Wedding Details

We are really into the wedding details now! (I wonder how detail oriented Chelsea Clinton and Hillary were? Chelsea is getting married today.) Yo is really into all the tiny little details, much more than I would ever have thought to be. Michelle is not. My job for Friday was to meet with the florist, and take pictures of the sample centerpiece that he made for Yo. I took pictures of it and came home and emailed them to her. She had a million questions (or at least a half a dozen!).

Today there have been emails flying back and forth about the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" tradition. The 'something new' that she needs are some appropriate wedding earrings. She emails websites so I can check those out too, and offer my feedback. Her ears have not been pierced for very long, and she isn't really accustomed to wearing loops in her ears. On her wedding day is probably not the best time to try that out!

Michelle's wedding is now only two weeks away! Time does fly. She is much less involved with some of the details. She told the florist what she wanted, but left it at that. Hers is an outside wedding. They agreed to let me rent a tent, just as a back-up option in case of rain. Hopefully, that won't be necessary. All of us are trying to stay out of the details that don't have to do with our specific area. (Cilla's daughter is singing at Yo's wedding, but which song and how that is coming is not Cilla's territory.) (The ceremonies are my territory, but not the receptions.)

Of course, for all the sisters, there are many wedding details that have to be tended to, such as making the wedding cake (which Cilla is doing for both weddings). They need bridesmaid dresses fitted and ready for Michelle's wedding. Three year old grandchild needs a flower girl dress and shoes. Husbands need some dressy clothes. Gerry needs a tux times two! (that and a checkbook!)

It will be a year to remember, for sure---the year of two weddings!

As far as the marriages go, we could not be happier!

Lush Summer

Growing things are about at their peak. Some are past their peak. The lushness of summer is going to fade soon, alas. But my vegetations dreams have all been met, and exceeded.

1. Despite many challenges from critters, our garden grew....and grew and grew! It is actually a big responsibility to have a garden. One feels the need to do something with all the produce, since it so enthusiastically presented itself! So far, between church and office giveaways, freezer and frig, I'm doing okay!

2. I have a trellis that I bought three years ago, but have never had anything to grow up it! Three climatis plants bit the dust and I gave up. Then late in June, I bought a couple of morning glory plants, as a last ditch effort, and the vine has now made it all the way to the top! Yippee. (no flowers yet, but maybe).

3. We added some rose bushes and hydrangea plants, and they are now healthy and vigorous. The corner garden in the front yard has done very well this year. A russian sage plant which I bought and planted, froze at first. But it eventually managed to make a comeback. Next year it will be twice as large!

4. Even though some animal has been eating away at the bottom of my gladiola plants, they have still managed to produce three beautiful glads for me! And, of course, I am so glad!

5. Gerry has kept the grass perfectly manicured!

6. We have had both sunshine and rain in abundance!

All in all, it has been a very very good summer so far. There are more good things to come, I know, but maybe not in the vegetation category!

Simple Things

It is Monday, and Mondays are all mine. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are work days (for two more months, at least) , and Fridays are usually booked with tennis and other matters. But Monday is my day. I can sleep late, be leisurely, go somewhere, read a book, or whatever strikes my fancy.

I had a couple of simple items on my list that I have not been able to find locally. I decided to go to the next town, and to Target and a couple of other places. For some reason, [I don't really know why,] I don't often go that direction, though it used to be my primary and only shopping destination.

I found the two things on my list, items needed for Yo's wedding. I also found a pair of white flats, which I bought and am hoping will also be wearable comfort shoes for Michelle's wedding.

I stopped at a produce stand on the way home and bought sweet corn for dinner. I loved all the f produce there---peaches, melon, gladiolas! It occurred to me as I drove home how simple and minimal my needs and wants really are. Gerry and I laugh occasionally at what minimalists we are, especially when we have been to someone else's house. Our home is sparsely furnished with lots of open spaces. And that is intentional. The more stuff one accumulates, the more weighted down one becomes. We like the freedom of "open space."

Another part of all this has to do with money. Both of us have always lived within our means, at whatever level that might have been. I never spend all the money I make, much less more than, which is common. To spend less than you earn also makes one feel light and free.

I am much more attached to my loved ones and friends and faith than to the possessions around me. Things can all be gone in an instant.

But love abides.

A Rainy Day

I was scheduled to play tennis at 9:00 this morning. The alarm clock went off at 8:00 as planned. It was raining very hard, so I figured tennis was off. When I woke up at 9:30, it was still raining hard. By then, I knew there was to be no tennis. I was so glad for a day of sleeping in. A lazy day. On work days I get up at eight, get ready, and am to work be 9-ish. Often on the non-work days [Monday and Friday], there is something else happening, like tennis, which requires getting up. This is the first occasion in quite a while when I have been able to sleep until my heart desired.

I sat in the sun-room and slowly drank my coffee, watched the rain, listened to the wind, and just generally relished feeling lazy---something I so rarely engage in! I miss it when I don't get a chance to do that. But I also know that too much of this "laziness" quickly leads to boredom. I am still hoping for some perfect balance.

My Interim is winding down, and I'll soon be faced with lots of time on my hands to do whatever I wish. There are more and more activities and events slowly creeping onto the calendar, but I'm not sure that I can fill it to the right level, just yet. I don't even know what the "right level" would look like. Still, I hope to find it.

When I was a little girl, and even a youth growing up in the deep south, rain was warm. When it hit the pavement on a hot summer day, it made steam. You could walk in the rain, with it pouring down on you, and not be cold. I don't think that is possible up north. Cold rain on one's body would always be cold. I do love the memory of walking in the pouring rain, looking like a drenched rat, and being completely comfortable. feeling totally free. If I try really hard, I can almost smell it, too. Warm rain has a certain smell that is different. Or maybe that was just the aroma of southern vegetation taking a drink.

Perhaps the memory has such a warm feel about it because it was before adulthood, and all the cares that brings. Ah yes, I always loved rain, until that day when rain became a terrible flood. Come to think of it, I should even love that rain. It brought me Gerry! And a better life. Being totally comfortable. And truly free!