All Kinds Of Frumpy Randomness

Oopsie. Tad oversight on the part of this here blog.

Sorry about that.

I have no excuse. Things just got craaa-zay.

And by crazy, I mean in the not-only-planning-for-Christmas-but-also-planning-a-wedding kind of craziness.

Yes, because Christmas festivities just aren't enough to have on one's mind during December, I am also helping a nephew and his fiancee plan their wedding and reception.

And crazy me, I volunteered to not only head up decorating the chapel and the reception hall, but also to make their invitations.

Did I mention they wanted an L.A. Lakers theme to the whole thing?

Or that when I first agreed to help with this wedding, it was to be later in the spring...months away. Then it got bumped back to early January, with a mere 6 weeks to plan the entire thing out. Yipes!

Or that I volunteered to make fancy pop-up invitations?

Why do I always do this to myself?

Inevitably, as always seem to happen with weddings, there were problems with some of the pictures I was furnished for the project, and so we also had to do an impromptu photo shoot to get something that would work a little better. Which is a whole other blog posting.

The front cover needed to look somewhat traditional yet include Laker colors and a border of their wedding flower of choice, the hibiscus:



And the bride wanted to replicate the look of an actual Laker's ticket for the inside, containing all the pertinent details:



And here is the finished project product...in all it's z-fold, pop-up glory:



Whew...I was sweatin' it for a few days there, let me tell ya! I was neck-deep in wedding projects when I should have been getting my Christmas stuff done, and a youth group party at our house bearing down on us.

Jeff was a tremendous help, holding down the fort so I could get completely caught up.

This magical little tool was a wonderful help with the wrapping, too. Have you seen these things?



Mine was made by the Scotch tape people...and is a little like a toothbrush handle with a perfectly perpendicular (say that 10 times fast!) xacto knife inside it's 'mouth' which zips across wrapping paper like lightnin'. Made gift-wrapping a breeze!

I'm thrilled to say that as of last night, all I have left to do in preparation for Christmas is to finish some baking and a craft and deliver some goodies locally.

As Judah says, "YippeeHOO!"

The gifts are wrapped, cards are out, decorations up, church Christmas festivities (parties, visiting, Christmas Cantata) are mostly a wrap for the season, having been thoroughly enjoyed along the way.

Here, Judah was caroling with his AWANA group in a local nursing home, spreading cheer.

Singing loud for all to hear.



We were also scheduled to go caroling again last evening, but it was canceled due to inclement weather.

By inclement weather, we don't mean your run-of-the-mill snow or icy road conditions.

Nope, we mean the mud blocking the entrance to our church parking lot (enough to require a grader to move it all), flash flooding with water-mains breaking and dams spilling over adding to the flooding, roads washing out and area levee's being carefully monitored to be sure they held kind of inclement weather.

Here we were foolishly braving the road conditions to get some Christmas shopping done. It was hubcap high water gushing about in the streets (and this was during a break from the actual rain)!



One local friend saw several cars stuck window-deep in water on her way to work just minutes away from home, and some friends from our church had their dirt road wash out in the flash flooding leaving behind large ditches impossible to cross with a car (requiring county road crews to repair it), and are literally stranded in their home, which has turned into something of a castle with a moat surrounding it. Thankfully they were well-stocked and had nothing pressing to attend to!

Yes, in the desert of the great American Southwest, inclement weather is done differently than most other places.

Ugh. If it weren't for this little promise hanging in the sky:



I would have been a little worried that we were gonna need to board a boat two by two!

Of course, this lovely sky captured shortly after the rainbow helped, too.



In addition to all this lovely rain, we also had a bit of seepage in the same corner of our master bedroom closet as last year.

Last year it was due to ankle deep water flooding in, and we'd fixed that particular drainage issue, but as it turns out...during the deluges of the past few days, the sheets of rain splashing off the eaves onto our AC unit outside were still hitting a particular spot of the foundation behind it (on the other side of our Master bedroom closet) just right so as to wick inside, if that makes sense.

So, our carpet is once again pulled back with heater-fans drying out the area.

The fun just never ends!

:: :: :: ::

In the midst of all the chaos of the past couple of weeks, we also managed to squeeze in attending Jericho's final wrestling tournament.

