OH NO

Oh no, I've turned into that woman.  The grandmother who wants to tell all her funny, precious, darling, wonderful stories about her one of a kind little dumplin grandchild.  That realization hit me like a brick when I was driving home from a friend's house last night.  So sorry Miriam, thank you for not allowing your eyes to glaze over and your nostrils to flare from trying to suppress a big fat yawn. 

Ok, so moving on.

I have this funny, precious, darling wonderful story about my one of a kind little dumplin grandchild that I know you are dying to hear.  

His handwriting assignment yesterday was to fill in this blank and then illustrate and label the picture.  The sentence was "My favorite part of Christmas is ______________________.  He didn't have to think about that for one minute.  His answers were Santa and presents.  Oh no no no, that answer quickly launched me into my holy lecture mode. I reminded him about our Sunday School lesson just the day before about getting wrapped up in our stuff at Christmas and how Christmas is not about getting but giving and how it's about the birth of Christ and not about Santa and and and and and and and.  Afterall, we go to a Christian school so we have to turn in the "correct" answer because after all, it is a reflection of me (can you still believe I let that cross my old mind?)  Wyatt tried a couple of times to  interject that he still liked presents and Santa but my rant wise counsel continued.  He finally looked at me and said " FINE, ( very elongated) my favorite part of Christmas is Jesus."

Jesus, Wyatt didn't mean to put you third after Santa and presents.

 

 
I"m sorry, but that is pretty funny, precious, darling and wonderful,   What, at least I'm not telling you stories about my dog.!!!!!!!

Keep laughing,  much Christmas love to you

That Was Priceless

In case your eyeballs are red and bloodshot from reading a certain person's much too long blog posts, here's a short and totally sweet one.

Setting:  Our home-school/office/dead animals hanging on the walls room.

Players:  Me, Alyrose, Wyatt and Papa

What was happening:  Me trying to figure out something on the computer as usual, how does this thing work anyway? Alyrose sitting nearby wishing she had never introduced me to the computer in the first place.  Wyatt, here and there and everywhere.  Papa,  in and out still trying to put stuff away after the wedding.

You might be a redneck if you look out your back window and see this spilling from the garage!!!

Earlier in the day:  Had a great morning at church.  Taught the children a new bible verse from 1 Timothy 6:18 "Be rich in good deeds...be generous and willing to share."  We also "graced" the cars at church with one of these,   

It was great fun.

What happened that was so priceless:  So Wyatt came in eating a cookie.  About that same time, Papa came in from redneck village and asked Wyatt if he could have one of his cookies.  

Re-enactment, No I will not share my cookie

Wyatt, being the grandson of Mrs. Cookie Monster, aka, me, was not too eager to share his cookies with his Papa. 

No way  No how

So Papa, eager to have a cookie but also remembering the Bible lesson from earlier today, asked Wyatt what his verse was from this morning.  Aha, good thinking Papa.

Immediately, even without having to think about it, Wyatt made this hilarious sound, wish I could duplicate it, something like hmmph mixed with grrrrrrr, and promptly handed over the cookie to his Papa with a cute little snarl on his face.  When we all erupted with laughter the snarl turned to a grin.

The hand is willing to share, not sure about the face though

 

 

 

Be rich in good deeds Wyatt and always share you cookies.  I love you Wyatt.  

When he gets a little older I'll explain to him that if he will hide the cookies and eat them alone, they don't have calories and you don't have to share.

Until next time, remember to laugh, its good medicine.

Oh and ps, happy birthday to my bestest friend and sister Carol.  I love you.

More Snippets and Tidbits

Before you start this, go get a diet coke and some chocolate, this is a long un.    

I wonder what things will be remembered by Cassidy and Dorian about their wedding day in about 30 years.  I know what Dorian would say, "I remember everything, it was so perfect".  Good answer, you are a quick learner son in law.

What do you remember as a stand out during your wedding events?  One of mine would be our rehearsal dinner.  Here's what I remember about it:   my pink dress..........

See, isn't the pink dress cute?

The Green Beanery where we had it...... the delicious chocolate to die for cheesecake,and the hilarious poem Janet and Carol made up and performed for the crowd. 

Robin's new sisters

 I dug the poem out of my wedding box to share with you.

  It may be one of those "you had to be there" stories to be funny but I still get a chuckle out of it after all these years.  Let's try it and see if you either remember back and laugh or laugh anew. 
Here goes:

That guy would be cute 'cept for nerdy sunglasses, thinks she as she sees the smile that he flashes.
He thought that of her, until he did see, the clothes that she wore were too funky to be.
That dirty old towel that she wears with pride, we hope she'll discard before she's a bride.
This moccasin we retrieved from a china-berry tree,from whence long ago from her foot it did flee.
                                            And speaking of fleas......
Did you know Robin Chesser was a member of the Humane Society?

