Blessing

Today is Father’s Day.  It has been 10 years since I was able to express Happy Father’s Day to my dad.  I enjoyed reading the tributes and greetings on Facebook this morning, and wondered what I might say.  I didn’t have an answer until church this morning.  We sang Matt Redman’s “Bless the Lord” and tears came to my eyes.  The words of this song are the same as the opening of Psalm 103.  Psalm 103 has been our “family psalm” for a few generations now.  I remember my Dad reading this to us every Thanksgiving and other special occasions throughout the year.  It was read at my mother’s memorial service.  My dad wasn’t perfect, but he loved his children greatly.  And he modeled for each of us a love for God and serving other people with whatever skills and gifts we may have available to us to use.  In other words, to bless the Lord and others. 

I have a son-in-law whose first Father’s Day is today.  K is bigger than life itself at times, full of joy, and also models that life of serving others and bringing them blessing upon blessing with the resources he has available.  He has already seen to it that his son, Jackson, has had his first train trip, doing his best to pass along his zest for life to his son.



I have a son who is not yet a father, but I believe he will be someday.  And I have no doubt that despite the poor fathering modeled by his own dad, he will follow hard after others who have fathered him into the man he is today.  The service at church ended today with more tears for me, because of this son’s choice of a wedding song, “Beautiful Things.”  It is impossible for me to hear this song any more without tears and remembering the look in his eyes as he adored his bride walking towards him to the words of this song...a beautiful moment that I will treasure always. 

I now have a husband who loves his own kids as well as mine, and our grandsons.  He is fathering my youngest son on a daily basis these days, something that I trust will bode D will when he marries and has children someday.  By the way, D told me yesterday that he wants me to find him a wife just like Pioneer Woman.  I guess I have my work cut out for me.

Because of my husband, I have two new fathers of the next generation in my life, fathers of 3 of our grandsons.  Both of these men are highly involved in their young son’s lives.  R is in the ministry, which is a very time consuming life’s work, but he invests heavily in his wife and children.  They are his first ministry.  E works hard to provide for his family, and it is clear that he is K’s favorite man.  The bond that E is building between the two of them is priceless.

I am thankful for the father’s I have in my life – my own, the ones who have stepped in to father my children, the father’s of our next generation – and even the father of my children.  For without him, they would not be here.  Some would say he was only a sperm donor, and I get that, but the best thing he ever did was to give me the four children I have had the privilege to love and enjoy.  So for that I am thankful.

 

I’m glad God thought of fathers.  I have been blessed by them my entire life.  So it is with genuine gratitude that I wish all of them a very happy Father’s Day.

j'd

Imaginery Control

It's been an interesting few days.  A time when I've become very aware - yet again - how little I control.  A time when I've been reminded that normal is not overrated.  A time when stretching my adaptation skills has been necessary.  A time of recalling that there is still always much to be grateful for.  A time of thanking the folks who go the extra mile to help others.

It all began with waiting out a storm in the basement of Macy's - in the bed and mattress section - Friday evening.  Apparently I am not known for shopping at Macy's, because my oldest son was somewhat taken aback by the text reply that this is where we were, but nonetheless, this is where G & I spent the storm as it went over St. Peter's. 

And just about the time we were given the all clear we find out that the power has gone off at home.  Little did we know then that a tornado had actually gone through our town just a few blocks north of where we live.  We simply made our purchases and started heading home.

We stopped at a Hardee's in St. Charles to pick up some dinner since we couldn't cook at home.  They had also lost power briefly, and while the power had returned, their cook tops were not back up to temp, so they couldn't sell everything on the menu.  They pretty much told us what we could order, but we were ok with that.  And just before leaving, I quite casually told my youngest, B, that we'd be home in about 20 or 30 minutes, and we'd have supper with us. 

Ah, ignorance.  It really is bliss.  Not only were we blissfully unaware of the tornado hitting our little town of Ferguson, we were also totally unaware that it had hit Earth City.  Or that Highway 70 was shut down.  No, we didn't really find this out so much until we get to the bridge over the Missouri River.  But trust me, 3 hours later we definitely knew the truth.  We are such fast learners, don't ya know?

Thankfully we didn't have to go to a bathroom during that time, and thankfully we didn't actually run out of gas while on the bridge.  I am sure you have no idea why I might be thankful for either of those particular things, right?  And thankfully we had our sense of humor, facebook and food and text messages.  I mean how couldn't you smile at this pic of J riding out the storm with Mommy and Daddy and a safety helmet?

All day Saturday we were still clueless the extent of the damage in Ferguson.  (Ok, so maybe we AREN'T such quick learners!)  It wasn't until driving around on Sunday that we realized just how much damage had been done - and why it was taking so long for us to get power again.  It reminded me of the damage two years ago that hit on our block instead of a few blocks away.  Same war zone sort of feel.  Same sense of loss and smallness.  Same sense that there is very little that we control.

I think we all imagine that we control quite a lot.  We make plans as if they WILL happen, oftentimes forgetting that any number of events can impact those plans.  Events that are usually way beyond our control.  Such as weather.  Such as the loss of the luxury of normal electricity to give light and to cook and to curl hair and to stay connected.  Such as the need to stop traffic so that experts can clear highways and take care of potential injuries. 

I have been composing this post in my head for the last few days but never actually gotten it typed up.  I was reminded of it again this morning.  I was on a plane, and we were going through some bumpy, stormy weather the last 20 minutes or so.  There wasn't anything I could do about it except pray.  It was another situation beyond my control. There's a reason why the serenity prayer is part of most 12-step and celebrate recovery groups. It is a good reminder that the better part of wisdom includes pursuing serenity, accepting that only certain things are within our control.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and wisdom to know the difference.  Amen.

Thanks for reading.  I'm grateful tonight for much.  And that I'm here and able to express it.  Love, D

Babysitting

I've been composing this post for quite some time, but am just now getting around to it.  GG and I have done some babysitting recently!  And really enjoyed it!

