Friday, December 16, 2011

Friday-Ness

Yep.  It’s Friday.
My to-do list is long, my house is dirty, my Christmas cards are unmailed, and exactly 1/2 of one percent of my Christmas shopping has been done.
Thankfully my back is doing a whole lot better, which will enable me to work fast and efficiently and get done all the things that I have left undone due to the fact that I was feeling undone by my back’s unhappy state of being.   (Did you get all that?)
And so today instead of writing long-ly and lengthily, I will send you off on your weekend with some glimpses of Outer Banks loveliness to bring a smile to heart and peace to your soul.
Because in this busy season?  Smiles and peace are a really good thing.
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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Try To NOT Smile When You Watch This. And An Upcoming Change.

Every time I watch this video, a big ol’ goofy smile just appears on my face.  (And the Southern accent just slays me,)

Changes . . .

The following two comments that were left recently are a perfect lead in to a certain announcement I have . . .

Lisa wrote, “Becky, I always love your posts and am a faithful reader but have to tell you that I hate the orange background. Sometimes it turns white and sometimes it does not. Maybe it's just my computer but can you look into it?  Lisa.”

Jodi said, “Any new updates on the new commenting system?”

In answer to those questions—change is on the way! 

Over the course of the next week or two, I am going to be transferring Smithellaneous over to a new self-hosted blog platform (Wordpress). Therefore Lisa, the background will be completely different and Jodi, the new commenting system will work wonderfully!  In fact the new blog will be different on many levels, allowing much more freedom in design as well as offering helpful features and a lot of fun and cool aspects.

Currently, my blog is on a hosting platform called Blogger and while I have used it for two years, in recent months it has been making me just a wee bit crazy. I attempted to add a “threaded comment system” which would enable you (and me) to comment on each others comments and have a running dialogue which would build on the wonderful sense of community we have around here.  However, Blogger would not allow me to install that system. Wordpress will.

Also, I have been having many other issues with Blogger, one of which has added three gray hairs and five new wrinkles,  Once I get a new post up and see a little mistake or a missing word—when I go back in to change that one thing, it immediately throws the formatting off on the whole post and I have to spend a half hour trying to get the formatting (paragraphs, spacing, etc) back to where it was.

Wordpress offers thousands of “plug ins” and applications and design features and things that will gladden the artistic, creative heart of this blogger and make Smithellaneous a lovely and fun place to visit.

So with all the change, what will remain the same?  The blog address. The writing.  The pictures. The wonderful Smithellaneous community.

Having said all that, I do need to let you know ahead of time that this blog will have to go off line for a day or two in order to make the switch. So if you happen to come by and find nothing at all, have no fear.   It’s a temporary situation that will soon be remedied.  I don’t know right now exactly when that will happen but I will warn you a few hours (or a day) ahead of time.

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about taking this blog to a new level and implementing some changes I’ve been thinking about for a long time.

So . . . stay posted and I’ll keep you up to date as things progress.

And since I’m answering comments, let me close by addressing two more that have come in.

Gayle said, “Another great set of WW pictures! And the photographers are from the town right next to ours!! They did a great job and I'll certainly remember to recommend them if I know anyone needing a photographer. Do they have an actual business?”

Gayle, yes Nathan and Meagan’s photographers do have an actual business. Here is their website.  Thanks for passing their info along to people you know in the area.

 

Karen, commenting on the Musical Flash Mob I posted recently asked if I had seen the Flash Mob with the  symphony.

I found the symphony you were talking about, Karen, and loved it!  Thanks for the recommendation.

Karen also wrote, “By the way, does Sarah still mention hearing her hair? Mine has been bothering me lately and I happened to think of her!”

Karen, Sarah did have that problem when she first started wearing her hearing aids; however, she has not worn them in a while and seems to getting along quite well without them. 

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Wedding Wednesday: Hugs and More

Before we start today’s Wedding Wednesday, I just want to mention that my back is still giving me fits so I reluctantly trundled off to the doctor yesterday.  She gave me a super, mega, mambo muscle relaxer which when it kicks in, renders me incapable of thought, speech, or action.  Well, maybe not completely incapable, because I am, after all, writing this blog.  However, I’m not promising it will be entirely coherent. And I’m not promising that I will be able to stay awake during the whole th
(Three Hours Later.)

Did I miss anything? 
No?  Oh good.
By the way, I think I have enough photos to finish out the month of December and then  
we will all observe a moment of silence before moving on to a new year and new Wednesday topics. 
As we finish out these last couple of weeks, I will be repeating a few pictures here and there— 
some of them will be repeated because my memory sometimes fails to let me know that I’ve already posted them and some 
will be repeated just because I especially like them. 


So let’s get started with a sort of wacky photo, shall we? 
This is the kind of sister-in-law that Nathan will
have to put up with for the next sixty years?  Can you imagine?
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Oh wait. 
It appears as though the wild, wacky haired sister-in-law was actually
just showing off her wedding-esque hair extensions and that
Nathan’s other sister-in-law was able to whisk said extensions into a
lovely and elegant hair style.

Whew. That’s a relief.