As they drove down the road some pups they did spy, on the side of the road, orphans destined to die.
They screeched to a halt and rescued them all, only one was worth saving and soon he too would fall.
Cathy traveled the highways from vet to vet, to search out a cure to save her new pet.
This greasy, flea ridden disease of a pup, was a gift from her love, she must not give up.
He lived out his short life in an igloo ice chest, and to her dismay, she must lay him to rest.
And the dough that you won in Stonewall last year, symbolizes a story that we'd love ya'll to hear.
Be nice to your new sisters, dear Robin, old pal, or we'll tell some more secrets, right here and right now.

Here's the key to understanding that poem,  I'm ashamed to say that I did say to Janet the first time I saw Robin that he was really cute but had nerdy sunglasses, sorry hubby.  As to the dirty old towel, that was my favorite wrap to put on after a shower.  It was sunny yellow with my initials and flowers monogrammed on it.  Ok, so what if it was years old and raggedy, it was sooo special to me.  There could have been a compromise reached about when I wore it, why did you have to turn it into an old rag, I'm still traumatized.  And the moccasin, Robin disliked it so that he threw one up in a tree never to be found again, RUDE, Carol gave me those. The puppy, self explanatory, may it rest in peace.  And the money, we still don't really talk about the dough he won and lost at the Stonewall Peach Jamboree.  He didn't mean to get sucked into a game by a con artist at the fair and loose his first pay check.  It took a long time to even talk about that, much less laugh about it, lesson learned, never gamble again.

But back to the present, I was so excited about Cassidy and Dorian's rehearsal dinner.  Becky, Dorian's, sweet momma had picked the perfect place, Dorian's favorite barbeque eatery, Coopers.

Dorian, who wears a white shirt to eat barbeque?

  It was a great night and such a fun start for a fabulous wedding.  Surrounded with family and friends, we all had a big cry over the slide show that Becky had put together.  What a gift to everyone there.  Then Becky invited anyone who would like to speak or attempt to speak through massive amounts of tears to please feel free.  I can't decide if the slide show was my favorite or what people said to the almost newly weds but it was totally, amazingly wonderful. 



 The Chesser siblings were the first to grab the microphone. 

The boys dressed for the occasion

Here's what they had to say:

Dorian,  we wanted to give you a few helpful hints on how to understand our sister.
*  You can tell a lot about her mood just by her hands...For instance, if they are holding a gun , she's probably angry.
*  She has been shopping all her life and still has nothing to wear.
*  If you are a wise man, you won't tell her to stop talking, you will say to her that her mouth is extremely beautiful when her lips are closed.
*  If you pretend to be trying something for long enough and not succeeding, like ironing your shirt, she will get frustrated and do it for you.
*  The most dangerous place you can be is in the midst of her storm.
*  If at first you don't succeed, try doing it the way Cassidy told you to.
*  Both of them can't look good at the same time, it's either Cassidy or the house.
*  A quiet man is a thinking man, a quiet woman is usually mad.
*  When she says, "do whatever you want", DO NOT DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!
*  Shakespeare said "Laughing at your own mistakes can lengthen your life" but his wife said, "laughing at your wife's mistakes can shorten your life".
*  Here's 2 secrets to keep your marriage running smoothly: 1: Whenever you're wrong, admit it.                    #2.  Whenever you're right, shut up.

Then Alyrose read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.

So many others added wisdom, advice, laughs and tears to the evening.  Kristin,  Dorians cousin, wanted to know who this older chick was who was after her baby boy cousin only to discover how much she loved Cassidy when she met her.                 

Cass got the thumbs up from cuz Kristin

Cassidy's grandfather, better known as Dad Dad sang them a sweet song. It went a little like this,   "Do you take this woman to be your new wife?  Would you vow to love her the rest of her life?  Would you die to protect her and honor her name?  You'd better whisper" I do "or I'll kill you again.  

I don't think the song had ended yet, Dorian is still smiling.

 

 

 

 

Are you wondering if this blog will ever end?  I'm almost finished, it was just so fun.  I knew that Robin would have to say something, or cry something, for the wedding so I thought I would step up and help him out during the rehearsal dinner so I wrote a little something for Cassidy and Dorian.  

success, no ugly cry!!!!!

