These girls are tall, long and lean. They were pregnant together in late 2005 and early 2006 so they had big stomaches together. Z was bred in May and is due between now and the end of the month. She looks huge. She could have from 1 to 5 kids inside her belly. It has been an interesting contrast to observe these sisters whose bodies are so close in size (save for their teats... M inherited her granddam's huge teats, while Z's are nice sized, very close to her dam's sized teats). Yes, teat size is an important thing. It is one factor as to why I'm not breeding M this year. Her teats are so big and long that I'm concerned that the more she's bred, the bigger and longer they will get. She's got good height, so I'm not worried they will be dragging the ground (literally) but if I milk her through again and breed her next time, there will be less pulling by kids at her teats, less growth through being freshened again.
Anyway, I decided to take some pictures this morning to show the contrast between the two girls. Yes, I know I have a wedding to plan, but it really didn't take long to snaps a few photos and I'm at the end of my day and this is relaxing, so I'm taking the time to do it.
Look at that belly hang! It doesn't seem like she can get much bigger.
I wish we had time to milk twice daily. M's udder gets very hard and full with only one milking in a 24 hour period. The most she can hold in her udder is 3.5 to 3.9 pounds. If we milked her twice a day, she would probably give us close to 5 pounds, maybe 6.
We haven't milked Z all month long. She kept decreasing her milk each day for about a month and when she got down to 3/10ths of a pound I just stopped milking her. She still gets to come out each morning for a half ration of grain. When she's nearer to kidding, her udder will begin to fill with milk. I've talked here before about the practice of drying off does. I don't like it at all. Some people just STOP milking the doe. If you have ever nursed a child and have missed a nursing session, you can probably relate. The breast becomes hard with milk. It hurts and it's uncomfortable.
Here is another shot of M's teats. They are really large in comparison to all our other milkers.
Until next time.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
My Expectant Doe and Her Sister
Labels: goats
Lane Bryant Expedites My Order, WHEW
Labels: Wedding
I have been up since 5:30 and have already marked two things off my list. Actually I worked some more on a third thing that isn't on the list. More about that in a minute or two.
It was so simple to put elastic into the crinoline slip. I measured the elastic around my waist, drawing it snugly around me but not too tight and giving an extra inch for binding it together. I then sewed the elastic to the rope that was drawn through the slip and pulled it right through. Then I sewed and sewed and sewed the elastic pieces together. I wouldn't want that elastic to break on the 20th.
So I got that off my list.
Then I fought my body into the Spanx. They are the ones that come all the way up the entire belly area to the ribcage. I do mean FIGHT, let me tell you. But as any woman knows who has worn panty hose can tell you, it was a fight I was happy to win once it smoothed my body into submission.
Put on the crinoline slip and the gown and for good measure tried on my emerald earrings and the necklace I got off eBay. The dress looks a lot better when I draw the sides tighter to my body, so I am thinking about sewing in a 1/2" seam on each side. I will hand baste first and try it on to see how it looks.
Now I need to get outside and milk so I can get that part of my day out of the way.
OH, I almost forgot the whole point of this post. I received this email this morning from Lane Bryant:
Dear Harried Bride To Be*,
Thank you for your recent email.
As per your request, we have changed your shipping method to Federal Express Saver and once your order ships, you will receive an email confirmation that your order has shipped. You should receive your order in 3 to 5 business days.
Sincerely,
Gloria
lanebryant.com Customer Service
www.lanebryant.com
*name changed to protect my identity ;-)
And the third thing I worked on. . . I am trying to write something for dh to say to him during our ceremony. He is going to read the poem he wrote for me last December and I want to have something to read back to him. Ds2 you are sworn to secrecy - DO NOT TELL YOUR FATHER THIS IS MY PLAN. Besides I might not get it done, then dh would be wondering what I'd written only to find there is nothing.
Would you like to read the poem dh wrote? Here it is:
An Unbridged Canyon
The bridge that we built to join our two lives
once crumbled and swayed so long in the night
Until one sad day it came crashing down
falling to pieces and smashing the ground
It lay there for years as wreckage can do
no attempt to rebuild we had not a clue
What we failed to see thru the hurt and the tears
was that God was with us thru our most difficult years
I look back now and cry a small tear
of all the time lost thru all of the fear
We reached and stretched and who would have guessed
our time had come to share in a kiss
We know much more now ‘tho the end is still far
I can once again call you my bright shining star
No unbridged canyons to stop us this time
we'll reach for the sky and continue our climb
Your sweet bright smile, green sparkle in your eyes
captured my breath, caught my heart by surprise
I love you more with each passing thought
the words they are few and cannot be bought
To express how I feel I must search very deep
to the depths of my soul where all men do weep
You mean more to me than mere pen can create
your gentle, soft touch swung open heart's gate
Room just for you, with you I share love
the window now closes to capture my dove
There she will stay in my heart and my soul
together as one will then be our goal
Out to milk.
