Steve was in Wisconsin recently for our nephew, Andrew’s, wedding. He had a wonderful time hanging out with the family and celebrating the sweet marriage of Andrew and Emily. (I’m saving my remaining vacation time for a family reunion, so I wasn’t able to go.)
Here are three of my siblings: Tim (oldest sib/father of the groom), Debbie (youngest sib), and Phil, the third sib. I’m next in line after Phil.
Randy and Debbie hosted Steve before the wedding, so he got to enjoy all of Deb’s good cooking and the general good times to be had.
Here is a carefully composed shot with crystal-clear focus. Goes to show that some of the best shots aren’t the best shots. I just love the general feeling of hilarity in this photo.
On the way home from Wisconsin, Steve bought some exquisitely boxed chocolates at the Chicago Airport. The truffles were dark chocolate with olive oil, so actually pretty healthy.
The chocolate was accompanied by a beautifully printed pamphlet. I enjoyed reading about the chocolate almost as much as I enjoyed eating the chocolate. Here are a few memorable phrases.
Enjoy your chocolate in two bites. In the first bite, you are just getting to know the truffle, and in the second, you delve deeper, searching out the aromas and nuances.
After you’re eaten the truffle, take a breath and taste the air. The aroma should have a long, lingering finish that is layered with perfumed notes.
If you need us, we’ll be over here, tasting the air. Too funny!
My sister, Ruth, emailed me last week with a great story. She makes bookmarks out of postage stamps and then takes them to the library to be given away. (I am fortunate enough to have a couple of my own.)
Unfortunately, she ran out of stamps and had no leads for finding any more. She prayed, “Lord, I need stamps to continue to do this. Please provide.”
Soon after that prayer, she went to the library to drop off her bookmarks, and the man behind the counter said, “Hold on, I have something for you.” He brought out a big box of about 1,000 stamps that someone had brought in to be given to her. Ruth called the woman’s number on the stamp box and told her what an amazing answer to prayer her gift was. The woman said she had just moved to the area and found them in her grandma’s things. And then she added, “I found another box full of stamps. Do you want those, too?”
When I arrived at physical therapy last week, there weren’t two parking spaces together. I have never parallel parked in my life, but I got very brave and decided to give it a try. I am happy to say that this is the final result.
Um.
What I am not going to tell you (unless you promise not to tell anyone else), is that it took me eight back-and-forth skooches to finally get into place. But I did it! I went in and announced it to the PT clinic at large, and they were all happy with me.
As Steve was leaving the house for an appointment on Saturday morning, he had his arms full of stuff, was running late, and feeling just a bit discombobulated.
He was driving down the interstate when a guy pulled up beside him, honked, and pointed at his phone and then at the roof of Steve’s car.
Turns out Steve has put his phone on the roof of the car while juggling all of his stuff. The phone must have just flown off when the guy got his attention. Steve values his iPhone, but he values his life more, and he didn’t feel like it was prudent to dart around I-485 looking for a phone.
So that meant we had the enormous joy of going to the Verizon store and getting a new phone. If you’ve ever been through that, you know it’s right up there with having a root canal. But we survived the experience one more time. (Sigh of relief.)
Thanks to everyone who left such wonderful comments and 30th birthday wishes for Sarah in last week’s post.
She got a great birthday present when she and Gage went to Duke last week for a follow-up scan of her desmoid tumor, which appeared a couple of months before her wedding and caused all of us a great deal of stress.
The tumor started at 10 cm. or about the size of a grapefruit. The scan before this one showed it at 2.4 cm. and this scan showed it at 2 cm. A shrinking tumor is always a good thing. Thankful!
One of the ways I entertain myself at work is to watch people go up the staircase in the lobby where my desk is.
I especially like to take note of the middle-aged stair-climbers. Some make it quickly and without trouble, some hold lightly to the rail, and some rely rather heavily on the rail. When I go up, I do it without the rail, but I feel a little wobbly when I get to the top. (There is another flight of stairs to the right.)
This is something I wouldn’t have paid attention to six months ago, but it’s instructive to me to see the different levels of fitness and/or struggle among women and men. Even though my progress has been slow, my goal is to continue to feel stronger each time I go up those stairs.
Right as we were selling our house in Manteo, the septic tank failed, and we had to replace it. And now, only three years later, another septic tank in our life is failing–the 60-year-old tank at the Smith house. (We just love spending money on things no one can see.)