Here is it:

Ok, lets imagine a minute Heaven's library, surely there's a library in heaven.  We know God has several books, it tells us that in the Bible.  Maybe this is where He keeps his book of life,  both Cassidy and Dorian's names are written in this book.  After we throw out everything else like our good deeds, our works, our religion and everything else that we've added on to that list and simply put our trust in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross, trusting him for eternal life, our names are written in this precious book of life.  I know that as truth.

But I also wonder if there are volumes of books on each one of us and our lives.  Imagine the beauty of those shelves.  Stacks and stacks, volume upon volume lining the walls with huge rolling ladders reaching to the tops.  I'm thinking God might say,  "Ok, library angel, could you find Cassidy Chesser's book?  The library angel finds that beautiful book and brings it to the Lord.  It's probably pink and sparkly with a princess crown on it and radiant light pouring from inside.

The father and son sit down to glance through it and reminisce.

Ah yes, Cassidy, that beautiful blue eyed blond who was born to Cathy and Robin and big sis Alyrose.  15 months later she would become the big sister to Seth then followed by Caleb and Will.  Sweet little baby, slept round the clock.  Oh there was a small glitch at her birth, says here she broke her moms tail bone, ew, she'll need to make up for that. ( The Lord turns the page.)

Had 2 tries at kindergarten.  First time around she didn't utter a word, so painfully shy.  Second time did the trick, she emerged as a class leader and never stopped after that.

Came to know me as her personal savior at the age of 7, first grade.  What a glorious day that was in heaven, lots of rejoicing going on in the heavenlies on that day. The most important day of her life.

Cassidy and her blondness provide lots of laughter in the Chesser household.  Made the announcement one night after dinner that sometimes she forgets to breathe, and has to remind herself to do that.

Football season and as Cassidy cheers, she lights up the whole stadium with that radiant smile I gave her.  She loved cheering and then coaching younger girls to do the same.  She was a great role model.

Cassidy was loving on her family one night and reminded them of my words "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Cor. 12:9-10

Cassidy is a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a niece, a granddaughter and a friend, soon to be a daughter in law, a sister in law and a wife.  But more that that, she is the daughter of THE KING.

The apple of my eye.  I love her with an everlasting love.  I am for her, dancing over her, thinking precious thoughts towards her.  I hold her in the palm of my hand and she can never, ever be snatched out of it.  She is truly my princess, crowned with my loving kindness and tender mercies.

So then its fun to imagine the Father and Son placing Cassidy's pink and shiny book beside them and asking the librarian angel to bring them Dorian Sandoval's book.  I bet this book is probably covered with camo and leather and not a hint of pink.

The library angel finds his book and brings it back and the Father and Son begin to flip through these pages, proud of Dorain and the man he has become.

Ah, yes, Dorian, that handsome young man that has the brown eyes that sparkle at the mention of a certain older woman.  He was born to a sweet young mom and dad, Becky and Anthony.  He would have to wait awhile before Tristin would become a brother to him and 17 years before he got to experience the joy of being a big brother to Marcos.  But it was all worth the wait.          And the Lord continued to flip through the pages.

Dorian's little mouth worked long before his legs did, he was talking before he was walking.

What a party went on the day Dorian took me up on my offer to be his personal Lord and Savior, there was much praise going on in heaven that day.  He was a chubby little eight year old, his words not mine.

Proud of this young man, doesn't go along with the crowd.

Says he'll never marry a cheerleader or a sorority girl, never say never, son.  "For I know the plans I have for you Dorian, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  And it may include a cheerleader and a sorority girl

In Nehemiah I say, "Don't be afraid of the enemy, remember the Lord, who is great and glorious and fight for your friends, your families and your homes."  Dorian lives by this, family is so important to him.

At last, he spots Cassidy at the gym.  Did he really look at her and say, "you're  mine"?

Dorian steps into Nordstroms for the first time in his life, usually he hangs out in Bass Pro Shop but today he is seeking help.  He tells the Nordstrom girl " I'm in love with a princess, tell me everything I need to know". 

He just called Marmes Marme and didn't get in trouble.  No one has ever been allowed to call her that accept Cassidy.  The family is taking notice.  

He has passed the marme, dad and sister test, the brothers are a little tougher, wait till hunting season and they'll crack.

Dorian's favorite verse, "When he tests me, I'll come forth as gold."  Job 23:10

Dorian is a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew, a cousin and a friend, about to be a son in law, a brother in law, and a husband but more than that he is a son of THE KING.  I carry you close to my heart.  I love you even as I love my son Jesus.  It is my desire to lavish my love on you.  No one can ever snatch you out of my hand.

