Mow, Mow, Mow the Yard

I began last spring recording on Facebook every time we cut the grass. I just wanted to know how many times in one season we cut it. But I soon lost track after forgetting to record it a time or two, and I figured it was a little boring anyway--right up there with people telling about their digestive problems or how many brats they ate at the picnic.

I thought about keeping a running total of grass cuttings as a footnote to my daily diary entries, but other activities seemed more pertinent (maybe not always more interesting) to post. So no totals here, but I can guarantee you that we've cut the grass A LOT already this spring, and even though it's been dry the last several days, the lawn was really shaggy tonight, just 4 days after we last cut it (Sunday afternoon). So Evelyn and I went at it after supper.

She had a student once who told her grass mowing was man's work and she shouldn't be doing it. But many days it's either mow the grass for 30 minutes or walk for 30 minutes. So I gladly let her take a half hour behind the mower and I usually use the time for other piddling around the lawn.

Tonight I pinched the blooms off the impatiens plants I've bought for the centerpieces for the wedding. I've been feeding them every day, and I'm going to keep that up for the next 3-1/2 weeks. So I sure HOPE they're blooming again by then. The plan is for them to be bushy and beautiful instead of leggy and lame. We'll see!

Moving Day

Matt and Jen arrived at our place late this afternoon with a truck full of most of Jen's earthly goods.  They had unloaded a table and chairs at Jocelyn and Donovan Weber's place, and then Jen and Evelyn headed for the seamstress for a fitting of the wedding dress. "Just rest," Evelyn told Matt. But he and I decided to try to get the stuff Jen was leaving here into the house before they got back.

We did it! A bed frame with box springs and mattress, a futon, an antique dresser, two hassocks, and two big bookshelves. Evelyn fixed a wonderful supper of roast beef, carrots, twice-baked potatoes, and tossed salad. After supper Jen showed us a few more boxes full of props for the reception to bring in. One bedroom of the house is just about full of stuff for the reception--but not for long!

I told the people in the office that I was going to stay and eat breakfast with Matt and Jen tomorrow and might be late to work. But they want to be at the courthouse by 8:00 to get the marriage license. I may get to work sooner than usual!

Two Mulch!

This is my official declaration: These are the LAST TWO bags of mulch I will buy this summer—I think! I emptied one of them (the bag of Pine Rustic) and half of the black Nature Scapes, which is what is all over the courtyard, the bushes in front of the bedroom, and under the tomatoes.
It's time for flowers to grow and weeds to be targeted and killed, but the mulching is DONE—I think!

Let Us Anticipate

"I'm guessing we'll be reading more and more about the wedding as the day gets closer." Fred Gossman said that at church Sunday (Fred reads my blog. I'm always surprised when somebody tells me they're reading my blog! Hi, Fred. . . . )

This week, especially there is wedding-related news, because Matt and Jen are moving all her earthly goods to his house in Levittown, PA this week. He's flying to Nashville tomorrow, and they're loading the truck. Then Wednesday they'll drive to Cincinnati, unload one piece of furniture she's giving to Donovan and Jocelyn Weber, and then end up at our place. Jennifer is having her final fitting for the wedding dress, and sometime before bed, we'll off load a few pieces of furniture she's leaving here--time will tell if for awhile or for good. We'll eat dinner and relax with them in the evening, and then they'll head for PA Thursday morning. I think their plan is to unload the truck there Friday.
We got word this morning that our block of rooms at the Hampton Inn in Covington was sold out, so I called Carol who added five more rooms for Friday and Saturday.

Katie Cartwright texted me today: "We've got our room, so we're ready to party!" But I didn't have her number in my phone and didn't know who on earth was asking me to party. I texted back, "I think you have a wrong number."
"It's KT," she wrote back and added a smiley face. "Put my number in your phone!"

I have done so, and I am joining her in anticipation for our big day, just 26 days away!

This is my lettuce patch, growing in an over-the-bannister planter on the deck. 

I wonder if we'll still be eating lettuce from here by the time of the wedding.

Actually, I'm doubting it!

An Evening with the Neighbors

"We should do this more often." That's what several neighbors were saying at Jordan Capelli's graduation party this evening.

Jordan, the graduate, climbed atop a pyramide made of her
cousins, her brother, and a neighbor or two.

