The Best Laid Plans...Go Oft Awry

Yes, the parade did happen, and no, we did not get rained out.

However, as with planning a wedding there were a few 'unexpected' snafus to contend with.

Like the giant refrigerator box fiasco.

I'd tracked that baby down, had the appliance store hold it, and arranged for Jeff to pick it up. We got it home and safely into our garage Thursday night just before the rains began.

On the way to the work party to finish up the decorations for the float Friday night, we'd taken two seperate vehicles, and I looked back once and noticed in the mirror that Jeff was no longer behind the boys and I on the road. I had to keep going because there were people waiting on us to unlock the doors there.

Jeff arrived about five minutes later.

Without the box.

The difficult-to-procure box-of-immense-proportions which we needed to finish that float.

Though heavily weighted down in the bed of our truck, it's vast size and non-aerodynamic construction were no match for the severe winds and rain that had blown in, and the box 'caught wind' on the way there and blew out of the truck.

A mini-van ambling along behind Jeff's truck promptly ran over it on the flooded road. It was completely unsalvageable.

On to Plan B. B is for Bummer.

Then there was the situation involving our driver for our parade float getting caught in a 3 foot deep flash flood in his company truck the night before the parade. (A funny little aside: he calls for emergency help, and a fireman half his size shows up and says, "I'm here to rescue you. Would you like me to carry you?", lol. Our friend who towered over the firefighter was like, "Uh, no...I'm pretty sure I can make it across on my own, but thanks." Our friend was more concerned for the company truck, I think.) Late that same night, our driver ended up having to go to the emergency room, horribly sick, apparently having caught the same stomach virus his wife had a few days before and had to spend a night in the emergency room for. Oy, poor guy. He's still recovering.

So we find out while getting ready early the morning of the parade that my husband would be the substitute driver. Which changed our morning plans quite a bit.

On to Plan C. C is for cringing (from the additional stress).

This meant leaving earlier than anticipated to get over and pick up the truck and trailer (which we'd been unable to decorate the night before due to rains).

We brought all the decorations along to the meeting place where all the parents were to drop off and pick up their children. It was near to where we were to 'check in' our float.

Lots of kids turned out to participate. Far more than I expected after the calls that began at 6 am that morning asking if I though the parade was still on because it was so cold.

I'm sorry, perhaps it was my childhood in Western Washington where I stood in cold drizzling rain at the bus-stop for about 6 out of every 9 months of each school year, and then during college in Minnesota where I walked to class in the snow and 20 below weather several months of the year, but I don't have much sympathy for people who can't 'endure' the elements for brief periods of time. For crying out loud, for centuries people have survived (and thrived) in extreme weather with far less of the comfort and conveniences the average American has at their disposal today. Didn't these people know that their own grandparents had walked to school for miles, in the snow, in threadbare clothing, barefooted, for heaven's sake?

I finally just began telling them all, "Listen to the local radio station at 6:30...if there is an announcement that it's been canceled, don't show up at the meeting area. If there is no announcement, it's a go. See you at 7:55."

In any case, I was glad for the huge turnout.

Unfortunately, the giant props we'd made for the float were unusable. Partly due to the box fiasco, but mostly due to the whipping winds and because the float was so crowded.

Kind of disappointing when you've sacrificed many hours of sleep to make them, but oh, well...these things happen.

On to Plan D. D was for disappointing.

As it turned out, only the three banners we made were able to be used, and not in the way we'd intended. The two side banners were meant to grace the side of the truck beneath the Nativity scene, but the wind prevented this.

So we were forced to go to Plan E (E is for the Lord enabling us to still participate in the parade), by stapling them to the walls of the trailer full of carolersinstead.

We get to our meeting location at 7:15 am, and it's spitting rain intermittenly. Yes, it was horribly windy and COLD! Cold-enough-to-snow cold.

The kids were troopers.

We'd staple-gunned the giant Grand Prix car on the back corner of our float since one of our clubbers spent so much time working on it...but it blew off in a gust of wind.

On to Plan F. F is for following.

Which was what our Pastor was doing behind the float right then, and managed to stop and rescue the prop, but was unable to get it back to us in time due to the staging area being closed to all but parade floats.

Below is a picture I took from the float at the beginning of the parade route, where I spotted my mother in law (left center) and my sister in law (right center) all bundled up to see the parade.



Here was our trailer full of carolers. The red and green scarves were intended to make us 'match', but the cold necessitated wearing coats which were in every color imaginable. Instead, they came in handy for bundling up cold faces and wiping noses.

On to Plan G. G is for Gusto.

Which is what our Carolers sang with, thus really 'making' our float.

In spite of prop failure, we still got the message out, and represented the true meaning of Christmas. Perhaps the Lord intended that all along...take the focus off the 'props' and put them on the true meaning of Christmas.

Which means that our Plans A-G may not have been God's plans to begin with. Which brings to mind the following scripture.

Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

The scaled down version wasn't so bad after all. In the end, this was what our merry trailer full of Christmas carolers looked like.

And below is our Nativity scene.

By 9:15, the skies were clear and the sun came out, warming things up considerably. My son is in the green costume with the winter coat beneath it. He came running up before we left to show me, "Hey mom, check me out! I look obese!" He was holding his belly and laughing like it was a 'bowl full of jelly', lol. (He's embarrassed that I'm showing this picture, so I told him I'd explain).

And you sharp-eyed readers might have noticed that something very important was conspicuously missing from our Nativity scene...and not just the angels wings (the one in white on the right side). Nope, I'm talking about the Baby Jesus.

Heh, heh...there's a funny story about that (and no, it does not involve another a theft on the part of my toddler, lol). In fact, I went to great pains to get the baby Jesus doll to the costume lady Judy. Once she had it in her possession, it was out of my hands, and therefore no longer my responsibility, so we're completely in the clear, lol.

During the chaos of getting costumes over kids coats in the freezing cold wind earlier that morning just before float check-in time, the baby Jesus doll was accidentally left behind in Judy's van. We realized this on the way to the staging area, but her husband was unable to get it to us because the streets were barricaded to all but floats. This picture was taken shortly after we stopped at the staging area but before the actual parade began.

One of the girls in the caroling group happened to have a small white blanket along. Judy took it and improvised a bundled up thing that resembled a baby in swaddling clothes. Our little Mary held that during the parade itself, so all was not lost. The message about the true meaning of Christmas went out, and everyone had a great time.

All in all, it was a wonderful parade, and the props we didn't use were all saved for possible use in next year's parade.

:: :: :: ::

After the parade, we dropped off the trailer and truck to the appropriate homes, dropped by the store for a birthday card, and rushed to the family party. We stayed for a while visiting, then left to get over to the craft store to pick up a forgotten item for my craft station at that evening's "Christmas Craft Night", then jetted home for a quick nap before the big event.

Little Judah had only a half hour of intermittent napping in the cab of the truck during the parade. He was a trooper, but on the way home from the party, he couldn't take it another minute and became rather whiney.



He cried and cried.



Then he stopped.

And was so tired he drifted off for a brief nap during our drive home.

We arrived home, ready to take a nap...but Judah woke up revived and refreshed, and raring to go.

Needless to say, Jeff and I didn't get to sleep until last night about 10 pm. Never was I so thankful for our new later starting time at church as I was this morning!