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Pictureless Meme Day

Since I apparently have used up all the alloted space in my picture file for Blogger...  (Go figure; I never knew there was a limit!)  And since it takes 24 hours for the new space I purchased to appear...  (Because I can't live without pictures!) I'm interrupting my regularly scheduled Looking At The Sky On Friday post with this fun meme I found over at Therese's place!

The Spouse Meme

♥ What are your middle names
Bernadette and Mark

♥ How long have you been together?
22 years.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
Well, I don't know if you could say we ever actually "dated" in the conventional meaning.  We worked together (crushing from across the computers and light tables at our college paper) for a good year before we admitted we liked each other...  I think we only "went out" once before we got married. 

♥ Who asked who out?
Well, actually a couple of friends of ours asked me out for Dan -- (Thank-you, Paula and Vee wherever you are).  Or, at least they convinced him that it would be the appropriate thing to do.  I don't remember the actual words Dan used, but I remember they were vague and I had to pump him to actually understand that I was being asked out on a date.  Bless him.  He was probably worried I'd say no, and was saving an out for himself.  Of course, once I understood I was getting free dinner, I said yes. 

Then, the date...  I expected Dan to walk me to the old stand-by college dive, Jonnny's, but Dan, bless him, had grander plans. Hoping to impress me maybe (?), he showed up to get me in an old jaloppy he and a friend  bought for $100. (Yeah.  Are you getting a mental image?) I've forgotten the make and model of that old clunker, but I do seem to recall  it was some dull and dreary shade of grey, and the engine sounded like it was trying to cough something up. Poor old thing. Though it tried valiantly and Dan, with hope in his voice, assured me it was a great deal for the price, the old car got only as far as the 'main drag" near our college and konked out in the middle of the street.  Goody. Thankfully, the direction we were going was somewhat downhill, because I had to steer while Dan pushed the car to the ice arena parking lot -- which was about six blocks away, but the closest place we could just park it and leave it.  I'm not sure how we made it there, but we did.  (Incidentally, I never did see that car again.  I have no idea what happened to it...)

But what to do now?  We didn't really want to go to Jonny's. Too many inquisitive friends there.  So we walked to a restaurant I'd heard the professors talking about.  I had a general idea of wher it was and knew that it was called something like "Reefers" or "Reevers."  So we set out to find it.  But it turned out to be farther away than either of us expected, and we ended up walking in circles trying to find it.  But, it was a nice walk through a pleasant neighborhood, and we eventually asked someone who steered us in the right direction.  So we did get to the restaurant, and we had a nice dinner, and only slightly uncomfortable conversation.  Then we walked all the way back to campus -- on a chilly Colorado spring night -- and I was wearing Chinese laundry shoes with no socks, so my toes were blue, but my heart was warm.  It was a wonderful evening, though, in spite of it all.  And Dan and I were married a year later.

♥ How old are each of you?
Dan's a year and a half younger than me, and I'm 45.

♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most?
We see all of my siblings regularly, but especially my sister, Nina.

♥ Do you have any children together?
Ten on earth.

♥ What about pets?
Two dogs, unknown number of cats at this time, four goats, eleven chickens, one fish

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
In the rare case that we disagree on something, neither of us knows quite what to do. 

♥ Did you go to the same school?
Same college.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
Nope.  He grew up in Long Beach, CA, my family lived in Colorado when we met in college.

♥ Who is the smartest?
Hmmm....  I'll get back with you on that.  (No. Seriously.  Dan, by a long shot.)

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
Me.  But Dan has a tender heart, too.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
At home.  But for a treat, we go to BJ's brewery.

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Easy. Me.  It makes me mad that he doesn't have more of a temper.

♥ Who does the cooking?
Mostly me, but Dan is an excellent cook.  He's the family breakfast chef.

♥ Who is more social?
Me. Definitely.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
Me.

♥ Who is more stubborn?
Me.

♥ Who hogs the bed?
Neither.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Dan does, in order to get into town for work.  But, on vacation, we wake at the same time.

♥Where was your first date?
Reevers or Reefers restaurant.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
Me.  I have six brothers and sisters; Dan has one brother.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
Yes.  I'm blessed that way.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
The traditional holidays like Christmas and Easter, we spend at home with the family.  But, vacations together, Dan and I spend in the mountains.

♥ Who is more jealous?
Neither.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
About a year.

