she wants is for Brian to be well.  You may remember my friends from this post.
Brian is the first little boy on the left.

Brian's parents

Please add Brian to your prayer journals, pray for him as you think about him during the day.  


And from this blogger's heart, thank you.

Garbage

The garbage truck just rattled by leaving my dogs a frantic mess of nerves.  Twice a week, we can put all our garbage in a can, put it out by the road and nice men come along and take it away.  


If only we could do the same with all the garbage that stores up in our heads!  Oh, it would be so nice to just open the old skull and dump the thoughts out into a garbage can twice a week and haul it out for some nice men to take away to the brain dump!  

This is about how much they would find in mine!  Take it away boys!


Ephesians 4:23


I'll be working this week on the renewing of my mind.