RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Saturday evening, Steve and I attended a wedding out in Big Spring Park.  We didn't really know the couple, but Steve was hired to play his trumpet as an accompaniment to the pianist (who is the pianist at our church and stepmother to the bride.)  It was a lovely ceremony and Steve sounded great.

Y'all...it was cold.  

It was, at most, 49 degrees.  We were sitting right on the edge of the water and the wind was blowing.  I felt sorry for the bridesmaids, because none of them were wearing sleeves!  I was wearing a long sleeved dress, boots, a thick coat and a scarf and I was still cold.  Steve had it even worse because he had to keep his horn warm and wasn't wearing gloves or a coat.  Granted, I know October in the South is usually still warm, but this was not a usual warm October day. There were maw maws out there that had to be wrapped in blankets! How will that couple feel if someone's grandmother dies because they got pneumonia sitting outside at their wedding?

Couples take everyone's life in their hands when they get married outside in Alabama. If you're reading this and are considering having an outdoor wedding, just...no.  Please.  You'll either get everyone killed in a tornado, choke them on pollen, they will fry to death, or they'll freeze.  Alabama is not a place where being outdoors is pleasant except for just a few days a season. You can't possibly know which days they will be!  We live in the Bible Belt.  You can find a church on every corner, some of which are air conditioned!  If you aren't particularly religious, there are many interesting and beautiful historical locations, or even places of local interest that host weddings - ALL INDOORS! Take pity on the people you have invited to your nuptials.  Think of the maw maws.

2) We had our annual church picnic yesterday and I got to run the cotton candy booth again!  I like doing that.  It's fun.  Not only do I get to run a machine that melts sugar, I get to hand over a wad of colored candy to smiling little kids.  In fact, everyone I gave cotton candy to smiled.  It was nice.  You can't be mad or sad while eating cotton candy.  I enjoyed myself. I also don't want to eat cotton candy again for a very long time.

What I didn't enjoy was the wind.  It was cold outside and the wind was blowing, and even though the machine had a hood over it, the wind would get inside of it and blow the candy all over me.  I was plated with it.  It was in my hair and on my clothes and stuck to my face!  Even my eyelashes were sticky with it.  I tried combing my hair when I got home and I couldn't get the comb to go through my hair at all.  It was gross.  Silver lining, though, I smelled heavenly and if you licked my face, you'd get a sugar high!

3) here's a mini update on my brother: He's actually doing a bit better than he was.  He's able to drink a little bit, and he seems to feel a little bit better.  He does still get sick every few days, but not as badly as he was before.  Thanks for all of the positive vibes, and keep them coming.
  

A QUICKY

Heehee.  The other day I was taking some pictures of pictures that we have hanging in our hallway (the official photo gallery of every American suburban family.) Steve and I have exactly one picture from our wedding on display in the house, and not many people have ever seen it, so I thought I'd post it to Facebook.  We've been married a long time, so I don't usually post wedding pictures, but I thought this one was cute.  Steve had hair, we looked happy, yadda yadda yadda...

Lots of people liked it, because of course they did.  Who doesn't like a good wedding picture?  But people have been telling us "Happy Anniversary!" all week.  Our anniversary is in November!  Of course they don't know that, because why should they, but now I wonder if I should post anything in November about our actual anniversary. I don't want embarrass anyone who has told us happy anniversary already.  They are so sincere about it that I hate to tell them they're wrong. 

Eh, I'll just tell Steve happy anniversary in private.  Like some kind of psychopath.

WELL THAT WAS WEIRD

Yesterday was the first day of the work week for us, since Monday was Columbus Day and our offices were closed.

One of the first things I always do is to open the church's email to see if there is anything important that came in over the weekend. So I opened Outlook and the emails began to load.  One of the first ones I noticed was from last Friday, and it stuck out because it was from a real person and not an organization. It was an inquiry from a local mom about our yearly Fall Festival, which, modest as it is, it is kind of a big deal for some of the kids in the neighborhood.