Until next time.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Crunch Time
Labels: Wedding
Tomorrow is the last day I have to be home all day and get things completed for the wedding. I would love to get everything done tomorrow and then stop worrying.
We did get the guestbook pages printed today at OfficeMax. So that is thankfully out of the way. Now I just need to take them with me to work so I don't forget them at home!
Here's what my list looks like:
- Figure out what to do about the lace tablecloth I was going to sew for the "head" table
- Finish the flower arrangements
- One last fitting with the gown and see if I need to take the sides in at all
- Thread elastic through the crinoline slip (I bought it cheap off eBay and it has a cord running through that gets tied in a knot, which shows through the dress as a bulge!)
- Finish the wedding program (crucial to be done asap so I can have people help with proofing!)
- Finish choosing the wedding songs!
- Print the wedding program
- Fix ds1's suit (the button is almost off)
- Get ds1 a belt, or find the suspenders and attach buttons to the pants (easier to buy a belt, yes?!)
- Last but not least, the all important "remove cat hair from all the suits"
- General to-do list for things I can't do this week because they are getting pushed aside because of the wedding to-do list
- Wedding to-do list
- List of things for me to bring the day of the wedding
- List of things for dh to bring, along with the things needed by ds1 and ds2
- List of things to bring to work each day and store in my boss' office
- Shopping still to be done for the wedding list (still need to buy the paper goods)
On Sunday I'm supposed to have my manicure and pedicure. I tried to grow my fingernails just a little bit, but I really am prohibited with their length due to milking. Plus they start bothering me and I start picking at them when they get about 1/8 of an inch long. I keep them trimmed to about 1/16th of an inch.
There's the kidding kit that needs to be assembled for the doe that was bred sometime between May 12th and June 1. She is the only one due until February. But I still need to have the kidding kit assembled in case I have to assist.
I think that's it.
Today I got dh to try on his shoes and decide which of the two pair he wanted to wear. The bouttonieres arrived that I purchased off eBay. I bought three that the seller had. She was selling them for $0.59/each plus $1.99 shipping. Only one more dollar for shipping of each additional item purchased. She wrote me and told me she was shipping ALL her extra corsages (they are small) and bouttonieres. So I have twelve now. I will see if the pastor wants to wear one, and maybe some early birds can have one to wear if they want. I've decided to see about making corsages for the mother of the bride and mother of the groom. I think I can do it. I found that one grocery store sells a dozen roses every Friday for $7.99. I will buy two dozen or maybe three... and make my bridal bouquet, I've decided on just a simple one. I also want baby's breath in my bouquet.
I ordered this for my boss, who is doing a lot for me by taking over the food totally, and orchestrating the room breakdown between the ceremony and the reception:
She loves the color blue and she already told another lady she was NOT dressing up and if I didn't like it, that was too bad (she said that in front of me). I don't really care what she wears, but I hope she will concede to wearing this. I think it will be real cute. They have all these other t-shirts like "Mother of the Bride" "Cousin of the Bride" and on and on.
I got my mom a teddy bear that is wearing a shirt that says "Mother of the Bride". I got my mom and dh's mom each a monogrammed hankie.
Both our sons still needed white shirts, so I got one for each from Walmart for $15 each. I also bought two ties like the one above. $8.96 each. We have another green tie like that one, and dh will wear that one. I think the color is very close. Ds1 is modeling his new "hair". He has alopecia areata and is completely bald. Well, I just learned something new by following that link. Ds1's condition is now called alopecia totalis because he is completely bald. I didn't know the diagnosis changed once the scalp became completely bald. The wig cost $50 off eBay. My friend Rees is going to dye it to a dark blond color to match the color his real hair would be. It is actually a grey color right now.We also managed to find the sparkling apple cider on sale for $2.00 a bottle and bought 20 bottles. I was so, so, so excited to discover that the store has 6 pack cardboard containers that hold wine bottles. Otherwise they would have had to be laid down or find a box or something. That made me feel really happy to have those cardboard containers provided by the store. That's a lot of bottles to have rolling around in the back of a vehicle!
I had better get to bed.
Until next time.
Lane Bryant and the Not Expedited Order Disaster
Labels: Wedding
Just over two months ago I went to Lane Bryant for the first time and got fitted for a bra.
Today I get an email that says they have their "full support" bras on sale 2 for $25. I need a white bra for the wedding. My beige bra's straps show with the wedding gown.
So I agonize over the 8-9 bras on sale, the colors and all. The only thing I'm sure of is the size to order. I can't decide whether to order FedEx expedited (an additional $6) which assures it will ship in 3-5 business days, or overnight ($13).