Then the Father and Son close that book and hand both single volumes back to the library angel where they are taken to a different place in the library.  A brand new book is brought out and handed to the Father.  This book is a combination of sparkling pink, camo and leather but wrapped with the blood of Christ.  The Lord opens this new book, its pages  blank, waiting to be filled with the new story of Cassidy and Dorian.  It will be a love story with the Lord in the middle, a strong cord that can't be easily broken.  
It will be tested but it will come forth as gold.  It will start with crisp new pages and will age beautifully over time and experiences, deeper and richer and still full of love.  Cassidy and Dorian, continue to walk with the Lord, talk with the Lord, share the Lord, always, always growing in Him....stand strong and protect your marriage above all else.

Ok, now i'm really almost finished.  This last part was my favorite.  My handsome new son got up along with my beautiful daughter and thanked everyone for coming. 

Real Men Cry

He looked at each person in that room, family and friends, and said something special to each one there, no paper, no notes, he spoke from his heart.  He looked at his dear grandfather and thanked him for having such a role in his life and pointing him towards the kind of man he should be.

Grandpa and Nana

  He looked at Robin and thanked him for being a father figure and being such an influence to him almost as important as his grandfather.  I heard some crying coming from my side of the table.  He said that when their first son, Leonidas, is born, ( yes you heard that right)( oh wait that isn't happening any time soon but that is his name) he will tell him of his bachelor party and how it was on the dance floor that he and his grandfather and uncles built for their wedding.  I knew what a man Dorian was but he grew again in my heart that night.  With tears flowing down his face, Aunt Carol yelled from the back of the room,  "real men cry".  I am so in love with my new son in love.  Dorian blessed his mom and family that night, not only with words but with the picture of the man they  raised.  To God be the glory.

Tristin, Marcos, Michael, and Becky with Dorian and Cassidy

Dorian and Cassidy with Dad Anthony

Wedding Snippets and Tidbits

I don't even know where to begin, how do you describe the emotions and going ons of one of the most important days of your daughter's life?  A day she has been dreaming of her whole life, the day her prince charming, her knight in shining armor takes her in his arms and carries her off to live happily ever after, amidst the sparklers held by family and friends.

"Can I really kiss you in front of your dad and brothers?"

I think I can only do it in snippets and tidbits so stay tuned for more to come.

First description,Tears, lots and lots of those, mostly by a certain dad who will remain unnamed, then

unnamed dad trying to hold it together but failing miserably

laughter and nerves but overall a feeling of overwhelming love and thankfulness were felt by all but especially the bride's marmes, thats me.

I only allowed myself so many tears on the wedding day, mostly because Cassidy had paid for my make up to be done and I couldn't afford to cry it off, especially the false eyelashes, which by the way, did come unglued on one eye and was fluttering in the wind all night.  Hope that won't show in the pictures and note to self, don't let young girls talk me into wearing false eyelashes ever again.

 One of my crying jags happened when I was outside doing who knows what.  I think I was, oh I have no idea what I was doing which sort of describes my weekend.  But as I was looking out over the sight of the ceremony, I just stopped and saw all the people working to make this day happen and I was overcome with thankfulness and then of course tears.  My very best friend Heather

Heather, thank you friend!

who had spent 1000's of hours designing the wedding so that all of Cassidy's dreams would come true, was out trying to hammer shepherds crooks into rock hard ground along with her husband and brother.  This was after she has spent hours in the freezing cold a few days before hanging chandeliers and deer horns, only out of love for me and Cassidy.

Just an inkling of Heather's awesomeness

  And Emilee and Mike, who let us use their little barn for the girls to play dress up in and get ready for this day.  What a blessing that little house was. 

And then i look out and see my darling pregnant sister in law trudging, not waddling yet, across the land taking pictures so that we will never forget this beautiful day. 

Ashley, Justin and Nolan with Charlie on the way. Thank you Justin for chasing Nolan all week-end so Ash could take pics.

My best friend sisters, Carol and Janet, and my best friend mom,who I can't even begin to name what they have done but I knew, that they were somewhere keeping me calm with their prayers. 

We haven't changed much

I couldn't have done this without knowing ya'll were there. 
















Carol and Augusta, my precious niece, blessed the bridesmaids with food all day, presented so prettily. 

When I saw these water bottles I squirted out a tear, they had been wrapped in the wedding invitation paper. 

Blessing upon Blessing

 


After I dried those tears and composed myself, a little while later, i was again flittering aimlessly around, and I came around the corner to the barn where the girls were dressing only to be met by this......