♥ Who eats more?
Gosh.  Hard question.  I'd say we're about even. 

♥ Who does/did the laundry?
I do.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
Totally Dan.

♥ Who drives when you are together?
Dan.

From fall leaves to snow in a week. Gabe was up bright and early taking care of business this morning. He had to because our little foofoo dog, Brigid, won't go outside to, um, take care of business if there's snow on the ground... And Gabe does a good job of taking care of little Brigie.

So, here we are today in Colorado.  We have five or six inches now and it's still snowing out here on the plains.  We hear the foothills are gaining on two feet of snow!  How's the weather in your part of the world today?

(Check out this icicle Michelle found hanging outside the front door!)

I'm Cute, I'm Cute! She Thinks I'm Cute!

Many thanks to dear, cute Marcy for this award!  As a young thing, I remember I hated being called "cute," but as a middle-aged thing, I'll take it!  And, let me tell ya, I need the moral reinforcement.  I was at a thrift store the other day with our friend, beautiful-young-thing, Alena.  She was just ahead of me in line, joking with the cashier about how she wished she could qualify for the senior day 50% discount.  When it was my turn to check out and the young man realized that we were together, he said to Alena, "You should have had her buy it for you!" 

 Sheesh. I'm twenty years short of a senior discount, for crying out loud.

I'm thinking we'll just chalk that up to his being a young twenty-something male with that universal male not-paying-attention-to-something-(someone)-right-in-front-of-him syndrome, mixed with a little foot in mouth disease.

Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket...

If you receive this award, you have to answer the following questions:

1) IF YOU COULD COME BACK AS AN ANIMAL, WHICH WOULD IT BE?
A bird.  One that can talk.

2) SOMETHING YOU COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT
My Faith, my family.

3) WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST IN ANOTHER PERSON?
Honesty, authenticity.

4) THE COLORS YOU TEND TO WEAR ARE
Green and blue.

5) THREE WORDS THAT DEFINE YOU
Resilient, creative, blessed.

6) A PLACE YOU WOULD TRAVEL TO
My top five: Ireland (and all the British Isles), Italy, New Zealand, Germany, BC Canada

7) YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE FROM A BOOK OR MOVIE

Come a-runnin'? I'm no woman to be honked at and come a-runnin'!
(And this one's for Alena: Is this a courting or a donnybrook? Have the good manners not to hit the man until he's your husband and entitled to hit you back.)

(Both from The Quiet Man)

8) SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO

Gosh, where do I start? Own a jeep and a cabin in the mountains, write a book, grow peaches, learn to play a musical instrument, learn a foreign language, pave our driveway, figure out how to get the children to throw away their own snotty kleenex!

9) YOUR MAIN STRENGTH/FORTE

It's much easier to tell you what my main weaknesses are...  But, upon thinking on it, I'd have to go back to resilience -- which means: 1 : the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress (Just try being pregnant ten+ times!  I'm not a size 8, but I ain't doin too bad...)

2 : an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change (Both of which we've had our share of)

I can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'... &:o)

* You are also supposed to send this on to seven "young" blogs and seven blogs of wisdom, but, being pressed for time this morning (gotta get school rolling here), I'm just going to pass this on to a few who are both young in heart and old in wisdom, regardless of their age or blogging years:

 Bia

Linda

Kim

Cathy

Abbey

Sara

Wordless Wednesday

Check your bags and climb on board the California Zephyr, train #5.  Starting here at Union Station in Denver Colorado, we'll be following the rails westward, through the Rocky Mountains to Grand Junction, Colorado.

 Here's a view through the windows, below.

And then just a peek of Paul and Nicole's little newlywed apartment, where they wined and dined me at the end of the ride. (Am I a lucky Momma, or what?)

(check out the wedding ring there..)

My weekend itinerary, in a nutshell: I got to go out with my son and daughter-in-law (fun to say that!) and six or eight of their friends to Bostons' for dinner and drinks on Friday. We slept in a bit and Paul and Nicole cooked eggs and bacon for breakfast Saturday morning. Then Nicole and I got some shopping in while Paul studied. In the afternoon we got to go to the senior recital of a friend of the kids' where we got a little culture with some very impressive tenor opera. Saturday evening Nicole treated us with a wonderful dinner of chicken and pesto pasta. (Paul opened the wine.) Then Sunday after Mass Nicole and I visited with her lovely family, then joined Paul back at their apartment to watch movies and enjoy the rest of the evening visiting. Then, a little sleeping in Monday morning and the trip back on the train before noon. It was a bit of a whirlwind visit, but wonderful.