I am pretty sure I was sitting here for 2 maybe even THREE HOURS, trying to figure out which ones to order.
Finally I made up my mind, put in the order. . . and FORGET TO SELECT THE EXPEDITED SHIPPING!!!
Regular ground shipping takes 4-8 business days. There is no way to call lanebryant.com. You can only email or write to them. I emailed, asking if they could please upgrade the shipping on my order. Hopefully they can.
In the meantime, this is not helping at all with my stress level.
Until next time.
The Wedding Guestbook
Labels: Wedding
Before it was time for me to start working yesterday morning, I opened my Inkscape created guestbook pages in Adobe Illustrator just out of curiosity. I've opened Illustrator a couple of times, but don't have time to just play around with new software.
I was able to rework the whole file and make it look much better. This morning we are going to OfficeMax to have them print out the pages. I decided we should get 150 copies, just to be safe and sure that everyone has a chance to fill one out. I called the OfficeMax where we'll be going and they told me the cost will be $0.22 per page. That doubles the cost ($33) to what I thought it would originally be ($16.00).
I woke up at 1:30 and was unable to sleep so I thought I'd get up and do SOMETHING. I could think of lots of things to do. I decided to scan the guestbook pages and show them here on my blog. It took me a while to figure out why the scanner wouldn't work. I guess I wasn't quite awake as I forgot I can't plug the scanner into the USB extension piece, but have to use the actual USB port in back of the computer. After some time of futzing around with the computer and scanner, I finally got the pages scanned. I began replacing our names with "Bride & Groom" and found this glaring mistake!
Man, I read over this thing I don't know how many times yesterday. And I showed it to at least two people who looked over it. I originally had in there, "Where do you think the Bride & Groom will be in 10 years." I changed it to "Where will Bride & Groom will be in 10 years." Missed taking out that second "will". Whew. That would have been near to disaster in my mind, to have not caught that. Now I need to be sure to have someone else proof the program for the same reason. That was page 2, the backside.
Here is page 1:
So I just realized why I'm awake. My blood sugar must be low. Dh got up a few minutes ago and I'm becoming increasingly agitated at noises and the sound of the television. And my stomach just signaled that I'm ravenously hungry. Since it's still very early (2:45am), I am going to eat something and get back into bed. My back had already started stiffening up by 1:30 anyway, so this way I can sleep a few more hours in peace until it begins stiffening again.
One more thing. Since I have access to Adobe Illustrator, I will make a point to use it for any future [stupid television, SHUT UP!] items I need to produce, RATHER than using Inkscape.
However, if the only option I had was Inkscape, I'd suffer through it. I mean, Illustrator costs nearly ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS, so Inkscape is WONDERFUL in that regard, but it is an EXTREMELY cumbersome program. The printing process alone was enough to drive me mad. It won't print more than one copy at one time, so that means you have to reset the printing options each and every time you need to print something. It won't hold the setting that tells it to print Landscape or Portrait, I needed it to print Landscape and it kept reverting back to Portrait. I needed to print 150 copies, both sides, so 300 prints. And my printer leaves smudges and I have to insert each piece of cardstock manually and the printer misfeeds every other time (when using thick paper).
Okay that's it. I have to eat something and go back to bed. I'm about ready to smash the television.
Until next time.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
OH NO, only TEN days to go!!!
Labels: Wedding
Starting to get a little bit anxious.
As I said in my last entry, I worked on my laptop on the way home, instead of knitting. I managed to finish creating the guestbook pages I mentioned in this post back in JULY!
I tried printing them out on both my printers. It will be a long arduous task and I finally called OfficeMax to see what they could do for me. $16 to print 100 two-sided pages. I'm going for it! I will stop by hopefully tomorrow.
The program I'm using is freeware and very CRUDDY when it comes to printing. It doesn't keep the settings from one print to the next AND it won't print more than one print at a time. Plus my printer needs to have a button pushed when I use the manual feed tray. So I'd be sitting here for 20 hours. Yes, $16 is well worth it. I will probably even pop for 150 copies. The new tally on attendees is 99 people. Gasp.
So that's one thing down. My ex-boss came by today to work on the audio for the wedding. He's also working on the audio for my job's upcoming event, so it is good he's working on it for me now.
Now I have to finish choosing the ceremony music! And the program and print it out. SCREAM!! And the flower arrangements for the tables. I have ten of those done now, or maybe eleven.
AND the shopping for the paper goods.
Oh me, oh my.
I have to get to bed.
Until next time.
Purple Passion Vest
Labels: knitting
I started this project on Sunday September 23rd. I don't like our new camera and I can't find my job's camera to take a picture of what I've done so far. This first picture is using the flash. It's practically psychedelic. Hmmm... I seem to have spelled that word correctly. The towel is actually a dark navy blue color.
Here is the same piece of knitting without the flash. Totally washed out. 
