Another notch in the marriage belt ;)

Well, who would have guessed? I mean really? Some people even had bets as to if we would even make it through the first year! And look at us now! Two kids, several rough patches and 24 years later here we are!
I am glad to say that I think we are better than ever too! Still working on stuff, but as long as we are working together I find that to be a good thing!
We find more reasons that we like spending time together all the time. During the summer when I am off work I still look forward to going to work with Chet and spending the day with him. I am so grateful for the time that we have to be together!
Here is to the rest of forever with my eternal companion! The Lord knew you were what I needed Chet Parker! I love you! Now and always!

Rain is suppose to mean......

So It's officially over! Yay! Megan and Justin's wedding party has come and gone!

I have to say coming from a non-planner type person, (that would be ME) This wedding stuff is stressful! And we didn't even have a full blown wedding! 

I think I would have died of a heart attack if it had been the whole thing! Just sayin!

Anyway, I had a bit of a melt down the morning of, because it was going to rain. Of all the freaking luck! We didn't have the party in May, because we were afraid it was totally going to rain, so they pushed the date back and what happened? We ended up getting the rain that would have been reserved for them in May in August instead! Oh, and back in May...it didn't rain on the day they would have had their party!

Anyway, I had a huge melt down the morning of the party, and my family rallied around me and sent up some prayers in mine and Megan's behalf. The day cleared up and was looking beautiful, and I thought we might just have pulled it off without the down pour I had been worried about, but...it was not to be so.

Just as we, (and by we I mean my family who had come to rescue me) had put the finishing touches on the decorations and the first guests had begun to trickle in, a breeze began to tease and toy with us.

Within then minutes the breeze had turned into a pretty good gust, and the rain started to fall. At first there were just a few huge rain drops, then it stopped. I thought okay, if that's all it's going to do, I am fine with that. 

Much to my disappointment, that was NOT all it was going to do! 

Mother Nature let loose with a deluge!

We were scrambling to move everything we could out of the down pour. 

The saddest thing is, that ALL of the decorations from the hanging decor to the table coverings were paper! Yep,paper!

We had hung paper lanterns from poles with fishing wire, along with fluffy paper balls, and the tables had dark blue paper covering them, with white crayons on every table, for the guests to leave a note for the couple. People had just gotten started when the rain came. At first people tried to hang out with a brave face, but then it started to come down harder! People fled to our shed, and our garage! While we all scrambled to get the desserts, cake and guest book out of the rain. (good thing Chet decided to clean the garage at the last minute, the day before!) I opened the door to the family room, moved the couches around to open up the area inside so people could visit, while they brought chairs in from outside to line the sides of the garage with! CRAZY!!

Really though, all in all it turned out to be a great time for us and those who were able to come. There was a great turn out despite the rain, and people continued to show up until after nine! :) Then some of those who were there didn't leave until around midnight. Truly a good time!

Megan and Justin got a lot of great stuff and some much needed cash to help them on their way. I am so grateful for everyone that came to support us all! :)

All through out the night people kept telling Megan and Justin, that Rain on a wedding day is suppose to mean good luck for the couple. We will take it!

Oh, a last thought, the paper from the tables dried out and there were some very special notes on the paper that Megan and Justin are going to cut out and save! Including one drawing from Justin's Grampa, which he referred to as EPIC!! :)

Have to say....

