Weddings

This is Eric and Me on our wedding day. This picture always makes me contemplate going short and blonde again.


We went to a beautiful wedding last weekend.
...It seems that we must've pushed the beautiful floral centerpiece too close to the candles because our table caught fire! We were able to put it out with no firemen and not causing a scene...
This made me start thinking of weddings and it made me curious as to what some of you have experienced. At our weddding, one of my bridesmaid dads convinced one of my other bridesmaids husbands that the party favor was lilac colored white chocolate. He soon found out it was soap~ and this happened before drinks were made available! Poor guy! The DJ had to keep announcing that it was soap and not candy! In my defense, I didn't put it in a candy box. It was a heart shape wrapped in saran wrap then in tule with a little note about sharing our day with us. When making the note, I decided writing "this is soap" would look uncool. So, my advise is to stick to candy in candy boxes or write soap if it's soap.
Anyone want to share? S.M., I think your wedding was perfect except for a kids fingerprint in the cake, right?!

old school playtime

It's hot out. Muggy and gross. I have this special sound I make when walking out in the muggy air. Eric still hasn't gotten used to it~ a cough-groan-moan-sigh sorta noise. He still asks me if I'm okay when I make it! I think by mid-June I'll just get a look that says "yeah, it's muggy and gross but knock that off, won't ya?!"
Our neighbors kids have the slip n' slide out and are having a blast. It's one of the cool ones that you hook up a hose and it sprays on both sides all the way like in a car wash. They may have had these when I was growing up but we didn't roll like that on H Blvd.
I grew up in Michigan and in the winter, my dad would put the plastic on the windows. A big piece of plastic was cut for each window then it was framed out with thin wood pieces and nailed around the windows. I remember seeing the air moving between the window and plastic but not being cold. I don't know if this is normal practice but the whole neighborhood had the same windows and they were junky. During the summer, we'd grab the plastic from the basement and lay it out in the backyard, put the hose at the top and Voila! Slip n' Slide H Blvd style. If you got going really fast, you'd fly into the chain link fence. I remember being so scared of that but the boys seemed to make it their goal.
This is such a funny memory from me. I think of all the things that kids have these days and the amount of toys and gadgets our kids are probably going to have and in a way, it's sad. We didn't use the plastic because we couldn't buy a slip n' slide but because we (I think it was my brothers invention so I'll give him props for this one!) were inventive. I'm not sure slip n' slides were available then, to be honest. Most of our games that us kids played was made up. We played pickle, like I mentioned on an earlier post. You'd put two bases on opposite ends of the sidewalk and one person would stand on each base. Those people would throw the ball and the monkey in the middle would try to get to one of the bases without being tagged. Man, we used to play that for hours. One time, our mean neighbor stole our bases and threw them in the trash. I plan to rant about him and other bizzare episodes in a further entry. I try to keep my ramblings to a max. of 3 subjects at a time and throwing neighbors in would be overkill. Okay, back on topic. Where ever that may be.
The kids my age used to make up crazy games or activities. We'd put on our rollar skates and head to the across the street neighbors unfinished cement basement. two people would grab a jump rope. The person in front would get going real fast, and the person in back holding the rope would have to maneuvere around the metal poles that were holding the house up! oh my gosh! I'm not sure our parents knew we were doing that~ how stupid! Now, from a "parents" perspective I realize how dangerous that was. No one or no thing ever got broken from that game so no harm, I guess. Most of the other games sound lame in black and white so I won't share them with you! But next time we hang out, let me know if you want to dark draw or corner pummel!
Enjoy your day!

shoplifters and headlights

About a week ago, my mom ran to a local store to buy some shoes. She and another lady were leaving just as the store was closing. She got in her car and headed for home when she noticed a cop trailing her. She thought it was strange and stranger still when his lights and sirens went on! After saying something in the loud speaker, he came to the window and put a light in her face and then exclaimed "oh, you have the wrong color hair!" The security guard who saw a shoplifter told the cop the wrong car to trail~ thankfully the security guard gave the cop the womans correct hair color! Poor mom.
I got pulled over a lot in my late teens/early twenties when I had my chevy cavalier, Don Juan Benito. (seriously, who doesn't name their cars in high school!? Just because my cars name was a little bit longer and maybe alot weirder than your cars name, doesn't give you the right to judge!!!) : ) The name really worked to my disadvantage, though because D.J. got hit on all the time. A shwan truck took off part of my front bumper and a lady rear ended me going 35 when I had come to a complete stop~ that hurt. I'm pretty sure there were more occasions but I can't think of them right now.
Anyways, his headlights burned out all the time. I would say that I got pulled over once every 6 months to be told one of my headlights was out. One night, I got pulled over TWICE because of it. That stunk.
Anyways, my week, compared to these stories, was much less adventuresome. I just asked Eric if we did anything exciting this week just to make sure I wasn't forgetting to tell you anything. He said he doesn't think we did. I'm pretty sure we didn't either.

Drive safe, readers!

