3232 Houston to LaGrange

This weekend, Cameron rode in the MS150 for the third time.

  We made the drive over to LaGrange to watch her head in to the finish line on Saturday,

 Day One of the two day ride. 

My sister and her husband joined us this year so we packed an ice chest with lots of beverages and picnic food.  Plus chairs.  Plus signs.  And sunscreen. 

And the wait began for #3232.

This is the view we stared at for hours.  Bikers coming around that curve.

After several hundred bikers, they all begin to look alike.

And we cheered them all on.

Watching.

We ♥ 3232!

(Cameron's number ...and much shorter to paint on a sign)

Retrieving the blown over sign....for the fiftieth time.

We got lots of "whoops" and "gig'ems" because of that maroon chair.

And some "what about me?  Do you love me, too?"

The answer was "of course."

Bikers short.  Bikers tall.  Bikers wide.  Bikers small.

Bikers breathing fumes.

Bikers staying together.

Bikers standing out in the crowd.

A biker we knew! 
This was our preacher when we lived in Pecan Grove.

  He baptised Will 21 years ago. 

We haven't seen him in at least 14 years.

He acted like he recognized us but he had been on a bike
in the wind for hours and we've aged a bit...
not to mention we were out on the side of the road...

and not in a church pew where he had seen us 14 years before.

But like the nice preacher he was,
 he stopped and spoke to us...
maybe because we hollered his name.

And finally!  There she is....the biker on the right.  #3232

We got there at 3:00

 (due to Chuck's rushing us to get there so we wouldn't miss her). 

By the time we spot her it's 6:20 p.m.

We've cheered on a million bikers,

 eaten several helpings of picnic food

 and gotten a little sunburned.

All for #3232. 

It was worth every bit of the wait to see that determined girl

with the big grin and positive attitude. 

After Cameron got back on her bike to head on to the finish line and then a shower and some sleep,

 we drove on to Austin for the night. 

We all took spit baths and met up with Jordan and Chris and Will for dinner.

Will had driven over from Nacogdoches and

 Jordan and Chris were visiting Austin for a long weekend. 

Dinner was at 10:30 p.m. 

A long, long day.

Saw all 3 of my kids and
 was with my sister all day.

A very good day.

Lucky

Last week I was sent an invitation to a benefit being held at my friend Tori's home (an adorable century old home sitting in what used to be a dairy farm) for a little boy named Tynan who is fighting a battle with leukemia.  Tynan's sister is in 3rd grade at the elementary school where I worked for 5 years.  While I don't know Tynan, I do remember seeing the sister around the school...and I know that the whole school has been impacted by this family and their situation. 

Saturday evening was "Dinner in a Dairy Field" including bbq, a silent auction, raffle tickets, music and lots and lots of open field.  The best part for me was seeing so many of my friends in one place.  I have to admit, I've been terrible about keeping up with my friends from my "school days" but I'm sure everyone understands.  We are all like rats on a wheel..and time just spins away. 

The most touching moment of the evening was the release of hundreds of butterflies.  A friend got up and spoke about the significance of the butterfly....

According to an American Indian Legend, if anyone desires a wish to come true they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it.

Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly can not reveal the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit who hears and sees all.

In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants the wish.

So, according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

Obviously this was a most touching moment.  All of us wishing, praying, begging for this family and for a very sweet, very ill Tynan....

for his sister who never left his side for one moment the whole evening. 

At the end of the evening, they announced the silent auction winners and the raffle ticket winners.  

I never win anything.

Never.

I mean NEVER.

But I won the top prize being given out for the raffle!

A Kindle Fire.

And I haven't felt right about it since Saturday night. 

I can't put my finger on it. 

Why am I feeling so dang guilty about this? 

We paid the money for the raffle tickets. 

A kind and generous person....who happens to be the mother of one of my teacher friends...donated the Kindle Fire for the raffle. 

I won it fair and square. 

So why do I feel guilty?

Maybe it's because something really fun and great happened to me at the end of that fun evening. 

And Tynan went home to fight his battle. 

That mother is watching her son fight that battle. 

And her world is turned upside down.

 And I never had to watch one of my children fight like that. 

I feel so lucky.  So very, very lucky.  

And that makes me feel guilty. 

I'm working on it. 

Perhaps Tynan will win his battle.  Perhaps he will be taken way too soon from this earthly place. Only God knows.  But Tynan is leaving his mark on hundreds of people in my community already. 

And for a brief moment on Saturday evening, hundreds of people stopped

and released butterflies to carry Tynan's wish to the heavens.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

 

Vanity

A lot is going on around the house....pulled out the last carpet in the house (our master bedroom) and had hardwoods put down.  And pulled out the hardwoods in the Powder Room and put down some marble.

A lot is NOT going on around the house....laundry...vacuuming...cooking. 

The house is totally out of order and it's all I can do to keep calm about it.  But until all the painting and plumbing is done, there is no point in trying to put things back.  The target is to have it all done by Monday...when the plumber is scheduled to come and put in the vanity sink and toilet.  The problem is we have a full weekend planned.  I really shouldn't be on here now...but I'm waiting on paint to dry so I'm updating this neglected blog.

Let's go back a few months....walking down the hall to our bedroom.....

Me:  Chuck, it smells in here.

Chuck:  I don't smell anything.

Me:  It's smells like tee tee.

Chuck:  I don't smell it.

Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.

Chuck didn't smell it because he knew if he smelled "it"...."IT" would probably cost him money. 

Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat. 

Finally....months later...Chuck says he doesn't smell anything, but he believes me.  We get an estimate for new hardwoods in the bedroom.  And while they're here, we have them estimate tearing out the hardwoods in the Powder Room and replacing with some tile or marble.  NEVER put hardwoods in around a potty...I don't care what others say.  Because if that potty ever overflows....and the potties in our house have....the wood will never look the same.  It will be milky, warped and musty around the toilet.  Yuk.

As our little projects tend to do....this one has grown.  We decided since we had to have the sink taken out for new floors, we would look at new sinks.  And since we had tile guys here and were going to paint the walls anyway, we might as well get the back wall bricked to match the kitchen and den wall.


Once Chuck loosens the death grip on his checkbook, he kind of likes to shop (he will call it research)  and spend a little money...it was his idea to get a new sink and I threw out the brick idea and he ran with it.  He's out "researching" as I type.

This is the 1/2" brick pavers that we put in our kitchen and den.  Either we live here forever or the next people better love brick walls. 

 

Found this vanity at Laurie's Home Furnishings in Tomball. 

It was exactly what I didn't know I was looking for.

Now Chuck is "researching" one hole faucets. 

Hopefully, he finds one before Monday when the plumber arrives.

I'm excited about this newness in my "getting older" house.  Better get back to painting.

If you have time, check out this Arizona photographer's blog.....she took Jordan and Chris's pictures for their 2nd anniversary.  So you can catch a glimpse of the old married couple. wink