MN Wedding Journal: Rehearsal

The Bride's Room.

So cute!







It fascinated me that the ultra contemporary facility bowed to the traditional for this hard working space.

The furniture all looked antique, like well loved pieces from grandmother's house.
It looked like a cozy place to curl up with a cup of tea and a good friend for a nice long chat on the sofa.





The little dressing table was adorable, with a crystal dressing table set, lace and a tiny (wobbly) upholstered stool.
In another little room behind this table was a beauty parlor set up.
There was a shampoo sink with an indentation for the neck, a hard bonnet hair drier, a chair with lift and spin capacity, and a half wall of mirrors with make up lighting.

Cute, cute, cute!

It was the next day, as the bride stood getting laced into her dress, that she noticed one of the pink toile design was a girl milking a goat.

One of those whimsical things that makes you smile.

As charming and pretty and romantic and everything that this room was, let me just make a suggestion for those designing Bride's Rooms:

Once you add five bridesmaids, assorted mothers and grandmothers, hairdressers and photographers, crinoline petticoats, trains, makeup bags, clothing in bags, boots, steamers and water bottles, the Bride's Room gets a little tight, and very warm.

This bride's room connected to the very large (like 16 stalls) bathroom, which helped.

But what is really needed more than crystal dressing table sets and big puffy pillows is:
Hooks on the walls that are slightly higher than one's head, to keep trains off the ground.
More hooks to hold bags of assorted "stuff".
A mini refrigerator so an ice chest isn't needed.
More raised flat surfaces, so everything doesn't have to go on the floor
A step stool so the veil can be placed/fixed on the bride without her having to sit down.
A stall with a door so wide bell shaped dresses don't get crushed going in and out.

I've been in several Bride's Rooms in the heat of the wedding preparation battle, and have always been stuck with how cute they are, yet impractical in function.

Maybe if the bride and her attendants were all to arrive at the church ready to walk down the aisle these rooms would be perfect.
A space to retreat to while guest arrive.
A cozy space for a cup of tea and a final visit with your girlfriends.

Um, again, maybe this is just me...but I just can't see that happening!
Except maybe in a white lace and promises storyline dream.

The rehearsal.
I liked the chandeliers!
The rogue gallery "before" picture.

I loved the Chapel's white pews, and the soft color scheme.
On the side walls were old plaster Stations of the Cross hangings.

A very serene place.

A traditional feeling place, a perfect place for the more sentimental rituals of Christian life.

A perfect place for Andrea's wedding.

Below what? update

It is eleven degrees below zero here.

Minneapolis has officially curtailed its Winter Carnival Torchlight parade scheduled for tonight.

The parade will be shortened to three blocks long, as the wind chill factor tonight is going to be about negative 30 degrees in the metro area.

And to be minus 45 degrees outside the city.

As I write this, Laura is driving to the present opening/morning after the wedding breakfast.

Yawn...can't those presents wait till after the honeymoon?

Not if the mom and mil have anything to say about it.
And they certainly did.
Say something about it, that is.

I feel so bad for the newlyweds, who probably didn't even get to the hotel much before midnight, and have to show up at this event at 8 am to keep peace.
I say: Make War on this one, and skip it, but it's really none of my business.
Good thing no one here knows about this blog ;->

Anyway, back to the weather.

Laura called me to report that the inside the car digital outside temperature display read minus 11 degrees.

She called back a few minutes later to say it had dropped to minus 13 degrees.

And that her fingers and ears hurt, and it hurt to breath.

I told her to wear a hat.
She said she didn't want to mess up her hair.
Hope she still has ears when she comes back. I really like her ears.
I'd hate it if they got so cold they froze and fell off.

Bet she'd wear a hat all the time if that happened.

MN Wedding Journal: NWCC

"Living Word Christian Center" is the place where the wedding will be held.



It is an ENORMOUS facility, with a bookstore, coffee bars, a sanctuary like a modern theater, PLUS a wedding chapel.

And that is only what I was able to see as I walked through on my way go to the wedding rehearsal.