This is a picture of true friendship

my precious soon to be married daughter was sitting outside with Katie, one of her bridesmaids, reading and practicing her vows.  They were both weeping.  That scene will forever be engraved in my mind.  Thank you Katie for being there for Cassidy, a friend that will go deep.  We all need that.  

Look at her sparkling eyes, rehearsing her promises to God and Dorian.

And then there's this treasure,

the big sister who was there for Cassidy every step of the way.  OK, I'M JUST GOING TO PUT THIS OUT THERE BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE THUNK IT ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE AN OLDER SISTER,   THE LITTLE SISTER IS NOT SUPPOSED TO GET MARRIED FIRST.  In other households, this could have caused some jealousy or ewey feelings, but in this household, NOT A CHANCE.  Alyrose loved on her sister and served her sister all the way from the engagement to Cassidy driving off in the sunset as Mrs. Sandoval. No need to list what you did, The Father saw it all.   Alyrose, you are my unsung hero.  I love you. 

Wow, does my water eye faucet ever turn off?  I want to keep going with all the special people but I will save it for another day.  Please know that nothing was missed and I thanked God constantly for each of you.  I wish everyone could have come but if you've had a wedding, you know you almost have to sell your firstborn to pay for one and I really like our firstborn and wouldn't want to sell her, Wyatt and I would miss her.

So many ways we were all loved on that day.  I could go on and on with all of those who helped out and I will.   As Carol says, I feel another blog coming on.

I apologize for some of the pictures and I'm sure Ashley wants a disclaimer that she didn't take the blurry ones.  I can hardly wait to see her spectacular photos and ASH, please photoshop me to death.

Stay tuned for more pics of the wedding along with rehearsal dinner fun.

Much love, keep laughing, laughter is good medicine.

Yay, I'm now a mother in law.  

 

  

ps, to my sons, i know ya'll worked long and hard with dad to get everything ready.  I promise I'll show your pretty faces next.  kiss kiss

Triple Decker Sandwich

 sand-wich gen-er-a-tion

 noun
   a generation of people, typically in their thirties or forties, responsible for bringing up their own children and for the care of their aging parents.

HOW DO I LOOK AS A SANDWICH

OK, number one,even though i almost failed nouns and verbs,  the above definition is no noun, that description is an action  verb if I've ever spotted one.

Number two, yes I know I'm not in my thirties or forties!!!!

Number three, throw in a grandchild in the mix and that must make me a triple decker club sandwich.

I had to giggle the other day when I opened up the back of my car and this is what it looked like...........

Yup, you're seeing right, a car seat, a potty seat and a bathtub seat and let's not forget the walker.

 

I'm crazy thankful along with just plain crazy that I am able to be sandwiched between 5 year old Wyatt and 93 year old Rose, my precious mamma.

 

The Bible says, "Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. " Proverbs 17:6  NIV

                                                           

                                                              IN OTHER WORDS

 MY PRIDE AND JOY

MY CROWN (although I'm not aged)

 Wyatt is my crown and my mom is my pride and joy.  

     Proverbs 17:6

   according to me 

KEEP LAUGHING, ITS GOOD MEDICINE

C for Crude OR Bladders and Bowels

Alert, warning, proceed with caution......if you are like me and would like to never ever hear or talk about "bodily functions", stop now and read no further, if not, you have been warned.

Our sweet 93 year old mom fell and broke her hip 2 weeks ago.   Since that time I have been walking around with a slight  color of green tinting my face.  You see, I run from medical issues involving anything below the waist not to mention hospitals and most of all the talk you have to hear in hospitals.  I was the girl who passed out and walked into walls when I had blood drawn as a kid.  Of course, all that changed when Alyrose came along and took over the passing out role, I had to stop passing out so I could catch her when she was passing out.  And please don't ask me personal questions about my body and some of the things it does.  I DO NOT SPEAK ABOUT IT AND I SURE DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOURS EITHER.  I may be wrong but I don't believe any of those "things" happened until after our dear sister of long ago Eve had to eat that fruit.  Why oh why Eve did you fall for it, there were plenty of other trees that you had been enjoying????  It was all so beautiful before.  There was no need to talk about "bodily functions", I just want to believe there were none. I think right after God cursed the serpent he turned the forbidden tree in the middle of the garden into a prune tree???? Sorry Robin, I know you married a weird O, I just can't turn it off.

