The Visit.

Last weekend, Steve’s parent’s spent a few days with us. We worked them so hard during their visit that they finally had to flee back to Charlotte in desperation, just to catch up on their rest.

Their first job was to change the message on the church sign.

I thought it was appropriate that two people who have been married for fifty-five years would be assigned to put up a sermon title like . . .

. . . this.

(Note: During the service, Steve had a couple brave souls come up front with him and sing a few bars of that song. It was most entertaining.)

After that job was complete, Ken went around the house and worked on the switch plates that we had removed for painting.

Vernie got right to work folding bulletins with Our Regular Folder of the Sunday Bulletins. Don’t they look so inspired?

Then Ken was “talked into” singing a special with Steve on Sunday morning. (That line is really a joke because there are few things Ken enjoys doing more than singing in front of people.)

Before he started the song Ken said, “I tried to get a good guitar player to get up here to accompany me but all I could find was Steve.” That got a good laugh.

Then Ken called “his favorite alto” to the front to do a duet with him.

And as if THAT weren’t enough work, Steve took Ken with him to sing at the local radio station.

Steve preaches on the radio 15 minutes every Monday morning but he usually just does it by phone. However, since he had a local singing celebrity with him this time, he decided to go on into the studio instead.

I must say that Steve and I have been both been so blessed through the years by the parents God has given us. My Mom and Dad always had the same attitude as Ken and Vernie do. Whenever they arrived for a visit it wasn’t, “Okay, entertain us.” Their attitude was, “What can we do to help you?”

My dad has been gone to heaven for almost a year now, but I’ll always remember the way he and Mom invested their lives into other people at every possible opportunity. Both sets of parents have provided such excellent examples for our kids.

Okay. Back to the visit . . .

Just in case you’re thinking that Ken and Vernie’s visit was all work and no play, I have to add that they took Sarah to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse where Ken and Sarah climbed 268 steps all the way to the top of the lighthouse. (Ken will be eighty years old in January so I’d say he’s in pretty good shape to be able to do that.)

One evening, we got out the bikes and took a spin up and down the street in front of our house.

One of the most endearing sights of the whole visit was this one. Vernie hadn’t ridden bike in a long time and was a little wobbly starting off. Steve ran along beside her, just like she and Ken had run alongside his bike when he first learned to ride. Sarah and I stood in the driveway watching them and both got teary-eyed over the sweetness of it.

Saturday night was video night. We watched Jungle Book which is one of the best movies ever. You can tell that Snowy was fascinated by it.

On Sunday night, they took us out to dinner for an early celebration of Sarah’s fifteenth birthday coming up on August 23rd. (View from the restaurant.)

This is at Stripers in Manteo which serves the best crab stuffed flounder I’ve ever had.

Leaving the restaurant to go get dessert at another restaurant.

When we got out of the car at the next place, Steve looked at Sarah and said (as he often does), “So! Do you want to skip?” Usually she says no but on Sunday night she surprised him by saying yes. It’s kind of a blurry picture but it still captures the whimsy of the moment.

Waiting on the deck of the restaurant to be seated.

Sarah and her grandpa--looking ahead to another year.

The Big Reveal

Finally, I have a chance to sit down for more than 3.5 seconds and actually get this post together.

Before I show you the (sort of, almost) final version of our re-decorated bedroom, I’ll show you a few pictures of the process so that you can truly appreciate the change.

Here’s what the room looked like when we first laid eyes on it one year ago.

The bedroom right as we were moving in.

The wonderful, marvelous, and completely enjoyable moving process.

Our pretty wing chairs and the not-so-pretty mini blinds.

The painting begins.

The room with new paint and old carpet. (We’re getting closer to our goal!)

And now ladies and gentlemen, for the Big Reveal . . .

Snowy asks, “Do you like it?

“Aw, shucks. I sure do.”

Pre-Op Appointment. Age Poll. And Other Stuff.

I’m heading out in a few minutes for my pre-op appointment where I will have blood work done and will also probably need to sign papers that will promise my first born son to the financial person. Such a fun time.

Of course, I will also be meeting with my surgeon to make The Final Decision so that he can get the correct thingamadoochies ordered for my exchange surgery. From what I understand, they never order the permanent implants any earlier than a week before a scheduled surgery because they’re so expensive. So we’ll have our Big Chat and he’ll get the order placed and I should be good to go. Surgery is slated for Tuesday, August 17 and I am extremely and completely and inordinately ready to have that day come. (And go.)

In other news, it’s certainly been interesting watching the results be compiled in the Age Poll. There’s quite a battle going on between the 36-45 and 46-55 age groups. Every time I look at the poll, those two groups have either been exactly even or just a few numbers apart. I don’t know who’s going to end up winning that particular segment but at least I know where the majority of my readers are, age-wise. It’s been so much fun to see the results--thanks to all of you who have voted so far.

And as for whether any males are reading? Well, as of today it said that 462 votes had been cast and 455 showed up as female. So it appears that I have at least seven male readers. (Woo-hoo!) I guess “seven” isn’t big enough to be a blip on the poll meter which is why it isn’t showing up in the actual results. But I’m glad to know that at least we have a few fellas hanging out in our midst.