Here I attempted to Photoshop the correct rendering of the color. It's pretty close. But the purples are more intensely purple. More like the next photo.
Only again, not so psychedelic.
This is the back. There is a neat border on the bottom and sides achieved by using the seed pattern. At least it seems to be a variation of the seed pattern, because it's basically knit the purl and purl the knit for four stitches on each end (five rows to start out with). Then the standard whatever it's called, uh, stockinette stitch, which is knit on one side and purl on the other (wrong) side.
I am knitting on the way home, while dh drives. Except today I realized I'd better get myself in gear and start working on the wedding things that have to be printed out, so I worked on the laptop on the way home today.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Zoe's Due To Kid Pretty Soon
Labels: goats
One of our milkers is due to kid between the 12th and the end of the month. Talk about your good timing on my part. This is the first year I've tried off season breeding, and then I plan a wedding right close to the time she's due to kid. On top of that I lost my barn records for the last half of the month of May (gestation is 5 months for goats). I have been wanting to get our goats tested again for CAE. I don't think we have it in our herd (we tested our foundation does in 2003 and all were clean and we've only brought in two new goats from clean herds) but it's nice to have the paperwork to prove it, when it comes time to sell. I was stressing out about when was I going to get all these does' blood drawn and my friend who lives in New Mexico and has goats for years, suggested I test my one doe, to make sure she is clean, since we plan to allow her to raise her own kids and CAE is transmitted via the colostrum and milk. The others aren't due until February. So I geared myself up this morning to draw blood and I am dead serious it took me 20 minutes to find her jugular vein. It is so nerve wracking drawing blood. Ds2 came out eventually and I finally found the vein and managed to draw the blood. I was glad he was out there, he offered to help hold the doe (she was stanchioned in the milking stand also) and it made the job easier. So I did get that one doe's blood drawn and will now send the sample in to the lab for testing.
Until next time.
On Pins and Needles
Labels: Wedding
The wedding plans are coming right along and I'm near to having a nervous breakdown with all there is to do, plus everything else.
Dh and I met with our pastor yesterday to discuss the ceremony. Pastor loved the idea which ds2 and dh came up with and that is to have dh run off and have ds2 guarding the door with a shotgun. I told them all in no uncertain terms do I think that would be funny. They all loved it, so I just hope they don't get any ideas because I really don't like the idea of it at all! Maybe I'd better get an ankle holster and a pretend gun, just in case. Goodness.
I finished the veil today. WHEW WHEW WHEW. I expended so much energy when Grandma was in hospice, then helping to plan her memorial, then making the memory book, plus crying and grieving, the wedding got shoved to the side for a bit. That did not help my stress level in the least. I finished gluing on pearls, then I stitched through the top and drew the material together so I could attach it to the comb. Sewed it to the comb, and for the finishing touch, sewed a row of pearls and clear glass beads at the top.
I got the wedding gown sewed back together. I'd ripped out one of the side seams to see how difficult it would be to take the area in just about half of an inch. I needn't have worried, I feel certain I've gained enough weight to fit into it just fine. I am so anxious over food and my body size I can't eat hardly anything without feeling spasms of guilt. I knew I wouldn't be able to lose enough weight, or as much weight as I'd have liked to lose, but just the thought of being as large as I am sure does trigger me something awful. I sewed it back to where it was, and it seems to be fitting just right. I might need to take the seams in just a tiny bit but for now it's staying as is.
I debated on sewing this extra little fancy piece to the back of the gown, and after I got it ironed and hung up I thought it looked plain and decided to go for sewing it on. I think it really dresses up the back of the dress. These pictures really don't do justice to the piece, but here are a couple of comparison shots, without the extra piece and with.
Here is a closeup of the added piece.
Let's see what else did I get accomplished... I did get six of the seventeen table centerpieces together on Friday night. I had hoped to get the rest of those done today, but I don't think it is going to be possible.
We invited 168 people, I never expected more than half to attend. The tally so far is:
91 attending
27 declined
48 unknown
Egads!
Until next time.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Happy Birthday Dear Son Two
My Dearest Son Two
Since you embraced hygiene
It's a delight spending time with you
Your funny stories bring tears to my eyes
Exaggerating, carrying on like a schoolgirl
Outright bold-faced lies
Each one to me a precious pearl
I especially love that your writing
is wonderfully correct
Your grammar and punctuation and spelling
is so nearly perfect
A wonderful cook you are
Constructing meals with love
Helping us eat healthier
Your talent is a gift from above
To women you show respect
I am so happy you are in touch with your feelings
It causes me to reflect
And count my blessings
Your love for God is certain
You eagerly read His word
You are a good Christian
Happy to follow your shepherd
I am proud of the man you have become
Do gooder, straight and narrow, goody-two shoes
You are simply awesome
Not like those other yahoos
Last November you stepped up
Proud is what you made your father and I
Even though I was about to crackup
You stayed calm and let me cry
A treasure hunt for your birthday
fond memory from the past
Presents from your family
Memories sure to last
New things you aren't afraid to try
like going "no poo" with your mother
Makes my heart sigh
And turns me into a bragger
Of what a wonderful son you are
And how glad I am that we had you
So glad in our life you share
The love of goats so true
This poem sucks
But it is the best I could do
Just don't upchuck
Into your shoe
Happy Birthday. I love you.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Morning Star Crochet Pattern
Labels: Memory Lane
Click on image to see it larger.