I has been a little while since my last post, and not a whole lot has been happening besides getting ready for the long awaited "Wedding Party". That's right Megan and Justin's Wedding Party is in a weeks time! I will be more than a bit relieved, when this gig is all said and done! I MUST send out a huge Thank You to my sister Christi for all of her ideas and willingness to help me try to plan this get together! Without you C, I would be a shambles! :)
Anyway, this last week we got the tables and chairs reserved, the back yard almost complete, the cakes ordered and fortune cookies purchased!
We have been working on getting the patio ready, but that is still a work in progress! I got the back door primed and ready for a coat of paint, that is has badly needed for at least two years or more now. Funny how things that you can put off forever, finally seem to become very important, when you know "other" people are going to see them! Haha.
 The other thing we have been working on, on the patio, is rusting it. Everyone I have said this to, asks me if I don't mean staining it? The honest answer is no. I truly mean "rusting" it. It all began about 7 years ago, when I parked my inherited truck on said patio for temporary storage. Well, temporary turned into 7 years. The truck had several major oil leaks, so during the time it sat out there, we had placed metal pans under it to catch the oil (at least some of it). 
Long story short, Chet got the old truck up and running for me this year, and when we moved the old pans from underneath they had left some very major rust spots. Try as we may, we could not get them off! We got the to lighten, but that was it! I really liked the look of where it had rusted and I told Chet I wish we could do that to the whole patio. From that, the idea of "rusting" the patio was born! :)
We got metal filings from the local tire stores around town and wet down the patio and sprinkled the filings all over it. Then over the next few days, we just continued to wet it down. Almost like watering a garden. Oxidization has been doing the rest. So far so good, and I love the look it has given the patio! Now if there was just enough time to actually sit out there and relax for a minute or two. :)
    During this whole time, my focus on my fitness has not been front and center. Not that it has fallen to the wayside entirely, but it definitely has not been a main focus! My former daily workouts have been reduced to 2 or maybe 3 times a week, if I am lucky! 
Part of this has been due to the wedding, but a good deal of it has to do with the fact that, I spend a great deal of my summers on the road with Chet. This is time I am not willing to part with, so, there are a few things that tend to suffer, like my garden and my workouts. I finally figured out a way for me to get some sort of work out in while I am riding around with Chet. Even if it is not a traditional, workout, I decided that some kind was better than none. After all, I am always telling people to move their bodies! Any movement is better than none! So, I put my 3 pound weights in the van and every time we stop, I get out and if I am not helping Chet, I try to do some sort of exercise. Be it with the weights or just something like jumping jacks or high knees maybe even crunches if there is grass nearby.
I have to say, that when someone tells me they have noticed something about how I have been working, or how I have given them something to work for, there is just something about that, that makes my WHOLE day! I had someone tell me just today, that they think my arms look great, and I have made them realize that they need to do something for themselves and would I please be willing to work with them. :) I am not a trainer and I have no schooling or training in this area but for someone to look at me and want me to help them makes me feel fantastic! Especially when I look at myself, and see so much that still needs work. There is a quote I have seen on Facebook, and Pintrest, I don't know it exactly (and I'm not going to look it up right now) But it goes something like "first they will ask you WHY you do it, then they will ask you HOW you did it. More and more I am finding that to be true! Any way, I have to say this is a good time of life for me right now! :) Happy Summer!

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Why is it???

Had a conversation with my son today, that left me wondering...Why is it, that the things that we remember the most, about the way people treat us, and how they interact with us; Why is it, that the things we remember most and more quickly than anything else, the bad stuff! It is human nature, I think, to see and hear the bad things,people say and do, before hearing anything good that they might do or say. We also remember the bad stuff longer, and more frequently than we do the good stuff. Why is that? What makes our minds work that way? Why can't we examine things clinically, logically, before we automatically jump to that all encompassing statement "all you ever do is tell me what I do wrong!" Knowing full well, at least some where in the backs of our minds, that this statement is not entirely true! WHY DO WE DO THAT??? Don't get me wrong either, I am not pointing fingers at everyone else. I am just as guilty as anyone! My mind often jumps, in times of offense, to the mind set of "well, you did, or you said" even if the thing that I am thinking of was a long time ago. My quandary, is why do we as people do this and how is it that we might over come this tendency to want others, to feel as picked on or insecure, as we do at that given moment? I really want to know. This is in the forefront of my mind right now because of Ford, and the conversation I had with him this very afternoon. Telling him, he was not going to just go to work and sleep! There was more to life than that, and if he can't obey that rule of my house then he needs to go somewhere, where I won't be there to get on him for that. Thus, making him very upset with me, to the point that he said and I quote " I am done with this conversation! All you ever do when you talk to me is make me feel like shit! Well, not ALL the time, but mostly." Both of my kids have laid this guilt trip on me at different times. Mostly since they have been older, that is for sure. Why is it though, that they can't seem to remember, any of the good stuff, why something wrong is pointed out? I know that NO ONE likes to be told they are doing things wrong, or incorrectly, but at some point, you would think, that if they truly don't like the things being pointed out, that they would finally take some stock in what is being said, and do SOMETHING to change it. At least that is how I see it. It is for sure not an easy thing, and it takes lots of work. Sometimes a life time, but why else are we here, but to learn and improve ourselves? I hope that there will come a time in my kids future, they will be able to see that Through out their lives we weren't just yelling at them and picking them apart. I hope we were helping them to become better people. Better husbands and wives. I hope anyway.