And on the subject of the Age Poll, here are a few comments that have come in. I especially loved this first one:

Anonymous said, “All right - where are all the old farts? Only 5 (!) in my age bracket???”

That one really made me smile.

Trine said, “Do you have any clue about how many readers you have, Becky?

Jodi added on the same subject, “Wow! Becky, that is all I can say, "WOW!" Did you know you had that many regular readers? Wouldn't it be great if all those people who answered the poll all commented on the same day? I bet you would be giddy with excitement. Congrats on all the readers you do have.”

Trine and Jodi:

Thanks for your enthusiasm! I am truly grateful for every single Smithellaneous reader who stops by. As for an estimate of the number of people who come here, here’s a graph from StatCounter which is installed on Smithellaneous. The big hike in April was because of my cancer diagnosis/surgery. (This graph just measures page loads and not unique visitors.)

At any rate, I feel blessed to know that “quite a couple of people” make the time to come by and visit on a regular basis. (“Quite a couple of” is something Sarah used to say when she was little.) You guys give me an outlet for my writing and a reason to share my story and I can never thank you enough for that.

I also have StatCounter installed on Sarah’s site and today the number there was 1,910, 465. Hard to believe she is nearing the two million mark!

Trine had a couple more questions:

2) Becky, do you ever print your journals out (from here and Sarah's site) or do you just save them on the computer? I mean it would be sad if your sites one day crashed and your computer, too.

No, I don’t have the journals printed out. It would be a huge undertaking (paper, ink, time) because I have written many hundreds of thousands of words between the two sites. I agree, though, that it would be great to print them out at some point.

3) Have you read the book 'My Sister's Keeper'? What is your opinion about the subject and the book/movie covers?

I only saw the movie but have not read the book. The movie was heartbreaking and inspiring and wonderful and I enjoyed it immensely.

4) Becky you write so much but have you ever written a fiction story?

The very thought of writing a fiction story makes me feel completely overwhelmed. I’m in awe of authors who can spin a story out of nothing, complete with plot and dialogue and flow and beginning and ending and the whole nine yards. How they ever accomplish that, I can’t imagine.

Pam D. asked, “What is Steve looking at in that last picture? He reminds me of Adam when we're at the docks in Destin. Always looking down into the water, hoping to spot a crab!”

Pam, I can guarantee that Steve wasn’t looking for a crab. I’m not exactly sure what he was looking for but I think the fact that he’s a very curious guy makes me him look at all sorts of things everywhere he goes, just to see what he can see!

Jenna said, “Wow- Becky, your writing is incredible. You write with heart, soul, and passion and truly have a God given gift. I urge you to submit this story (Where Seventeen Went) for publication (perhaps to a family or women's magazine)- and also to consider writing a book. You have a lot of wisdom and perspective that could bless others through your words (just as your blog is already such a blessing to so many).”

Jenna, that is so sweet of you; you have a gift of encouragement. You really made my day!

Catherine asked, “I love the carpet. What's the color called?”

Carpet is by Bliss. Color: 01 Saddle. Style: 2876 Relax.

I believe someone else asked about the paint color for our bedroom but I don’t have the paint chip on that anymore.

Steve (my hubby) said, “OK, I have to confess that I signed in at the poll twice. Once as my real age and once as the 85-110 year old.”

Sigh. There’s always a trouble maker in every group.

Anonymous asked, “By the way, when is Sarah's Birthday?”

Sarah will turn fifteen on August 23, two days before she starts High School. If you’d like to send her a card you can mail it to:

Sarah Smith
127 Raleigh Wood Dr.
Manteo, NC 27954

And speaking of Sarah, here are a few dishes from a meal she made recently. Can you tell she got the “arranging food decoratively” gene from her mom?

And here’s the ham and noodle casserole. Yummy. And completely calorie free. Well, except for the, um, calories.

Okay, I know I’ve been promising final pictures of our bedroom redecoration project and I haven’t forgotten! Really, I haven’t! We finally got curtains hung and with just one or two more touches, I should be ready to snap a picture or two for you. (Maybe later today or tomorrow at the latest.)

In the meantime, if you would like to be truly inspired, here is what our stairs looked like just a few short days ago. The old carpet on the stairs had to be taken up a few days before the new carpet arrived so that the trim could be painted by Steve and his helpful helper from church. That meant we were walking around on this yucky stuff for a while. Ain’t it lovely?

Snowy didn’t know quite what to think as he made his daily rounds.

Quite a change from this . . .

. . . to this.

And now, off to my appointment I go . . .

A Poll! About Your AGE! How Exciting! (I think)

Yesterday, Trine (who reads from Denmark), was curious to know whether there were other Smithellaneous readers who were near her age. Her query got me to thinking that I'd also love to know the ages of my wonderful readers.

And so I am puttin' up a poll! An age poll! An anonymous age poll! (That means you can be perfectly honest about your age and know one will ever need to know.)