Mom says it is by Coats and Clark.
Grandma used to make this pattern into a tablecloth, then sell raffle tickets to neighbors and coworkers to make extra money. We're looking for the pattern, 'cause mom says it was stolen from Grandma's house several years ago.
Until next time.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Auto Maintenance Ford 10-1-07
Labels: auto maintenance
Changed modulator valve.
Changed spark plugs.
Changed distributor cap.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
My Groom In His Suit
Labels: Wedding
Very handsome guy! My coworker Dema says he is "hunky" and "dreamy". :-)
Good night.
My Mama's Mother of the Bride Dress
Labels: Wedding
Three weekends ago my mama and I went clothes shopping together. Her husband had to tag along, but that's another story for another day. [JERK!] Ahem.
Anyway, there were only three that would have worked for her, and the one that looked the nicest on her was lavendar, so it will match the wedding colors! The dress accentuates her figure very well. Here is a photo I took with my camera phone, while she was in the dressing room. It has to be dry cleaned and she has a friend who is a seamstress who will help her shorten it.
Until next time.
TYDSITC - Rattlesnake II
Labels: Things You Don't See In The City
I don't have the time to chronicle the event, but ds2 blogged about it here:
Second Rattlesnake of the Season
Until next time.
Our Special Glasses
Labels: Wedding
One day last week, I think it must have been Wednesday, my boss came to me and told me she needed to speak with me. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and showed me the list. The shopping list for the reception luncheon. I had talked with her about what I wanted to have, basically meat, cheese and veggie trays. So the list contained those items. But the surprise to me is she is going to buy all the food on sale. She grocery shops every Thursday afternoon after she gets off work. I will reimburse her, but she is going to get everything at sale price and she's going to do all the legwork. This is a huge task. I was planning to just go to Costco and buy there, all at once.
She also had a list of paper goods that will be needed, and she asked if we had our "special glasses" yet. I had a look at Joann's and Michael's and they seemed to be running around $15. I was thinking I could use a 40% off coupon and get them a bit cheaper, then I remembered I am a cheapskate. ;-) I bought some little white bows with a pearl which cost $0.99 for a little packet of ten, and I already had the white ribbon. I found two champagne glasses at a thrift store for fifty cents each. I soaked the glasses in water and vinegar, cleaned them with dish soap, dried them with paper towels. Then I glued the bows to the ribbon, let them dry and tied the ribbon to the stem. I think they will work just fine. Cost: $2.00.
I also finally found the rose petal leaves that I bought from Michael's, so now I can get on with making the boutonnière's. I'm starting to panic because there is only two weekends left to do wedding stuff. I don't have much time during the weekdays.
Until next time.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Finished Blanket
Labels: crocheting
Fluff post. I finished this blanket last week. I was thinking about entering it into the state fair but missed the deadline date. Maybe next spring at the county fair. I think that might be fun.
Until next time.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
High Point of My Day
Labels: Memory Lane
I had a terrible day yesterday. My Grandma's memorial was on Saturday and all but one of my siblings were present. Of course it brought up a lot of issues and feelings. The entire weekend was difficult. I spent every spare moment of the previous two weeks making my Grandma's memory book (meaning I put the wedding entirely on hold). I think it could be a lucrative business one day.
At any rate, both our vehicles are having problems and dh took the day off yesterday (his birthday) to stay home and fix what he thought would solve the problem for the Pathfinder. We bickered in the morning (he drove me to work) and I was just in a funk most of the day. Crying to anyone who would listen, from my boss to our janitor (she's a wonderful lady who hugged me and patted me while I cried, love you Maritza!)
Then I talked to my sis in California and resolved one issue, which cleared up most of my depression. I had been so upset I'd even gone so far as to call my insurance company to find out about getting counseling and was close to calling off the wedding. My goodness, it was not a good day! I think the main thing is my Gma dying and the grieving process. Add the wedding, two vehicles having problems, getting our family together, my other sister is pursuing something unbiblical which scares all of us, and on and on.
But back to the title of my post.