Just a personal update...

So just a personal update for myself. Especially for me since no one else seems to be reading them anymore. School/work has been out now for two weeks, but it seems to be going way faster than that! I have been able to be on the road a lot with Chet, and when not on the road I have been helping him run the tractor business that has allowed us so many extra things in our lives over the last few years. Ford is officially out of high school, but officially enrolled in Adult education at the ATC, in route to achieve his adult education diploma. Where life will take him after this remains to be seem. He is currently looking for new employment, as he has tired of Carl's Jr and his current manager, who has become increasingly difficult to work for and with. Megan and Justin have been married now for 3 months and have lived in their own place now for a month and a little bit. I must admit this move has gone completely different than I ever expected that it would. I really thought Megan would be calling me daily and that I would be sick to my stomach with worry about them getting up and to work and such. After the first few days however; this worry has dimmed to a very fleeting thought! They are proving themselves apt and responsible adults, (no matter how unwilling) :) It almost makes me slightly proud that in spite of me and my short comings as a Mom, my kids seem to be well on their way to becoming successful contributing members of society. THREE CHEERS for some small measures of success as a parent. The planning for Megan's wedding party seem to be going very slow. I am sure this is my fault since I am SO not a planner, let alone a party planner! I have been working like crazy on the yard and the garden :) both of which seem to be coming along nicely. It should be a summer full of memories I hope to look back on with fondness. Perhaps I will update as we go, or maybe not! Maybe it will just have to wait till it is all over and done. Then with a huge sigh of relief I will be able to relive it in my mind for the blog.

My fitness journey

So I was reading an article, in an online fitness magazine, I subscribe to today. The topic was brought up by one of the readers, talking about her personal Aha... moment. The one when she decided for real, to be committed to getting healthy. She asked if anyone else had had one of these moments. This question sent my mind racing back in time. My personal fitness journey began, November of 2009. However; it didn't become a life change, until January 2010. That moment in time will stay with me forever. Although I would not like to relive that year of my life, I am ever so grateful for the "kick in the butt" to fitness that it has given me! I went from 160 pounds and a size 12, to 116 and a size 4. Not only do I feel great, but I love to exercise and have learned to eat more health and be responsible for portion control, which back in the day, for me meant stopping after my second or third helping of what ever tasted the best. Today, I keep track of my food intake and physical fitness. I can't imagine just sitting around and sucking down the sweets any more. So, no matter what it is that gives you that aha... moment, or when it comes to you, I hope you will take hold with both hands and your heart(this part is a must) and use it to your advantage! I know you will never regret making that change. You might just wish you had done it sooner! Here's to being fit! :D

Well...it's been a week...

Well, it has been a week since my girl got married! Nothing has changed, but nothing is the same at all. Seems like I have said this before, but it is totally relevant now just in a new and different way.
The biggest difference is, that my girl and her new "hubby" have now decided that if they think I shouldn't be in their space that they have the right to lock me out....
I have not as yet decided as how to approach this, as they are NOT paying me enough rent to be able to tell me when I can or can not enter a room.... Still, I do believe they need their space and privacy, not to mention the fact that there are just some things a parent does NOT want to know about their child! Especially thier married child! Trust me!
Either way, we will figure out a way to make this all work out till August 1oth. After that I hope they will have developed a really good game plan, cause no matter what, they are NOT coming home!!!!
Good luck Megan and Justin! May you meet life head on!!!!