Beer and Driving

A few things I'd like to mention before our guests arrive (because of Labor Day, we're having some family and friends over for dinner).

One, I want to mention one of Dad's birthday presents for this year. A week or so ago, Ben and Mandy were thinking about what to get Dad when one of them (I believe it was Ben) got the idea of giving him beer. And not just a normal case; no, forty-five beers, in honor of how many years he's lived. So, last Monday, Mandy and Ben went shopping and bought (I should say that Ben bought them and that Mandy helped pay for it) forty-five bottles of beer. Some of the bottles were in cases, some in six packs, and a few single bottles. Dad was very surprised to see it, and so now his beer fridge is full. It was a very nice gift, and kudos to Ben for thinking it up.

Two, last weekend a certain someone drove roughly fifteen miles from a place near home and then back to the house. Yes, it was myself, with Dad directing me from the passenger's seat. I've been thinking about going back to college again, but the college I applied for a few weeks ago means that I would need to learn to drive. So, I have finally found motivation to push myself to drive. So, Dad and I have been trying to find time on Saturdays for him to take me out driving because Mom doesn't want to and because Seth and Mandy are too young to teach me. I started off rather nervous, but I loosened up and felt more comfortable. I even changed lanes a few times and interacted with some decent afternoon traffic. Granted, I wasn't perfect, but I felt very accomplished afterwards. Driving no longer seems so frightening, and I pray that I will continue to pursue it and overcome my fear of it.

I mentioned above that I'm thinking of returning to college. I applied for one a few weeks ago and am waiting to see if I got in for the spring semester. If I get in, then I will go in for a history major. The college's website has a list of internships, and the ones in museums were enough to make me excited as I looked at them. If I do get into this college and can afford to go, then it will require me to move in with Grandma Linda, as she lives much closer to the campus than I currently do. So, some pretty big things might be on the horizon for me later this year.

Well, gotta dash. Our company is beginning to arrive. My next post will probably be about our trip to Florida, which will happen next week.

A Few Summer Events

- A formal dance. Due to popular demand, Mandy decided to plan another formal dance at the church. She and a few of her friends did the decorating themselves, and they asked people to bring the food. That day, Mom and I spent some hours in the kitchen and dining room preparing the food; we contributed some some ham and cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, some baked crackers, and a tray of fruit. I nearly had a fashion emergency when the blue dress that I bought for last year's formal dance refused to zip up (problem with the zipper, not with my waist); I was not happy with the prospect of wearing something that wasn't formal, but Mandy finally managed to get the dress to work, much to my relief.

The dance itself was very enjoyable. We had a good amount of people and, for the first time at any dance, we had an equal amount of guys and girls. I managed to capture some videos of the event, but I was out on the dance floor quite a bit and did not get a lot of variety of the dances. I also had the rare opportunity to dance the complicated Scottish dance "The Clumsy Lover," the only time that night it was done; unfortunately, no pictures or videos were taken of it, though I was told I did a good job at it, despite missing a few of the steps. We danced for quite a long time, and my feet were killing me afterwards. Still, it was worth it.

- Mandy and Ben are still courting. Ben has become a regular fixture at the house, and he has become almost like a fourth child in the family. Lately, he has started his teaching again, and so we are seeing less of him, which is weird because we have gotten so used to him. We got a good laugh out of it yesterday when, while we were at a church wedding, Mandy ended up catching the bouquet; apparently Ben got a good chuckle at it too when Mandy called to tell him about it.

- Mandy has a job. Her first day is tomorrow, but she'll be working for an insurance company. The job is not too far away from the house, and another plus is that she'll be working with two guys who go to our church so she won't be alone at the job either.

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4th of July

Last Wednesday, we had our annual 4th of July family celebration. This year's was special because we had two potential new family members join us for the day; Mandy's suitor Ben and Gabe's girl Sarah were both there and had the opportunity to meet the rest of the family.

This year, we met at Uncle Jason's house. It proved to be a hot day, but it was bearable with low humidity and plenty of shade from the trees. Each family brought their own meat and a few side dishes, and so there was plenty of delicious food to go around. Mom made her first banana cheesecake for the occasion, and it was very, very yummy. After the meal, the younger kids got into the new swimming pool while the adults sat down nearby to talk. It was a quiet yet enjoyable afternoon, just sitting around and enjoying each other's fellowship. Eventually, some of the older kids, feeling the heat, joined the younger ones in the pool. Nathan loved the water, and Noah was constantly holding him up while he squealed with delight and peered over the pool rim at us. Noah also got involved in a rather spirited water gun war with Hannah, which led to some innocent bystanders getting a bit damp.

