Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

REMINDER: I know I mentioned this in an earlier post, but don't forget to add a little red food coloring to your child's bath water Saturday for Valentine's Day. It doesn't stain them (unless you use the whole bottle), and it is just a fun, inexpensive way to celebrate the day for your little ones. Who doesn't like a pink bath?

We are starting this weekend off a little more scattered than normal. Mikie's coming back from an overnight trip to Mobile on Friday, and Austin is leaving Friday through Monday on a mission trip to Knoxville. Roxie's spending the night with a friend Friday night, and Josh is having a friend over. Roxie has a game Saturday. Mr. Faulkner is having his birthday party Sunday. It just leaves me with a kind of "undone" feeling. I'm grateful for the fun and opportunities they'll have spending time with others, but I WANT all my chicks in one place. Having to wait until Monday night is pretty YUCK!

The Valentine's Day Banquet went well last night. I made the Cranberry Chicken recipe, and I received five stars. As I said on yesterday's post, Fireproof is very good... the acting isn't Oscar worthy, but the story and the message make this a movie definitely worth owning. I'm thinking of giving it as a wedding gift from now on. (Kurt Cameron's acting is very good. Just in case he ever reads the blog... I want him to know I liked him best!)

24 UPDATE: Jack killed some more bad guys. Jack is still good. Bad guys are still bad. (A four year-old could understand this show. I LOVE it.)

LOST UPDATE: There has never been a more perfectly named show than LOST. That's what I am... LOST!!! I'm still watching it faithfully with Josh, and he's still understanding everything that is going on (which makes me feel worse). He's even guessing what's going to happen next during the commercial breaks... and he's getting it right. I'm happiest when I see Sawyer because he looks every bit as confused as I am!

SURVIVOR UPDATE: I know it is just the first show, but the Alabama boy has my vote. Usually when I vote for someone, they're voted off by the third show. We'll see.

Next week there will be no funny stories. There were two reasons I started this blog. (1) I am passionate about sharing all things "family," as well as receiving new ideas from other moms. It is a huge priority in my life; and (2) I wanted to share Josh's story with others in case there are people out there who need support because they are going through a similar illness. Also, I wanted to give people who have no idea what to do in this situation very specific ways they can encourage, support and continue to be a friend to families suffering from this illness. I say "families" because it doesn't just touch one person in your family... it touches everyone in your family. Mike, Austin, Roxie and I are forever changed. I believe with all my heart there is a way to make this chronic illness (meaning it is not going to go away unless God heals Josh) less of a stigma. We decided early on we were not going to be ashamed, and we were going to talk about it with anyone and everyone who would listen. So, next week's "stories" will be all about Josh. It will definitely be the Reader's Digest version because it would take a large book to write about everything that has taken place in the past three years, two months and seven days. I also believe it has taken me that long to get to a place where I could write about it without being bitter and angry. (Just in case some bitterness creeps in, Mike and Josh are both reading and critiquing next week's posts.) I hope you'll still visit. It is time to tell his story.

Story #4 - Blind Date Week - Big Fred

His name has been changed. I haven't used any real names these past four days. All of these dates happened 20+ years ago, and my blind date story today took place exactly 31 years ago. Wow. Time flies when you're having... FUN is not the word I would put here!

I was 16 years old, and had never had a date. Were you like this? The day I turned 16, I just thought the phone would ring off the hook. "Have you heard? Belinda is 16 and she can date now. Get in line!" Well, it didn't work that way for me. (Can you hear the bitterness? See? That's why Mike and Josh are going to have to proof my writing next week. I have a "can't let it go" problem.)

Several months after I turned 16, my pastor approached me about a young man he knew that was in seminary in Birmingham. The young man was going to be giving a short devotion at a Valentine's Day Banquet, and needed a date. Okay. Having no experience saying "no" at all, much less to my pastor, I agreed to let this young man call and escort me to the Banquet. (For the record, the only thing worse than being on a 15-hour date in a bathing suit is going to a Valentine's Day Banquet with a complete and total stranger in a big, puffy dress... and having the obligatory Valentine's Day Banquet picture taken with said total stranger... and the date being your very FIRST date ever in your whole life.)