I got to drive a forklift yesterday! It was so exciting! I only got to drive it for a few minutes at dh's job. A flatbed trailer was dropped in their parking lot with pallets on it and the owner was worried they would be stolen overnight. There were no trucks to hook up and move the flatbed, so the guys were trying to move the trailer with two forklifts into the yard. I knew right away it couldn't work. They ended up having to unload the pallets. I was ready to help! But then dh's boss decided that it would be best if just the one guy (with a special forklift attachment that unloaded two piles of pallets at the same time) did the work instead of having too many forklifts running into each other.
For about three years, age 18 to 21, I drove a forklift for a living. I was very good at it.
That's all I have time for right now.
Until next time.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Money Issues and Paying Tithes
Labels: Memory Lane, My Faith
If you just want to know what I'm going to say about this, without reading through my long dissertation, the bottom line is our church believes that we do not have to pay tithes, and that we should not expect any earthly reward for giving to our church.
I have talked before about how when I choose to get into something, it's more often than not something no one else knows about. This time, we've really done it up good. I can't even talk to the majority of Christians about my faith. Our church is non-denominational. I think we are called Berean Dispensationalists. We believe that Paul is our Apostle, and he was ministering to the "Gentiles" which means anyone who isn't Jewish. We are Bible believers. We believe that the Bible should be "rightly divided" according to II Timothy 2:15 - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. We don't just listen to what our pastor tells us that the Bible is saying, but we read it for ourselves and decide for ourselves. We only use the King James Version Bible (which is a plus for me. I've always been put off by the new versions of the Bible. I have felt offended and like we are being dumbed down to think that the Bible has to be translated into "everyday" language because people are too stupid to figure out what Bible language means.) We believe that we are living in the Age of Grace. Some of what I am learning is hard to grasp. For example, BDs do not believe that God "leads" us. I have still not accepted that 100% but I am still researching and trying to figure out what I'm missing. I have believed for my entire life that God is with me and leading me through life. Well, actually I strayed for a few years, but especially in the past year I felt much leading by God. I will explore this topic at another time, when I understand more about it.
Most everything else makes a lot of sense, feels logical, intelligent, and also confirms lifelong impressions. Take the topic of giving tithes, for example. I've had trouble coming up with 10% of my gross income most of my life for one thing, and secondly, the notion that God will bless you 10 times over for tithing 10%. It has never felt right. In spite of myself, I would always catch myself wondering and watching and waiting for that 10 times the amount I gave to come rolling back into my wallet. From the age of five, I was taught to give 10% of my gross income. For most of my life I've not been in a position to give 10% to the church. When I was in my teens, I was expected to give our pastor (Mrs. So and So) all of my income since I lived in her home and someone had to pay for my room and board. However, she was also extricating fairly large sums of money each month from my mother, for child support. Because after all, someone had to pay for my room and board! (Obviously I was a very expensive boarder. NOT.) My mother also felt guilty and Mrs. So and So was able to persuade her to give much more than 10%. I believe the sum my mother regularly gave to Mrs. So and So was $300 to $400 per month. I'm sure that was most of the grocery money back then (7 children). Since the grocery money was given away, my mother would then go to her mother and "borrow" the money. Mrs. So and So said that since my grandparents didn't pay their 10% tithes to the church, God was taking that money from them. This is wrong, so very wrong. I know for a fact that my stepfather wasn't making $3000 to $4000 per month, so the amount of money was way, way, way over what my mother should have given. I'd be surprised to find out if he was bringing in more than $1200 a month. That would have been back in 1980.
My mother was convinced early on in her relationship with Mrs. So and So to faithfully pay her tithes, no matter what. She was convinced the year I was six. I remember what happened. Mrs. S&S had asked my mother for her tithes. My mother had under $20 to her name at the time. She declined to give it to Mrs. S&S who promptly told my mother that God would take that money from her for her disobedience to God's servant. Later my mom went to the store, with her three little girls. Remember my father had abandoned us approximately one year earlier, so she was all alone and barely making ends meet. Mama bought groceries and we got out to the car and she absentmindedly put the couple bags of groceries on top of the car. She got her babies in the car and... drove away... leaving the bags of groceries on top of the car. They didn't stay there for long. When we got home and the groceries were gone, my mother realized what she had done, and drove us back to the store. We found some of our groceries spilled onto the road, but not much was left. My mother was very frightened by this experience and convinced that God had punished her and took those groceries from us. She was scared from that time on to not give tithes. Ten years later I was sent to live with Mrs. S&S. At that point in time my mother was commanded to give the large sum of money each month to pay for me living there.
For a long time, I considered myself "paid up" with regards to tithing, since I gave my entire paycheck every week for more than five years. I haven't felt a lot of guilt over the past twenty or so years mostly because I'd convinced myself I was paid up. But the idea remained in my mind, that we should be paying 10% of our gross.