And, yes, I finished my book -- and got a good ways into another one.  Life is good.


More mostly wordless posts at Ordinary and Awesome!

Guess where I'm going...

I get to get on one of these tomorrow morning bright and early...

... with a book to read...

...and a phone full of music that Dan downloaded for me...

...and access to a dining car and an observation car (like the one in the above picture)...

...and I get to travel over the Colorado Rockies to see these guys:

(Though I expect they'll be dressed less formally when I see them)

I am so honored.

My son and daughter-in-law have invited me to be their first houseguest!

And I can't wait to put my feet up on their coffee table, and read my book, and just visit and visit and visit.

I'll be back next week!

Have a pleasant and blessed weekend, everyone!

To Trick or Treat or not to Trick or Treat, That Is The Question...

Long Post Alert!  In answer to the questions I've received recently (from several quarters) about how we Halloween and why...  (Y'all had to know I couldn't do this briefly, no matter how hard I tried!)

The Great Halloween Question: it creases more foreheads and crosses more arms in my sheltered little world than the health care debate. Rivaled only by The Great Santa Claus Scandal in conservative Catholic circles, Trick or Treating often gets a "dividing line" distinction, separating the seriously practicing Catholics from the hobbyists. And I have just one word to say about that: Hooey.

That said, however, I'll tell you we personally don't practice the Ghosts and Ghouls version of Halloween. It's just not our family custom. When our oldest came of Trick or Treating age some eighteen or so years ago, we thought it all out -- the realities and ramifications, good and bad, and opted out. Like we opted out of a lot of things -- replacing them with others.

There are decisions that every family makes, consciously or not, that define the paths they take -- or make-- in this world. Some are little decisions -- things like whether we fold the towels like his mom or my mom, who gets to be the trash czar, and who gets to be the laundry czar... things that affect our day-to-day, and impact how smoothly our lives run, but which are of no real lasting importance. And then there are the huge decisions, like where we live, how we school our children, and what Faith we practice... things that affect our entire lives and sometimes our eternity, as well. But holiday customs? They fall somewhere in between, I think. They certainly have the potential to have lasting, even eternal effects on our family, for the good or for the bad. But it's all a matter of how we "play" them.

And we all figure that differently. We're bound to. We're supposed to. Every family is different, with its own unique combinations of personalities and experiences, and no two families will find the exact same path to heaven. No two saints followed the same path, either. They all followed Our Lord's footsteps, but the reality is that His footprints led the saints in wildly different directions on their way to Him. St. Bernadette achieved sanctity in the lowliest corner of France, while St. Ignatius wandered the world, converting thousands, and St. Catherine of Siena, by her counsel, saved the Church in her time -- all spectacularly holy people who achieved heaven in very different ways.

Likewise, though it's our unwavering belief that the Catholic Church (whole and undiluted) is the spiritual blueprint given to us by God, Himself, we've seen for ourselves how differently people can build off of that set of instructions and still come out with a holy product. Where we may tend to concentrate on one area of sanctity, another family excels in another.  Our Heavenly Father helps us to even things out, as we let Him, and in the end, it's all good.

Our particular path:  When we decided to home-teach our family, we were forced to deal with a lot of customs and thought processes we'd taken for granted our entire lives. We were both taught in conventional schools and Dan was a convert, so we were treading on new ground most of the time, figuring our way with practically every step. One of the most important philosophical questions we had to face early on was how and where life and education should intersect -- or whether they ought to intersect at all. Should they be almost mutually exclusive like conventional schooling is in reality, or should they coexist like life and breathing? We had to figure out for ourselves what our education goal was going to be and whether that goal was finite or infinite. Was it too narrow a purpose to want our kids just to do well on the SATs? -- Or to simply be better prepared for life than we felt we were when we got out of school? Was it too general to just say: We want all our children to save their souls?

Of course we wanted all of the above! But, we knew we needed to narrow it all down to a plan of action.