Below is a picture of what you see when you walk in the front door.
Simply beautiful.
There is also a very large bookstore and gift shop just to the right.
A nice plaza between the Sanctuary and the Chapel.
Perfect for mingling between services.
The fountains, clock, lanterns and arboretum create a feeling is both elegant and park like.














I am sincerely impressed, and I approve of this kind of facility.
Its design is fitting to accommodate the activities of this particular church.
Everywhere I looked I saw wise choices to facilitate large groups both efficiently and comfortably.

Even so, I think wistfully about white clapboard churches with soaring steels, and English chapels surrounded by cemeteries.

I've sat and worshipped in the church building where Bernie's ancestors were baptised and married, back in the 1700's, in Maryland. Around that church were the headstones of the families who have worshipped there for generations.

There's something powerful about considering those who have gone before, and imagining how the quiet setting will look when those dead in Christ shall rise again.

I really like how "Living Word Christian Center" performs.
I truly do.

But I think about the words, the titles:

"Sports Center" "Medical Center" "Business Center" "Media Center" "Shopping Center" "Community Center."

Whatever happened to "Church"?

"Church" and "Chapel" and "Cathedral" and "Mission"?

Those old clapboard steepled building really don't make sense any more.

But somehow I always feel a comfort when I see them.

Maybe it is just me.

I hope Living Word Christian Center will still house worshippers three hundred years from now.


And its presences in the future will be a comfort to those who visit it then.

The bride, who has successfully found brown pens to use for the guest book signing.
(No feathers, hearts, or bows allowed at this event)

Wednesday I spent mostly in the hotel, fighting with computer issues. Wireless connection is not available in the room. The office center is a five minute walk, and there are Microsoft issues (send error report...) and I was pretty frustrated.
Sorry for the odd pictures and no text posting, it was quite a battle to even get that up for a while.

That afternoon Laura and Andrea (the bride) came and got me at the hotel so we could go out for lunch.
I was really ready to get away from Microsoft issues!

The girls had been talking non-stop for about 48 hours, and finally were talked out.
So I carried the "chatter" for lunch as the two of them looked like they needed a nap.
The snow was falling with nickle size flakes outside the restaurant window, giving me something to enjoy.
I enjoyed the snow even as we went to Office Depot to look at pens!

That night Laura and I talked until midnight, catching up on thoughts and stories.
Mostly thoughts.
Mother/daughter sleepovers are the best!

Yes, it is colder than I've ever experienced before.
The fact that Laura rented a Jeep Liberty with heated seats is greatly appreciated.
Mostly I just find it mentally challenging to keep track of gloves, hats, jacket and purse.

Off to manicure/pedicure land.
French manicure for Andrea, rusty red for toes.
Rusty red on Laura's toes and nails to go with espresso brown dress.

Me? Oh let's have some fun. Valentine's day is coming. Paint my toesies pink, add flowers and TWO pink diamonds.

Whoo-hoo!

(music swells...)

I feel pretty, oh so pretty...I feel lovely and witty and gay...

("gay" as defined at the time that this song was written, meaning happy and carefree. Not what it means socially today. Just trying to communicate clearly while staying borderline PC here.)

Just don't look too closely at my face.
The wax on certain places makes me look like I've slugged down a big gulp cherry koolaid.
How embarrassing.

Oh well.

Note to self: Minneapolis manicures and pedicures are twice what they charge in Houston. Same Buddha, same incense, double price.
Bring makeup next time to cover waxed facial area.

Observation: Snow falling in sunshine looks just like glitter. Glad I have gotten to see this beautiful aspect of winter.

Funny comment: Andrea: "At my cousin's wedding they had one of the groom's men act as a pall bearer."
(HUH???) Oops, I mean RING bearer!

Tonight we head to THE REHEARSAL!

MN Wedding Journal

I love airport art. Here's ceiling art in Houston Bush International Airport terminal E.

An interesting piece...a circle overhead of multiple television screens, sychronized to display colors, patterns, ors objects.

The images flows in a circle through the screens

Sometimes they have flowers, this time it was just a design as I clicked a shot of a few screens.

Just thought I'd share.

Flavors

The new laptop has arrived!