The part about where you get blessed 10 times over when you pay tithes has always struck me as the wrong way of thinking, sort of like playing the lottery. I had one Christian tell me that it's okay if I don't pay tithes - God won't punish me. He will just withhold the blessings that He would have given me, had I paid my tithes. Another Christian tried to persuade me to tithe to a specific television minister because he had been blessed financially every time he tithed to this particular minister. This guy has to be THE biggest scam artist out there.
One of the first things I learned about our church is that they don't expect us to give tithes. When I told that to my mother, she asked, "But how do they keep the church open?" I explained that we go by the scripture verse of Paul's: II Corinthians 9:7 - Every man according as he purpose in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Our church teaches that this means we should think carefully about how much we can give, and to give that amount cheerfully. Otherwise, don't give.
Back to the part about my mother getting money from her parents to feed their children. This caused a great rift in our family. Now my Grandma has died and she had some money in the bank 10 years ago. My Grandpa told my Aunt before he died in 1990, "Be sure to get all the money you can from Grandma, before your sister gets it all." So my Aunt started getting large amounts of money from Grandma and BUYING LAND. Big bunches of land. And land for her daughter, too. Where my mother was getting $300-$400 a month for food, my Aunt was getting thousands of dollars at a time. Like, $9000 or $20,000. Then Grandma started getting confused and walking through the neighborhood looking for "Daddy" (my Grandpa) and fell and hit her head and it just got to be where she couldn't live alone, so my mom moved her into her home.
Of course, Grandma's money came with her. My mom sold Grandma's house, too. My Aunt figures she should get around $30,000. But that money was spent taking care of Grandma over the past 10 years. My mother provided 24 hour a day, around the clock care. Seven days a week. Never a holiday or vacation. Constant, every minute of every day. My mom was afraid my Aunt would be mad. She finally got hold of my Aunt's husband to let him know Grandma was in hospice and my Aunt never called her back.
My Grandma paid for her cremation and memorial services at the funeral home many years ago. Probably in 1990 or so. But we live in a state where the whole family has to give approval for the deceased's wishes. This means my mom and my Aunt have to sign paperwork and agree that Grandma can be cremated. My Aunt is now refusing to call the funeral home back. They have been trying to reach her for over a week now. I guess if she won't answer the phone or call back, the next step they take is assembling their team of lawyers to get a court order to follow through with Grandma's wishes.
All over money. Poor Grandma. She never set out to make anyone's life miserable just because she was so frugal. She was the most frugal person I've EVER known. She would put some of today's frugal people to shame. Of course, living through the depression helped her out in that regard. She was generous with her money, but it was embarrassing to ask her for money to pay your electricity bill, knowing hers was only $20 a month because she kept all her lights turned off, except for one bare bulb. She only watched television a little bit each day or week. Her water bill was even less. She rarely flushed her toilet using the handle because she would leave a bucket in the kitchen sink to gather water when she washed her hands (for decades there was only a tub and toilet in the bathroom) or washed a dish. Then she'd carry the little bucket to the bathroom to pour the water into the toilet and flush it.
If you want to know more about why we don't have to pay tithes in the Age of Grace, here is a bible study that explains it in detail.
Until next time.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Test Hair Updo
Labels: Wedding
Ds1 and I went into town today. My friend did my hair, then he and I went to lunch and then to shop for a suit for him. I think we found a suit jacket that will work with his black pants. And we got some shoes for him. Here's some pics of my sample hairdo. Here were the ones I liked. I think she did an excellent job! It was kind of a hurry job on her part because of my tardiness. I was supposed to be there at 8am but due to being up late because Grandma passed away I didn't get to her house until 10:30. My friend says she wants to do more height on my wedding day, that will be cool. I think it looks great!!
Friday, September 07, 2007
Rest In Peace, Helen Louise Gordon
Labels: Grandma
My Grandma passed away tonight. It was her 93rd birthday. I will write more tomorrow about her last hours with us.
My dear youngest son wrote a poem. He blows my mind, this child.
I am EXHAUSTED.
Until next time.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Leaving The Nest
Labels: ds2, Memory Lane
Our baby is beginning to venture from the nest! He started talking about attending Wednesday evening services a couple of weeks ago, and decided to try it last night. This was his third time out driving all by himself. The first time he's driven this far all alone (~45 miles to church). The first time by himself where he'd be driving home in the dark. The first time grocery shopping all by himself.
He looks so handsome in his Geoffrey Bean dress shirt and tie.
Uh, sonny... your pockets are hanging out.
I asked him to call me when he got to church, when he left church, when he got to the grocery store and when he left the grocery store. He did as I asked.
It was a little bit nerve wracking. Due to my sleep being interrupted I was extra tired this morning and needed coffee right away (3am) to help me wake up and get going for the day.
I'm very proud of this guy. He's been a great blessing.
