Fall is here

I think that during the past few days the clouds came around to give the sun a little privacy so that she could change into her most dazzling outfit of all--a golden fall sheath. I rejoice every year when the light changes to gold and the air gets cooler the way they did today. I'm so excited that my wedding will be during this magical week of change.

I think I'm done with my essential planning and prep now. I finished the last big shopping trip today after going to the faculty and staff welcome reception at the college where I work. There are more and more students on campus every day now.

What an emotional time this is. I can barely keep track of all of the feelings that flit by. Sitting in church yesterday I found myself thinking "Wait--did I just remember something that worried me? What was it? I don't think I prayed about it." I'm really glad that I only have to work for two more days, and then I get to spend a couple of days with friends having fun before the wedding. Having fun doesn't require much concentration, and it is exhausting in a much more refreshing way than working at a new job is.

Jimmy may not be in the mood to get married if he doesn't get an elk in the next 24 hours. He hasn't gotten one yet, after a week trying, and he seems a little discouraged. He will be back from hunting just as I'm finishing up my work day on Wednesday probably, so I'll get to see him just before I head back to Portland for my "bachelorette" days.

He may have a little bit of a mess to clean up here at the house after the flurry of sewing and gluing and assembling that I've been up to, but I just ironed his and the boys' outfits for the wedding, so I guess he owes me a favor. His sister and dad moved our old couches away and our new couches in from the garage yesterday, so Jimmy will be surprised to see a snazzy new living room when he arrives. It's been hard to have him away for the past week, but it is sweet to miss each other so much right before the wedding too. I think it is good that he got some extended guy time and a week away to reflect on the coming changes.

I don't know if I'll be able to write much for the next week! This is where things get crazy! Prayers would be very appreciated.

Heart catches up with head a bit

The hot air balloons appeared again yesterday above Newberg! I wonder if they have made their way to Portland by now? Keep an eye out, friends!

Tonight, after finishing the wedding playlists, it started to sink in that I live here in this new house. I'm not just visiting. I've been telling Taj that we live here, with my mouth and my brain since Sunday, but my body and my heart seemed to catch up tonight. My response was a little mixed. I do feel at home here--lots of freedom and ownership (thanks Jimmy). But it is still a little foreign. I feel like a real grown up in this nice, new house. It isn't my usual thrown together or fixed up little apartment or cottage. It is so big that I can turn on the bathtub water, go downstairs to tuck Taj in, and forget about the water, because I can't HEAR it. I'm used to hearing everything. (No, I didn't flood the bathroom--not quite.)

Well, I suppose when you are going to be a newlywed with kids, it is a good thing when everyone can't always hear everyone else. So thank you Lord, for this nice new and spacious house. Thanks for the plants and the flowers that I have warmed it with, and for the good, fresh food that I was able to cook up tonight for the two of us.

Now on to the wedding programme. I am on a roll. Need to keep the momentum. And tomorrow is sewing day. Sewing tablecloths, a veil, a garter, a slip for the flower girl.... Me oh my, as my grandma would say, I have a lot to do!

Pretty things flying in the sky...

This was our great delight on the trip to school yesterday... four hot air balloons hovered close to the horizon over the hay and corn fields. You can only see two in the photo--they were all four very low. I have no idea what a hot air balloon expedition was doing out at quarter to eight on a Monday morning, but it sure did cheer me up. We had missed the bus due to Dundee traffic.

Dundee traffic is the bain of my new life, I must say. Normally we make it past Dundee, to downtown Dayton, where I pass by the old brick church where my dad was interem pastor for a year when I was five. That's where T is supposed to catch her bus. But if we miss it, we go another 15 minutes South. Those balloons were worth an extra 15 minutes!

Taj had her first soccer match yesterday, and to my great surprise, she played half of the game! She has only played soccer for one week now, so I thought she'd be on the bench the whole time. I was very proud of her willing attitude, and impressed with her coach for praising her so much. I hadn't even attended a soccer match before. I got there on time, and parents were trickling in, setting up camp chairs all along the painted line in the grass that designated the side of the playing field. I sat down in my skirt, in the dry grass (luckily it was a thick skirt) and smiled at toddlers who toddled by--they were the only ones at my eye level.