And although I know that most Smithellaneous folk are female, I've also included a male/female poll so that I can see how many guys stop by here.

So if you would take a little ol' second and mark your age and gender, I would be ever so happy.

To vote, just scroll down a bit and look over in the right column where you'll see the poll. Mark your choice and then hit "vote." (No hanging chads, I promise!)

And no, I haven't forgotten about the Big Reveal of the Bedroom. We've run into a couple delays on the project, but it'll be finished soon.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a couple pictures of my Island Pastor husband. He is definitely one charming island fella.

Where Seventeen Went (Revisited)

It seems that August is the big month for transition and change and for kids to take another step toward growing up—going to a new grade, a new school, a new college, a new town.

Since Nathan will be a senior in college this year and Sarah is headed to High School, the whole “growing up thing” seems extra poignant to me right now. I wrote this piece a year ago and just happened to run across it again this week; it really struck a chord with me and I wanted to share it again.

Where Seventeen Went
August 4, 2009

While we were eating lunch with Steve's parents last Sunday, I looked around the table and remembered that I had first sat on those same dining room chairs when I was just seventeen years old. And now, amazingly enough, my own children have grown into teenagers and are sitting there in the same chairs, at the same table.

Steve and I are about the same age now that his parents were when I first met them as a teenager. And now Nathan is bringing his girl friend to that very table, except that Steve and I are the parents, instead of the starry-eyed youngsters. And Steve's parents are the grandparents of the children I hadn't even thought about when I first set foot in that dining room thirty years ago.

At some point when I wasn't even looking, the generations regenerated. And when they did, they took me along.

Truthfully? I'm not sure that I'm quite ready for all this generational shifting. I'm not sure that I'm ready to acknowledge the fact that I'm no longer the seventeen-year old, the new kid at the table, the daughter-in-law-to-be, the young girl on the brink of the rest of her life.

I'm not sure that I'm overly thrilled with the fact that I somehow morphed from seventeen into forty-seven and no one even told me it was happening. No one told me that I would go to sleep a few times, cook a few meals, change a few diapers, travel a few miles, and then wake up a few mornings later to discover that thirty years had passed.

Seventeen-year old kids should be warned about that.

Seventeen-year olds should be told, "Don't take Thursday afternoons for granted. Or Tuesday mornings. Don't wish for the day when you'll be eighteen. Or twenty-one. Be happy you're seventeen because one day you'll turn a page on the calendar and you'll be forty-seven and you'll wonder where seventeen went.

You'll wonder where the wrinkles came from. And you'll wonder how you survived the heartache that life brought with it. You'll question why you didn't always treasure the joys that were birthed out of the heartaches. You will be well aware of the fact that you made a few mistakes and learned a few lessons as you glance in the mirror and see a face that is no longer young. And you will ask, “Why didn't I know all this at seventeen?”

Seventeen doesn't last forever. But neither does forty-seven. I know that the next time I blink, I'll be seventy-seven and looking back thirty years at today. The generations will have once again shifted and I will be the gray-headed lady at the dinner table whom everyone is calling, "Grandma." I'll remember the days when I was forty-seven, and when I was seventeen and I will be ever so glad for those lovely days.

And yet I wouldn't ever choose to go back, because seventy-seven will be a good age. Just like forty-seven is a good age. Just like seventeen was a good age.

In fact, you know what? Every age is a good age. Every age reminds me that I'm still alive, and I still have gifts to give, adventures to experience, pain to bear, joys to treasure.

I am very much aware that the days I'm living now will soon fade and that the calendar leaves will soon fall. I know that in some nostalgic moment down the road, I will look back at this sweetest of all generations when I had Nathan and Sarah's laughter filling the house. I'll think of how I was so aware that the winds of time were blowing harder and stronger and that one day they would blow those children right out my front door and take them to meet the loves of their lives and they would have children of their own and put their feet under their own tables in their own houses.

But happily, beloved children who go away also come back to visit. And the day will come when Nathan and Sarah will bring their own children home; they will sit at our table and look around and say, "I remember when I was seventeen." They will feel sad about it. They will feel happy about it. And then they will count their blessings and hug their mamma and go on living.

But you can't see all that at seventeen. And that's how it should be. One of the things that age carries with it is those kinds of special secrets, imparted only to those who make the journey through a whole lot of years. Nathan and Sarah will arrive at forty-seven and they'll find that it's really not so bad hanging out in the Land of The Middle Aged. And my hope is that by the time they get there, I will have paved a straight path for them, set a good example and helped to make their journey meaningful.

They will discover that in the ongoing reshaping of their lives, each generation will come to be inhabited by new faces, new lives, and new stories. And in the midst of the shifting of the generations, in one of their houses, at one of their tables, someone will turn seventeen--someone who will be on the brink of the rest of her life.

And a generation's journey will begin again.

_______________________

In closing, here’s a precious child who will be fifteen years old in two weeks. Can seventeen be far behind?

Snowy Gives a Carpet Tour