He battled his season-long nemesis...the previously ranked #2 guy in his weight class in the league, defeating him and bumping him out of the running for the 3rd place medal.

It was a huge personal victory for Jericho.

Judah couldn't have been more proud of his big brother.



Even if he did pull another of his 'most embarrassing moments' stunts about halfway through the tournament.

The hubby, who is also one of Jericho's coaches, had a bit of a break and came up in the stands to visit with us for a bit.

Moments before he'd met up with us, I'd taken this picture, after little brother asked me to help him put big brother's headgear on.



Little did I know what visions of grandeur he was conjuring up in his mind at that moment.
While handing out snacks to Jeff and Jericho, I look down on the mats (in the middle of a match, mind you) and see this:



I freaked and choked and pointed, and Jeff shouted his name and motioned he'd better get back up there pronto took care of things quickly.

(The above photo was a post-tournament re-enactment of the actual events, with the very same boy who'd been on the mats with Judah earlier, taken just before Judah finally pinned his guy.)

And there was much chuckling around us in the stands as a result. **blushes**

Jericho's victory was a proud moment for us all.



I loved this photo best of all, with Grandma's finger blocking the bottom of my cell phone camera lens...and Judah frantically jumping up and down trying to make it into the photo. We took others with Jeff holding him up in the frame, but this one was my personal fave.

Did I mention how happy I am that Wrestling season is over? I don't think I could have handled one more match-worth of the nail-biting involved when your baby is out there on the mats, straining and striving for victory. It's exhausting...my abs were sore just from watching!

Later that evening, Jericho appeared in the kitchen wearing his dad's high school letterman jacket (excavated from the depths of the coat closet), and filling it out like a high schooler even if he is only in 8th grade.



And the cool thing about it...the first initial with the last name emblazoned across the back match his own, and so Jeff reluctantly relinquished the beloved relic, allowing him to wear it to school once...the day the team proudly wore their wrestling medals to school and placed their 3rd place trophy in the case in the main office.

**sniff, sniff** The boy is growing up!

:: :: :: ::

In other completely unrelated news, the olive trees in our desert are loaded with fruit.

Ever see an olive tree up close?



It's a beautiful sight.

I'm thinking we need to plant a couple of these on our little patch of land.

But then, we're big olive people in our household.



"Mama...don't I look just like a tree frog?"

Um...okay, if you say so...

:: :: :: ::

Whatever you do, don't make these as last minute Christmas goodies:



Because even though Pretzyls + Rolos + Pecans (melted together briefly in the oven) = easy, tasty Turtle-like candy confection that the kids will happily and willingly help to assemble...they are just tooooo tempting.

Sinfully so.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT make these.

Addiction...it's a slippery slope.

'Round Here Lately...

No doubt everyone remembers their first car.

That old bucket o' bolts that was held together with duct tape and baling wire, and which coasted into gas stations on a wing and a prayer?

Or was that just mine?

**blushes**

In any case, most folks have had at least one vehicle which was utterly humiliating humbling to drive.

But they were your wheels, and you were grateful to have them.

As is the case with Judah's first car.



It's missing a headlight (from trick riding on the hood while operating the pedals inside with his hands). Scared much, mom?

The paint job has been horribly damaged by the desert sun.

And it currently has to be pushed around because the battery refuses to charge as it should and we've not been able to locate a replacement.

But they're his wheels, and he enjoys that car regardless of whether or not it moves on it's own.

Note the bow hanging over the roll bar in front of him.

Doesn't every desert dwelling jeep owner carry one of these at all times?

Judah seems to think so.

I'm just thankful that the arrows are tipped with suction cups, because he was shooting them straight up into the air moments before, letting them fall where they may.

And his expression? That was him saying, "Mo-ohm"...because I had just scolded him with that favorite mom-line, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"

:: :: :: ::

I just love when we manage to capture moments like these on the camera.

Both our boys kickin' back on the sofa together...hanging out and enjoying each others company.



What could possibly bring them together in such a peaceful manner?

Mostly the fact that big brother was exhausted after his wrestling tournament earlier and little brother exhausted from watching it.

It might also have had a little something to do with the fact that Toy Story 2 was playing on the TV.

I like to think, however, that the feelings of brotherly love had carried over a bit from earlier that day.