It was fun to connect with several folks we may not have talked with in a year or more. I don't feel like we've done a good enough job as neighbors to our neighbors. Most of them are not active Christians, but they are likable, intelligent, generous, neighborly, interesting folks. I've thought a lot about how involved we are with our own yard, our own jobs, our friends from church or CCU, our family, our schedule. Friendship takes time. Building relationships takes time. Building friendship and relationship is a beginning stage, a vital first step, toward anything that looks like discipleship. I think the "missional" folks have that right. We are at the embryonic stage of relationship-building with only a couple of our neighbors.
At least we had cordial, engaging conversations with several folks tonight, and that made me feel good. And the Capellis had wonderful homemade Italian sausage and pasta with sauce among two tables full of food!
Until the party, today was a somewhat typical Sunday for us: First service, then breakfast at Mimi's, then a stop at Wal-Mart where Evelyn bought a big, floppy hat to keep the sun off while she works in the yard, then yard mowing for Evelyn while I edged and did a few other yard tasks (watered and fed those plants for the wedding!) (I used my new handy-dandy edger to edge along the grass strip by the street on the street side. I dare say that has not been done more than once or twice, if at all, in all the years we've lived here. It was difficult, but it looks nice!)
Then I came inside, took a shower, and tried to do some Christian Standard work for 2 or 3 hours before we went to the graduation party. I did get drafts written for two editorials, so I felt good about that.
Jim Nieman is going on two weeks of vacation, starting next week, so we've been scrambling to get ahead the last couple of weeks. (But that doesn't explain why I'm writing so many editorials at one time.  That's not a matter of getting ahead, but rather catching up!)

A Good Saturday

A good Saturday: Paid bills and brought the checkbook up-to-date for the first time in a couple of weeks. Was happy to verify that we're still solvent. Was also happy to discover why we had stopped getting our Time magazine: our subscription expired several weeks ago, and I hadn't paid the bill!

Skyped with Wendy this morning, and she's looking much better than the last time we talked with her. She's been off the typhoid meds for about a week, but it has been a very busy week for her, and she's exhausted. She doesn't feel fully recovered, but she's hoping some rest and healing of her system and a few more days with the strong drugs out of her system will combine to have her feeling fine.
She leaves for her month away next Saturday. First a break for a couple of days in England with a friend. And then on to our place June 15 where she'll stay till the wedding.
The wedding is four weeks from today. This time that Saturday maybe I'll have a wedding picture to post.

I was running errands today and stopped in at Home Depot to pick up a couple more bags of mulch (actually, it was four bags, and I decided after spreading it today that I need two more--maybe the final two, we'll see!). As soon as I arrived I saw they had a selection of beautiful 4-inch annuals on sale @ $2.50 each. I grabbed 16 of 'em; if I can keep 'em alive for four weeks, they'll be part of the centerpieces at Jen's reception. I'll report here close to the date.

Also had a nice visit with Geoff on the phone this afternoon and nailed down plans for the post-wedding family get-togther at our place he and Lisa are hosting. They chose a yummy, easy (catered-in) approach, and we're really looking forward to it. He's plodding away on research for his doctoral dissertation. I'm proud of him. I don't believe I've ever had that kind of drive or discipline.

Tonight was the final performance of "Cinemagic" with the Ambassadors Choir at Mason Christian Village. Evelyn and I grabbed dinner with Dave and Mary Lautzenheiser on the way to MCV and had a fun time. Evelyn and Mary sat in the back and took it in. The "village people" did well, and the whole experience ended happily.

Sweet Treat, Warm Fellowship, Chilly Evening

What's the best thing about having company for dinner? Well, of course, the company has to be Answer No. 1. But right up there in the Top Five would be dessert! Evelyn invited Bill and Verna Weber to eat with us this evening, to welcome Verna back from her trip to New Zealand. She fixed a yummy meal of chicken with homemade barbecue sauce, potato wedges, cauliflower and pea salad, and applesauce Jello. And I brought this lovely lemon pie from Graeter's for dessert.
"The Graeter's crust is so good," the clerk at the counter told me as she was boxing it up, and I think we'd all agree.

"It tastes like homemade,"Verna said, but Evelyn didn't have to make it!
It was chilly outside when I ran out at lunch and stopped to pick up the pie. And when we stepped outside as Webers were leaving tonight, I'd have to say it was COLD! A low of 54 degrees or so is predicted for overnight.
But I'm not complaining. After the OPPRESSIVE heat all last weekend, I'm just fine with wearing long sleeves this weekend. Highs in the 60s tomorrow and 70s Sunday. Perfect for finishing up some tasks in the yard tomorrow before I return to Mason Christian Village and the Ambassadors Choir.