The Home Stretch

What a few weeks it's been! This will be a mish mash of things that hopefully will make some sense.

Two weeks ago was Rebekah's bridal shower. It was lovely and she had such a good time. My wallflower is embracing her day and enjoying all the festivities surrounding it. I pulled out my veil to see if she'd wear it and she quite willing did.

We played a few games, had appetizers and cake, and of course, opened gifts. On the left in the picture below is Rachel, who kept track of the gifts for Thank You notes, and on the right is a good friend of both of theirs (and she's Rachel's boyfriend's sister), she made a bouquet from all the ribbons and bows. Ruthie joined us and was very quiet, though didn't hide her face at all. She sat my feet most of the time and started getting comfortable about the time it all was winding down.

I was able to finish her quilt for the shower, finishing the binding about 1/2 hour before it began. I can't believe it, though, I didn't even get a picture! I'll have to take one or have her take one for me.

With that big event out of the way, I was knee deep in the rest of the preparations. In the last two weeks I spent a few days making cakes (pictures of which are in my previous post) and have a total of 12 dozen individual sized cakes. There should be plenty of cake left as we'll have 144 cakes and only 65 guests! My family will be glad to have the extra treats floating around, between squeezing all the wedding paraphernalia into the budget and my lack of time, they've been missing some of the homemade treats that are often around.

I also made bows....lots of bows. They are hanging on my design board, pinned to my quilt hanging on the wall and even pinned to my dining room curtains. These will decorate the walls and corners of the windows of the hall.

I also made ribbon bows. The picture doesn't do these justice. Hopefully the day of the wedding I'll be able to get a better one. For now, the bows reside on my sewing room valance. There were a lot of little jobs to be done, too. Rachel's dress needed a seam repaired, Rebekah's veil needed to be secured more firmly to the barrette, and I decorated some flip flops for Ruthie to wear. She LOVES these and every so often will take them and wear them a bit. After the wedding she'll be free to wear them whenever she wants, for now, I want them kept clean and neat.

Her toenails will be painted red to match the girls' dresses and her hair will be curled and put up with a pretty silver clip.

While all of this wedding craziness was going on, we had other big things happening as well. The company my husband works his second job for got outbid for the custodial contract and he was laid off for the first time ever in his life. We need that job, it carries our insurance and provides the extra income we need to make ends meet. It was not clear if the old staff would be hired on by the new company or not, and for four weeks we've been hanging, wondering, and I've been searching out jobs for him to apply for. Online applications take about an hour and he's not really computer literate so the bulk of that fell to me. The last couple I found I let him sit and fill out, he has a new appreciation for the time it takes!

As of mid week we heard that a new company was hired (one was, but reneged when they realized they had way underbid) but they were mostly bringing in their own people. I've been feeling a bit resentful that all this has to happen during what should be a really fun and special time. Thankfully, just today he got a call that he is being rehired, starting Monday, as the lead person, which means a little more money than the other crew members, though it's still a pay cut. At this point, we're thrilled to have it and it's a BIG load off of our minds.

Of course, we cannot have one good thing happen without something bad happening the same day (quite literally, unfortunately) and within an hour of that phone call my son got home from work and his truck broke down in the driveway. I feel so badly for him, but at least there will be vehicles available next week with the honeymooners gone and that gives him time to take care of business with his.

Tomorrow night is a pizza party at our house after the rehearsal and then as soon as everyone leaves I'll be starting to gather up all that needs to be taken to the hall on Sunday.

Also since the last update, Lucas had a birthday. He and Ruthie have been champs about keeping busy with all that has been going on. Lucas chose s'mores and rootbeer floats as his dessert this year. Bless his heart, he doesn't realize how much easier that made things for me!

We spent an enjoyable evening outside, the firepit going, with Lucas and Ruthie running around and playing. Every so often, Lucas would lay down in the grass, and Ruthie would lay down beside him. I could hear them laughing from across the yard, they have such a good time out there. Ruthie loves to be outside and runs out whenever anyone else goes out. If the screen door closes too quickly, she'll go out the back slider and run around to the front.

Ruthie has also really enjoyed her Daddy being home evenings for the last month. She's got him wrapped around her little finger. She brings him books to read and they sit/lay on this little couch while they read, play, or just chatter.

I think that's everything! I have a busy couple of days, but after that I'm on "vacation" for a few days, hoping there is enough food left that I don't have to cook, and not too much post wedding clean up to deal with. In any case, I can take my time and with my husband back to work as of Monday evening, a big burden has been lifted.

Hopefully I'll be back Monday with a big wedding update and lots of pictures!

Sue