We got a chance to babysit little K about a month ago.  His mom and dad, K & E, were in town for a business thing, and if I understood correctly, E was recognized with an award.  Clearly I had my Grandma hat on, because I was much more interested in getting to spend time with K!  We spent much of the day hanging out in the Kirkwood area, just walking around, going into stores.  K got to see 2 trains!  Plus we all got to see the fire truck up close!  I, for one, had never sat inside one before.  They are BIG and there is a LOT of things going on inside of one!  I have a huge amount of respect for our first responders, and the very gracious fireman who welcomed us in has been fighting fires for about 30 years.  We heard a story or two, which I'm sure didn't even make a dent in his repretoire, but I would have enjoyed buying him a beer or coffee and just listened to him.  The babysitting came in the evening while K & E were at a banquet.  GG, K and I went to Plaza Frotenac for dinner, and while the wait was supposed to only be about 20 minutes, we actually left after waiting about 70 minutes.  But K never fussed once.  This little guy must have walked about 2 miles all around the outside of Canyon Cafe while we waited - climbing stairs, opening and closing big doors, charming everyone around and pushing his stroller.  Except he wanted to push it from the handles like big people do, so here's a pic of GG helping K push his stroller...

You may not be able to tell it too well from this pic (I have got to work on my picture taking skills!) but GG is holding K high enough so he can reach this handle, which means his feet are hovering about 8" off the floor.  Fun for K...maybe a bit hard on GG's back, but hey, we're grandparents!  We don't notice such things!

We also got a chance to babysit J recently, too, which as any new mother knows, is always a bigger deal for Mama than for baby.  I don't have a pic from that visit, but I do have a cute pic from one other visit with J - bathtime!  J likes taking a bath.  I have a video, too, but I didn't do such a good job of aiming, if you get what I mean, so I won't post that here.  Parts of the video might embarass J someday, so I'll stick with this little one.

I just love baby smiles!  I'm a fan!

I am also a fan of babysitting grandkiddos.  We get to see the Springfield, MO, set this weekend and then AJ gets to meet J next weekend, and all of that means that I get to see these 4 grandsons again very soon! 

That's all for now.  I'm sure there's more stuff going on that I could post about, but I've just sorta felt like saying I love these grandkids of ours!

Love,

Grandma Deb/Mimi/Jus' Deb



Becoming Mimi

In case you haven’t heard, S&K had their first little one a week ago today!  Only J isn’t so little…he was born 9lbs 3oz and 22” long, but he’s still pretty little to me.  And so precious.  I was able to be with S for much of her laboring time.  She had hard back labor for a total of about 24 hours before the doctor finally said we needed to do a C-section.  S was born with a back condition that is a $16 word with about 53.5 letters in it, but I think we underestimated the impact it would have on her.  But thankfully, J is here and all are healthy and we’ve learned that if God blesses S&K with more children (we hope so!) she will avoid the labor part and head for the scheduled C.  Here are a couple of sweet pics!

It has been an interesting journey to becoming Mimi.  And to date, no grandson has yet actually called me that himself, but that is perfectly understandable.  I haven’t used that name with any of them except J, and funny thing, he doesn’t yet use words to talk.  Still only the non-verbals. 

Speaking of which, it was sorta funny on Friday afternoon, his first day home from the hospital.  I was there to help them get settled in, and J was having a few tummy troubles.  So S was bicycling his little legs to help.  I was stroking his head and talking softly to him.  He would fight S if she tried to cycle him “forwards” but he would not fight if she cycled him “backwards.”  So she cycled him backwards for a while.  Before long she tried forwards again, and he fought her, so I spoke for him and said “I told you once I didn’t like it that way,” at which point, he turns and looks at her with just that sort of little expression on his face!  It made S and I laugh out loud.

As some of you know I debated for months what grandmother name I liked best, and while I settled on Mimi, I will be happy with whatever any of our grandsons call me.  Between the 2 of us, G and I have 4 grandsons, and we love them each uniquely.  A is 4, and will be 5 in May.  He is full of energy and most loving towards his younger brother, O, who is turning 1 this month.  Grandpa G got some sweet snuggle loving from O right before we left their house the last time that is just beyond priceless.  And when A scoots up close to me so I can put my arm around him while I try to figure out the world of Star Wars fighter pods that he is explaining to me so very patiently, well I have trouble listening cause I just plain enjoy being that close to him.  He called me “grandma” the last time we were visiting, and while I had to be cool about it and all, I definitely noticed and it felt really nice…that whole sense of belonging that is inherent in grandmotherly names.

Then we have little K, who just turned 1 last month.  We really enjoyed his birthday party, and got a big kick out of seeing him enjoy his little train set from us.  He was getting lots of cute clothes, but K isn’t yet the clothes horse he may someday be, so when our little wood Imagenarium train set came out, his eyes lit up, and he spent quite a bit of time playing with it while mom opened more clothes.  Since we live 4 hours away and don’t get to see A, O and K very often, it was extra special to see K and some of the other children play with the train.  Extra special little gift for G and I.

And now we have J – the first grandson from my side of the family, who is nearby and so the first one I’ve been able to be around from the very first.  And while this may seem strange to say, experiencing the first few hours and days with him has actually helped me feel more like a grandmother to all of our grandsons.  (And yes, I do want a granddaughter someday, too, but grandsons are way cool.  Period.)  But back to what I was trying to express.  I have enjoyed each of our grandsons and felt love for them that I couldn’t describe, but I wasn’t sure if I felt any different yet or not, felt more like a grandmother or not.  For instance, J was born very late (23:59) on Monday night, and I worked remotely Tuesday.  When I returned to the office on Wednesday, one of the surreal feelings and questions I had all day was “Do grandmothers ‘do’ SAP?”  Now some of you may not know what SAP is, but it’s a computer ERP system, and I support it for a living.  It is a generally heavily male dominated field, so while I know of grandfathers who “do” SAP, I haven’t yet met a grandmother who did.  And can grandmothers be hip and computer functional savvy in business and still be a grandmother?  I know that the logical answer to that question is a firm, “Yes!” but I’m not talking logic here; I’m talking feelings.  So it’s a feeling I had all day. 

Feeling love for your grandchildren and feeling like a grandmother aren’t necessarily the same things.  I suppose some of it has to do with a perception that grandmothers are “old”, but I don’t really think that is what I’ve been experiencing so much.  Part of it has been this expectation of attachment and care giving that goes along with mothering.  In the case of A, O and K, we live far enough away that we can be just the “fun” grandparents that never do any of the regular sort of babysitting.  In fact we have yet to actually babysit.  We just come, visit, play, get A nice and riled up and then leave.  Which is literally what we did the last time we went down there!  We took A into his room after lunch on Sunday and shot some sort of nerfy like arrows at each other (boy stuff!) and the Star Wars poster on the walls.  It was great fun!  We laughed a lot!  To the point that when we got in the car, it was a good half hour of no radio, no conversation, simply silence because by golly, it was quiet again!  Little ones are so full of energy and so busy, that I think that was one of the first experiences of making me feel like Mimi – or a grandmother.  It was the first time I understood from personal experience what folks have said about grand parenting:  “You get to do all the fun stuff and then hand them back!”

