Gonna Get Married...

I promise this will be the last of the wedding pictures. I have so many good pictures that it was hard to decide which ones to share up on my blog without boring you all (all 6 of ya's) to tears. I'm not a great fan of going to weddings as a rule, but we really had a good time this weekend, despite how crazy it was and how tired we were afterward. It was weird for me to watch my baby H get married. She was 13 when I met her, which is the same age as Mr. Man is right now (well, he's almost 14 but still). I've known her for almost half her life and have watched her grow up from a little girl into a lovely woman. She is the little sister that I never had, and I love her. She was the one who came and stayed with me at the end of my pregnancy with Ms. Thang, so that she could stay with Mr. Man while we went to the hospital.

And We're.....

Last Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day to be married on. The sun was shining, the air was warm but not hot, and the sky was sparkling blue. We spent Friday night in the city as we had to be at my MIL's house bright and early on Saturday morning. We had a day full of hair appointments and make up and H just wanted to spend the day with her maids getting ready for the big evening. Mr. Man and The Boy came along with us and it was a good thing because we ended up needing him to run people here and there and everywhere. I made arrangements for Ms. Thang to have her hair and makeup done.

Going To The Chapel....

I have far too many photos to blog one time, so tonight I'm going to give you the rehearsal. The wedding took place at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Manchester. It's a beautiful old church right in the heart of the city and we were informed it's only 97 feet from the back of the church to the front.. 125 if you start at the door. 97 feet of people watching your every move, your every step. 97 feet of eyes looking you up and down, and at the rehearsal I learned that I was going to lead the way up that isle. No sweat. Nothing I like more than being the center of attention (eyerolls).

Say What You Need To Say

I came here tonight intending to give you a recap of my weekend and share with you about my beautiful sister-in-law's wedding, but my heart is too heavy and sad to do justice to such a special occasion, so I will tell you all about it tomorrow or the next day. There was going to be a photo here of my children, all decked out in their wedding garb, and I was going to lament a little about how grown up they both are and how proud I am of both of them. Instead I will share with you a photo my son took from the Cathedral steps yesterday after the ceremony was over, right as the sun was starting to go down. I'd like to tell you that he took it because he was moved by the gorgeous image the sun created over the city, but he was really just taking a photo of the radio tower in the distance. He's a bit geeky in that way.

Quiet Reflections on a September Day

I had my outfit for today all planned out ahead of time. A long tan skirt, paired with a short sleeve brown top that I had ironed and hung on Sunday. Part of my "use your time better" plan for this year is to not be ironing in the morning when I should be in the shower, so that I can still get my morning walks in before school. So on Sunday, I plan out what I want to wear for the week, based on the week ahead forecast and accepting that sometimes things won't go as planned and I might need to adjust at the last minute. As I was getting dressed this morning I decided that I didn't want my tan skirt, I wanted black. I wanted black because some small part of my heart feels that black is the only respectable color to wear on this day. Black to honor all those who are still mourning the loss of their loved ones. Black to share in the sadness and pain and overwhelming darkness that crossed our great land that day. I paired it with a lightweight sage green sweater. Green, in about any shade, is my favorite color. I also consider green to be a color of hope. After a long, grey and dark winter, at that point where you think that you can't just go on one more minute.. the earth burst forward in lush green new life. Black for mourning. Green for Hope.

Sugar and Spice.......

Just a quickie before bed... (giggles like a 12 year old at that)

My SIL went for her 20 week ultrasound today, and learned that she is carrying a wonderfully healthy little girl!!

I can't wait to tell Ms. Thang in the morning. She was so sad when Max died, and wants to have cousins so badly. She will be tickled to death that the baby is a girl. She has had a fantastic relationship with our little neighbor who is 4, since her birth.. so much so that she gets to 'babysit' quite often (when mom or dad are home and busy).

Continued good thoughts and prayers that the delivery will be smooth and uneventful. She is due in late January and they are still so worried and fearful that something tragic will go wrong again, even though they know in their brains that the odds are slim to none.

Are You Kidding Me?!?

Random Complaints On a Tuesday:

1. It's dark now when I get up. I feel like it's too early to be dark when I get up. I still have been walking, but I'm having a hard time getting out of bed because, hello.. it's dark! The Old Farmer is predicting a cold and snowy winter and I can't tell you how happy that makes me (eyeroll). I am not ready. It's about time to start the fall cleaning and get all the windows sealed up and ready for winter. Secretly I am harboring hope of warm days until late October and I'm not ready to close up the house yet. Call me crazy, but it could happen.

Summertime

Anyone else remember that song from back in the late 80's or early 90's called Summertime? I believe it was by Will Smith, back from his musical days. I don't know why, but for some reason I've had that song running through my brain for the past few days. Then there's the song of the same title by Kenny Chesney that I heard just the other day on the way home. All reminding me that summer just got here, just in time for it to be over.

I won't bore you with the details of the "summer that wasn't", nor how ironic it is that the nice weather has shown up just in time to go back to work. Cuz really, even I'm tired of it. Secretly I'm hoping that it stays warm until November, only for heating purposes.. but at the same time we picked apples on a hot day last year and the year before, and really, October isn't supposed to be hot.

Mr. Man has an assignment for Algebra (I love that he gets HS credits for this class in 8th grade) to create a poster about him. It has to to include a photo of him, and then stuff about him. He decided to borrow my little camera and go and try and take a photo of his favorite spot in town which is along a river that runs through the mill and behind the library and into the town pond. Actually, it runs out of the town pond and backwards through all that stuff I mentioned, but who's keeping score?

Anyhow, it was too dark for him to get a good picture of the river, and while I tried to tell him that.. I'm glad he went to try anyhow. He got this photo of the sun going down and the clouds, and I think it's just gorgeous. He was pretty impressd with it also and asked me to print it for his poster. We had an OK afternoon. It's a little better now that we are both back at school and not at each other's throats, but it's hard being the parent of a teenager.I'm trying hard to be more patient and less bitchy, but sometimes it's just hard. So. Damn. Hard.

An Old Fashioned Country Auction

On Saturday, a local auction house came to town to auction off the contents of an antique store over by the town library. The owner of the store, and his brother were antique collectors. They bought, and bought with the intent of selling, but never actually got around to the selling part. The building the antiques were stored in had 9 rooms. 9 rooms packed to the brim with stuff. Mostly chairs, and dressers and drop leaf tables. 60 or 70 drop leaf tables by my estimation, and that might be too low a number. Anyhow, the owner passed away at the beginning of the summer, and his 93 year old wife is settling her affairs. They have no children, and no heirs and so to the auction it all went.