Anyway, getting back to Mother, and more about her later, we spent 4 days in the hospital in Fredericksburg and now rehabing  for a couple of more weeks before we can break her out of there and get her home.  But while we were there, I had to endure more talk and more listening to "that subject" than I ever want to endure again.  And the dreaded subject is, if I must say it, gas, tee tee, and big potty.  Does everything in the hospital have to be measured by these things?  Can't they just be satisfied by your temperature and blood pressure?  It's like people are casually talking about the weather," good morning, nice day outside, isn't it? " But in the hospital, it's like"good morning, have you had a you know what today?"  Such a personal question.  All the while, I'm turning green and want to run out screaming with my hands over my ears yelling LA LA LA LA LA!!!!!!

Growing up, we didn't make "noises" and laugh or have contests to see who could make the biggest "noise".  My dad was a true gentleman and didn't think crassness was funny nor does my husband.  When my dad was really naughty he would tell the story of his uncle who would say pull my finger ( you all know the result of that) and then daddy would giggle like a girl and mom would say, " Oh Bill", but that was the extent of that kind of talk.  I'm grateful for that.  Why is that subject so funny?  I don't get it but I'm glad I have a husband who agrees and hasn't taught our boys to embarrass themselves and others by thinking  that is funny to do in public.  (Boys you'd better not be doing that!!!!!!!!)  Ok, so I'm completely rambling.

Bottom line, I'm completely grossed out by all subjects that have to do with the lower half of the body.  #1, #2, #3 and  #4- don't want to hear about it, discuss it or even think about it.  The subject brings greeness and repulsion immediately so needless to say, hospitals are not where I choose to stay.  But because I would do anything for my mom, I volunteered for the first 2 nights in the hospital.  I forgot to ask for the sound proof room so unfortunately I was privileged to hear everything going on in the rooms on either side of mom.  I will also say that both occupants of the adjourning rooms were men and we all know what babies men are.  Moaning and groaning while my little mom doesn't utter  one sound after having  a rod hammered into her hip, well except the small detail when she decided to rip out her IV, gently lay it on the bed and look at me and ask who I was. It was me doing the moaning and groaning then. Wow mom, that was so rude of you, how could you forget your middle child?

The guy on one side of the wall was a moaner so I had to listen to that all night long bringing on my need to "throw out" instead of up, as one of my kids used to call it.  I acknowledge the fact that I sound really merciless right now but really guy, just suffer in silence please, there are people trying to sleep.  The guy on the other side was a real big mouth. I could hear everything he said and let me tell you, I know more about that guy than anyone ever needed to know.  I finally had to sneak over and have a peak at him.  He was always bellowing and telling about his different hats he wore among other unspeakables.  The day I stole a glance into his room he had on a hot dog hat with a giant wiener on it. He must have been from the back woods of Fredericksburg judging by his grammar.  Again, I'm sorry for my absence of mercy, I'm sure all of this will happen to me when I'm old because I'm a judger.  Some of his lovely comments to the nurse were............please don't read this out loud to your children, they are easily influenced and it will be repeated one day when you least expect it.........." Am I peein okay? "  or how about this " I didn't pass no gas ".  Then there was the other conversation that was heard between the nurse and the moaner--Nurse: "PLEASE, do not pull that out.  If you pull it out, it will bleed and your pee pee will not close up and you will not be able to control your pee any more because it will open your pee pee up so you can't feel it anymore.  So PLEASE PLEASE don't pull that out." or this one, NO FORGET IT, IT IS JUST TOO OVER THE TOP TO REPEAT.  I'VE OFFENDED ENOUGH OF YOU NOT TO MENTION THE HORROR OF RETELLING  IT.

So you now know why you were warned not to read this post if you are as grossed out as easily as me.  Please forgive me if I have totally offended you all and you never want to see or hear from me again.  I just needed to share my pain with someone and that someone is YOU.

LAUGHTER IS GOOD MEDICINE.

WELL HOW ABOUT THAT!!!!

We are in full wedding planning mode at our house.  Just in case you haven't heard, Cassidy's heart has been stolen by her knight in shining armor.  She will become Mrs. Dorian Sandoval on November 15.  To read their story, check out her blog, www.makethedaybright.blogspot.com, and read I said yes, She said yes.

Dorian, Cassidy's knight in shining armor

But she'll always be daddy's girl

they say you marry a man like your daddy, guns and all

Because of this upcoming event, I have all the latest mother of the bride what to do books at my fingertips.  I'm constantly checking the etiquette  books of what to do and what not to do along with ways not to become the dreaded mother in law.  Who wants to be remembered with that title?  Certainly not me.  So I'm still asking God to put a guard over my mouth and a watch over the doors of my lips.  Ps 141:3

We're pretty much on schedule with all the things on  the "to do" lists.  Phew.  Choose this person, find these things, decide on this color and the list goes on and on.  Fun, but on and on.  Cassidy is doing an amazing job at making those decisions. It is surprising somewhat, this is the girl that had to go to 10 different office supply places just  to pick out her school supplies, so I thought the decision making process might be a wee bit challenging but she proved me wrong.  Good girl daughter. 