His father and I love that his life is so different than ours at his age. We laid in bed last night talking about how different our lives were at his age. Dh had been living on the streets for years... I had been living with Mrs. So and So who told me I was too stupid to learn to drive stick shift. Of course it was just her way of keeping me from driving, from having to pay insurance for me to drive, and to keep me homebound as much as possible.
Neither of us had our driver's license as teenagers. Neither were allowed that right.
I'm so glad we have been able to give him a different life than we had.
I love you, son. You make a mother proud. And thanks for humoring me and calling me all those times, even though it interrupted my sleep. But see, I'd rather have my sleep interrupted, than worry for not hearing. Yeah, I could have called him on his cell phone, but I didn't want to interrupt the bible study, nor have him answering the phone while driving. Although I did call him twice and catch him while he was driving.
Until next time.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
402nd Post
Labels: crocheting, Wedding
I like to announce when I get to a 100 mark on my post. I noticed that I was nearly at 400, but when I got to 400 I forgot to announce it, so I'll announce my 402nd post. Close enough.
I worked on the veil again tonight. I took more than a week off, mainly due to my Grandma being placed in hospice last Sunday. I spent an hour sewing 20 three-bead pearl clusters onto the bottom tier. I am thinking about sewing 1 pearl sporadically all over the top tier. And I also bought Swarovski crystals from Joann's today. They are normally $2.49 for 10 crystals, but on sale for 25% off, which brought the cost down to $1.86 for the pack of 10. These are also for the veil. I was chagrined to discover another section of beads coming apart due to my ineffective knot tying. I guess I am going to have to break down and buy some fabric glue or something to glue every single end. I can't be wasting time resewing the beads on the edging because the nylon thread is untying itself. I'm starting to understand why people use GLUE instead of spending the time sewing the beads in place. I just like the idea of sewing. It seems like the RIGHT way to do things. I guess the right way for me also means the OTHER way is the lazy way. I should get that out of my head. Maybe fabric glue is just as good if not better, than sewing. It sure seems like it would take less time, and wouldn't keep coming unknotted!
I bought a newspaper today to get the Michael's 50% off coupon. I bought the pre-lit wedding arch for $15.00 plus tax. I was pretty excited about that!
I enjoyed crocheting so much the other day that when I was digging through my stash I came across a baby blanket I'd started but had never finished. So I started working on that again, put a few rows on yesterday and today.
I really want to be a good knitter, and I will continue to work at it. I know the more I knit, the better I will become. However, unless I'm doing straight knit or purl, it continues to be quite confusing to me. And therefore not as relaxing as I'd like it to be. Takes too much brain power, depending on what I'm trying to do. So for now, in my spare time, I'll see how far I can get on this baby blanket.
I'm pretty worn out. Good night.
Until next time.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Wet Washing the Wedding Gown
WHEW. I have to say I have been somewhat hesitant at taking on this task. Several people cautioned me against cleaning the gown myself, two even offered to pay for having it cleaned. But I could see that $100+ being spent a lot more efficiently. I just had to give it a shot myself.
So I scrubbed the tub, then filled it with cold water and a capful of Woolite. I then commenced to scrubbing the grime off the bottom of the dress. There were a few dirty spots like this, mostly on the back where it is longer.
The underside of the hem looked like this pretty much all the way around, including the inner skirt hem. I scrubbed both all the way around. I used a toothbrush dipped in Woolite for most of it. When it was worse, I'd use some baking soda for a little bit of grit and at the worst spots I used a drop of Dawn Dishwashing liquid.
Here's how the water looked after scrubbing and for comparison, the rinse water:
And here's a closeup of the clean hemline! Beautiful!
I was apprehensive about hanging the dress on a hanger... fearful that it would 1) stretch itself from the weight of the water 2) the dogs might be able to reach it. So at first I went with lying it on a piece of canvas outdoors.
Then I noticed the wind was blowing and flies were lighting on my dress and you know they poop on things! Little round brown specks of fly poop would not be appropriate. And if the wind kicked up hard enough, a dust devil might swirl past my dress or worse yet, a big gust of wind might pick my dress up and fling it into the dirt somewhere. Finally I decided that the dress had drip-dried long enough (therefore not too heavy), found a hook, put it up in the ceiling over the tub and that's where the dress hangs now.
While I was outside messing around with the dress, I came upon LJ cooling off in the pink doggie pool, but totally on guard to everything going on around him.
I do realize just because I got the stains out doesn't mean I'm home free. The dress could shrink or something else could happen, I could even do something wrong while ironing it. Once the dress is dry, I'm going to sew another bit of lace decoration to the area where the train would be.
I'll need to iron it and restitch the sides once the date gets closer. I don't want to end up sewing it too tight or too loose and have to rip it out and do it all over again.
I worked on the invitation envelopes yesterday. I'm tired again. What else is new?
Until next time.