But I can pinpoint one other experience that fully made me feel like Mimi.  It was Friday afternoon just after the bicycling episode.  J was still fussy, so we tried the football hold.  S placed him in that hold and almost instantaneously J stopped crying and we could tell he was feeling better.  And at the risk of Baby TMI, we heard some promising sounds coming out of one end of him, too.  Well, that hold started to hurt S’s back, so she asked if I could try.  We gently transferred him from her arms to mine, and he was clearly relaxing.  S leaned back to relieve her back and I continued to sway him and soothe him, until it wasn’t too much longer before he was asleep. 

And that’s when it hit me.  That sense of attachment and care giving – somewhat mother like but not that firsthand responsibility.  I was Mimi.  I’m not going to insist that any of my grandchildren call me Mimi.  I will be thrilled for A to continue to call me Grandma.  The feelings are the same no matter the name.  It’s the transition that is what matters most.  I’ve crossed over some sort of imaginary threshold into a new realm of family.  There is a verse from the Bible that doesn’t apply exactly, but I remember reading it years ago when I felt the desolation of divorce.  It’s a promise to spread wide your tent flaps because your household would be enlarged.  I am aware of just that sort of blessing – lots of family, lots of friends who are as close as family, and now lots of little children that we can love on and enjoy and play with and care for.  And then yep, hand them back!

A house divided...

....against itself cannot stand.

This isn't going to be a fun post.  It may very likely be a dissertation, but I don't anticipate that it will be fun or light-hearted or even easy for some to read.  But since it is the nature of a blog to often be self serving in  that voyeuristic journal sort of way that we've come to know and love about the world of blogging, I am using this means as a way to express some things on my heart and mind tonight. 

While I may not be pleased with yesterday's election results on many counts, that is not my focus.  My focus is on what struck me most as I was glued to the TV like so many millions of others last night.  If anything was clear from last night it was this: we are divided as a nation - perhaps unlike any other time in our history other than prior to the South's cessation from the United States and the ensuing war.  So many of the races, from president to congress, were very close, with candidates winning by small margins.  And given the disparity of idealogies between opposite parties and candidates, one is inclined to conclude that we are split just about right down the middle on what the role of a congressman or a president or even the government is supposed to be. 

It would appear that half believe it is government's job to create infrastructure that supports a free market but stays out of the way as much as possible; to build up a nation's defense in that "speak softly and carry a big stick" sort of way; to create a budget and then live within its means.  It has been a generation give or take since we've seen a government like that, but there are those who desire that.

It would appear that half believe it is government's job to tax the "rich," redistribute that wealth to the "poor" and make sure everyone has been provided for with food, shelter and healthcare; to regulate business and industry against any and every contingency and safety hazard; to negotiate with all countries regardless of their bent to the use of force instead of talking; to bail out failed businesses and banks.  This is the way of government for much of the last 25 years, regardless of which party is in power, and there are those who desire this to be the case.

But we can't have it both ways.  These ideals are generally diametrically opposed.  So much so that rarely can we have a true exchange of ideas any more, much less a consensus of what constitutes a "win" for everyone. 

And that, my friends, equates to a house divided.  And as Lincoln and Jesus have both wisely stated in the past, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."  Whether that is a house divided on how to spend or save money, or a house divided on how to raise the kids, or a house divided on what faithfulness and fidelity mean, or a house divided on how we should govern ourselves, it cannot stand.

Especially if that house is spending more than it is making.  Then that becomes not only a house divided but one that is built of cards.  For living on debt is never a sustainable model in any forum - home, school, church, business, government. 

As a woman who has been through a divorce, I have some first-hand experience with a divided house and its inability to stand.  And it is disheartening to see similar divides in this country that most of us love.  I am not able to talk about these things with many people because I don't want to create walls.  I am much more interested in building bridges.  So it is my hope that this post doesn't create a wall or cause me to be de-friended virtually or in real life, but I fear it may. 

I am open to a reasonable exchange of ideas that doesn't deteriorate into a bumper sticker like, sound-bite sort of finger pointing or name calling waste of time.  But those kinds of discussions are rare these days and better done face-to-face over a cup of your favorite beverage than over blog or FB.  Being me, I would even throw in a pastry to share in hopes we really would start and end that conversation as friends.

So yea...I know this isn't a fun post.  No pics.  No food.  No stories of people I love and name with initials. Not even a word of hope or change sprinkled in.  Instead I seem to be pointing to houses falling or crashing and no longer sustaining themselves into the future.  I could end with some sort of cheesy "can't we all get along" type statement, but that isn't me.  I don't sing fake kum-bah-ya very well. 

But perhaps I can end with this idea, and it will be seen as hopeful.  No matter what happens in this country in the coming days, weeks, months and years, if we do survive for decades more even, I can take comfort in trusting that my hope is not dependent upon a government (city, state, federal, international) but is instead dependent upon the Source of Love, the Source of Hope, the Source of Authority, the Source of Faith.  In Him do I trust and can work to mend and redeem division.

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far.  It's just a glimpse into Deb's heart....

I like friends

I like friends.  All kinds of friends.

I like FB friends.  How fun is it to hear from people all over the country when it's your birthday?!  I LOVE that aspect of FB!  And I am one of those people who like to wish others greetings on their special days, but I don't ever keep up with it like I should.  So it's great to have a helper like FB help me.  And how fun is it when your phone "blows up" all day with greetings from people!  Too fun!

I like party friends.  People who will help you celebrate your birthday with a party.  Even when it's just a regular old number like 51.  People who make up Foodie Bingo and Foodie Double Play games all in your honor.  Way cool.  And way hard, too.  For example, one clue was "These are double good."  The answer is a two-word phrase where both words begin with the same letter.  Can you figure it out?  Here is another one: "you don't need a passport to eat this vegetable."  Go ahead.  Noodle them for a while.  I may or may not give the answers at the end...