We decided that rather than replace the septic tank, we would hook up to the city sewer. And so the guys with their large machines arrived and started their work.
I’m thankful I got to be at a quiet job rather than at home for three days while there was all manner of banging and chaos going on. They had to rip up some of the concrete in the basement to get to the pipes, they were digging all sorts of holes, and they replaced a couple of toilets. In fact, I got home from work one day really having to use the bathroom . . . and there were no working toilets in the house. Happy day!
The job is almost completed, and we can cross that off our House To-Do List!
Sending you wishes for a happy Labor Day and a happy first day of September. See you next week!
What about you?
Are you a good parallel parker?
What did you do over Labor Day Weekend?
Are you happy or sad that summer is ending?
Do you have a story about losing a phone?
I am actually one of the weird people who loves to parallel park. My dad was fastidious about me learning to parallel park. My mom could not and would not do it. If there were no places for her to pull-in park, she simply wouldn’t go. It was absolutely the bane of my dad‘s existence when my mom would not even try, so he purposed that it would be something that his only child would be able to do. And I can! I love to show off my parallel parking skills whenever I get a chance, which isn’t often where I live. I am so proud that you were able to accomplish that task. I will acknowledge that it is not easy, but with practice it gets easier for sure.
Oh septic tanks! We have one and no options for anything other than one. I’m hoping that the septic tank outlasts us. It’s not that old, yet. I try to take really good care of it by not putting anything down the drains or in the toilets that is not recommended. And I do the little RidX every month. One of the last things I want us to have to do is put down another septic tank. I’m glad you were able to tap into your city sewer.
Lisa,
Kudos to you for being a parallel parking pro! And good for your dad for making the time to show you how to do it. I’m right there in your mom’s camp, going around the block or going out of my way to find a place I can easily park. I need to work on that!
You are smart to take good care of your septic tank; since it’s not that old, you will hopefully have it a long, long time!
A lost phone story: When my son was a toddler he had a habit of casually dropping things in the trash can as he walked by. I mean, Mommy and Daddy dropped things in the trash can all the time, so why shouldn’t he? (Distinguishing between trash and non-trash was beyond the capabilities of an 18 month old.) We lived in a townhouse at the time, with community dumpsters. One morning I took the trash out as we left the house, and when we got in the car, realized I couldn’t find my phone. I immediately got a sinking feeling, but optimistically searched the house for it. No luck. So, hoping to avoid the Verizon experience (not to mention the expense) that you describe, I actually climbed into the dumpster and went through our trash bag. It was about as awful as you’re imagining. But, my feeling about my phone’s fate had been correct, and I was able to rescue it. CERTAINLY not my most dignified moment, but it’s funny to talk about years later!
A stamp story: In high school I took a school trip to Ireland with a beloved teacher and about 10 other students. As we took a ferry back from the gorgeous Aran Islands on a very windy day, a classmate was standing next to a railing when the boat pitched her mouth-first right into it. Her front tooth chipped half off. We quickly found a dentist but it was the 90s, and arranging payment and such at that time would’ve been very cumbersome. The dentist kindly agreed to fix her tooth for free, provided we send him some American stamps when we got home, as he was an avid philatelist.
When we returned to the States, our teacher made an announcement to the whole school (of 2000 students) explaining the situation and requesting stamp donations. And did we come through! We sent that dentist a huge package of thousands of stamps! I sure hope it made his day like it did your sister’s!
Ellen,
Great stories!
Kudos to you for digging through the trash for your phone and hooray that you found it. You’re right–it’s hard to teach small children the difference between trash and non-trash.
And how fun to send thousands of stamps to that Irish dentist. I would love to have seen his face when the package arrived. Such a happy tale!
Yes, I can actually parallel park! It was a requirement in my driver’s ed class in high school. I can actually get it in one shot! 🙂 Mr. Bailey, my teacher, made me park in downtown Denver as part of my final test. Oh boy!
It rained here most of the Labor day weekend. We started it off by golfing in a tournament on Saturday morning. Then by afternoon, just as we got done, the rain started. Good timing! Church on Sunday, some family time and then lunch and a visit to a winery on Labor day. So much fun!
I am not happy to see summer go. I just love the warm weather and being outdoors. Our temps have really cooled off. Hopefully we will warm back up before the end of the month!