And what did we decide? Well, we leaned toward the infinite, with a side order of book learning. We decided that learning should be like breathing and that our Faith should be like our lungs, filtering everything. Our thinking was, and is, that if we raise good people, strong in faith and integrity, they'll be instigators more than participators in their own education; they'll understand the importance of making a living in the world, while not being of the world; they won't be movers and shakers, but doers and givers, who blaze their own paths heavenward. We decided we wanted to provide the kind of home that would teach our children to want to be saints.

OK. Sounds good enough, I guess. But how do we do that? Well, it's not anything like we think we've got it figured out. Not by a long shot. But, having the goal gives us something to think about... It gives us a star to use as a guidepost to tweak our course by. When it came time to work out our child-raising philosophy, the practical application of the idea got us thinking about how people really learn. What things leave the most indelible impressions in our lives growing up? What sights, sounds, and smells do we cradle close to our hearts; what events do we want to relive throughout our lives? What are memories made of? How can we make a Pavlovian connection for our children between good times and goodness?

And this is the related question we asked to work out our own family customs: What first comes to mind  when someone says "Happy Childhood Memories?" If you're like Dan and me, holidays are the first thing you think of. Family holiday traditions are A #1 on our list of happy thoughts, and I can't help but think that's probably true for many people (esp. the people who might be visiting here, reading this). But we wondered how we could build on the importance of those childhood memories to make the holidays meaningful in an even deeper way, adding to the fun and only taking away the distractions? What was it, for instance, that made Christmas morning special? Was it the pleasure of giving and receiving gifts with our loved ones or was it the fellow in the red suit? How could we best bring Christ into the picture for His birthday? How could we include Him in our thanksgiving on Turkey Day? Could Easter survive -- yay, even thrive -- without the Easter Bunny? And was there anything good about Halloween at all?

There's the question of the post...

Let it be known that I love a good ghost story as much as anyone -- maybe more! But I found out  that it's a different problem to have to figure out how to include a "feast day" for ghosts and devilry into our Catholic family life.  For our first few years, we shunned saecular Halloween, kept our porch light turned off, and attended our parish All Saints' Day party, content that we were doing the "right thing."  But, in our old age, learning the many shades of charity that are true tolerance, we've come to understand Halloween differently. We see now that if it's a once-a-year diversion that does not glorify evil, there's nothing inherently wrong with the good old American tradition of Trick-or-Treating on Halloween.  In fact, if we had neighbors close enough to come to our door, we'd pass out candy and enjoy doing it.  But, we don't go door to door ourselves, and likely never will.  Though we accept the Trick-or-Treating custom good humoredly these days, we still feel like we'd rather take the holiday "neutral" and make it something positive by celebrating the Catholic Feast of All Saints instead.  We have just as much fun at our yearly parish party, and the kids get just as much candy, i.e., too much.  But, we also get a chance to connect the lives of the saints with a fun event that will add wholesome images to the children's little brain banks.  It works for us; it makes us happy.  We hope it's a custom that adds to weight to the Catholic scale in the life of our family.

But, we don't think less of anyone else that doesn't celebrate the way we do.

There are a lot of lines in the sand to draw, and we have firmly done so on many different morality and dogma related issues where no confusion can be allowed to creep in to the children's minds.  But, Trick-or-Treating, as an innocent diversion for our neighbors, is a line we decorate with Autumn leaves and leave hanging over the door -- while we spend the evening at our All Saints' Day party.


And, it may sound like I'm being liberal (perish the thought!), but I have to admit I feel no qualms in wishing everyone a Happy Halloween and a Happy All Saints' Day in the same breath.

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Gabriel doesn't need to be asked to rake. Don't you love that about five-year-olds? Short on ability, maybe, but long on willingness and so eager to please. Gabe actually did a great job on this task, though. He filled three trashbags full of leaves, loaded them up in the wagon, and wheeled them over to the dumpster before the morning was out. All by his sweet little self. You see him here in his most favorite article of clothing -- his new yellow raincoat. His second favorite thing to wear is this pair of shoes:

We call them his "cranium shoes."

Such a sweet little guy to love such mean looking shoes...

More Mostly Wordless Wednesdays here!

Monday Morning, Bright and Early

A week and a day ago...

Right before the boys all left to go back to Omaha after a week of wedding excitement.

For morning music, Carlos (l) is playing the piano with son, Jon (r); our friend, Christopher, is sitting next to drowsy William on the couch.