I like meatloaf friends.  People who will make you meatloaf and baked potatoes like your mama used to do when you were a little girl, asking what you wanted for your birthday dinner.  Especially when that meatloaf is made by a lady who is almost 80 years old and is motivated by love and wanting to remind you of your mother who is already gone.  How loving and thoughtful is that?  Does it get much better? 

I like non-meatloaf friends.  I have a sisterhood friend who can't stand meatloaf, but that's ok.  I love her tons anyway.  So what she and I don't have over meatloaf, we have over tea and pastry - not a bad trade off in my mind.

I like let-me-be-lazy friends.  G and I had a very low-key, lazy, sleeping-in type weekend - and I really needed that.  I even took a nap today.  Wait.  How old did I turn today?  83?  Yes, that must be it.

I like let's eat Mexican friends.  G & I went with S & R to Chimi's out in St. Pete today for Mexican for my bday.  I have other friends who love Mexican so much we hint that it's time again by saying we need "salsa by IV" - just hang a bag up and inject it via needle.  Speaking of which - if you're reading this ladies, today was really good, but I still need salsa by IV ASAP...

I like family friends.  I've received love from all of my kids and my sister.  S bought me lunch on Friday.  I received cards and gifts.  I even heard from A that she is grateful to have me as her mother-in-law.  Talk about something that makes me smile....

Yep, I like friends.  Such a wonderful gift from God to celebrate.  So I am.  Celebrating each one of you!

Thank you for being my friends and all of the well wishes!

Oh, you want the answers to the double plays above?  Hmmm...should I?  Should I not?  Hmmm...

Tell ya what - I'll type them backwards.  At least that's not a complete give away...

These are double good....  snob-nob

You don't need a passport to eat this vegetable....seirf hcnerf  (trust me...it took us much longer than it took you to read this post to figure these out!  I love it!)

We cut the cake!

Here's the cake.  (And the little Wolff puppy in the background as well as the ice cream maker cylindar.) 

No chance anyone thinks this cake is pink is there?  Sorry, I forgot to get a shot of the blue ice cream, and while it was an odd color, it tasted really good....which all means, of course, that...

WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!!

I look forward to introducing you to Jackson Oliver in a few short months!!

Love,
Ammy
Beemer
Bambi
Bella
Glamma
Grammug
Grams
Khakie
Kitty
(Trust me, it will be a while before I run out of these...the spreadsheet has over 260 potential grandmother names from the Internet...we live in a very interesting world, folks...)

We're having a....

...new post! 

It's been over 2 months since I last posted something on here?!  Can we all say S-L-A-C-K-E-R?

You know it's been a long time since you posted on your blog if you had to think for a minute how to get to it.

You know it's been a long time since you posted on your blog if you couldn't remember the last thing you talked about.

You know it's been a long time since you posted on your blog if you haven't even posted yet that you're having your first grandchild, and mama is about 4 months along!

Yes, that's right!  S&K are expecting their first child this February!  They told us in a very cool way.  She handed us a little stuffed wolf puppy with baby ribbons tied around its neck.  Since their last name is Wolff, it only took A about 1 second to pick up on why S was handing these out.  It took me about 2 seconds...

But get this!  I am one of only 4 people tonight who know what S&K are having.  How exciting is that?!  Only G, B and the ultrasound technician know, too. 

That is until tomorrow about 2:45.  We are having a gender reveal party, which is whene everyone else will find out if we're having a Jackson Oliver or an Alexis Grace.  Here's how they will find out...

S&K will cut this open and find out based on the cake color.  Fun, huh?

I could have posted pics of me making it...but I couldn't do that, cause then you'd already know!  I could have posted pics of the cake scraps, but that would have let the secret out of the bag.   So all ya get is the finished cake.  Sorry. 

Or am I?  It's kinda fun knowing a secret, ya know?

I didn't want to find out too soon myself for fear I'd let it slip in conversation, so B has been holding on to the envelope from the technician ever since Tuesday when S had the ultrasound.  But B, G and I have known since last night and now the cake is ready and the ice cream is chilling ready to freeze tomorrow.  Yep, that's right, we will also have homemade Jackson or Alexis ice cream.  Fun and yum! 

Does it get any better?

I promise I'll post again tomorrow night with pics of the cut cake...same baby time, same baby channel...

Love,
Grandma Deb
Mama Deb
Sugar
Twinkles
Uddermudder
Vanna
Queenie
Pippy
(still trying out some of the grandmother names that S sent in a spreadsheet a month or so ago....)  what do I want to be called?  hmmm....

Is it wrong...

...that I pray for my dishwasher to last at least another year before we have to replace it?  I don't mean it to sound like I'm treating God like a vending machine and punching in my orders.

Is is wrong that I remember writing a sketch that was performed about 6 years ago called "Vending Machine God" that dealt with that very idea?  Or is it more wrong that I've stopped writing sketches?

Is it wrong that I sometimes forget to start that dishwasher because we could fit just a few more things in before "tomorrow" night's supper, but then "tomorrow" gets here and then we don't have room for those dishes? 

It is wrong that it's been almost 2 months since I've posted anything and the only thing on my mind are these random questions and there's no pics of food?

Is it wrong that I asked my son to send me 3,489 post cards from all of the places he will visit while driving a truck?

Is it wrong that when he told me the post cards would be boring and to prove his point he sent me a pic of the highway in front of him from the cab, I tried to sound artsy smartsy and told him his subject matter and composition would get better?

And if that is wrong, is it somehow less wrong that the pics he's sent me since that time have been better?

Is it wrong that I invited my son-in-law over to our house for his birthday this Sunday only to then rescind the invitation a day later because I forgot I'd be driving out of town this Sunday?

Is it wrong that an hour ago I could think of a bunch more of these than I can right now?

Is it wrong that my work day started at 5:30 this morning, and it will start at 5:30 again tomorrow but I'm sitting here at 10:15pm writing down these questions?

Is it wrong that I love those times when I've washed my hair at night and I don't have to put any products in it to style it but I can just let it lay loose and flat but feel soft?

Is it wrong that I love bruschetta even when it's made with store bought tomatoes and I forgot the balsamic vinegar?  Will someone take my foodie membership card away for that?

Is it wrong that I have no idea how to end this post?

Wedding Cake - Finally!

I have no idea what I've been doing the past few weeks that this hasn't gotten posted before.  Well, ok, maybe I know 1 or 2 things - going to TN for business, going out of town for G's birthday, going to his dad's funeral, watching the backyard die but not fast enough for G (have I told you about our backyard?), getting D off to trucking school, working - but other than that, I have no idea.

