February 27 – “Mardi Gras Garage Sale”

Yesterday was the big garage sale at Kel and Christina's old house, which is now Nathan and April's new house.  That's going to be hard to get used to.  Jachin and Micah spent the night with us the night before, and Kel and Christina and Josiah stayed with Nathan and April so they could get an early start.    We weren't really sure if anybody would show up at all.  This is the first weekend of Mardi Gras in Galveston.  There were parades scheduled all day yesterday, so we were afraid everybody would be there.  And we thought the ones who weren't at the parade would stay close to home because of the street closings and general traffic nightmares that come with one of these kinds of weekends.   Of course Chris found several things that we had to have.  I'm not complaining too much, though.  She picked out some really nice shirts for me.  Also among her stash was a kids' riding toy to go with the two we already have in the back yard.  All we need is three more and there will be one for each grandkid.  We also got some kind of canopy.  The idea for that is to set it up in the back yard as a patio cover.  Sound like a good plan if I can figure out a way to keep it from blowing away.   Around 10:30 I had a meeting with a couple who are getting married in July.  They wanted to meet at the San Luis (where their reception will be held) or at Fisherman's Wharf (the site of their rehearsal dinner).  Instead I suggested the lobby of the Hampton Inn over by WalMart (where they are reserving a block of rooms).  Much quieter.  Way less traffic.  The parade convinced them to stay off the seawall.  They still planned to go to Fisherman's Wharf, though.  I told them to stick to Harborside or they would hit blocked off streets for sure.  They seemed like a great couple.  They brought Mom and Dad of the bride and Mom of the groom with them.  They are getting married in the Lyceum.  That will be a new place for me.  It's a restored old Lutheran Church in the East End somewhere.  That also means working with a new wedding coordinator.  Always an interesting experience.  They can be great, but they can also be mean and snippy and highly territorial and convinced that their way is the only way to do things.  We'll see.   By the time I got back to the garage sale, they were boxing everything up.  Old men's clothes went to Mission Galveston.  Everything elose to Goodwill.  Kel got to play powerful when he took the remnants to Goodwill.  They were charging people to park in their lot because it is close to the seawall parade route.  They tried to turn him away because the lot was full, but he played the delivery of donations card and they let him right in.  He and I then loaded up one final truckload of attic stuff for them to take to their LaMarque house.  We still have about that much more to go to be finished.    Last night around 8:00 we noticed some unusual activity traveling down Jones Drive.  It was a string of parade floats.  I guess the last parade of the day had ended and they were on their way back to wherever parade floats come from.  Wish we had known.  We could have walked around the corner with the kids.   Isaiah 44:8 says, "Do not tremble, do not be afraid.  Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?  You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?  No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."   Father, lead the ones who are so passionate about revelry during Mardi Gras to be just as passionate about returning to you during Lent.  Amen.