Hospitals, Weddings, and Ordinary Days

Today has been a wonderfully ordinary day. The thing about having a challenging life is that ordinary days seem like gems! I think sometimes--often!--we underestimate the value of everyday life: the beautiful sights and sounds and smells, interesting conversations with people, hugs and kisses from our kids, the productive feeling that comes from getting things done ... I know that when things go "right" for long enough, we have a tendency to feel like a day has to be out of the ordinary for it to be truly special, but I've come to realize that any day in which my family is healthy and reasonably happy and we have food on the table is a good one.

We had nearly four days without seeing the inside of a hospital last week. Thursday through Sunday, Mark felt ... not well, but not terribly bad. He slept a lot but was even able to put in two or three hours of work at the church. Then Sunday he crashed again. An evening trip to the ER determined that he wasn't suffering any further damage to his heart, but yesterday he crumped again. We called an ambulance that time because he was upstairs and didn't think that he could get down on his own. And I certainly can't carry him! (That's an issue we're going to have to address here eventually. I wonder what it would take to convert a garage to a room ...? My grandparents did it once, but then Grandpa was a carpenter! Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.) As I was saying, we called 911, but after four hours of observation and a test of his triponin levels, they decided it was safe for him to go back home. He slept fairly well last night (and much of this morning), and now seems to be feeling quite well (although we all know how quickly that can change!). Tomorrow we have an appointment with his doctors up at OHSU.

So what does all this have to do with cowboy boot cake? Nothing, actually! I just thought I'd tell you all about my aunt Karen's wedding to Mike on Saturday. Most of the people who actually read this blog were there, so feel free to skip ahead if you were one of those! But a few regular readers were not a part of the festivities, so I thought I'd describe it a bit for them.

The wedding was in my aunt's barn (which is open on three sides). We sat on hay bales to watch. Karen came in, wearing a knee length white dress with white cowboy boots. Her daughters, Stacey and Rachel, wore springy dresses with color-coordinated cowboy boots as well. Mike wore jeans. The ceremony was very short. Six or seven minutes tops. Just long enough to read a little Scripture, say the vows, and give each other a big old smooch! Then it was on to the eating! Karen and Mike provided chicken kabobs, and various family members brought side dishes: lots of them! Cabbage and rice, fresh melon, chips and salsa, summer sausage, baked beans, the works! And there was dancing. I must say that (with the exception of Mike and Karen, who seemed to know what they were doing) there were a lot of left feet on the dance floor (mine included!). But it was fun. (That was Alex's favorite part. He must have asked me at LEAST twenty times when the dancing was going to start.)

This was the first wedding I ever attended that had animals present! The dog in the back row had not been invited, but was allowed to stay once someone had him on a leash. And the four horse showed up at the fence/side of the barn in time for the reception. They may have missed out on the chicken and cake, but one of the little girls there kept them well supplied with hay!

It was great to see my extended family again. I was surprised when I realized that every one of my cousins had a significant other with him/her. I think there will be several more weddings in the near future. Yey! But there are none on the docket at the moment (that I know of, anyway). I asked Stacey what we were going to use for an excuse to get together now that our rash of spring/summer weddings is over. She thought a minute and said, "Babies?" Yeah, well, I'm sure there will be a flood of those in the next few years! But none are due until at least next spring. I guess we'll just have to be creative in coming up with excuses. Or maybe--here's a thought!--we could get together "just because."