After spending the afternoon at Uncle Jason's, we stopped by the Howlands for a little visit. We chatted for a little while and then, when the sky had gotten dark enough, walked up the road to watch the fireworks. We did not get a good view because there were too many trees blocking the fireworks, so unfortunately there was not much to see. Finally, because Dad and Seth had work the next day, we had to leave, and we left Mandy to spend the night with the Howlands.

Ever since then, not much else has gone on. Dad and his brothers are traveling for a family wedding this weekend, Mandy has got several social activities, Seth is waiting to hear back from a potential new employer, and I am waiting for Georgia Gwinnett to send my transcripts to an on-line college that I applied for a few weeks ago. We've also been enjoying more interaction with Ben, as he visits us (in particular, Mandy), and last night we kids went out to a movie with him. Otherwise, things have been pretty normal around here. I've heard rumors of another upcoming dance in August, and I hope it'll happen because our last dance was cancelled due to supposedly bad weather and I miss dancing.

Adventures of the Cakes

In March earlier this year, a lady at our church started a cooking class for the young ladies. Once a month or so, we go to her house and cook something. We've made pie crust and pork tenderloin once, and last Saturday it was time to learn how to decorate a cake.

Things got off to a bad start on Saturday morning. Due to an oversight, one of the cats devoured a piece of pizza and left the crust all over the kitchen floor, which meant I needed to clean it up. Then it was time to make vanilla buttercream frosting. We only had enough milk for one batch when we needed two, and Mandy and I had to leave and pick up two other girls for the class. So we grabbed our cakes and the bowl of frosting and began driving all over the county to pick up our friends. It was 9:30 in the morning, and it was already in the upper 80's. It didn't help that our suburban has no A/C, and so it made for a very hot ride. We arrived late, and I fretted over the frosting, which did not look very good but turned out to be fine.

We had a good time. First, we iced our cakes (we got some extra frosting, so there was enough for Mandy and I), which was quite a task in and of itself. Then it was time to decorate. The lady had shown us some techniques, like basket weaving and shell borders, and so it was up to us to experiment and have fun. Mandy decided to go complicated and do a basket weave on top of her cake, which she was not happy with, and I did a poor attempt to recreate an ocean with a sun and a palm tree. After a few hours of handling the sticky frosting and admiring each other's culinary creations, it was time to go. However, we four were beginning to worry. By now, it was around 1 PM, which meant it was very hot. The car had no A/C, and the heat could melt our frosting and ruin our hard work. We rolled down the windows and decided to stop halfway home at Chick-fil-A, where we would bring the cakes inside and let them cool down a little bit. By the time we reached the place, two of the cakes were already showing signs of the frosting melting, smudging, or falling off the cake. After lunch, we resumed the ride home, whereby we were all staring at our cakes and ordering the frosting to stay put for just a little longer.

My cake and Mandy's did not really survive. Apparently, hers was dry and the frosting fell off, and I've been afraid to taste mine. Nonetheless, it was an interesting adventure during the hot temperatures down here.

Feeling Hot

Generally southern summers aren't horrendous in regards to heat; some years are hotter than others, but generally the humidity is what irritates most people.

Not this time. I don't ever recall (though I could be wrong) Georgia getting into the triple digits temperature-wise. According to weather.com, it's already 95 degrees F, and it's not even to the heat of the day yet, which usually happens sometime between 3 and 5 PM. Thankfully we have AC (though two of our cars don't), but our unfortunate garden doesn't. To keep the garden alive in this heat, we're having to water it twice: a good dousing in the morning and then again in the afternoon. Though it makes me worry that I'll water it too late and end up killing the plants instead.

I'm really craving a thunderstorm right now. With sheets of rain lasting for preferably most of the day, both to cool down everything and to water the plants. I pray we'll get rain soon. And not only us but the other heated states, especially Colorado as it battles wildfires.

The Last Homeschooler

Yes, it has happened. Mandy has officially finished high school. Unofficially, however, she still has some work to finish over the summer, but she is technically graduated. The big event took place last Saturday.

On Thursday and Friday, the realization that the party was upon us finally hit us. We began to mad scramble to get the food prepared. I spent two days making the bacon-wrapped smokies and also made the chips for the mango salsa (it took an incredible amount of willpower to stop myself from tasting the fruits of my labors, but I was satisfied with both of them on Saturday), and Mom worked to decorate her cheesecakes, make the salsa, and work on the meatballs (a joint endeavor between her, Dad, and myself), and Mandy went shopping for shoes and a necklace to wear for the party. Saturday was a mad scramble to complete the final preparations, make sure the house was clean, and make sure nothing had been forgotten.