I had forgotten it came with the new operating system XP.
I'm pretty comfortable with Windows 95, especially with the office assistant cat the meows and used my writings as a scratching post.
FUN!

XP will take a little getting used to.
I'm game, and want to dig in

But of course, life is never simple

The package arrived as I was scrambling to get to work, for a shift that was going to be more challenging than usual.
My little brain was full.

Bernie fired the computer up, and cries of joy rang out from our office:
"Check this out!"
"Isn't this cool!"
"What do you think about this?"

Aaagghhhh...off to work I went, leaving my baby behind.

Tuesday was even more challenging.

Ever notice that if you put one thing on your calendar, a whole bunch of other stuff pile on in the same square?

Tuesday, 9:30 am.
Eye doctor follow up appointment.
One hour in office, one hour driving time round trip.

Bernie had to schedule a trip to Nashville.
We decide I would drive him to the airport at 12:30.
That way I could take his car when I went to the airport at 5:30, park his car in the five story parking garage at the airport, tell him where I parked, and then when he flew home Wednesday, he would just find his car and drive on home, and only have to pay one day's parking fees.

Perfect!

In between his work, he is still playing with the new computer.
And calling out to me to come see this, where would I like this installed, do I understand how to use that?
He's putting CDs into a case for me to enjoy on the plane, and suggesting DVDs that I could watch. He's adding batteries and earphones and everything he can think of that I might need when I use this new wonder while I'm away.

And my brain is going:
I should pack two pairs of panty hose, in case I get a run before the wedding. Should I take the chunky scarf to go with the sweater or just wear a turtleneck under it? Where did I put the hat that goes with that dress? Pearl hat pin or green one? Got to remember to pack my favorite tea for the room....

At 12:30 we get ready to head to the airport to drop him off. We go over the plan one more time:

I'll drive him to the airport in his car.
Then I'll drive myself to the airport in his car.
(I make a big yellow note for myself: TAKE BERNIE'S CAR TO THE AIRPORT! Otherwise I'll forget and hop into mine...)
I'll park in the AIRPORT parking garage, write down where in the garage, and call him with the location, leaving a voice mail.
He'll then drive his car home.

Got it.

Off we went, and right there at the curb we realized that the key in the ignition was the only key we brought, and the other one was sitting on top of the yellow note on the kitchen table.

Doh!

(Not to worry, we cooked up a plan to put the key and the locking device inside the gas cap door.
So much for the little metallic hide-a-key option. Plus with our car being 10 years old, doesn't that shiny new Lexus parked right next to our car look like a lot more fun to steal? Of course it does!)

My one large suitcase, my not so large suitcase, my backpack, purse and myself arrived safely in Minneapolis late last night.

I've figured out how to use wireless connections, and that laptops de-magnetize hotel room keys.

Double doh!

I think I'm liking this new XP system flavor.

Almost as I like the new Hershey's Chocolate Cherry flavored Kisses, which were at work on Monday night as a pre-Valentine's Day treat.

Oh. My. Gosh.

How did I ever survive without Chocolate Cherry flavored Kisses?

New flavors.

I definitely like!
-

Below what?

"Three below what?" was the question.

My gangly young beach bum surfer girl was half listening to the television, sprawled on the floor of our living room in La Mesa, California.

I looked up from whatever I was doing, and realized she had heard a weather report.

Obviously NOT about our location, where flowers bloomed in January, and the only bundling up required to make her comfortable out-of-doors was the addition of long sleeves to her wet suit as she and her dad hit the surf.

(I hear there's a cold snap up north today...I prefer my snaps to be pink, so I can play with them and make dragon bites by gently pinching the blossoms. Oh, such happy memories of giggling toddlers daring to be bit!)

"Below what?"
It became a family joke.

She's in Minneapolis Minnesota today.
And I head there tomorrow.
It's six below (zero...as it turns out) there at nights, and not much warmer there during the day.

Guess the jokes on us.

Daughter LauraRN traveled to Hawaii two summers ago as a nurse to work at Queen's Hospital in Honolulu for four months
(She has a very interesting life...)
She was assigned to an apartment on (I think it was) the 41st floor of a high rise apartment overlooking Diamond Head.
Windows made up two walls of her space.
What a view!

