Showers of Memories

I am really excited that my son is getting married the same year as we had our 25th anniversary. I look forward to their 25th anniversary and our 50th anniversary. That will be a blessed year indeed.

Yesterday was Beka's bridal shower, her friends pulled off a beautiful shower and Beka's favorite Taco Soup was served and was enjoyed by everyone there.
I was so blessed to have my Aunt Linda and my two cousins Dee Dee and Carol with me. We were having such a fun time and Beka was doing so well, sometimes being the center of attention can be overwhelming but she handled the pressure like a champ.

During the games it was announced that as her "Something Old" Beka will be wearing the same Cameo pin I wore to my wedding and again at my 25th anniversary party. The pin belonged to my grandmother Nellie Ayon, my mother gave it to me the Christmas after I got married and now it is becoming the traditional wedding pin. My cousin Annie and my sister in law wore it too. It will be such an honor to me and my family to have her wear the pin on her special day.

I love Bridal showers, I love seeing the gifts and visiting with people I don't get to see all that often. I love Bridal shower games, it cracks me up how competitive people will get for a candle or a tube of lotion.

My cousin said, "I will never forget you Bridal Shower Troy" then she went on to recall the special gift my moms friend Norma gave me. She was the most creative person when it came to gifts and they were always unexpected and funny. For my wedding she gave me a box that said "Wedding JOYS for Troy" First was a bottle of Joy dish soap, then the Joy of Cooking vol I then the Joy of Cooking vol II then finally at the bottom of the box was the clincher The Joy Of Sex! Everyone got such a kick out of the gift but I had no idea all three of my relatives would remember the contents of that box in such detail so many years later.

I love putting thought into my gifts for special occasions and if I don't make the gift, I make sure it is either customized or has special meaning. I have the luxury of technology, the Internet, catalogs and malls galore at my disposal so I can locate that perfect gift. Norma however, relied on good old sense of humor and creativity to make the gift of all gifts.

In the shape of a heart

I need a Thesaurus because I have been using the word Surreal way too much lately.

But surreal fits, so I will use it. I was chatting on the phone with my human tranquilizer Dee Dee and I realized, I am going to my future daughter in law's Bridal Shower tomorrow!

DANG!!! I Can't Stand It!!! Wow!!! were some of the things that came out of my mouth at the thought of the day.

I remembered back to my own wedding shower and I hope tomorrow Beka feels what I felt that day... Love, overflowing Love.

It is such an overwhelming feeling to be seated in the place of honor, all eyes on you as the bride, you are now a woman and soon to be... A wife.

I simply could not have been more humbled at my shower, all these women thought of me, chose presents for me and were there today for... ME

Wow, am I worth this? Am I worthy of this kind of love? I guess I was because it seemed like it was their pleasure to be there for me.

Just like it will be my pleasure, and honor to be there tomorrow as mother of the groom.

Man, I gotta get me some waterproof mascara TODAY!!!

Angel Seams- The Mother of the Groom Wedding diaries-first in a series

This is a preview to my Mother of the Groom series August 7th, where I will be blogging the last month before my son Cameron marries on September 7th 2008.

Prepare to be blessed

Love you bunches,
Troysie

Angel Seams

If you were to have caught me on the phone last night I would have been so excited you would have had to tell me to take a breath to get my story out.

I have been searching for the perfect Mother of the groom dress for months. I tried on lacy ones that were so scratchy I realized I have been in Capri's and tee shirts way too long. The perfect store bought dress has eluded me so I decided to go to the pattern store where I found patterns for the basic dream dress in my size. I was especially excited when I found the perfect fabric at an amazing price and I was on my way.

I don't know if Project Runway gave me a false sense of skill but in my heart of hearts I knew I was a little bold in my thought that I could make the dress myself, Yes, I can sew and fit a pattern to my shape but I have a strong and critical eye for details and to me, what makes the difference in a dress that looks homemade and one that looks professional is the hem. Hems are my downfall, and I realized I should reserve my sewing skills to Halloween costumes, and baby blankets. At a friends suggestion I decided locating a seamstress was in order, but where to find her...

I got suggestions on how to find a seamstress from friends but got no real leads. There are a lot of little shops in my area and I was sure the perfect gal for me was out there. I started missing my the good old days when Moms dear friend Betty who would have whipped up that dress for me in a heartbeat ...

So I leaned on my Abba Father and sure enough he delivered in of all places Walmart.

I was in line buying some baby blanket fabric and noticed the woman in front of me buying lots of material. I asked her if she lived in Fontana and knew of a seamstress in the area. "I am a seamstress". I kind of thought to myself "Is it gonna be that easy God?" Her daughter confirmed that she was indeed a seamstress and later in our conversation she told me that her customers are mostly large size women, chills...
Got her name which of course was BETTY and I was SOLD!!