You see Theresa popping up in her grey tee shirt, Michelle is eating her cereal, and Kevvy is on the computer. The bags are packed and waiting by the front door and the house is a typical Monday morning mess, but, well, gee... you might as well see us as we are. Some of us are morning people, and some of us aren't. (I'll let you see if you can figure out which are and which aren't.)

The big news around here is that Kevin drove back with the boys to Omaha last Monday morning, spent a prayerful few days, had some good talks with his seminarian and priest friends and decided that he had heard the Voice he joined the Seminary to listen for. Though he loved the classes and thoroughly enjoyed his fellow seminarians and instructors, he felt God was calling him to a holy life outside of the priesthood. So, he took the train home last Friday, and is out job hunting right now. He'll likely start some classes at a community college in town next semester, and is currently pursuing another project he feels he's been called to investigate for his future course. Stay tuned for details...

Little Break From the Slide Show...

The Eight Question MEME

Got this one from Cathy at A Bit of the Blarney...

Six names you go by:
1. Mom
2. Mommy
3. Mama
4. Mrs. D.
5. Lisa
6. Hey, you.

Three things you are wearing right now:
1. working jeans
2. white tee
3. checkered blue and yellow button-down

Three things you want very badly at the moment:
1. Another cup of coffee
2. Someone else to clean the cellar
3. Someone else to make lunch

Three things you did last night/yesterday
1. Cut pumpkins, roasted seeds and prepped pumpkin "meat" for puree
2. Made spaghetti-squash spaghetti casserole
3. Watched Monk and Psych snuggled up nxt to my honey with a nice glass of Guinness.

Two things you ate today
1. cranberry scone
2. handful of roasted pumpkin seeds

Two people you last talked to on the phone:
1. My sister, Nina
2. My mom

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
1. Go to Mass
2. Make a trip to Estes Park with my sisters, Aunt and cousin

Your three favorite beverages:
1. Coffee
2. English Breakfast Tea, cream and sugar
3. Guinness

Here's what you're supposed to do. Copy and paste the questions into your blog. Then delete my answers and type in your answers. Send this to 5 people and link the answers so that we can all enjoy the fun!

I invite:
1. Terrie
2. Marcy
3. Kim
4. Therese
5. Sara

The Wedding

Pt. III
Blurry Pictures of the Main Event
(Hopefully, I'll get some better ones to share at some point...)

Nicole's bridesmaids were her sister, Beth (second from right), her friends Cassie and Ariana (far left), and our old friend (who became Nicole's good friend, too), Alena (third from right). Her oldest and dearest friend, Brooke (far right) was her Maid of Honor.



Paul's Groomsmen were his two brothers, Jon and Dominic, one old friend from his childhood, Luke (third from the right), and one new friend from college, Ryan (far right).On his immediate right is his Man of Honor, his brother, Kevin.

From Where I Sat

Its not being a part of a Nuptial Mass, the ceremony was over in a wink. I still can't believe it. One minute Dan and I were being ushered into our seats in the front pew, near Dan's parents and my parents. And, then, in a blurr, all the boys were there in front of us, lined up this side of the Communion rail: Kevvy, so broad-shouldered, looking so relaxed; Jon, so attentive, tending to our little ring-bearer, Gabe, next to him; our good friend, Luke, whom the boys have known all their lives; our Dominicky, such a tall little brother, uncharacteristically un-jovial, Ryan, one of Paul's college friends that everyone adopted immediately into the family... Little Gabey so solemn and collected; I was so proud of him standing there with his big brothers -+- So proud of them all, I struggled to hold back the tears... I mean, for heaven's sake, the Bride hadn't even arrived yet! -+- Before I knew it, though, the beautiful bridesmaids were processing and lining up opposite the boys -+- Everyone was smiling so broadly, not a misstep was made, (though the girls had worried so much about slipping or tripping) -+- Then our three little girls, Theresa, Cathy, and Anna, slipped down the aisle, their hands folded like little angels, sweet little junior bridesmaids -+- Anna, though, caught her Aunt's eye, and (being Anna), smiled sweetly, and purposefully at her Aunt's camera, waiting, waiting, waiting for the flash... And, paying no attention to where she was going, she almost walked into the side of the front pew where I was sitting, until I put my hand out and directed her back out into action. -+- Sweet little Allie, the flower girl, walked in next, close to her Mommy, Nicole's sister, Beth. She dutifully scattered her bright atumn leaves and rose petals -+- scarlet and yellow -+- and when she happened past her family in the pews, she piped up, as casually as if it were all an everyday affair: "Hi, Daddy!" -+- Everyone laughed -+- At some point the music changed, and it was all such a blurr, that I cannot now tell you what it changed from and to -+- And all eyes turn to the back of the church -+- There was Nicole, prettier than a princess, smiling her beautiful, beautiful smile -+- She was the radiant bride you hear tell about -+- Next to her Daddy, so solemn and handsome beside her -+- (She looks so much like her Dad!) -+- And in what seemed like an instant and what seemed like twenty-two years, Nicole was down the aisle, and passing in front of me -+- I glanced across the aisle to Nicole's Mom, whose teary eye caught my teary eye. -+- We gave each other a thumb's up -+- And turning forward, there was the whole group in the front of the Church -+- All the groomsmen and bridesmaides looking on, Father and the altar server, standing in front, Paul waiting nearby as Nicole approached on her Dad's arm -+- Such a soft, dear look on Paul's face as he watched his bride come near to the altar -+- Nicole's Dad looked Paul right in the eye, then, and shook his hand, and put Nicole's hand in Paul's -+- They (Paul and Nicole) looked at each other and smiled, then turned to step up on the step of the altar near Father -+- Father smiled his trademark smile, and we could see that he was saying something privately to Paul and Nicole -+- And then, the ceremony began...