We were in Reno, Nevada a couple years ago at a casino. I was off by myself. I was sitting at a slot machine, getting money out of my purse. I set my phone down for an instant. When I looked up, it was gone. Just like that! Someone just walked by and swiped it! I never even saw them do it! That’s one smooth operator. 🙁
Great news about Sarah’s tumor! Definitely the BEST birthday present!!
LeeAnne,
I can’t imagine being the kind of person who would steal phones! Sorry that happened to you.
Parallel parking in downtown Denver? You are my hero! The only reason I tried my parking job last week was because it was a side street and no one was watching. Otherwise I would have gotten befuddled.
Yes, we are most grateful for Sarah’s good report on her tumor. Thankful days!
uff-da! lots going on for you lately!!
Quite a variety of perplexing days – problems and blessings too.
Ooohhh…. chocolate–need I say more. (ahh)
Parallel parking is a generally a man’s job -it seems–so you had a big accomplishment!
So sorry on your septic solution scenario–no fun to flush money down the literal toilet!
I am ever so grateful to the Lord for his surpise of stamps!! Abundance beyond my imagination has dropped in front of me!
As the old hymn says–
the windows of heaven are open-
the blessings are falling tonight-
theres joy -joy in my heart since Jesus made everything right-
I gave him my old tattered garment-
He gave me a robe of pure white-
I’m feasting on manna from heaven-
and thats why I’m happy tonight!!
So good on Sarah’s tumor too! ptl!
Looking forward to Oct. and a hayride with family.
Ruth,
I hadn’t thought about that old hymn for a long time; that’s a good one!
I liked your “literal toilet” pun. Those jobs don’t come cheap but we’d be in pretty bad shape without a sewer system.
Looking forward to our family reunion, too! See you then.
I’m much better at parallel parking with the aid of back-up cameras. Without them, I think 8 tries would be a resounding success! We’ve enjoyed a restful Labor Day weekend watching college football and enjoying some good food. As for losing phones, year before last we finally convinced my husband to give up his “cheapest her could find” phone and get an iPhone so he could face-time family. In less than a month he managed to have it fall out of his pocket at work and run over it with his “yard-mule” (which is similar to the tractor of an 18-wheeler and is used to move the trailers around their lot). I’m thankful we had the insurance so we were able to replace it “relatively” inexpensively. Have a wonderful week!! (And cheers to no more septic tanks to fail!!)
SueEllen,
Yes, the backup cameras do make a difference but I still need to do a lot of scooching, regardless.
Yikes. Have huge tires run over a phone is not a good thing. Glad you had insurance!
And yes, we hope to be done with septic tank issues for the rest of our lives.
You are fortunate to be able to tap into city water. I sure wish that was an option for us.
I am actually a fairly good parallel parker if I am not rushed by oncoming traffic. Learned a great way in drivers training. I don’t however back up well to get into a straight parking space and usually park farther out to get a pull through spot.
Since retiring, Labor day seems to be just another day and we do nothing special.
I am glad winter is coming, but I will miss being able to wear a skirt and sleeveless top everyday.
I only lost one phone and in a similar fashion. I spent a long conversation that went nowhere at the phone shop. I had another phone just like the one I lost, but they couldn’t help me and gave me a number to call while laughing that it would help. On the phone, in 15 min, my old phone number and minutes left were all transfered and I was good to go.
Patti,
Aren’t those conversations at phone stores challenging? It seems like the more the salesperson talks, the less I understand. I’m glad you were able to get your issue figured out–eventually!
I have also been known to park further away when close parking is challenging. At least we get our steps in!
My heart fell when you got to the septic tank story! Ughhhh! I think yall made the right call by tying into the sewer though!
Interesting about the stairs. I recently read an article that mentioned the way people climb stairs is indicative of their general health, and have been making an effort to climb them with my back straight and without using the hand rail.
We lived in the city of St. Louis for a ver long time. Everyone parks on the street. So I am a great parallel parker. 🙂 I learned to parallel-park when I was 14 – in a 1977 Buick Electra 225. That thing was HUGE!
Such great news about Sarah! ❤️
Stefanie,
If you can park a 1977 Buick Electra, you can park anything! It’s good to start big–that way everything from that point on seems easy.
Thanks for your empathy on the septic tank story. What a job! I’m so thankful I’m the one working and Steve is the one staying home to deal with all those projects.
Yes, I can see how stair climbing would be a good indicator of health. Some of the guys in the building take the stairs two at a time and in my mind I think, “Show off!” 🙂 I’m just thankful I can still get up them without too much trauma.