Stephanie Says.. Take a walk inside my head

Me: Hey, that’s a song from one of my favorite musicals

I wish to go to the Festival

The Festival

The Festival

I wish to go to the Festival

Wayne: What is it The Annoying, Repetitive Musical?

Ha Ha, he thinks he’s so funny.

 

Later, I was working on checks and kept hearing a tinkling sound.  Chimes were sounding, softly.  I was thinking “Whose cell phone is ringing?”

Wayne looked at me and said “That sounds like an ice cream truck.”

“Ha Ha” I said.  After all, no one sees an ice cream truck in this day and age.

Not two minutes later, an ice cream truck, music tinkling, passed by our window.

Should have gotten me a dippy cone. 

 

 

…I would have children named Miriamelle, Christabel, and Briony.

Here are some pictures from Ben and Jennifer’s going away get-together

 

Beth and Jeff brought the Resers a plastic tub full of presents.  Notice the subtle reminder not to forget us Kentucky folks?

This is Jennifer enjoying her cookies and pop.

 

We had a good time playing Taboo.

Here we are: Ben, Jeff and Kenny are in the first picture.  I am with Beth and Jennifer (already working on her tan) in the second.

 

 

When I was little, I had a best friend named Beth.  She is now known as “Beth from Alabama”, but that is another story.  Beth was everything I wasn’t.  I was giggly; Beth was poised.  I was clumsy; Beth was graceful.  I was gangly; Beth was beautiful with long dark hair and big dark eyes.  She taught me the words to “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” in sign language.  That skill has not stuck with me in this present age, but I appreciate the attempt.

When I was a teenager, Diana was my best friend.  We had our own little inter-religious love triangle going.  I liked Matthew, the Mormon.  Matthew liked Diana, the Catholic.  Diana didn’t like anyone.  Still, Matthew aside, we got along well.  She taught me how to draw cute little smiley faces and how to pretend to cheer for the softball team my dad coached.  I’m still not a sports minded person, but still…she tried.

In college, there were Robin and Natalie.  Robin would walk around campus with me a couple days before classes started so I could orient myself and not get lost.  Natalie would call me crazy for thinking that Rhett should have married Melanie but agreed that -Gone With the Wind- was the best book ever.  We had other people drifting in and out of our atmosphere, but for the most part we stuck together.

And then came Jennifer.  We kind of happened by accident.  I was bored one night.  Kenny and I were living and working in one town and going to church in another.  I didn’t really have many friends and Kenny was gone a lot.  So, I called up some girls and we began watching movies together.  Then, one night Kenny was in a social mood and we invited a couple of couples over, Jennifer and Ben among them.  It didn’t happen overnight, but a few years later Ben became Kenny’s best friend and  Jennifer became mine.

She took me to see -Hairspray- because Kenny didn’t want to.  She substitute taught in my Mission Friends classes at the last minute.  She suffered through endless “should I or shouldn’t I cut my hair?” discussions when she knew I didn’t really want an answer, just an idea to toy with.  She drove my mother and me to St. Louis to see -Wicked- and put up with me singing “Taylor the Latte Boy” just because I love Kristin so much.  She made me French Toast and Pinwheels when I was craving them and put up with the five cats despite her allergies.

And this week, she drove off to Florida, the land of Sunshine and Alligators.

Kenny says it will be okay.  We still have work and church and the three cutest nieces anywhere.  And it will.  Be okay, I mean.  But it will be okay without Jennifer.  She won’t be here when -Mama Mia!- comes out.  She won’t be here to make good on her threat to put my first child in the nursery from the first Sunday they come to church.  She won’t be here to translate when my mouth runs away with my brain. And now I have no one to sing “Taylor” with.

God sure knew what He was doing when he created best friends. I just wish it weren’t so heartbreaking to lose them.

Carrie and I went to the movies last night.

Part of the graffiti on the restroom wall read:

“Allyssa was here

11/25/2008″

 

It took me a minute to see it.

This is Mike, my boss and Kenny’s partner.

This is Jeannie, Mike’s wife.  She’s our supply girl and resident answer woman.

This is Roger, our delivery guy.  He drives a little red car that works hard.

This is Jack.  He knows everything there is to know about our machines.

This is Wayne.  He’s kind of our all around helper guy.

And those are the people in my neighborhood.

So I got back from the trip with a cold.  I wasn’t happy about it, but I get colds when the weather changes, so I figured I could go to bed and sleep it off.  But by Sunday night I was feeling better and thought I could go to church.  Imagine my embarassment when I rolled over from my nap and found out church had started fifteen minutes earlier.  Not a good way to start a week!

Anyway, Ben and Jennifer came over to ring in the New Year with us.  We were already happy because while we were in St. Louis, Ben came over and fixed the hole in our bathroom that had been there since the small fire of January ’07.  Isn’t it nice to have friends?  Ben brought his dog, Trigger, while he dry walled.  I wonder how our cats took to that.  They are inside cats and Trigger thinks she is human, so that would have been an interesting mix.

 

Anyway, for New Year’s Eve, we started a series that Kenny likes.  It’s called Backstairs at the White House and is about a family of maids who served from 1909 until…well the ’60’s I guess.  So far, I’ve learned that President Taft liked ice cream and poor President Harding really had lousy friends.  It was an interesting way to spend an evening and added a bit of history to our brand new year.

Jennifer even got a new friend.  She is allergic to our cats, but is gracious enough not to insist that they be put up when she comes over.  So Annabelle has decided that Jennifer is family and plopped into her lap.

We marked the occasion with popcorn…real on the stove popcorn! We also had pie, which Kenny took some pictures of…to document our evening.

Our year started off with a bang.  Actually more like a pop.  About one o’clock, all the power went out. Kenny took a ride around the neighborhood and discovered that our street was the only one without power.  So we don’t know what that was about.  Wayne, the guy who works out front with me in Tennessee, said that his power went out too.  Maybe someone was targeting Litho-Craft employees.

And the best thing, for Kenny, was the snow.  Kenny loooves snow.  I wasn’t out in it, but I was happy he was happy.

So, a week rolled around with me sniffling and coughing and sleeping and sharing my cold with Kenny (aren’t I nice?) and then it was Ben’s birthday.  We didn’t have candles or anything, but we did sing to him…and I sang in Portuguese (it’s one of two songs I still remember).

I hope he had a good birthday.

And I hope you have a good New Year.   I know I will.  I’m so lucky to be surrounded by good friends and lots of love.