First, Father gave a wonderful, short talk about the responsibilities of the married life and the necessity and joy of self sacrifice in a successful union. He reminded them that God is the Third Party in a Catholic marriage. And, I'm sure there was more, of course, and it was all perfect. Then, he proceeded with the vows, as such:

(Or a close approximation, thereof...)

The Rite of Marriage

The bride and groom stand before the priest, just outside the sanctuary. The groom stands on the Epistle side of the church (the right from the point of view of the congregation), and the bride stands on the Gospel side. The priest then asks the following question of the groom:

Father G.: Wilt thou take N., here present, for thy lawful wife, according to the rite of our holy Mother the Church?

Paul: I will

Then the priest asks the bride:

Father G.: Wilt thou take Paul, here present, for thy lawful husband, according to the rite of our holy Mother the Church?

Nicole: I will.

Having obtained their mutual consent, the priest asks the man and the woman join their right hands. Then they pledge themselves each to the other as follows, repeating the words after the priest. The man begins:

I, Paul Davis, take thee, Nicole B, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

The woman follows:
I, Nicole, take thee, Paul Davis, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

The priest then says:
I join you together in marriage, in the Name of the Father, + and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.Ego conjugo vos in matrimonium, in nomine Patris, + et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

The priest sprinkles the couple with Holy Water. Then he blesses the bride's ring, saying:
V. Our help is in the Name of the Lord. V. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.

R. Who made heaven and earth.R. Qui fecit caelum et terram.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

R. And let my cry come unto Thee.R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

V. The Lord be with you.V. Dominus vobiscum.

R. And with Thy spirit.R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Let us pray. Bless, + O Lord, this ring, which we bless + in Thy name, that she who shall wear it, keeping true faith unto her spouse, may abide in Thy peace and in obedience to Thy will, and ever live in mutual love. Through Christ our Lord.R. Amen.

Then the priest sprinkles the ring (which is considered a sacramental) with holy water in the form of a cross; and the bridegroom, having received the ring from the hand of the priest, places it on the third finger of the left hand of the bride, saying the following:
With this ring I thee wed and I plight unto thee my troth. ( Paul and Nicole both exchanged rings, one with another, though, I don't think these words are the exact translation they used...)
Then the priest says:In the name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.In nomine Patris, + et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

This done, the priest says:
V. Confirm, O God, that which Thou hast wrought in us. V. Confirma hoc, Deus, qod operatus es in nobis.

R. From Thy holy temple, which is in Jerusalem. R. A templo sancto tuo quod est in Jerusalem.

V. Lord, have mercy. V. Kyrie eleison.

R. Christ, have mercy. R. Christe eleison.

V. Lord, have mercy. V. Kyrie eleison.

Our Father, etc. (inaudibly). Pater noster (secreto).