The pics finally loaded, so here they are.  But let's start with the rehearsal dinner picnic food.  Jesus may still feed the 5000, but He may not always provide the plates.  Somehow we ran out.  I blame the ducks.  Apparently there are 2 ducks for whom setting up tables in high winds is quite riveting to watch and quack about.  My son-in-law did a fine job of chasing them away every so often.  There is a video of this activity but apparently no one caught the funniest end of the video, as in K imitating the ducks...

G was manning both grills, full of chicken and burgers and pork steaks and dogs, but we never got any pics of these.  In fact, we didn't seem to get pics of anything except this waffle cut potato.

Remember me talking about the new cutter we got at the home show?  Well it came in very handy for slicing and cutting veggies for this picnic.  I even had some marginal success with the waffle cutter, but I definitely need more practice.  I've got some fat carrots at home right now that I want to try cutting as a waffle just for the fun of it. 

There are LOTS of stories to tell surrounding the wedding, including things like a chiropractor visit for me on my way to setting up the cake, but most of the stories are my son's and daughter-in-law's to tell.  Trust me...these 2 have plenty of stories to tell their grandchildren about their wedding day!  I couldn't have scripted all of the things that happened to these 2 on that day! 

But the wedding itself?  It was one of the most personal, intimate, worshipful wedding experiences I've ever been a part of.  Even the two ministers were choking up as they blessed these two.  EVERYONE was SO happy for S&A.  As P put it, there wasn't a dry eye in the house except for B - meaning my less-than-prone-to-tears youngest daughter.  There was one moment when I had to look away even.  S&A had done the salt ceremony and while the song is finishing, they are leaning in to pray for each other.  It was too intimate for me to watch.  I am so very happy for them. 

The wedding was also beautiful and fun - full of art and children and bells and music and a special, Hebrew blessing.  Rarely do weddings reflect the personalities of two people so well.  This one did.

Here are a few pics of the cake.  I want to include one pic of G finishing off the cake base.  He cut and sanded and painted the whole thing, but he did most of it when I wasn't around so I only got 1 pic of his concentration as he free-handed the corner designs to mimic the cake topper.

And here is the final, assembled cake.  The bottom tier was the chocolate stout with the ganache, the middle was the cinnamon with the spicy cream cheese buttercream and the top was the amaretto with coconut filling.  It was pretty much ALL eaten!

I'm not a good judge of a pic, so here are all 4 shots from slightly different angles....

That's all!  Happy Friday everyone!

Rib day!

I know....it's been over a month since I've posted, and I still owe pics of the wedding cake prep, but the pics are taking forever to download, so I'll write about ribs and complete the wedding cake post over the weekend.

I worked late today.  It happens somewhat regularly these days.  Tonight was one of those times when I had not given any thought to dinner at all.  I didn't give it any thought until I was driving home in fact.  I gave it thought, but I wasn't hungry and nothing was coming to mind.  We have a couple of leftover chicken breasts, so I thought maybe I'd do something with those, but still no plan in place when I drove into the garage.

But wait.  I can smell something as I step out of the car.  Hints of pork.  Hints of smoke.  Almost bacon like in aroma?

Hmmmm...am I dreaming here? 

I walk up the stairs and I continue to smell these heavenly scents.  B has cooked some pasta, and is sitting on a bar stool at the microwave counter eating.  Is that what I've been smelling? 

No.  No.  I can't completely process all of this, because I worked late, and my brain is running on empty if running at all.

I find G cleaning D's room out ready to turn into an office.  (D is at trucking school...more on that later.)  He (I mean G) greets me with a hug and a kiss and then very nonchalantly informs me that he is cooking the ribs.  Like it's an everyday occurence or something!

So THIS is the reason for the heavenly smells!  YES! 

What I don't tell him - and still haven't until he reads this as I type it - the cafe at work served ribs for lunch today, and while they were good, I was confident that G's ribs would beat.

Oh.  My.  Goodness. 

Oh.  My.  Goodness.

I had no idea just how much they would beat those ribs.  I don't know all that G did with the ribs, but I can tell you this much.  It involved emptying the steak seasoning bottle.  It involved watching 2 DVR'd episodes of Waltons as well as some time cleaning D's room.  It involved some cherry wood smoke. 

Get your cherry wood from the farmer at Soulard who sells chips for about 75 cents/pound.  Soak it for a long time until it's good and moist.  (I don't know how long that is.) 

Do other magical stuff to the ribs and then smoke them off of the fire until done - around 8pm or so.  I wish, oh how I wish, I could capture the smell along with this pic.  Think a campfire in the woods with a whole bunch of seasoning like garlic - all on steriods.

I could not believe how amazing this smelled.  When he layed the plate of ribs on the counter in the kitchen the smokey perfume was intoxicating.  Have you ever heard people say that if men could bottle the smell of a campfire in the woods, it would drive women wild?  Well this smell was something like that.  I had truly never smelled anything that incredible from a grill.  Never. 

I've tasted good ribs before.  I have.  But I have never tasted ribs like these.  These are what I've always dreamed ribs COULD taste like.  I'm serious here.  How do you describe the best of something that you have ever tasted?  Smokey.  Tender.  Meaty.  Seasoned.  Rib and finger licking.  They didn't need any sauce.  The corn on the cob and other things I made to go with were meaningless.  All that mattered were the ribs.

G tells me after that we MAY do ribs again sometime.  MAY?  Excuse me?  MAY?  I think not.  No, sir. The operative word is WILL. 

Period.  WILL.

Ribs.  Twice in one day.  Except really - it was only once.  But oh, one time done the best it can be is almost always better than multiple times of just ok.

Oh, and guess what else?  G roasts 2 marshmallows in the dying embers to ooey...gooey...toasted and melty perfection.  I couldn't grab a pic, cause they were that melty wonderful.  I don't want Hershey's with my marshmallows.  More on that later, but I suppose I could be accused of being a s'more snob, too....shhh...don't tell my friend, W....

Can I keep him please?

More on wedding cake later, I promise!!!

8 days....

...and counting down to my son's wedding!  I was told today that our family was trying to win Wedding Family of the Year or something...and the guy might just have a point....

What can I say?  Love is in the air!

Along with pollen and other spring time favorites.  As I sit here typing this, my husband, G, and my younger son, D, are both out working in the back yard pulling out old brush and weeds...and coughing and sneezing with regularity.  Poor gents. 

