What the stinkin' heck? Winter comes to GA

So you know how I live in GA?  And some of the reasons I live here are that I can have pansies growing in pots all year, and it rarely snows, and the temps always stay in the solid double digit range.  I have an ice scraper somewhere from my WV, MN, IL NE, KS days, but I don't know where, and I don't care. Well maybe I should start to care.  Usually, in GA, on that rare chilly morning that our windows are frosted, we just grab that spray in the yellow can, spray the windshield and voila, problem solved.  However, these being the times that they are, I believe we're in for some weather surprises, as demonstrated.

Last Tuesday the temps were predicted to go single digits.  That's a big deal here in GA and they did the right thing by cancelling school, because we don't have any warm coats or gloves or hats.  We made sure the hoses were unhooked from the outside spigots because we didn't want any trouble.  Tuesday night, as we were preparing to return to school, Gabe asked, "Did you notice that the water was weak?"  Denial.  "You probably showered while the washer was running."  As a matter of fact I thought I heard the other shower running.  Tuesday morning I thought I heard the shower still running...wait a minute.  I looked all around and saw nothing until I went downstairs.  The patio was wet as was the carpet in the basement.  Luckily, I had been taught where the main water valve was a few months before.  (Set that as a goal when you're fifty.) I turned it off and my brain hit overload.  I didn't have a plan or a clue what should be done next.  I proceeded with a normal morning schedule, kids to school, me to seminary.  It was there that I made contact with intelligent adults (my friend Rebecca) who returned with me to my house and its situation. At least it had occurred to me to call the plumber.  Apparently, I was about the millionth person in our community to call with a water problem.

Eventually the nice plumbers got to our house.  As suspected, we had a broken pipe.  I learned about how the pipe goes along the outside wall and if you cut the wall open there it is.  And said pipes are about as flimsy as a plastic straw so if it gets really cold outside, like no one ever expected, then you get a sizable crack which enables lots and lots and lots of water to spread itself all around the inside of your house. They replaced the flimsy pvc pipe with another flimsy pvc pipe and showed me where the spigot valve was.  Now I'm little miss find the water valves.  I also have been taught to turn these spigot valves off until summer comes.

I made more phone calls to lots of flood restoration type people, as did those millions of the Georgians who had been calling the plumber the previous day.  And then we sucked up a lot of water with our shop vac.  It was a strangely satisfying job as I dumped about 14 gallons of water into the bathtub.

Eventually, the professionals came and started doing their professional thing.  It was an interesting experience.  When I see people on the news who have escaped a tornado or other natural disaster but have  lost personal belongings, I always think, "They only lost things.  They still have their family."  This is a true principle, but I was surprised at the loss I felt.  It wasn't as much the personal belongings, but just the general "This is how things were and now they aren't any more."  I didn't know that was going to be the last time I laid on my basement floor and watched a movie.  I didn't know my costume closet  was going to get drenched and some of my costumes would not be the same.  Nothing serious, I just wasn't ready.  I'm thankful for the compassion I gained in that little tutorial.  It needed to happen.

And now, my carpet is clean and I can lay on the floor and possibly watch a movie if we figure out how to reconnect the electronics.  And I hated the inconvenience, but I feel a little stronger and a little more prepared for life.  My new pipe is wrapped in a blanket while waiting to be covered in sheet rock again, and all my valves are off, and I'm thinking, "What can I do to be more prepared for surprises?" And that's a very grown up thought, so life is good.

Happy Birthday Eliza

Happy Birthday Beautiful Daughter. It's been a joy to be your mother. I'm so happy with the woman you've become.  You'll be a great blessing to your children.  xoxoxoxoxo

Poor little starving thing.

Who wouldn't want this great girl to be their mom?

Heaven loves families/Jacob's wedding

Now that we were in Elk Grove, CA, it was time to get down to some wedding business.  First stop, Men's Wearhouse.  And can I say that we were really appreciative of the warm weather.  When we all piled into the store, and they told us we had to go to the store across the large parking lot and down a ways we weren't even mad.  We just walked Stoker style on over there (That means there was a bit of singing and dancing and shenanigans along the way.) There's nothing like a guy in a tux.  They all looked snazzy.

After that task was complete we went to Alexa's home to be with her family who had kindly invited all the family members travelling from out of town for delicious lasagna, garlic bread, salad and dessert.  (I know I talk about food a lot, but it's a favorite detail of my life.)  The next activity was Jacob's bachelor party.  We made it great, (like Mormon's do) Aaron and Clarissa invited us to their suite. We played games with the family, took some couch pictures to capture the memories and then went to bed early.  Wild and crazy, I know.

The next morning it was show time.  Our job was to show up dressed and pressed with the groom on time.  I think there may be something to dressing for the day's events at the beginning of the day and not trying to bring clothes to change into.  As far as I could tell, everyone had all the right shoes, socks, shirts, dresses, etc. and we were at the right place at the right time.  It was a solid start to a wonderful day..

The ceremony, once again, was beautiful.  We saw some family friends from a long time ago and got to spend more precious time with cherished family members. The weather was sunny and mild with a slight breeze.  We took a lot of pictures, had Chicago Fire for lunch, rested in the hotel for an hour and then headed to the reception.

Brandon and Mallory's cuties

We got Nathan and Ariane!
They were unavailable at the last wedding due
to finals and winter storms which kept
Ariane from making it to UT.

Sisters

The reception was at Viscaya in Sacramento.  We watched a cute video of Jacob and Alexa. We ate mashed potato martinis and pie, danced a lot, played with glow sticks and sent the newlyweds on their way with sparklers.  It was the best New Year's Eve party I've ever been to.

<3

Very polite cake feeding.  Made a mother proud.

Newlyweds tearin' up the dance floor

Dancing with this sweet granddaughter.
She even let me use her magnificent wand.
What fun flower girl flowers.

awesome cousins

Newlyweds from 2011

What a happy blessing for parents to have 2  more children married well.  My life is blessed beyond measure.

After the reception, we had one last New Year's Eve Activity.  Paul's sister Cathy taught us how to play "Left, Center, Right".  Typically it would be played with chips, but Cathy is very generous so we played it with quarters and dollars.  When the games ended we all had  quarters for laundry and tolls except Joseph who actually got the dollars.  I guess that's fine because he's the student having a new baby.  Yay for buying diapers.  Thanks, Cathy, for the fun.

The next day we flew home without incident.  My good friend, Rebecca, picked us up from the airport and delivered us to our door and we were done.

Goodbye cute newlyweds!

My tired little traveler girl on the way to the airport.

There was one little travelling surprise a few days later.  My daughter-in-law, Erica, had to get out of St. Louis early before a winter storm hit.  She flew to Atlanta instead of Savannah and rented a car.  While I know that was extremely inconvenient for her, I felt blessed to see all my family members (except Daniel who's deployed) over the Christmas season.  Heavenly Father is kind.

And now we're looking forward to a fantastic 2014 because life is fantastic.