V. And lead us not into temptation. V. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

R. But deliver us from evil. R. Sed libera nos a malo.

V. Save Thy servants. V. Salvos fac servos tuos.

R. Who hope in Thee, O my God. R. Deus meus, sperantes in te.

V. Send them help, O Lord, from Thy holy place.V. Mitte eis, Domine, auxilium de sancto.

R. And defend them out of Sion.R. Et de Sion tuere eos.

V. Be unto them, Lord, a tower of strength.V. Esto eis, Domine, turris fortitudinis.

R.: A facie inimici.R. From the face of the enemy.

V. Domine exaudi orationem meam.V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

.V. The Lord be with you.V. Dominus vobiscum.

R. And with Thy spirit.R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Let us pray.

Look down with favor, O Lod, we beseech Thee, upon these Thy servants, and graciously protect this, Thine ordinance, whereby Thou hast provided for the propagation of mankind; that they who are joined together by Thy authority may be preserved by Thy help; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

~+~+~+~+~+~

Then Father shook Paul's and Nicole's hands and motioned them onward with outspread palms.

And, in a flash, they were gone down the aisle. All smiles, and a blur of black and white, scarlet and yellow. Cameras flashing all around them like paparazzi.

It's no wonder all our pictures came out blurry; the whole wedding seemed to happen at the speed of light. Zip, zip, zip, zip, and all the bridesmaids and groomsmen were down the aisle. And the ushers were standing near our pew reminding us that it was our turn to exit. Holy cow! Already?

Wedding Asides:

* During the vows, I couldn't help but be touched at how Nicole and Paul held hands, stroking one another's fingers, almost imperceptibly. Nicole told me later, though, that she was trying to poke Paul with her fingernails at the first words of the vows to get him to look at her instead of at Father. I guess it worked, because he did turn his head.

* She also told me that the personal advice that Father gave when she and Paul first stepped up next to them was something to the effect of: Watch out, you guys, don't step backwards or you'll fall off the step.

* The three junior bridesmaids and Gabe, the ring bearer, were instructed during the rehearsal the day before the wedding to walk around and sit in the front pew after they had done their "things." Unfortunately, though, with three grown up pairs of fannies in the front pew (Dan and me and two sets of grandparents), their four little bodies did not even come close to fitting. (What were we thinking when we told them to do that?) They apparently found places to squoosh in somewhere in the front pew area, but I still don't know exactly where they sat. If they made a rustle or fuss, though, I didn't hear it. But I think I was otherwise distracted.

* Speaking of the three junior bridesmaides... Remember all the trouble I went to to make their three little wreath/veil/hat thingies? Well, when all was said and done, and I had packed the car, checked my list, and checked it twice... I forgot them at home. Thankfully, Dan had time to go back and get them and return in time for the girls to have them for the official wedding photos before the wedding.

* Then, after the wedding, the girls took off their little wreath/veil/hat thingies and left them in Dan's parents' rental car. I'm not sure where they are now...

* We had the worst dickens of a time, too, with the men's boutonniers. I had given them very little thought, I have to admit, concentrating all my worries before the wedding on getting the altar arrangements and the girls' bouquets just right. Little did I realize what a pain in the neck they were going to be, though, or I'd have given them a lot more thought. Though the yellow and red roses we used were fresh and lovely, the stems turned out to be particularly brittle, and two or three of them snapped when we tried to pin them on. There was a lot of pinning and re-pinning of boutonniers. I fully expected one of them to pop off during the ceremony, but "Thank-you, God! none of them did. It was all good. The girls' bouquets held together, too.

* The whole wedding, start to finish, took less than an hour. Maybe even closer to a half hour.

* The rumor is that, after Nicole processed out of the church with Paul after the wedding, as soon as she got into the vestibule, she threw her arms in the air and exclaimed: "Now Let's Party!" But, I don't know if I believe that or not... &;o)

Next Installment: The Reception

Just a Quick Note...

Our computer has been down for the last few days, and Dan has been out of town at a conference -- so we girls have been suffering from computer withdrawal. The only thing apparently wrong was that the 'puter couldn't find the provider. We tried explaining it with directions and hand signals, pig latin and broken Spanish, but we couldn't make the way clear enough, it would seem. Nothing we did would bring up the internet. But, bless him, Mr. Fix-it, upon arriving home from the airport tonight, got right on it and had the ailing machine working in a jiffy. (Go figure that.)