G has sprayed the yard at least 53 times with Round Up and some farm strength weed killer, but the weeds are not giving in.  He may be the new sheriff in town, but they are saying that they were here first, they've been here 30 years, and they are not going down without a fight!  Little do they realize the doom that they face!  Dun-dun-du!!!!

But I'm getting off track.  I'm here to talk about giving you an update on the wedding from the MOTG's viewpoint.  The top tier is now baked and in the freezer, but I didn't take pics.  The only exciting pic would have been the cutting of the cake scraps since I am going for such tall layers.  Oh, and I made 12 cupcakes with the extra batter.  Here's a pic of the remaining 3...

Amaretto cupcake batter with a strawberry marshmallow fluff icing.  What can I say?  It's what I had on hand.  But it's actually pretty good.  I had some of the scraps with the amaretto soaking syrup and icing for my breakfast this morning.  I know, breakfast of champs and all that.  I'm a wild woman like that.

While the wedding (and cake) are 8 days away, the rehearsal is 7 days away.  We are having a BBQ picnic so we're making all of the food.  My future daughter-in-law has been working OT for me to get as many RSVP's back as she could.  I told her today to give herself a pass and check this one off of the list as done.  No matter how the count changes between now and then, it won't change the amount of food I prepare.  Besides Jesus still feeds the 5,000 today; He just doesn't always get top billing for it these days.

And speaking of food, (I know!  when am I NOT talking about food?!) one of our little friends coming to the rehearsal has some special dietary needs, so I let his mama know the menu about a week ago and thought I'd share it here, too. 

G is in charge of the grill.  He'll be grilling pork steaks, chicken, burgers and dogs.  The park has 2 grills available at the pavilion, so he'll be grilling those on the hot fire while I'm "baking" onions on the other grill with a low fire. 

Have you ever had my maple baked onions?  So stinkin' simple, but so stinkin' yummy all at the same time - as long as you don't burn them.  It's sliced onions, butter and maple syrup baked togther until the onions are all sweet and soft.  They are wonderful over burgers and dogs, and they get scarfed pretty much any time I have ever served them.  Let's hope I don't burn them next Thursday!  Don't need to bother asking me for the recipe...slice some onions and pour melted butter and maple syrup over to taste.  I mean really, how bad can it be?  Can we get this one wrong, folks?  I don't think so.

Along with those hot things, we'll be having some marinated vegetables.  I'll pre-roast them just a bit and then marinate in a dressing that I haven't fully developed in my own mind yet.  I plan to cut some of them in a waffle cut using the new cutting gadget G & I picked up at the home show last month.  We'll see how that turns out.  I'll post pics here of my "success" in the waffle cutting department.

Next we'll serve my mama's Mexican salad.  My mama took that salad to more church potlucks and Bible studies than anyone can possibly count, and almost never brought any of it back home with her.  It's uber simple, and very potluck friendly.  The original recipe calls for creamy Italian dressing.  Do you remember creamy Italian dressing?  (I know, it's a Mexican salad with an Italian dressing, but trust me, it works.)  But last time I looked, I couldn't find any creamy Italian, so I used Caesar.  It could be an old-fashioned salad dressing that marketing departments decided we didn't want to buy any more once Ranch became all the rage.  Yep, I bet that's it.

Then we have a watermelon basket full of fresh fruit.  G & I plan to hit Soulard on Wednesday next week to pick up the fresh veggies and fruits.  We like Soulard.  We like Soulard a lot.  We plan to take my sis, J, and her husband, G, to Soulard Saturday morning after the wedding just so they can bask in the glory that is the Soulard market culture.

Finally we will have deviled eggs.  My friend, J, (I made a cake for her husband's 50th anniversary as a pharmacist a week or so before S&K's wedding last September that you can read about here...
http://jusdebdissertations.blogspot.com/2011/09/5-days.html) anyway, J, collected all of her daughter's and daughter-in-law's Tupperware deviled egg containers for me to borrow to make transporting them as easy as pie.  Which, come to think of it, isn't always that easy to trasnport, but that's for another day.

Dessert is going to be sundaes.  We'll send my son, D, to Dierbergs down the street from the picnic (hey, nobody said we were roughing it here!) to get the ice cream.  At first I was planning to make brownies, but then I decided that I want to make Texas sheet cake instead.  It's been YEARS since I had a Texas sheet cake.  That is one of those super simple, homey cakes that just calls my name whenever it's around.  And I don't know about you, but it simply MUST be cut in straight lines!  If it's not, then that has to be fixed.  And everyone knows that the parts that you cut off to keep the lines straight don't have any fat, sugar or calories as you're just answering the OCD anal call of keeping the lines straight.

Makes perfect sense to me.  Duh.

Anyway, that's the rehearsal picnic.  I'm looking forward to it!  It should be low key and fun, which is what S&A asked for to begin with.  There is a playground and plenty of space to play frisbee and baseball and hang out. There might even be a guitar or two around for musical entertainment.  At least I hope so!

Talk to ya again soon!!!  Happy Wedding Family of the Year to everyone!

A really good weekend

7 really good things happened this weekend:

1. We bought a cherry tree - a bing cherry tree
2. We bought a peach tree - an elberta
3. We bought another peach tree - a hale haven
4. We worked on the routing table to use on the wedding cake base
5. We picked out the finishing paint for the wedding cake base (more to follow on the base in days to come - only 12 more days to go!)
6. We bought fruit trees!  (Me!  I've never owned a fruit tree in my life, much less ever thought that I could!  And now we're planting three of them!  I feel like one of the cool kids...)
7. We baked cake!

There are finally layers of wedding cake in the freezer.  Chocolate stout cake for the bottom tier. 

This is the recipe we're using along with a few pics of what it looks like to make it around our house.  Hope you enjoy!  (And yes, I am a serious King Arthur Flour fan!)
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/chocolate-stout-cake-recipe

We're doing 4 recipes.  It uses lots of cocoa...

...and lots of sour cream - at least by the time you make it 4 times.

You start by mixing guiness...

...with some butter. 

Ok, maybe lots of butter.  A pound of butter per recipe.  But don't worry.  Everyone knows that the fat goes away when the cake is baked for a wedding.  It's true.  Period.

Then you whisk in some cocoa.  It looks like it's going to just lump at first...