She chose to have a room mate that assignment.
Another traveling nurse would be in the second bedroom, each with their own bath.
(Tough life...)

Andrea was from Minnesota.
The two six foot tall nurses, one a red-head surfer and one a blond haired snow maiden explored all the islands on their days off.
(Nurses work three 12 hour shifts, then have four days off each week...)

We came to the island to visit.
Her parents came to the island to visited.

The girls were like sisters, and it felt like having two daughters while we were there.

Laura got engaged while she was there, and Andrea helped the suitor hide the ring on the Honolulu beach, and filmed the proposal.
Happy for Laura, sad for herself.

Six months later, Laura was back in California, and had returned her ring.
Six months later (there abouts...) Andrea was back in Minnesota, and had gotten a ring.

Laura's romance took place from Philadelphia to Ireland to California to Virginia to Hawaii to Los Angeles to Houston to Salt Lake City and ended in Los Angeles.

The nurse Laura traveled. He followed. We prayed.

The girls prayed together.

Both wanted Godly men, and happy marriages.

It took two years to win Laura, and six months to lose her.

Andrea returned home. And found the man of her dreams right there in her own home town.

She's getting married Friday, and Laura's the maid of honor.

And I'm going to be there too.
(The after shot, referring back to my last post.)

(Pansies love cold weather, and since it is hot here by April, they must go into the soil in winter. This is a pretty basic bit of gardening, plopping the small plants into soil. I also sowed larkspur and poppy seeds over the area and am hoping for billows of flowers come spring.)

It's not like I haven't been in some cold weather.
Laura, my mom-in-law Barbara and I headed to Scotland two winters ago.
(Laura arranged her four days off to be back to back, worked a few extra shifts and treated me to a week of fun. LOVE that girl!)
I like traveling in winter.
I sunburn easily.
I'd rather bundle up than try to cool down.

I love this Scotland shot because I think the building (church?) tower trim mimics the bare trees.

Brrr....

I'm being assured that if it is THAT cold outside in Minnesota, the building INSIDE most likely will be pretty warm, and perhaps even hotter than I am used to.

Now how the heck am I supposed to pack for that?

I am also assured that I will not need to be outside much.

Does this mean the car will always be parked in inside heated parking lots?

Laura is wearing a lovely expresso/chocolate brown maid-of-honor dress with her matching chocolate brown Uggs.

As the dress is long, and Uggs won't show, the bride has signed off on this.

My beige Uggs don't match my sage/mint green knee length dress.

Darn.

This is going to be an adventure.

I'm hoping warm hearts will create enough glow to keep the rest of me warm.

And that I have enough time in the next 24 hours to get a pedicure.

If my toes are going to freeze from going to the church wearing heels, at least I want my toenails to look good while being treated for frostbite.

Below what indeed.

Hard to say.

This is before.

The garden bed is choked with Mexican Petunias, dead leaves, weeds.

Some people, including myself at one point, BUY Mexican Petunia, because when they are young they have pretty lavender flowers.

Some people think dead leaves are great in garden beds.

Some people call a weed a volunteer.

This is a collection of rocks, roots and leaves that was in the garden bed.


Oops, rock, roots and leaves, and a small tiny snake.
Um, actually a pretty good size snake, about three feet long.

Harmless.
He's where he belongs, doing his job.
(giving the cats something to stare at...)

And what is this?
A big fat spider living under a rock edge.
I'm not sure what kind it is.
(Sure is ugly...)

Not a Black widow.
There's no red hour glass mark, and the legs are too short.
And not a Brown Recluse, as there is no brown violin mark on his back, and the legs are again too short.
Tickling him with a pine needle, I urge him back into hiding again.

This was our garden to tend.
Its boundaries to defend.
We knew what we were doing.

The petunias, despite their summer blooms had choked the garden bed with their woody gnarled roots and lanky leggy necks.
(We would not allow them to crowd the space.)

The leaves would harbor fungus, and not compost well,
(We wouldn't allow them to bank the borders, and clutter the view.)

The snake we checked to be sure it was harmless.
The spider we questioned, and noted its space.

