Scary Nails And Dancing and Memories

It occurred to me yesterday that I am sort of a conservative, mild mannered person who rarely makes a splash in any of the worlds that I inhabit.

And so I told myself, “You know what? Enough is enough. I am tired of always blending into the background. I am tired of my mild-mannered-ness. I am going to show up at my son’s wedding with a splash of panache. I am going to go out and get myself some long and dramatic fingernails!”

And so I did.

What do you think? Just right? Too much? Should they be longer? (You know I always love to get my readers’ opinions!)

I don’t know; I sort of like them myself. I think they suit me pretty well. I think I’m going to keep them!

I am woman, here me ROAR!

While I was doing my dramatic nails, Sarah, Sheri and Meagan were doing the whole pedicure thing.

And when the whole thing was said and done, I did decide to have my nails cut just a tad. I mean really, how can one type Smithellaneous posts while sporting “scary nails?” (Of course, I was kidding about keeping them that long.)

Here’s what I ended up with—my very first acrylic nails ever. Sarah also got French tips, but hers were just painted on.

And here are Sarah, Meagan and me—the Nail Sisters.

After our stint at the nail salon, we took Nathan and Meagan out to eat. Since the restaurant was right across the parking lot from the hotel, we just walked on over. Or skipped, as the case may be.

In the midst of the skipping, I told Nathan and Meagan to stop for a moment so that I could take advantage of a strategically placed ray of sun. You can tell that Meagan is still skipping in her heart.

After dinner, the four of them tried to do that “funny walk” thingie, which created merriment for them and all the many people in the parking lot.

Then it was back to our room to practice our mother/groom dance. I am so not a dancer.

All I can do is giggle.

And treasure the memories.

(P.S. All of the ladies afflicted with food poisoning and/or the flu are back on their feet and doing well. Hooray!)

Verve-y. Elan-y. Sick-ly.

Well, right off the bat, I have to sadly confess to you that I have taken very few pictures so far on this trip. If you promise to forgive me and not be too terribly mad, I promise I will hereby endeavor to do better.

So help me, Nikon.

Some of the few measly pictures I have managed to take fall just a wee bit short of absolutely inspiring. Like this one.

I had fired up my computer camera on the 13-hour trip to Florida and messed around with goofy backgrounds as we went down the road. I can’t say that Sarah and I have ever had our picture taken with a Ferris wheel in the foreground, but hey, we love to live dangerously.

When we arrived in Winter Haven at 10 pm (which is way past my bedtime), we were greeted by this lovely Hampton Inn hotel room. Happily, we got it for a reduced rate because Meagan and Nathan negotiated cheaper rates by reserving a block of rooms for the wedding. My bargain loving soul rejoiced.

And what could be better than a room with a reduced rate than a room with a reduced rate that also sports a fab gift basket!

It was accompanied by this sweet note.

When I opened it and started reading, I found that it was from my son’s future mother-in-law, the wonderfully generous and mega gifted, Sheri Hawley, whom I am blessed to call a dear friend. Sheri writes an excellent blog where (among other things) she’s been writing about the upcoming wedding from her inimitable point of view.

Although Sheri is an energetic, “git-er-done” kind of woman, she was not quite up to her usual form yesterday when we saw her. As it turns out, Sheri, Meagan, one of Meagan’s sisters, and several other women important to the wedding all either contracted the flu or food poisoning and they were all in various stages of misery, from feeling weak, to feeling queasy, to having bouts of vomiting.

As you can imagine, this was not something that was real welcome five days before a wedding since the intensity of Official Wedding Preparation has officially morphed from “fast” to “warp speed.” Thankfully though, Meagan was feeling better this morning (after going to bed at 8 pm last night) and the rest of the crew seems to be feeling a little stronger as well. We continue to pray that they will all recover quickly from whatever has hit them and be able to jump back into the Wedding Week Festivities with their usual verve and elan. Because it’s hard to feel verve-y and elan-y when one is feelin’ sick-ly.

So that’s the scoop from Wedding Planning Central. As I said, I will do my best to take a lot more pictures and share them with all of you who are happily counting down the days with us until the big event.

The Angel. And The Tomatoes. And The Dog. And A Wedding!

A long time ago, some friends of ours gave me an angel. My very own personal angel. With my very own personal name written on it.

It has stood watch over various things throughout many chapters of life. This week, its job description has included being the Guardian Angel of the Tomatoes.

I think it has done a wonderful job since no one has come to harass the tomatoes ever since she’s gone on duty. (And there’s nothing worse than a harassed tomato.)

While the angel takes care of the inside of the house, Snowy assiduously tends to all outdoor security tasks.

An angel and a dog on duty? What could be better?

Oh, and jut one more thing?

There’s a wedding coming up. A wedding this Saturday. At 10:30 am.

We are leaving in just a few minutes for our 13-hour road trip to the Land of The Royal Couple. The dog walker and the house watcher are set to go. Five dozen errands have been run and twenty dozen items have been crossed off the To List.

I have been holding my emotions in pretty well as I’ve pondered the exciting changes that are about to come into our family. But I lost it just a little when someone from the church gave us this card to take along.

Until that very moment, I had never seen these two particular names written in such husbandly/wifely fashion. Of course, I sniffled. And also wiped a tear.

It’s really happening! My son is gong to be a mister! He is going to have a wife! And someday down the road they are going to bring a grandbaby to Manteo to visit. And I will be smitten. A smitten Smith.

Come to think of it though, I'm already pretty smitten. Smitten with Nathan and with Meagan and so very grateful to be looking forward to a week that will be full of precious moments and new memories to be made.