Also... If you happened by and ran into a really, really long list of Stephen Wright quotations, please don't think I've lost my mind. I "saved" that list a long time ago by posting it so far ahead, I thought it would just hang at the top of my "to be published" list and never really get posted. It wasn't my intention to ever post the whole thing, actually. I just wanted the list at my fingertips, should I ever decide I needed a Stephen Wright quotation -- at the spur of the moment... Anyway. It's safely tucked away again. You never know, though. Bits of it might actually find their way to the surface again.

Gotta go now. Michelle is pacing back and forth behind me waiting to use the computer for a school project. Heaven knows I can't be an obstacle to that! I'll be back soon, though, with some more wedding pictures, etc.

Missed Y'all!
Glad to have the computer working again!

Prayers Needed

* Our prayers for the soul of Chris Klicka and the consolation of his family this week. Chris Klicka was an important and passionate supporter and defender of homeschooling, and the senior counsel of HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association). After a long battle with MS, he passed away yesterday, October 12th. His life on earth yielded much good fruit. May his soul, and the souls of all the Faithful Departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

* Also, a personal prayer request from the Davis family, if you have a moment to send up a word today. My Aunt Billie Jean traveled here from North Carolina to visit with us and be present at Paul's wedding, at the risk of her own fragile health. Aunt Billie is the dearest, most Godly woman you can imagine; we love her dearly, and are so grateful she chanced the trip... But all the physical activity of the past few days has landed her in the hospital with severe back pain. If you could spare a few seconds to send up an Ave for her this morning, we would so appreciate the help in storming heaven, so she can have a few days of comfort to visit with the family before she goes home on Saturday. Thank you so much!

The Wedding

Part II
How the Young Women Got Ready

Boys and girls are different. Special and wonderful in each their own ways, but undeniably -- worlds different.

While the boys were out eating breakfast burritos on the morning of the wedding, the girls were having their hair and makeup professionally "done."

Later on, while the boys strode about looking for something useful and important to do, the girls were primping and snapping and pinning, and shooing small children out from under their dressing tables.

The girls brought baskets and bags and boxes full of every conceivable tool for beautification and comfort, from toothbrushes to curling irons to extra panty hose. The boys brought nothing but their tuxedo bags and themselves.

It took the boys ten minutes to get dressed and twenty minutes to figure out how to put on cuff links. It tooks the girls an hour to get dressed and ten minutes to decide it was time to leave the dressing room.

A half hour before the ceremony, the girls were smoothing the worry off their foreheads and checking for loose threads and wandering straps; the boys were drinking beer and debating the best way to pin their boutonniers on so they wouldn't wiggle when they walked.

The boys guffawed loudly. The girls spoke in hushed tones. The boys talked about everything but the wedding. The girls talked about nothing but the wedding.

The girls were nervous as cats before the music started and the boys were puffed up with bravado and manly purpose, but...

When it came time to walk down the aisle, the girls moved with the beauty, dignity and grace natural to womanhood in its rightful place in the universe, while the boys watched from the front of the church, consciously holding their jaws in place -- suddenly nervous as cats.

Viva la difference!

* Since I'm the Mama of the Groom, I was spending more time with the boys and my own small children, so got even fewer pictures of the girls before the wedding than I did of the boys. Here are some, though -- mostly mine, but a couple gleaned from the website Paul set up for the family to compile and share pictures on. You can see from these first few shots that the little ones naturally gravitated to where all the pretty girls were... Anna thought they looked better than princesses.

Here's Nicole's neice and flower girl, adorable Allie, providing musical accompaniment in the girls' dressing room.

Theresa likes Allie's dress...

...And so does William.

Just a few more preparations and visiting with friends a short while before the wedding.

(In a cold room -- See Nicole's red sweater?)

Time's getting short.

Talking it through.

Deep Breath.

Ready.

Next Installments:

The Wedding (Pretty blurry pictures, because my camera was giving my brother troubles --but I might be able to get some more from somebody...)

Then The Reception (Also some blurry pictures because the lights were low and everyone kept moving... but but again, I may be able to get some from someone who's a more competent photographer than I am.)

And, finally (as soon as I get them) the Official Wedding Pictures, from Nicole's Uncle Jerry, the wedding photographer.

Am I boring y'all yet? This is starting to remind me of a dreaded slideshow presentation.