I have been shy around strangers since birth, which many of my friends would never guess, but these social situations with parents and sports are the worst for me. I definitely don't identify with soccer moms. I was so proud of myself for turning and speaking to a parent who came along and sat behind me.... but it didn't turn out very well. She was intesely cheering for her son, who I assumed was a daughter because it sounded like the name "Isa" which I thought I knew from Dora the explorer, and I always thought Isa was a girl.... My first mistake was distracting the woman from her son's moves, and then I assumed out loud that he was a girl. I don't know if she moved to another part of the field to get away from me or the sun, but I'm hoping it was the sun. So I have not really fully met another parent yet, and school is one week in session now. Next time I will bring my sand chair. That will get me a little closer to being at the parents eye level.

They won the match. Now that I know that T gets to play, I guess I'll start inviting family and friends to come watch, but middle school soccer is not really that fun to watch, to be honest. Jazz band concerts are much more interesting. I think the Timbers must be a lot more fun. We'll have to go to a match some time. I wonder if their season is up?

Today I made my first trip to the Farmer's Market that just started up about six blocks from our house. We got: three summer squash, a bunch of spinach, four apples, three dahlias and the last little green pint of orange cherry tomatoes. So yummy! All for about five bucks! Portland can't beat that!

Speaking of pretty things in the sky, I was sad to have to turn down an invitation to see the swifts in Portland tomorrow night. I've not yet done so many things in Portland, after so many years. Maybe next year. For now, I have one week and one day to organize and sew things in preparation for my wedding. I'm excited to see it all come together. And I think it will, even though one of my helpers had to leave the country suddenly yesterday to see her mother in law, who is ill.

Final good news of the day: I am thrilled to hear from my friend Ami in Dallas that she has a friend who is a musician and a gardener who lives in my new town!!! So thrilled. I have a feeling that any friend of Ami's is bound to be a friend of mine, if she has time for a new friend. This is really good news. The only friend I have here right now is soon to move away, unless you count the pastor who is doing our pre-marital counseling and my future mother in law, who really are friend-like, thankfully.

Wedding Guilt and a Quaker Church

Today is two weeks to my wedding. Weddings always come with guilt I think... even if you elope. We tried to elope, but that would have been so full of guilt, we couldn't even entertain the thought. We would have taken a few people with us even. And now we're having a wedding that seems huge to me--a hundred people! ...but there are so many people that I haven't invited. That makes me feel guilt.

Happily, I found a church today where I feel at home. That is so nice, and so good for my guilt. My sweetie left to go hunting for ten days early this morning, and I was watching his boy while my mom watched my girl, and so me and his boy, Bailey, who is nine, went to this new church where I've been going for pre-marital counseling. I'd been there for church twice before, but I didn't really get to know anyone or speak to any people before. Today Bailey and I spoke to many people, and it felt natural and easy. Having a kid with you helps a lot if you want to try to get to know people. Kids are so much easier for strangers to talk to, I think. They sang a song about peace, and the woman who does our counseling was the speaker--she talked about John the Baptist a little, and then the congregants kind of took the sermon and made it deeper and richer with their contributions--a Quaker thing. Quakers get to chime in on sermons, after a brief period of quiet. They were very insightful people. I've considered myself Quaker for a while now, but never had found a church that felt like home. So today was a very good day.

Yesterday was a good day too. It was my bridal shower day. The first gift I opened was beautiful--it was a bird feeder gazebo made by Amishfolk. So fitting for my new country life. And since we're talking about Amish and Quakerfolk, I should say that my cashier at the Grocery Outlet today had a scarf over her head that made her look Mennonite. She wasn't. She was a Messianic Jew--my other favorite denomination. We were still talking when she was done ringing the next guy. Only in the country does THAT happen.

Finally, a good thing to note about today is that I am in my future husband's bed and about to go to sleep here now all by myself. Feels weird, but since I gave my own bed to Catholic Charities over a week ago, it is nice to belong in a bed again.