...but keep whisking.  It will eventually look like this - smooth and gorgeous.  And if you taste it, you will distinctly taste the stout and the butter and the cocoa, which is not the same thing as saying it tastes good at this point.  (Take note:  no sugar yet...that makes a difference...)

While that is cooling to room temperature, measure out the flour and sugar - 4 cups of each.  Although the pic looks like it's only sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl, the flour is hiding under all that sugar.

Whisk a bit, and you start to see the flour...

...until they are fully mixed together as one homogenous whole.  (I do like me the word "homogenous."  Such a good wordsmithing type word.)

In your wonderful Kitchen Aid mixer that your mother had the wisdom to tell you to buy almost 20 years ago after the kichen fire blend together 4 eggs and sour cream.  (Your sour cream won't have streaks of cocoa in it like mine unless you use the same yellow 3/4 cup Tupperware measuring cup like me.)  Oh, and one more thing.  I add a splash of vanilla (not called for in the recipe) because I believe vanilla makes things taste more like themselves.  Don't ask me how much a splash is.  I don't measure vanilla.  Not worth getting another measuring spoon dirty.

Add the cooled guiness and cocoa mixture and then the flour and sugar.

It will need to be scraped down and this is what it starts out looking like.

Give it another minute, and it turns out beautiful and glistening and smooth.  (And a lick of the beater now is delightful!)

Split the mixture between your pans.  They look very full, because I want lovely, full layers to hold all of that ganache filling.

While the cakes are baking, clean up the mixing bowls and pan, wish for your new friend, R, the one man cleaning machine, to show up suddenly at your front door, start a load of towels, take out the trash, thankful that your husband is spraying the back yard so the garage door is open, pick up another roll of paper towels from the basement on your way back in, get giddy about your new fruit trees, switch the pans around in the oven, form patties for the grill, turn on the DVR to record 2 hours of the Waltons, swear you won't admit that to anyone else, remember about the bacon tasting you did earlier at Shop-N-Save and feel bad about the less than glowing review you gave to the cute young men taping your response since you're a bacon snob, wish for your new friend, R, again to do more of the dishes, and then before you know it, you have cake baked!

And yes...after 15 minutes...you have the famous...the proof of cake snobbery...cake scraps!

Share them with your new husband, but not your youngest daughter, B.  This cake is not for the chocolate faint of heart.  B admits that she is the chocolate faint of heart.  She plans on eating the cinnamon tier at the wedding.

1 recipe down. 

 Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.  (As of this typing, we are 3 times down, which is a very good feeling).  Oh, and don't forget to sweet talk your good friend/sister, W, into letting you use her freezer, cause you don't have quite enough space in your own freezer this time around either...

Have I mentioned that I now have 2 peach trees and 1 cherry?  Everyone is invited over when we get our first harvest!  (Did I just use the word "harvest"?  I may be one of the cool kids after all.)

Or not.  But I don't care!  I'm looking forward to cherries and peaches!  Yea!!!

Hope yours was a really good weekend, too! 

12 days and counting!!!!

Green Thumbs...er...really thumb...

I thought I'd give you a little tour of our landscape boxes.  I like to pretend that I'm going to grow up and have a green thumb someday.  But so far, not so much. 

But I did better.  I married a man with a green thumb!  He knows names of things and where to plant them and what they need.  He does a great job of getting his hands good and dirty.  He picked out the Dwarf Alberta Spruce above to replace the dead Arborvitae that we (me, and my two planting consultants from last year, D & W, that is) tried to plant last year.  See the Arborvitae was smarter than I suspected.  It was on to my game.  It knew I was a green thumb wannabe, and said "no dice...not playing."  It would rather die quickly than prolong the suffering.  But this spruce knows it was planted by hands that know what they're doing.  I have every confidence it will live and sport Christmas lights in the years to come.

Did you notice the blooms in the back of that pic?  Here's what they look like up close...

That there, folks, is a blooming azalea!  My ex-husband's mother planted them years ago.  I'm sure she told me about them, but I'm also fairly certain I let that info go in one ear and out the other.  (I haven't always been a green thumb wannabe.  I've been a black thumb resignee.)  But last year my consultants told me to feed the azaleas with acidic food.  Azaleas need food?  Who knew?  But turns out they were right!  Pretty sure these azaleas haven't bloomed in years, much less like this!  Fun, huh?

Our next stop are the herbs.  G and I purchased all of these lovelies from Soulard Farmer's Market.  We are becoming regulars down there.  We bought basil and sage and thyme and garlic chives, two kinds of oregano, rosemary and chocolate mint.  I still want to plant parsley.  We put the chocolate mint here along with remants of last year's mint.  G says that mint takes over everything (and I think I have to admit that he's right about that) so we put it in its own container.

Look at me!  I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about!
G likes pansies, so we picked these up at Soulard, too.  Yellows and purples and smiles.

   
They're just starting to peak over the top of the landscaping boxes.  It's pretty fun to watch as we pull in the driveway.  The hosta we (consultants and me) planted last year has come back, which is really just sorta surprising and fun to me!  This is happening in my landscape boxes!  Is that crazy or what?

Ok, so maybe it's not so crazy.  I told a friend recently that G and I are building a life - a regular, boring, domesticated, married life, and I guess this little tour of the front of our house may prove it out.  But wait till I tell you about the back yard!  Now that's exciting stuff!  It will include before and after shots even!

I know you're on the edge of your seat...but that post could be two years in the making....

Oh, and happy Easter!  (a little late, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

More on the cake

This won't be a long post - at least I don't think it will, but I call this blog Deb's Dissertations for a reason so who knows for sure how long this will be...???

I didn't describe the decorations for the cake.  It will be relatively simple, somewhat playfully elegant, if you will.  Their wedding invitation includes a back ground of some open circles, so they've asked me to repeat those on the sides and tops of each tier.  The cake will be buttercream covered, but the circles will be made from fondant.  Thankfully I have this wonderful set of concentric circle cutters to use.  If you don't have a set, how do you manage to do anything in your kitchen?!  Have I mentioned that I love pastry?

Oh, and we'll be eating all tiers at the wedding.  I'm not a huge fan of the cake kept in the freezer for a year tradition.  It just never tastes as good as a fresh baked cake. 

"Hello, my name is Deb, and I'm a cake snob."  I've been practicing for that 12-step group I'm supposed to go to. 

