May 15 – “Another wrinkle”

Our day yesterday turned out to have yet another wrinkle to it.  Mom woke up feeling nauseous.  Now there's a word that I don't think has ever officially been declared onomatopoeia, but is should be.  Sounds just like the actual experience.    So I went on to the A&M graduation by myself.  I got to see Todd before the whole thing started and congratulated him.  I have to be honest here though.  I didn't stay for the ceremony itself.  I left and went by Academy so I could use the $10 gift certificate I got in the mail that expired yesterday.  Got some slacks.  WooHoo.  New clothes.   When I got home I changed back into shorts for the trek to LaMarque.  Chris stayed with Mom to try to get some fluids down her, since I was the fried fish guy.  They bought some flounder fillets at a fish market.  There weren't that many, though, so I had a chance to play some baseball with Jachin and Micah in their front yard before I started frying.    They also had shrimp gumbo that Kel made, some corn on the cob, and some mashed potatoes with bacon on top.  Very nutritious meal.  Especially when you add in the cake and ice cream we had for dessert.  Oh, and Chris actually came up for the birthday party.  She said Mom had gotten out of bed and was sipping iced tea on the couch and eating chicken noodle soup when she left.   The next event was the wedding at the San Luis.  Chris stayed back for this one, because Mom was not wanting to drink again.  All she wanted to do was sleep, which Chris said is a good thing as long as she gets fluids.  So the wedding started only a bit late.  The bride was giddy.  She was squealing and hugging everybody she met.  Looked like she hadn't seen a lot of folks for a long time.  The DJ handed me one of those big hand held mikes just as we were walking in.  Great.  I had to figure out how to hold it and my notebook and turn the pages all at once.  And then the bridesmaids started in and me and the groom were not in place yet, so we had to hustle in to beat them.  The bride and groom both ended up crying at several points in the service.  He dried her tears with the little handkerchief that comes with the tux.  Very sweet.  When we did the rings, she had forgotten to take off her engagement ring before we started.  So she fumbled with it while he was saying the ring vows.  Then when she went to put the ring on his finger, she dropped the engagement ring.  The bride and maid of honor both went for it and almost knocked heads.  Just missed.  The groom told her to slip it on her other hand so we could continue.  They each added a quick  supplement to their vows that was also pretty nice.  Everything else went smoothly, and we got them hitched.  I didn't stay for the reception, though.  We still had one final segment of the day to complete.   Chris took the lead on this one.  She went to the baby shower.  I stayed with Mom to get her to drink some more.  Chris said it was a lot of fun and very relaxed.  She was glad to get a chance to know the folks who were there, since most of them were kind of new to Seaside, and she spends most Sundays in the nursery with the little guys.  I was planning to say thanks to the host couple today, but they told Chris they wouldn't be at church.  They're going to the Astros game so watch his boss throw out the first pitch.  Tough business assignment.   Psalms 18:28-29 says, "You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.  With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall."   Father, thanks for getting us through days like yesterday.  It felt like we would be climbing a wall when it began.  Amen.