So last week I was checking in my handy dandy planning book again to see what needs to happen next.  I'm sure Cass is wanting to tell me I have too much time on my hands but she is also practicing the fine art of asking God to put a guard over her mouth and a watch over the door of her lips especially with me, her marmes that loves her so much and does have too much time on her hands.  So after reviewing my book, I was met with the news that there should already have been a shower planned and that these days it is acceptable for the mother of the bride to give the shower.  A shower, me? At our house? Oh no, more things on Robin's to do list.  Fix the hole in the wall where the deer head fell off and smashed into the table breaking the table in two ( Wyatt is positive that it wasn't the football that he threw that knocked it off the wall), get the upholstery cleaned from  Remington the dog laying on it and giving it that luscious dog smell, stash all the junk in the closets that have already been stashed in,  and fix the broken chandelier lights that that same football didn't crash into thrown by that same little treasured boy.  How would we ever get it done?  Then I remembered Janet's lost green dress in God's big ol' ocean and how she simply asked God to show His power and rescue that dress for her.  If you missed that blog post, scroll on down or up??? and read Here's a God story for you.  So I just thought, you know, if Janet can pray for her lost dress in the ocean, I can pray for God to prompt someone who doesn't have to stash their junk to bless Cassidy and Dorian with a shower.  Now, I know my prayer life differs somewhat from Janet's because Janet prays and then she waits on the Lord to answer her prayer.  She just lays it at His feet and waits expectantly.  Since I want to be like my little sister when I grow up, actually both sisters, I thought I would  try that prayer approach because I know that God really does care about the little things.  OK, I'm going to just throw out my sin here for all to see.  So I reminded the Lord, like He needed to be reminded,  that He had shown His power when He fished that dress out of the ocean and could He show us His power and fish out a shower giver for us?  I thanked Him for what He was about to do and then I, like Janet, waited expectantly............for about 10 minutes.  Why must I always insist on helping God, what is wrong with me?  I totally trust Him but I can't turn off my brain.  I started thinking of all the people who love Cassidy  and  would help with a shower, I could just call them or I could just ..................pssst, hey excuse me Cathy, remember, you were going to wait on me? .... Heavy sigh on my part.... Ok, Lord, I hear you, I get it.  I wish I could confess that this only happened once but it pretty much repeated itself for a few days until I finally convinced my brain to give it a rest.  AND THEN.......... I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.  Ps 40:1

Yep, you guessed it, I backed out and He backed in.  We've got two bridal showers and the only phone call I had to make was using my direct line to my Abba God.  

       WHEN WILL I EVER LEARN?

THANK YOU ROBIN FOR 31 YEARS

As of July 23rd, I've been married to the cute guy I met at the swimming pool for 31 years.  Let's just take a stroll back in time to that day in Beaumont Texas where I met my future main squeeze.  Is that disrespectful?  It must have been the summer of 1981, I had just graduated from college and was loving living on my own in my first apartment.  I had been in a million weddings and a million house parties and time was a tickin.  I was ready for it to be my turn but I had no prospects and the fact that I was out of school and hadn't met Prince Charming yet narrowed my chances considerably.  I know, I know, I tell girls all the time that God will send your knight when you least expect it, so relax and wait on Him.  That was totally not what I was doing.  sorry Lord.  So after yet again, another heart break, I called Carol and interrupted her dinner party with boo hoos.  I have no recollection about what she said to her forlorn sis except for me to pray.  I do know that it wasn't a casual pray about it, but she really meant it.  So that night I did have a conversation with the author and perfecter of my faith and explained my predicament to Him.  Like I really needed to explain anything to Him.  I told him that I really was tired of this dating mess and having my heart ripped apart, so if He didn't have someone for me soon I really thought I just wanted to join the peace corp and change the world.  Little did I know that my world would change the next day.