A few pictures to show why we medicate our dog:

I forgot to give Trax his "Yummy!" this morning. I shake the pills and tell him it's time for his yummy and he comes and sits right down in front of me. He also takes his pills like a champ. He is naturally wild so the pills help keep him on an even normal-hyper dog level. Right now, he's lying on the floor behind me and can only lie still for so long. Every minute or so he'll stretch, itch or yawn! Silly, sweet puppy!

heartache

My heart has been pretty broken lately and I have been hesitant to write anything since this is the main way my dad, who's many states away, makes sure all is well with us and I know he gets nervous if I seem sad. But, I'm going to share now.
Since loosing Micah, my level of compassion and sorrow for others has increased. In the past few weeks, I have learned of two sweet friends both having miscarriages. One has been struggling with infertility for over a year and she was heartbroken, to say the least. Many in China lost their lives because of an earthquake. Parents are greiving the loss of their children and children are grieving the loss of their parents. When I see the news stories, I weep. I love these people. They are so beautiful to me and it hurts my heart to know the devestation and heart ache that these people are enduring. On a brighter note, there was a news report that Eric and I caught the end of last night. This organization in China is not only helping the victims of this tragedy, but bringing smiles to their faces by juggling and playing games. To see these people laughing hysterically as we saw the make-shift housing of tents in the background made my heart hurt and hopeful for them at the same time. Today Eric told me that Steven Curtis Chapman , a musician in the Christian community who has adopted 3 children from China and helped set up grants to help thousands of families adopt, lost his daughter who was hit by a car driven by a family member.
I share this because my heart is aching for these people. I have to remember that God didn't tell us that this world would be easy, just that he'd be with us. And as I cry and my heart aches, I pray that the Lord is with these people ~ that He holds them and comforts them in ways they've never experienced. That they will find hope in the midst of the darkness.

the mystery has been solved

My beautiful Jazz cat had the dirtiest paws this morning.
I now know why.

Did you notice that you can't see any parts of her legs? they're both straight down the hole~ probably reaching for a mole or something!

And this is the look I get when I caught her... and her paws are still in the hole!

Next year, I'm picking the balloon.

Eric bought me this balloon for my birthday. That was on April 3rd~ 47 days ago! I've never seen anything like this!
We have this rule in our house that it's your birthday (which means you get all vetoing power on movies, restaurants) until your cake runs out... next year, I'm changing the rules. It's my birthday until the hellium runs out!

summer, summer, summer time. ah, summertime

Summers in Florida are so hot. You don't see very many people outside other than walking from their air conditioned car to their air conditioned house. But I remember loving summers in Michigan. Partly, because it was a few months where I wasn't forced to wear snowpants and moon boots. You southerners may not know what moon boots are, but I bet Sarah and Vicki and maybe even Carrie are remembering their favorite pair right now! Summers were awesome! I lived in the same house from the time I was 4 till I was 25 (I did live with my dad and step mom for 4 years in the middle and visited the house I am currently speaking of every other weekend)... ((okay... another side note... I didn't realize why Eric was always telling me to get to the point when telling a story and now that I blog, I now know! Rabbit trails! All the time! Just be glad I proof read and use the delete button frequently, or you'd never come back and visit.)) I remember playing pickle on the sidewalk. This was our version of Monkey in the middle involving baseball diamonds and a baseball. Basketball and baseball in the street~ which probably wasn't the smartest thing we did since we did it at the end of a semi-blind curve. oh, well. we all made it out alive. We spent 4th of July together with sparklers and the grown kids would light the cool firecrackers. I remeber picnics, staying out till the street lights came on, swimming in the kiddie pool, riding my bike, picking raspberries at the neighbors, writing on the sidewalk (and getting in trouble) with crab apples.
ah, memories.
And to think this post started because I saw a kid playing basketball in the street~ rabbit trail like no other, my friend!
:)

Kind of a part II and other adventures

I made a New Orleans Part I blog, thinking I had a bunch of pictures to post but I don't... so, um, yeah.
Anyways. When we were in New Orleans, we went to the preservation hall and heard the Jazz band. The thing that stuck out to me is the love these men have for their music, their instrument. They don't just play it. They have a gift and they use it to the fullest. It was so cool to watch their faces when they played and when their band partners played. It was like they were hearing it for the first time!
We went to the zoo too. It's a really nice zoo with great exhibits. I tried to add pictures but blogger's taking forever to upload them. Sorry to disappoint!
I also ate a fried pastry with powdered sugar on it. I know how to say it but not spell it, so it will remain nameless. I think fried things are great. I also love powdered sugar. I used to love licking the bowls after frosting sugar cookies with powdered sugar icing at Christmas. Oh my, I am starving now. starving.
I digress.

Today, Eric and I went to Lowes to buy dirt to fill in areas in our yard. As eric was loading it on the cart, an older man started talking to us. He then took me by the arm and took me to his cart to explain how to get a good bargain on miracle grow. He told us how to make our plants big and healthy. I didn't have the heart to tell him that we just wanted to cover up the pipe from our sprinklers where the dirt's been washed away! I think my shirt with flowers on it made him think I gardened. My dad is the gardener in the family. He even has a gazebo! and a fountain! I have only seen it in person twice so I don't have more things to list with exclaimations.
Other than that, we've just laid low all weekend. Have a great week.

My new names

I stole this ~with permission~ from someone elses blog. I don't feel like a serious or even another post about life in general at this time.
So, here's a little bit of sillyness.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) FeFe Civic
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Everything But the Snicker Doodle
(I would totally get beat down...)
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Purple Dog
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Joy West Chester
(I don't have a middle name... Joy was the middle name my babysitter gave me when I was little~because I've always been such a joy !)
5. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Red Dr. Pepper
6. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Peter Williams or William Peters... sounds like I'd be a good lawyer.
7.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Ferne Peters
8. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Tuttle Tallehasee
9. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower). Autumn Daisy
10. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Pineapple Panties
(I'm wearing PANTS! I had to add the ie!!!)
11. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Donut Oak
Our milk was spoiled (4 days early!) so I had to get coffee and picking up a donut at the same time just made sense at the time!)
12. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather + “Tour”) The Creative Rain Tour
I would totally go...