I was a picture in peach. Hair and make-up done to perfection. I was wearing heels because I had been assured Big Fred (another guy with a nickname) was much taller than me. And he was. He was probably 6'3" or 6'4" and he was a big guy. I still have that picture somewhere. (Even if I found it, I would not post!) He picked me up, and he was very nice, very handsome in his suit and tie (not Coach handsome, but handsome in his own way) and he seemed very happy to see me. We arrived at the Banquet, had our picture made and he seated me at a table with a plate of banquet food while he went to the front of the Fellowship Hall to sit with the other speakers. He planned to give his devotion right after the prayer, and then return to sit with me. However, this was a popular Banquet because during the prayer many, many people came in and sat down. When we said, "Amen," and I looked up, every seat around me was taken... with couples. Uh, oh. This wasn't good... or was it?

I saw him looking at me during his devotion, and surmised he was trying to figure out new seating arrangements. I looked around. The church Fellowship Hall was packed. No seats at all. I looked at him and shrugged helplessly. What was a girl in a puffy peach dress to do? I didn't know a soul (including my date), so I couldn't very well go around rearranging people to make room. I decided to quietly eat my dinner, and we could get together at the end.

Not Big Fred's idea of a good date, obviously. I looked up from my dinner in the middle of the main speaker's speech and Big Fred was motioning for me to come to the FRONT of the Fellowship Hall where he had pulled a chair out of a closet and squeezed it between him and another man. I shook my head and mouthed, "I'm okay," but it was not okay with Big Fred. His arm gestures got bigger and bigger. All of this was happening during the main speech. I was embarrassed, and I was not going to get up in all my peach puffiness and walk from the back of the Fellowship Hall to the front of the Fellowship Hall during the MESSAGE and sit down facing the audience. The odds of me making it up there without falling were not good at all... and just the thought of everyone watching my backside in my puffy peach dress as I walked down the middle aisle (the only aisle) was just too much. So for the rest of the evening, I avoided eye contact with Big Fred and became completely enamored with my chicken, green beans and rice pilaf. I never looked up until the final "Thanks for coming, and be careful going home!" Big Fred was very red in the face, and I couldn't tell if he was angry, frustrated or both.

As it turned out, he was embarrassed and sorry. He apologized a million times for leaving me alone at the Valentine's Day Banquet. I decided to be gracious, and I forgave him.

We got in his car and headed home. He was a nice guy. A Valentine's Day Banquet isn't a good first date or a good blind date... for anyone. He opened the car door for me, and then walked me to the front door. That's when everything got... awkward.

"I had a nice time. Would you like to go out again?" he asked.

"Sure," I said, and I meant it.

And then he asked the worst question you can ask on a date (the worst question to me, anyway)... "Would you mind if I kissed you good night?"

Oh, man. I had just met the guy... and we hadn't even spent that much time together. Maybe 30 or 45 minutes tops! But being INCREDIBLY young and stupid, I responded, "Well, maybe just one on the cheek." Ugh! How young and stupid can you be?

I closed me eyes and waited... and waited... and waited. I peeked out of one eye to see if he had left. Nope, still there. What must have seemed like 18 minutes to me, probably was less than ten seconds, but I was... how did I phrase it... YOUNG AND STUPID, and I just wanted to get it over with. I took charge of the increasingly embarrassing situation, stood on tip-toe and kissed him. I kissed HIM.

Now, kissing him first was bad enough, but because he was so tall, and my eyes were closed, and I moved so quickly... well, I missed. That's right. I missed. I'm sitting here getting sick just thinking about it all over again. I kissed him right on the end of his nose. "Well, there you go," I said, and I darted into the house. I could hear him chuckling on the way back to the car.

Oh, the horror! What an awful first date story! What an awful first kiss story! Three words... AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL! Awful... but memorable!

Big Fred and I dated a few more times, and we had fun. It ended amicably and we went our separate ways. And I'm happy to say by the time Mikie came along, my aim was much, much better!

Book

You probably won't be surprised the Book of the Week is The Love Dare. This is the book the movie Fireproof is based on. It has 40 tasks you are supposed to perform (one task a day), to fireproof your marriage. I love the quote on the front, "Never leave your partner behind." I would recommend watching the movie, and then buying and reading the book. You can find the book in any Christian book store in your area (especially since Fireproof has just come out on DVD).

I will be buying three of these books and saving them for my guys (if and when they become engaged) as a gift. I'm also giving them as wedding gifts, along with the DVD from now on. I don't have a lot of friends getting married, but the next ten years or so are going to be full of weddings as my kids and their friends grow up. (Don't worry. I may buy a set of towels to go along with the book and DVD, too. I don't want to become too predictable!)

Have the most wonderful long weekend. Three whole days. I'll be back next week with more LOVE traditions, dates, parties, etc., etc. And also, I'll be sharing Josh's story.

I'll talk to you Monday.