The next day arrives and I'm laying by the swimming pool preparing my skin for future wrinkles.  I think there were probably still some tears trickling down my face from my recent dumpage.  It was a Sunday afternoon  so there were several people out enjoying the day.  There was one really cute guy a few chairs over studying.  I think I remember him speaking to me when I came out.  I'm not sure how long I had been out but people started leaving and the cute guy with the gold swimming suit on introduced himself and struck up a conversation. Robin, you sly thing you. We started talking and soon I had a date for dinner. Pitter patter pitter patter, that's my heart beating.  Peace corp, what peace corp?  It's so funny the things I remember about that night.  One, I remember not really knowing what to wear, ok, that's a typical girl.  Jeans, skirt, fancy, not fancy?  So I dressed and decided I would peak from the window and if he was really dressed up I would race back to my room and change really fast.  So as the really cute guy got out of his pick up and started up the side walk to my door, I was totally checkin him out.  Robin, did you know that?  Bet cha can't remember what you had on?  He had on a white pearl snapped cowboy shirt, tight starched blue jeans, but who was lookin, and python snake boots.  I have no idea what I had on but I couldn't pull myself away from that sight to go change so I guess I was dressed appropriately.  The second problem of the night was I had no idea what his name was.  Girls, don't try this at home, never go on a date with a guy that you can't remember his name.  It was a huge problem because I couldn't keep referring to him as the cute guy by the swimming pool.  Thankfully I didn't have to introduce him to anyone at Bennigans, that could have been a wee bit awkward. But that problem was also partially solved when he put his credit card on the table to pay and I did a quick look see to discover his name was Robin but couldn't see what my future last name was.  Rats. It was later discovered that there was another problem about that night.  When I asked cute boy where he was from, he told an untruth.  Liar Liar, pants on fire. For some reason, he wasn't all too proud of his hometown of Vidor, home of the area KKK.  I guess I really can't blame him on that one.  Hmmm, I need to think about this...... I'm out on a date with a guy that I have no idea what his name is and he's already hiding things from me..........but man is he cute and such a gentleman.  I decided he needed a second chance which came quickly.  I think it was just a couple of days later when he asked me out again.  Armed with the knowledge of his first name, this time my mission was to discover his last name.  He picked me up again in his gold pick up truck with the rainbow in the back window and no air conditioning.  Really Robin, no air conditioning?  It was quiet a challenge to try to look good and sweat. How long do you have to date before you suggest taking your own car with the air conditioning?  It wouldn't be so hard on my hair sprayed hair.  Anyway,  Robin's lie was quickly revealed when we drove to Vidor to meet his grandparents and my future dad and mom in law.  BUSTED.  He WAS from Vidor. Oh well, he's still cute and still a gentleman so I'm not giving up yet, but still no last name. think think think, how to discover his last name without having to embarrass myself and admit I sunk low enough to go on a date with an unnamed cute guy.    Bingo, a prescription bottle was sitting on the table with his grandmother's name on it. Chesser, my last name was going to be Chesser. Tee hee, this is the same grandmother that would tell me years later that when Robbie first brought me around they didn't think I was very cute but later they decided I was.  Thank you???? 
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Thank you Robin for 31 years of marriage.  A younger woman asked me the other day if marriage ever gets any better or easier.  Better, yes yes yes, easier no.  I told her there are seasons when it's easier and there are seasons when it's harder. Challenges of  new babies then teens then young adults, up all night, then up all night and still up all night, trusting God and trusting God and trusting God.  I told her with every challenge Robin and I have made the commitment that we would not let Satan divide us and we haven't.  He has tried and failed and we know he will continue to try.  He will attack our family and that's where it hurts, knocking us to our knees, exactly where God wants us to be, on our knees before Him.

Thank you Robin that I never once was afraid of you walking away from me and our children.  You are our safe place.

Thank you Robin that you can still roll your eyes and admit that you are still trying to figure out what's going on in my head and why I can't turn it off but you understand me better than anyone and love me anyway.
  
And especially thank you for never quoting King Soloman in the Song of Songs to me by saying "I liken you Cathy, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharoah." or "Your hair, Cathy, is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead.  Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing."  

Thank you Robin that you never told me I was like a constant dripping on a rainy day and that you were ready to move to the desert to get away from your quarrelsome and ill tempered wife that it talks about in Proverbs.  I'm sure I was the picture of both of those things at times.  Please forgive me.

In a world of discarded marriages, we have accomplished much, only by the hand of God.  31 glorious years and 31 years of deer seasons and still together.  Glory be to God.

I love you my husband.  Let's stay in the battle together, shall we?

So glad I discovered his name.  We were 25 and 28.

No peace corp for me!!!!

My daddy who modeled what kind of man to look for.

My mom who modeled what kind of wife to be.

Man is he cute, no wonder our children are so beautiful, looks just like him.

Daddy's girls and still best friends.

Till death do us part.         Not 25 and 28!