Because we all know that Nathan would never fit into a
 wacky family, now would he?
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A few more shots from the ceremony.
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I know Steve and I look rather sober but we’re actually quite happy.
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Their first married hug.  (One of many thousands of hugs to come.)
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More hugs—Nathan and Sarah and Meagan and a groomsman.
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The Parental Units swarm their beloved offspring . . .
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. . . and even more hugging commences.
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Later on at the reception, everyone signed a photo of the Bridal Couple.
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Here’s Meagan with Chris, one of the two photographers. 
It’s a funny picture to me because it looks like she’s trying to talk
him into some funky dance move and he’s just not buyin’ it.
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And one of my all time favorites.
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I’ll close with a few comments on Wedding Wednesdays.
Deb said, “Thanks for WW and I don't mean Weight Watchers! Do either of the "kids" have a blog? I thought maybe Meagan would document their new life together... considering her background, (giggle)
Nope, Deb, no blog so far, but I would sure love to read the thoughts and experiences of the new Mrs. Smith!
Becky M said, “
I think this blog needs TWO special entries one from the groom and one from the bride, heck or a few posts, talking about their wedding and honeymoon and such. We have heard from Steve and Sarah and even Snowy. I think it is time to hear from our other memories of the family and what a great way then getting their inside scoop on their wedding and honeymoon....it is a thought anyway.

Becky, I’m all for it!  Now we just have to talk the bride and groom into it!

Catherine said,“I love the pictures. Are they what a number of people took and have passed along to you? The detail of what is caught on film is just so exquisite.”

Catherine, thanks for the reminder to mention once again who the photographers are for these wedding photos. I may have taken a few of the ones I post, but about 95% of them were taken by the husband/wife team of Kristen and Chris Czuchra from Ozark, AL. 

They are friends of Nathan and Meagan and the perfect choice to shoot their wedding.  I also want to mention that the pictures I’ve been posting are a fairly small file size (as opposed to the originals) so they’re not a completely accurate reflection of the quality of the Czuchras’ work. But the poses and the pictures are gorgeous, none-the-less.
Here is the wonderful couple responsible for Wedding Wednesdays!
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As always, thanks for stopping by and continuing to celebrate this special day with us.


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

What The Well Dressed, Middle-Aged Woman Is Wearing.

On Sunday afternoons after worship team rehearsal, morning service and lunch, I try to take a nap.  I always put on something comfy for my nap because taking a nap in non-comfy clothes is just wrong on so many levels.

For my comfy clothing selection, I especially like sweat suits.  They feel like pajamas, but if your doorbell rings unexpectedly, you can answer the door in your quasi-pajama, napping-ish clothes and no one is the wiser.

So. I took my Sunday nap cozily ensconced in my sweat suit.  Ahh.

Then I got up, put on my fuzzy socks and puttered around the house for a little while.  Ahhh again.

Then Steve took Sarah to youth meeting.  I puttered some more.  Continued ahhh.

Then Sarah called and said she needed a ride home.  Since Steve had the Dropping Off Duty, I elected myself for the Picking Up Duty.  But it was a wee bit chilly outside, so I pondered the coat closet selection for a moment before finally settling on a gray, fur-like coat someone in the church had passed along to me.  I’d been wanting to find a time to wear it and so I thought, “What better time than now?”

So I plopped the dressy coat on over my sweat suit.  And then I realized that I couldn’t go out on the cold sidewalk with just fuzzy socks on, so I put some gold flip flops on over the fuzzy socks to keep the bottoms of my delicate little feet from getting frostbite from our wickedly cold, bitter Southern winters.

And then I grabbed my “mom purse” and I was good to go.

I picked Sarah up, brought her home and we got out of the car to go into the house.  She glanced over at me to say something and then looked again.  A little closer.

And she said something like, “Um.  Mom, do you know how you’re dressed?”

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What?  The girl doesn’t think her mama is rockin’ this style?

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I just don’t know what’s wrong with this younger generation.

 

Monday, December 12, 2011

The Sea. The Sky. The Sonset.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about our family’s jaunt to Jeanette’s Pier to enjoy the sea, the sky, and the sunset.  While we were there, I took one of my favorite pictures of Sarah.

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I took a lot of other pictures that made me happy.
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But those weren’t the only pictures from the evening that I loved.
Shortly after we got there, I happened to see an elderly mom and her son who happened to have arrived about the same time we did.   I couldn’t help but notice them several times over the next few minutes because they seemed to have such a sweet, tender relationship between.  And the more I watched them, the more I missed a certain fella of mine . . .
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. . . because if there was one thing that is true in this life, it’s that mama’s can miss their kids so badly it actually hurts sometimes.

Anyway, since I had been watching this lovely pair throughout the evening and since they just happened to leave the pier at the same time as we did, I positioned myself nonchalantly behind them so that I could take some pictures of them as they left.
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I have to confess that as I continued to take photos, I had to wipe away tears between each shot because I could so easily picture this same scene being played out thirty years from now--just with different characters.   I could picture Nathan taking me to view the sea, the sky, and the sunset, buying me a little something at the gift shop, and then guiding me gently down the pier back toward the car.  
Me in the sunset of my years.  He in the prime of life. 
The roles between us would be altered by then, with him taking my hand to hold me steady--a mirror image of those long gone years when I was the one grasping a small hand in order to hold my wobbly toddler upright.
So much else will have changed between the now and the then.  The world will be a much different place, maybe even unrecognizable.  Age and passing years will have erased youthfulness from our faces. I will be full of years and Nathan will be full of adulthood, juggling the joys, sorrows and challenges of a family, of a career, of life.  But one thing that won’t change in thirty years will be the love between a mother and a son.
Sunset years. The prime of life.  Hands held.  Joy spoken. Love given.
The sea. The sky. The sonset.