Went to see Betty last night, I walked into her home and saw racks and racks of clothes all with perfect hems and I thought, "Thank you God" She totally saw no problem in making my dress vision come to fruition and told me "Don't Worry" she explained she also worked for David's Bridal for 6 years as a seamstress and with that she got a hug. As I was walking out, she showed me her creations and her own personal label which of course was an...

Angel.

Mother of the groom dress... Check

Memoirs of a Kitchen Lady- Pre-School Tee Ball

I love the first few days of school when I serve lunch to the new preschoolers. I'll bet you never even thought about it, but it is a learned skill to select your lunch all on your own and another skill to learn to carry your lunch tray and milk together.

I tell my friend the pre-school teacher that it always reminds me of when my son was in Tee-Ball. When Cam was learning the game of baseball in Tee-Ball they had a parent at each base who would stop the child from over running the plate. It was a total crack up to see the parent use their body as a human shield so kids could get the concept of running and stopping.

In the first few days of school it takes about four parents and the teacher to get the kids through the line parent #1 stays with the waiting kids to show them to stay in line, luckily there is this marvelous invention of rings on a string that the kids hold on to so they can learn the concept of lining up. The next parent teaches the kids to wait their turn in front of the food. The teacher shows the kids the proper way to hold their trays with TWO hands and select their food which is a trial in its self because many little children have never made a food choice in their little lives. Two more parents round out the journey to the lunch table.

Another thing I love is how quickly the kids learn the ropes and how the second year preschoolers are the "old pros". They don't need help and make sure everyone knows they aren't "babies" and can make their own choices.

They grow up so fast in this first year and before I know it, they are tall enough to see all the food choices, carry their trays without a hitch and are on their way to the big wide world of school.

Turn Around

We are ending our summer vacation and in a brief 6 weeks my son has grown into a wonderful young man.

A day in the life of June Eric was playing video games, watching mindless cartoons, eating whatever.

Early July Eric went to summer camp and came back a renewed young man of God who explored his Bible and really thought about what he was watching on TV and listening to on his Ipod, Early July Eric was worth every cent extra we had to pay for late camp registration.

Mid July Eric created his own recipe for Blueberry French Toast that won rave reviews and scored a 9 out of 10 from brother and Dad. (Sorry, mom hates French Toast so I don't count)

Late July Eric is amazing, he takes his dog on daily walks, still enjoys his video games and his new favorite show Total Drama Island. He floored Steve and I by his helpfulness on our recent vacation when he took the initiative to get the hotel luggage cart and brought all our things to the room in one trip and, yesterday, he made us BBQ hamburgers for dinner.

We forget he is almost 14 and as tall as many full grown men, to us he is still our Goo Goo baby but this summer he showed us a glimpse of the wonderful man to come.

Word Verification

I understand the need for security. This internet of ours is gigantic and almost everyone (including all the sickos) is on it. I totally get the need to make sure your account won't be corrupted so I think it is great that there are measures we can take to keep our fun stuff fun and just the way we like it. But sometimes something that sounds like a good idea can be a real pain. I am talking about Word Verification codes. They are a series of several numbers and letters used to verify comments to postings and interaction is indeed between humans and not computer to computer. I don't understand what the word Pish means, but I do know these codes help you to not get Pished. No one ever wants to get Pished. I was Pished once, my friend alerted me and I did something about it. I survived a very mild case of Phising but I know there are really bad things out there called Hackers and Virus' that can do really bad things to your computer. Don't want that! We have to look out for ourselves...Case in point...
Word Verifications. I have several friends that have word verifications on their sites which require the codes be entered before your message will be sent. I am sorry but Word Verifications STRESS ME OUT!!! On one friends site, the code I must enter changes every 15 seconds, sorry but I am not the quickest typist and sometimes I wonder if the letter is a zero or an O or a one or an l, by the time I figure it out, bling, the code changes...Wahhhhhh I just want to send my friend a message. Today I was sending another friend a note and the letters in her word verification code were smushed together and set in a wave pattern. That must really be secure cause I totally could not decipher the letters and bummer, my charming, uplifting, witty note went to Phishing land.

Luckily for her, I am persistent and got my message to her after another try cause I know her life would not be complete unless she got my comment...

Hey, I just thought of something... Maybe the one they are trying to keep out is ME!!!

Sick Day Mom vs Dad

Dad is sick...
Pajamas, slippers, couch, blanket, old movies galore.
"Honey, please bring me some orange juice" Honey, will you go to the store and get me some sprite?" Honey, I would love some of your homemade chicken soup.

Mom is sick...
Get dressed, make lunches, take kid to school, pick cat up from the vet, chase dog around the back yard cause he stole the cone off the cats neck, oh yeah I'm sick, try to nap, "Mom, the dentist needs you to come here and fill out insurance paperwork NOW" "Mom, pratice is over and I'm ready for you to pick me up" Make my own Chicken Noodle Soup. "Hi honey, I'm home what's for dinner" "You not going with me to church tonight?"

Hey, Mom... You sick?