random reflections

Always Something

I knew when my son, Matt, called me at work today something was up. He works for a landscaper full-time during the summer and managed to cut his left hand between the thumb and first finger with an electric hedge trimmer. Although he tried hard to avoid it, he ended up in the emergency room and finally arrived home around 5:30 with four stitches and a pretty minimal bandage. He was in a great mood, ate some dinner, and went off (as usual) to visit some friends. Ahh, youth!

A friend and I are off to CKC in Buffalo on Friday after school. Although I once went to a rubber stamp convention (years ago), I have never been to a scrapbook convention. I signed up for quite a few classes with two motives:  learn some new techniques and limit the spending at the vendors. We'll see how it all works out. I'm hopeful it will be worthwhile. At any rate it will be nice to be away for a day or so.

We've received several emails and notes from friends who attended the wedding. It's nice to know that others felt the way we did (see below) about the whole event. I had such a good time. Loved meeting Adam's family and all his friends. Loved having all of Sarah's friends (most of whom I knew and all of whom I like) around all weekend. It's been a long time since we've had a four day party here. Actually this was probably our first four day party!

A Perfect Day

It was a perfect day:  perfect weather, beautiful and meaningful service, wonderful friends and family gathered to celebrate, and two beautiful people--now husband and wife.

Sarah and Adam after the service.

Having fun during the photo session in the gazebo.

Friday Night Pre-Wedding Activities

I woke up Thursday with a very sore throat—not fair--and I still have it. It’s slowing me down a little but not a lot. Compared to what Adam’s family is going through it’s a minor inconvenience. They arrived in Chicago yesterday to find out that there flight was delayed, then cancelled. Next they were told there were no flights to Rochester or Buffalo last night or today. (But Steve, Adam’s best man, and Susan flew right from Chicago to Rochester last night. Go figure!) Sarah found a car for the Cleavelands to rent in Evanston, but this morning they managed to get a flight to Toronto where they’ll rent a car and drive to Buffalo to pick up the car they reserved long ago. They will finally arrive in Rochester over 24 hours after they anticipated. We were hoping to get to know them better over dinner tonight, but that won’t happen.

I do, however, have a house full and am expecting around fourteen for dinner now. I already had a lot of food, so I got some more and will be feeding all the wedding party that has arrived so far. Jina, Sarah’s maid of honor, arrived this morning. We were so glad to see her and always enjoy spending time with her. Jina, Sarah, and I assembled programs this afternoon. We have just a few more to do as Kinko’s didn’t cut enough of the cover paper for us. Tim, Josh, Steve, and Steve’s girlfriend, Susan are here. Jake and Abby arrive at the airport in a few moments. Elizabeth and Sarah are on their way as is Andy. They should all be here in time for dinner. So much fun to meet all of Adam’s friends and to have a house full. Matt, who has truly been displaced by all of this, is less than thrilled, but he’ll probably be relieved to find out the family dinner isn’t happening.

It’s raining pretty steadily now, but the forecast for Sunday is total sun and 80 degrees. Here’s hoping the meteorologist is accurate!

The Count Down

Sarah and Adam arrived from Georgia this weekend. First thing we did was hang the wedding dress on our bedroom window so the train would stay unwrinkled and the dress would be out of harm’s way. Sarah has never been of the persuasion that her wedding dress needed to be a secret, so Adam actually went with her when she did her final choosing. It’s the first time I’ve seen it, however, and it’s beautiful.

It’s been a busy weekend. We planned the seating for the reception—not nearly as difficult as I imagined it would be. Sarah, Adam, and Tracy put the final touches on the program so it can be printed. We picked out paper for the program and ribbon to tie them. We went to church, and Sarah met with Session afterwards as part of her ordination process. Matt began moving his stuff home from the cottage where he’s been living during the school year. He needs to be out of the cottage by Wednesday. Where all his stuff is going is a mystery to me since we have all these guests arriving for the weekend. I hope we’ll find hiding places for most of it before guests start arriving on Friday.