That was when little brother seemed to sense that big brother was nervous about his upcoming match...the third one of the day.

And, thoughtful little brother that he is, seemed to know just what would help.



Sometimes it's not so much that they're there at that pivotal moment in life...but the fact that they care.

That they will love you no matter the outcome.



And that they'll be cheering for you all through your match, pulling for you to win, but loving you anyways even if you don't.

And that they'll be proud-to-busting when you take home the 2nd Place medal for your weight class at the tournament.



Admittedly, it might also have had a little something to do with the fact that big brother shared his Gingerbread shake with you at Red Robin after his big victory. Even if you did eat the lone gingersnap on off the top.



In any case...I like it, and want to see a lot more of it.



"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another." ~ Romans 12:10

A Wrestling Meet

It had been a pretty rough couple of weeks in our house.

Jericho's coach needed another guy in the 120's weight class, and so Jericho had to drop a few pounds to make weight.

For a lean and wiry guy like him, this was no easy task.

It involved switching to a low-sugar, low-carb, high protein diet for a few days, and running a couple of miles each morning and night on the treadmill.

Because he usually takes a pretty good size lunch to carry him through from breakfast to the end of his after school sports practices, eliminating the carbs was like torture to him.

And because I was the one packing those lunches, I was the bad guy.

It's hard to hear your kid say, "I'm starving, mom...my stomach growls all day long...I need more!" The accompanying pleading look of desperation almost did me in.

But the goal was in sight, and we knew it was important for his own personal discipline and training that he see this thing through to the bitter end.

We gave him plenty of fruits and veggies between meals to help fill the void.

And discovered that spaghetti squash makes a pretty good substitute for a pesto dish when you can't have all the carbs in the usual whole wheat pasta version.

The night before the big meet, about 8 pm, when Jericho was once again ravenous and foraging in the fruit bowl having already burned off his dinner from two hours before, I heard him rhapsodizing, "...and when the meet is over tomorrow...I'm gonna have a big ol' spoonful of peanut butter! And two hardboiled eggs! And milk! And...and...bread....I miss bread!"

Poor kid didn't even remember all the candy he got trick-or-treating, lol.

Nevertheless, after all the coaxing coaching him along to meeting this goal, by the morning of the big weigh-in we were all on pins and needles.

After weighing himself that morning, Jericho came walking into the kitchen, arms upraised in victory and yelled excitedly, "I get to have raisin bran!"

I never thought in a million years that I would ever hear my teenager utter such words...ever, lol.

Ha ha, nothing like a strict dietary restrictions to really help him get his priorities in order.

Apparently those raisins were like ambrosia after two weeks of nothing but 'health' foods and very little sweet stuff.

Anyway, despite the 85 degree temps in November (seriously...when is fall going to arrive in our desert, anyway?), the day was gorgeous.

Here was a beautiful crimson tree on his school campus which really popped against the blue, blue sky.

Love. The. Fall.



Frumpmama that I am, my crochet bag comes along to all meets. Having something to do to pass the time helps to keep my mind off the discomfort of those hard wooden bleachers.

And the little girls nearby who, along with Judah, love to play with the hilarity inducing Flarp for the entire two hours.

But when it's Jericho's turn to wrestle...I feel this unusual transformation come over me.

Truly, a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of transformation.

I go from the cool-calm-collected-crocheting wrestling mom to the drop-everything-and-cheer-like-a-crazy person version of myself.

"GO GET 'EM, JERICHO!"

"THAT'S MY BOY!"

"WooHOOOOOOO!"



Those few minutes your kid is on the mat feel like an eternity.

I bob and dodge and strain to the left and right just as keenly as though I were the one on the mat, praying all the while that the other guy (in red) not hurt my baby.



Jeff, too.

That's him in the upper left corner in the blue shirt.



He's assistant coach and has to keep the book during each meet, and does a great job of it.

But when his kid gets out there...he, too, feels that transformation come over him.

He's like a crouching tiger...and it's all he can do to restrain himself as coach, to hold back and let the head coach do the yelling and to not show too much extra enthusiasm or partiality when he has an entire team of boys to encourage along.

But we needn't have worried.

This was about two swift movements before Jericho pinned his guy. "WooHOOOOO!"



Wow...that's exhausting!