The party was held at church, and the decorating committee did an amazing job at arranging the purple and green on the tables and also at doing the flowers. Because the party was for Mandy and her friend Leila, we had quite a bit of friends and family from both sides come out for the occasion. We had probably close to 150 people, though unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the crowd; so the few pictures I did take make it look like the church was empty, but I assure you that was far from the case. Once everyone was seated, Leila's father got up and welcomed everyone. Then Pastor Strevel got up and gave a charge to Mandy and Leila about being godly women and serving God's kingdom; it was an amazing and well-spoken charge. Then it was time for the first performance. Mandy did not want to give a speech, but Leila did, so they worked out a compromise: Mandy would accompany the singer Joseph while Leila would give a speech. So, Mandy and a few of her friends did a beautiful performance of "Take My Life and Let It Be." I'm going to try to upload it to facebook soon. Then Leila gave her thank-you speech. Then the dads got up, said a little something, and presented Mandy and Leila their diplomas. Then it was time for the highlight of the show: the slideshow of the girls' lives. The slideshow was done by Leila's brother Steven, who did an amazing job on it. Check out the following link to see it on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRf6-5arGzU&feature=youtu.be

After the slideshow, it was time for the reception. There was plenty of food to go around: hummus, stuffed grape leaves (I don't remember if that is the exact name, but I know it is a Lebanese dish), fruit (strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes), bacon-wrapped smokies, mango salsa, meatballs, and then a cheese-cracker dish. There was also delicious punch and plenty of dessert: a small cake from Costco and then Mom made four cheesecakes (including one that was gluten and dairy free, which went over very well and apparently tasted amazing). Mandy was running around, getting pictures with her friends and some family members, and she got several of them. I did not get many pictures because I was either eating or because I was taking pictures with her camera; she has uploaded 27 of them to facebook, so check them out.

Another nice touch was the pictures on the gift table. The girls showed off some of their senior pictures, and each of them had a picture with large white borders that could be signed on. Both of them got plenty of signatures from friends and family, and they each had plenty of gifts and cards.

After the crowds began to thin out, we started cleaning up. Some of the guests, who had arrived late and did not see the slideshow, watched it with us again, and this time we were all laughing and making comments about each other. Then the clean-up resumed. Because we had so many people, the main part of the cleanup took maybe about an hour and a half. Once everyone was gone, Mom did a bit of sweeping and mopping. Seth and Mandy went to a friend's house to relax and have fun, and Mom and Dad went out for an hour or so. I was tired and stayed home, happy to have my feet up and to be relaxed.

Originally, we had had plans to go to Florida this week. However, those plans eventually had to change due to several reasons, including a broken car with no A/C and a broken dryer, so we had to postpone the trip. Dad and Seth still took the week off from work, and they are both relaxing from jobs that are becoming very stressful due to the integration at work. It has been a relaxing week, very nice not to be running around preparing for parties or the like. Mandy and I still are thinking of going to Virginia for the annual family conference later this month, but circumstances have also changed and so neither of us may be going this year.

It has been emotional watching Mandy graduate. On Saturday after the slideshow, her best friend was in tears, and there were several emotional hugs from friends and peers afterwards. Mom has spent twenty years homeschooling the three of us, and now those days are over. We three kids are now graduated from and finished with high school.

Before I close up the post, I wish to express my gratitude to the ladies who helped out with the party. As Mom pointed out, it was amazing to see everyone's specific gifts come out in the preparations. We had her beautiful cheesecakes, the pastor's wife doing a beautiful fruit arrangement, the young women doing the decorations, and even those who did not have a specific gift but worked hard to keep the food stocked and to help out here and there. I offer a big thank you to each of those ladies for their hard work and for the love they put into it on Saturday; without them, the party could not have happened.

Memorial Day Fun

So, we've got a few hours to go before Mandy's graduation party starts, and the last few days have been very hectic. But, before I forget, I'll mention a hilarious event that happened on Memorial Day.

At the farm where the church holds their annual Memorial Day picnic, there is a small lake that most people use it for boating and such. For years, no one dared swim in the lake because it doesn't look very clean and because of giant snapping turtles living in its depths. Last year, because it was so hot, several of the teenagers and young adults jumped in to cool off, and this year was no exception either, even though its temps were reasonable. Last year, someone decided to organize boat races, and they were held again this year. I teamed up with a friend, and we were the first to go up for the women's team. The green boat we were in was a bit tipsy, and it actually tipped half-way over while we were trying to get it into the lake. The race itself was largely neck and neck, and we did better than I expected. We were on our last leg when the other boat got too close and knocked into us, making the boat tip. I grabbed my glasses and bandana just as our boat flipped over. One of the young men jumped in and helped us push the boat back to the shore. It was difficult treading water with me fully dressed (and wearing denim, which is heavy to begin with), but I finally reached shallow ground. Apparently, according to my partner's oldest brother, we were the most entertaining ones to watch. So, needless to say, I spent the rest of the afternoon soaked, but it was fun.

And thus is the tale of my first time being in the water on Memorial Day.