We spread rich soil to enrich the native clay base, got gritty, and warm, and our faces became covered in smiles and sweat.

We felt good about our day.

I got a call.

A friend who has no time for gardens.
She tends those who are dying.
(Spending days without sleep, as only she know what the dying need.)
She cares for those who are sick.
(Spending years in that watchfulness, gone from her home multiple days each week.)
She fills out forms for those in need.
(Spending hours calculating, and filing, they wouldn't know how.)
She drives long miles to visit those in prison.
(Spending hours traveling for a brief visit and chat, who else would go?)
She opens her home to the homeless.
(Spending her understanding of alcoholism gained from a parent as a child to understand the alcoholic at her door.)

It's hard to say sometimes.

Weeds or flowers.
Dead leaf clutter or the beginning of mulch.
Space or snake.
Harmless or harmful.
Lost boundaries or open heart.
Exquisite care or expressed dysfunction.
Works for her or working her.
A call of God or comforting chaos.

Dying to self

Or just dying.

Hard to know the boundaries of what to say to a friend.

She see flowers. I see choking weeds.

Considering lilies

This morning:











A beautiful dawn.
A garden sun-warmed.
A morning dew dance.

Tiny flower faces peer into the light.



Vapor still clinging as dew glitters.

The sun's glow breaking through the dark of night, captured here in the tiny viola heart.


In my mind is carried a thought..."Consider the lilies..."

But there was more to consider today.
A tour has been arranged for some of us.
A visit, to the Star of Hope.
Houston's homeless shelter.
A one hundred year long battle ground against "addiction to concrete", the wrack and the ruin of drugs, alcohol, and poverty.
A Place for people in circumstances beyond their control.
Or for those pinned down by situations gone out of their control.

Three huge facilities to see, one for women and children, and two for men.
We tour for over three hours.
I learn some of the homeless come for a few weeks, only needing a short stay while a temporary setback is remedied.
Others come for a year, a year and a half, and begin to unwind the knotted twists of a lifetime through discipline, study, and counsel.

From plain grey dormitories filled with bunks covered with equally grey blankets, men work their way up to the relative luxury of a room that is shared only with one other.
Hard work, (emotionally, physically, intellectually...), and broken lives are reconstructed, (sometimes), sheltered within the shelter's boundaries and limits.
Sheltered for a time against ill-considered choices.

I was interested in the process, the computer classes, the Bible study, the meal preparations.
But was untouched.
I have worked with the "down and out", trained them, and helped them.
I'm a little hardened.

It happened as we walked the final hallway.
The hallway where the rooms only have two beds.
(That final level that a man can achieve before moving on)
That's were it happened.
I saw this room.

A tiny bear.
A Bible.
A cot,
A chair.
And five clothing items hanging in the open doorless closet.

My hardened heart was touched.





And a mist rises in my eyes at what I see in this room:
The dawning of a new life.

The shelter is downtown,
and tour over,
I have another errand to run.

The hat that "bucked me off" awhile ago has been awaiting me,
resting forlornly on the back seat of my car,
just in case I have reason to be downtown,
and have time to shop for a hat band.

The sky in town is beautiful.









At a stop light I think:

Inside every tower,
behind each window:

A man or a woman
working,
finishing their week,
looking forward to returning
home.

I've reached my destination.

I feel a familiar rush.
Like an addict, I take in colors and textures, using my eyes and fingertips to fuel my cravings for beauty.

High Fashion Fabrics the store is called.

And I am high indeed.
King Solomon in all his glory was still not arrayed in such as these.
This beauty is costly.
My boundaries are firm.

(My eyes take it in, but I leave it behind.)
Each creation has a glory.

The four corners of the earth.
Falling water, crevases of ice.
Lilies of the field.
Sparkles of light.
Undersea gardens.
Silvery fish of the deep.

What is beauty?
What lasts?
What is vapor?
What is mist?

What have I gotten, have done with my day?
Which things were like lilies, which has beauty, yet tomorrow is thrown away?
What of the flowers,
of businesses,
of homeless,
of hats?

What shall I say, what will be written when I blog this day at last?


(The curved silver building in the picture above was formerly the home of the tragic company known as Enron.)