We did the same thing for S&K's wedding in September.  I'll just bake each of them a small cake for their 1st anniversary.  They just have to tell me which flavor from the original that they want duplicated, and I'm there.

S&A designed their cake topper.  Here it is.  They will bring it Sunday for Easter ready for me to use.

Pretty cool, huh?  Their theme is Beauty from Junk, and they have been creating all sorts of beauty from a variety of things for a few months now.  I loved the theme as soon as I heard it.  It made me think of how God is still in the business of creating beauty- taking our junk and making beauty out of it.  I don't know about you, but I am very aware of junk in my life - and that junk carrying over to my kids' lives.  But that is not the end of the story!  God is still writing our stories and still creating beauty out of anything we give Him.

I can't help but love the idea.  It is similar to one of the ideas G and I wanted presented at our own wedding - that God is still in the business of redeeming lives.  That's why we asked S&A to play and sing "I Know My Redeemer Lives." Cause He's still redeeming us.  And making us beautiful on the inside.

25 days...

3 months and 27 days...

Happy March 31st everyone!

Today was our 3-month wedding anniversary!  It was a beautiful spring day.  We spent lunch with a friend who came to our wedding, and he even remembered it was our 3-month anniversary.  Pretty cool, huh?  We had lunch at Magpie's, a little place in Old St. Charles, MO with an outside patio.  We shared a bottle of wine, good food and good conversation on an absolutely gorgeous day.  It was down right idyllic.  Then we went to his place, and he and I kept chatting while we watched G meticulously paint our friend's doors.  It was just about the most perfect 3-month anniversary ever.  

So that was the 3 months part of the title.  The rest of this post is about the 27 days.

What is 27 days, you ask?  My son's wedding, of course!  As the MOTG, there is so much less on my plate than as the MOTB or the B.  But I am taking care of the rehearsal dinner and the wedding cake.  And I need to blog about those things, right?

Let's start with the wedding cake.  We had a cake tasting a few weeks back.  It was G's first ever cake tasting.  S & A came over just for dessert, and we talked and tasted cake.  3 different kinds of cake with 5 different flavor profiles. It was a hard job, but somebody had to do it, so it might as well be us.  We're tough like that.  We can take the hard stuff on. 

I'll describe them in the order that we tasted them.

First we tasted amaretto cake with an amaretto soaking syrup and two kinds of cherry filling.  The filling on the left side was a dark, sweet cherry, and the filling on the right side was a tart cherry.  I expected to like the dark, sweet cherry better, because I liked the flavor by itself better than the tart, but when they were mixed with the cake, we all liked the tart cherry better.  Interesting.  At least it is to cake geek snobs like me!

Then we tasted some amaretto cake with coconut filling.  It was also soaked with the amaretto syrup, and this is the one that the bride, A, liked the best of the amaretto offerings.  So it is ending up in the final cake as one of the tiers.

As a side note, S kept pondering about whether the amaretto cake was too sweet - if there was too much soaking syrup or if the syrup was too sweet or if the filling was too sweet or maybe it was his teeth that were too sweet.  Suffice it to say, he felt it was too something and was offering suggestions on what to adjust.  Yep, mama Deb raised a cake snob or two.  I admit it.  Send me to a 12-step group.  I'm ready.

More on that interlude later...stay tuned...

I had asked S & A to tell me their favorite dessert flavor profiles, and one of the ones S mentioned was cinnamon.  So I went searching for cinnamon cake recipes.  The only cinnamon cakes I'd ever made before were of the bundt variety with a cinnamon sugar streusal filling baked in the middle.  I knew that wouldn't work for a wedding cake tier, so I had to search.  My daughter, S, mentioned a cinnamon crunch cupcake recipe she'd seen on pinterest, but when I looked at it, I could tell it wasn't quite right.  So I kept looking, until I found this snickerdoodle cake with brown sugar cinnamon buttercream from the foodie with family blog.  It sounded just right.  And it was.  I belive the first words out of my son, S's, mouth when he tasted it were "This is money."  It was surprisingly good, so it will be another tier.

Finally S & A had said that they like dark chocolate, so I asked if that meant the chocolate stout cake.  A wasn't too sure, since she didn't want the cake to taste too hoppy.  I said I didn't know, but let's taste and they could decide.   So the final cake tasting was the chocolate stout cake with ganache filling.  At the first bite, I believe the first words out of S's mouth were, "Forget everything I said about the amaretto cake.  Whatever A wants on that tier is fine with me.  I'm in for the cinnamon and the chocolate."  So the largest bottom tier will be the chocolate stout.

Which brings us to the overall design of the cake.  They will be square tiers.  But the bottom tier will be large enough that I don't want to use cardboard to support it all.  I want to use something harder like wood or plywood.  Or really this stuff called MDF.

I know, it looks like plywood, but it's not.  It's a pressed something that has a smoother surface than plywood and doesn't warp the same.  We picked up 2 sheets tonight so G can make the cake base as well as a work bench for himself in the basement.  (We also picked up lots of charcoal for the rehearsal dinner cause Home Depot has a really good deal going on it this weekend, but that is for another post...)

Right after we picked up the 2x4's to go with the MDF and loaded them on the cart we noticed a man trying to pull one more MDF off of the rack.  These things are heavy, they have some serious heft, so G went over to help him.  And because G does this all the time, he struck up a conversation with the guy, asking if he had experience with MDF.  He said yes, that it needs polyurethene to make it waterproof.  Good to know.

We check out.  We're loading the 2x4's in the car when lo and behold the MDF sheets won't fit.  No way unless we ask Home Depot to cut them down.  But have no fear!  As we're standing in the loading zone of HD who walks by except the very same guy who G had been talking to inside.  He turns around, looks at our dilemma and asks how far we are going.  We tell him, and he says, "I'll follow you in my truck.  Let's load it all there, and we'll get it home for you."  That, my friends, is what I call a Godsend. 

So here we are loaded up with his stuff and our stuff, ready to head home!  I do love a happy ending, don't you? 

That's probably enough for now.  I'll continue to track the design and the work to build their wedding cake.  S doesn't want a groom's cake, so no train this time.  Or Mac.  Or bass guitar.  Or a replica of some fancy, schmancy sound system that S and only 10 other people on the planet know how to run.  Nope, only the wedding cake.  But that's cool.  I'll also post about the rehearsal dinner prep as we count down the days.

27 days....almost only 26 as late as I'm posting this tonight...