My Holiday Weekend (so far)

oops! sorry! they wound up on the top! (read the
last paragraph)
this ^ is my pretty darling Jael. You can't see
her bright green eyes here, but she's still
gorgeous! : )




This is my friend Katie holding Misty. See the insane eyes? lol









My weekends are starting to feel a little bit overwhelming. It seems like I have all the free time in the world during the week, but when Friday and especially Saturday and Sunday come, I'm tied up! So...shall we start with Thursday? lol That's when my weekend actually started this time, I think.







We bought a car!!!! I can't adequately describe how happy I am. Can you role "ecstatic," "startled," and "elated" into one word? Well anyway, it's a blue toyota camry solara, and it's not my car (even though my cd is in the player, my sunglasses are in the sunglasses holder, and I picked out the dolphin air freshener), but I'll probably be the one driving it the most often once I get my license. (Just took a break to eat dinner. If you ever feel like educating your tastebuds, try the Wreck from Georgio's. Mmmm!) We bought the camry at the dealership on the corner of Route 6 and 608. The two men who own the business (Mr. Phil Sr. and Mr. Phil Jr.) are truly Christian men who deal with integrity. We got to ride with Mr. Phil Sr. up to Mentor to our mechanic who my dad likes to have look at cars when we think we might like to buy one, and we had the most incredible conversation of hope and salvation. It wasn't what we were expecting from a car dealership, but it was wonderful. And it was truly of God. They'd had the car for a month, and Mr. Phil Jr. decided to put it in a more noticeable position right when my mom had finally decided we really needed another car. The Lord's timing is just too perfect!






Later that night was the youth group (I have to remember to call it Generation now) bonfire. There wasn't actually a bonfire because we felt that it was too wet and muddy, but we did eat and play outside for a couple hours before going inside to play Scene-It. As I was helping Mrs. Rogers carry things up from the garage outside, Toby started fussing and I was the only one in the room. After a moment of lip biting and glancing around hopefully for someone else, I picked him up, paranoid about supporting the head just like I always am. Now, to me, the most natural thing to do to get a baby to stop crying is to sing (and hey, it worked with Jonathon for a little bit on Saturday), so I started up Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which is my absolute favorite hymn. And you know what? He went right to sleep! I guess there's something about praising the Lord that settles babies. Mr. Rogers walked by me after a little while and told me that was one of his favorite hymns, and I was startled. I didn't know anyone from our church knew it; I'd learned it at Zeal! But it was encouraging. My unfounded belief that Mr. Rogers doesn't like me has finally been dispelled. If you didn't know this already, I am very, very sensitive about what others think of me, especially adults I like up to and peers. It's not entirely rational, and I've gotten better with it, but I'm very good at coming up with reasons for everyone I know to completely hate me. So...there. There's a rather big tidbit about my personality. Grr...I'm self-psychiatrizng myself again! Yeah, that's another thing I do. I would be one of those psychology students who thinks they've got everything in their text book, mark my words!






On Friday, which was the fourth, we decided to combine the annual celebration with Jamie and my birthdays. We didn't go to the family reunion/picnic like we usually do every year because my dad thought it would be too wet and muddy, but we invited over my grandparents and aunt and uncle, and had a cook-out. My dad bought this delicious (and expensive. $10.99 to the pound!) prime-rib and cooked it on his roticery on the grill, and it was amazing! I mean, my dad might not be any Guy Cad (I'm stealing that quote from Mr. Rogers. I actually have a couple quotes that I've stolen from him.), but he's quite the grill master! Well, Jamie had actually gone to Geneva on the Lake with her boyfriend Buddy and his aunt, and once they got back we all ate...except for Uncle Mike and Aunt Nene. My aunt Nene's father has been in the hospital for some time, and they'd been there visiting him, so they were understandably very late. Jamie opened her presents, thanked everyone, and then left with Buddy and his aunt, Karen, to go to the fireworks in Warren. I was a little upset, I'll admit; so much for my sweet sixteen! But then I realized I was just being selfish and petty, focusing on the traditions of a culture, and I quickly asked God to help me overcome it. Which, He did, I'm glad to say. My birthday isn't even till the eighth anyway, so I was just being silly. Well, my parents decided to save their present for me until my actual birthday (which makes me very curious as to what it is, because they've never done that before), but I received some very nice gifts and familiar smiles. My dad actually got me a keyboard that plugs into my computer so I can record and do different things with my music at the start of the week, but he told me it was for my grades, not my birthday. Jamie got me a dreamcatcher and $20 so that when the new book in the Twilight series comes out I can buy it; Aunt Nene and Uncle Mike gave me an iTunes gift card for $25 dollars, because they know how much I love music (I've already used $15 dollars of it!); and my grandparents gave me a very pretty piggy-bank and a soft shawl so that during the next Spring Formal at my school, I'll be warm. After that, we went into the kitchen, and the prettiest icecream cake was on the table. My mom even got a little Sleeping Beauty figure (my favorite Disney Cartoon and one of my favorite of Grimms' Fairytales), to put on it for me! Jamie was gone by then, so she didn't have to suffer through the girlishness, but I was overjoyed. It wasn't such a bittersweet sixteen as I had expected, what with the death of Aunt Esther and the absence of my sister.






Today, of course, I volunteered at the Discovery Shop in Chardon from 10-2. Then my dad met me across the street at Taco Bell and we ate lunch together. We then went up to Walmart to look for a volleyball net, since Rosey and I are going to be on the school team this year, but we didn't find one there. However, I did buy a dolphin air freshener for "not my" car and a pack of my favorite gum, and I even saw a very old friend whom I used to take karate with! We then went up to Dick's in Mentor (I drove), and bought a net, only to come home and find out it wasn't a volleyball net but a tetherball! That one was a little embarrassing, especially since I'd been the one to pick it out! My dad plans to take it back tomorrow while we're at church.






Tomorrow, after worship practice and church, are Aunt Esther's calling hours. So, if I'm wearing black, that's why. She was my grandfather's sister-in-law, so we'll probably be there for awhile, which is most likely a good thing. Jeffrey, her son, relies very much on my dad, and I think it will be good for him to have my dad there. My grandparents were especially close to her, and it will be good for them to have my mother's support. My mom's always been like that; supporting people. She might never say much, but you can always count on her for a kind word, sympathy, wisdom, and encouragement. And she always helps, whether noticeably, or in the background. I hope I can grow up to be such a God-honoring woman.






On an entirely separate note, the cats are doing better with each other. Misty has been wandering around the house meowing for no real reason again (yes, that's normal for her. There's a reason we refer to her as our insane cat who needs counseling.). Jael actually let Enoch sleep on the same bed with her yesterday, which is a huge improvement. She doesn't hiss at him anymore, but she does give him a deep growl if he's annoying her too much. Mercy, of course, is aloof and couldn't care less as long as he knows she's in charge.






Well, that's it for now. I promise, I will try to post some pictures soon! They're on my mom's camera (despite my OCD and the organization I try to surround myself in, I can't find mine anywhere), and I don't know where her cable is. Actually, I'll post a couple pictures now. I have some older ones, none of Enoch, but of Jael and I think Misty.






God bless!






- Becca