It seems like it’s all coming together. Let’s hope for better weather next weekend. Today it was in the 40’s, very windy, raining off and on, and once we saw a bit of hail!

The Cream-colored Cloud

The search for something to wear to my daughter’s wedding, now less than two weeks away, was generally a bummer. My friend, Karen, and I looked for over five hours one day and I found exactly three outfits I was willing to try on, and none I was willing to wear. About a month later I wandered through Lord and Taylor’s and found a three piece cream suit—little flirty skirt, lace tank, and three-quarter sleeved jacket. It was a little dressier than I wanted but I thought it looked nice, and it fit well, so I brought it home. It has hung in the closet for six weeks or so and every now and then I wondered if it really was what I wanted. Sarah who saw it on the hanger in early April declared it “perfect,” and since it is her wedding, I decided it must be. This week I began to wonder if I should try it on. Sarah advised against it. “What will you do if you don’t like it? You don’t have time to search for anything new.” My friend, Karen, urged me to do it quickly. I took the latter advice and good thing!! I looked like a cream-colored cloud. This outfit was not me at all. Knew I would feel incredibly conspicuous. So I lost a bit of sleep last night wondering what I was going to do about it. Lucky me. Walked into Lord & Taylor’s this afternoon and there it was—the perfect suit. Still a cream color, more subdued, a bit more tailored, still a little flirty skirt. Best of all, I can wear it again perhaps. Found a great beaded top a few shades darker than the suit, sexy Bandolino sandals the exact same color as the suit and a wonderful little beaded purse. I always envy people who seem to manage to find exactly what they need, when they need it—now it’s true for me too! Such a relief.

"Faves"

Just a quickie from today’s 2Peas blog challenge:

Fave coffee: Starbucks Estima or Serena
Fave tea: Coyote Cafe Passion Fruit
Fave jam: cranberry orange
Fave Peanut Butter: not a fave, at all
Fave sandwich: Panera’s Turkey Artichoke Panini
Fave fast food item: Wendy’s Taco Salad
Fave appetizer: Love them all; warm Brie with pecan cranberry topping comes to mind. I could live on                 appetizers
Fave summertime drink: iced tea
Fave fruit: fresh pineapple
Fave vegetable: roasted asparagus
Fave indulgence: potato chips

Less Than a Month

In less than a month, Sarah and Adam will be getting married. Overall, our plans have progressed smoothly and, hopefully, we have everything under control. But, like many other mothers, I have this need to clean. I know for a fact that the bridesmaids and seminary students who will be staying at my house do not care, nor will they notice, that I have scrubbed the bathrooms from top to bottom, cleaned all the baskets, and washed all the shelves. Nonetheless, I shall continue. This weekend it is the kitchen, next week the other bathroom. We have had new carpet installed (so lovely, so long overdue) in our hallways and on the stairs. Tomorrow painters come to begin scrapping so they can paint the front entryway, the side porch and trim. Next week window washers arrive (thanks to the generosity of my mother-in-law--who asked if that might be helpful!!!) SOOOOO helpful!! Can't begin to tell you how grateful I am for that gift! We have many windows, an old house, with tiny panes---just an ordeal to wash. And then we have the yard and many, many flowers to plant. Fortunately, for Rochester, it's been a warm spring and we should be able to begin next weekend. One thing for sure, if it all gets done, summer vacation should really be relaxing--most of our summer projects will already be done.

So there's been very little blogging, and I'm barely keeping up with my journaling. I've done almost no scrapbooking. But being the compulsive woman I am, I decided at the last minute I should do my fourth and last layout for the DW 2006 Challenge on 2Peas. Here it is.

Quite a stretch for me. The challenge was "don't be afraid of bold colors." I don't use many except on children's birthday pages.

Well, am I grateful for being compulsive. Imagine my surprise to read that I had won the random drawing for the Autumn Leaves prize. Then imagine my excitement when I opened the box of goodies from Jennifer McGuire and found this:

Now, of course, I want to play. But I will restrain myself and make a card to send to Jennifer McGuire.
So much fun to be an unexpected winner!