I was just about to answer the message when I saw a second message from the same sender, which had arrived on Monday when the offices were closed, and in the preview line for the message, it said "Are you sure?"

I opened the second message and read it, and it said "Are you sure? The website said it would be on the 29th." I looked down a little further, and saw that I had written something along the lines of "Hi! It will be on November 1st."  I was completely confused, because A) I had not received or sent a message to/from this woman at any point last week, B) clearly I had written this woman back, because the evidence was right there, and C) That isn't the right date at all.

You know how sometimes a thing will happen, and you start questioning your own sanity?  Well, I sat there reading my own words and began to wonder if I actually had been at work on Monday and just didn't remember.  I remembered sleeping in, I remembered Steve making breakfast, and I remembered going to Best Buy on Monday, but maybe that was all a weird hallucination! I got that weird feeling in my stomach like I was about to find out the world was fake and I was nothing more than a brain in a jar hooked up to a battery or something.

I finally decided to re-read the entire message and saw that, yes, the woman had written the original email last Friday, October 5th. My reply was written on October 9th...but in 2015.  I have no idea what happened, but the lady had apparently written me the same question and message two years before, and had actually replied to a 2 year old response.  I don't know if I was more confused at that, or that she apparently still had my 2015 message in her inbox to reply to.

Anyway, I thought that was weird.  I deleted her messages and didn't write back, just in case there was some type of time warp thing and by sending her another email, I'd tear a hole in the space-time continuum.  Safety first!

HAPPY CHEESE

I found a new YouTube channel that I love to watch.  I don't even know why I like it, but it's very soothing for some reason.

I have no idea how I came across these videos, but then, sometimes on YouTube you go to watch a scene from Ferris Beuller, fall down a rabbit hole of videos, and wind up watching a how-to video on home circumcision.  (Right?  That's happened to more than just me?)

Anyway, these videos are by an outfit called "James Townsend and Sons" and, according to their website they are "a manufacturer and retailer of quality reproduction 18th and early 19th Century clothing and personal accessories."  They are located in Pierceton, IN, and from what I understand, sell their merchandise to historical reenactors and the like.

The main guy, James, does 18th and early 19th century cooking, using actual recipes from those times, and usually he tries to do them using the tools and techniques that would have been used back then.  He sometimes stirs things with sticks.  I don't know why I like it so much, but it's very interesting.  He's gone to other historical places, kind of like Constitution Hall Village or Colonial Williamsburg type places, and he gets workers from there to show him how to make things from their particular area.  He also seems to have a thing for nutmeg. 

Also, the guy is so freaking EARNEST and excited about what he's doing that I can't help but enjoy watching him.  I don't know if any of you like watching people cook, much less historical cooking stuff, but this man is fun to watch just because he seems to be so in love with what he's doing.  He reminds me of Bob Ross a little, only less soft spoken. 

Why am I telling you about this?  I dunno.  I like it, so I'm telling you in case you might like it, too.  It's call sharing, CAROL!

In case you're bored one day, or develop a need to know how to make boiled puddings, you should go and watch a couple of videos. 

Enjoy!

QUICKY - WHERE AM I?

I've been almost sick most of the weekend. Nothing terrible, but whatever I have made me feel yucky enough to miss church today.

After making sure someone would be able to cover the sound booth for services, and letting the others who'd be calling to track me down know what was going on - because that's what happens when you work for a church, I went back to bed and have been dozing off and on all morning.

Every time I doze off, I have a dream I wake up in a bed someplace else. When I wake up, I am back in my own bed. At least, I think that's what is going on. Maybe I'm in one of those other beds and am dreaming I'm waking up in this bed. I'm so confused.

I also dreamed I went to a football game with the wife of a friend of mine, but I'm pretty sure that actually was a dream.

Maybe I'm in the matrix. Someone send me Keanu Reeves.