Some people may call it a bad day... Me? I just have to laugh.

I am sorry all, but this blog post is rather lengthy. It is rather humorous though, if you care to read it. :)


In most peoples lives, the days events begin soon after waking up, but on this day, it began just after midnight.

We were driving home just after our latest storm chase. Radar announced heavy precipitation ahead. That night we had driven to Bassett, NE, about 40 miles from Valentine, NE. On the way back, the rain came down hard! Michael attempted to drape garbage bags over the broken window, but it wasn't working very well. Soon after, the left windshield wiper flew off into the wind. :) Consequently, Benjamin's visibility was drastically reduced. Thankfully, Michael found it again a few yards behind us, and used his fist to pound it back in place. A mile later, it flew off again. Michael found a hammer this time, and pounded it back on. The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful.

Earlier that day, I had decided to leave for Lincoln at 6 A.M. Saturday morning, so after only getting 4 hours of sleep I left Kearney at about 6:15.

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Seriously, from the Kearney on road ramp, to the York exit I saw a grand total of 18 vehicles going eastbound on I-80. It was sooo lonely! For those who do not know, that is about 70% of the two hour trip to Lincoln.

The days plans were pretty simple. Drive to Lincoln, go to a church bible study/breakfast at 8 A.M, go to my cousins wedding in Iowa, and drive back to Lincoln.

Shortly before Lincoln, I remembered that I was counting on wearing my only black shoes to the wedding. Only one problem, the day before, one of the shoes had literally bit the dust. See picture below. :)



The breakfast ended at 9:30 and we were planning on leaving in one hour! I had two options, acquire some strong glue, or buy comfortable fitting shoes pronto!

We decided upon the latter choice, and began at shopko. Shopko had only expensive grandpa looking shoes, so we went to Koals. Koals had a much wider selection, but the only two that fit my price range were all out of stock in my size. *sigh* I sighed heavily, said a quick prayer, and purchased some more expensive ones.

By this time, it was 10:30, we still weren't at our rendezvous point to meet our other passengers, and I wasn't yet dressed for the wedding.

I then found out how well I think in the morning after 4 hours of sleep. My socks were too short, my shirt was stained, and my pants had glitter all over them from who knows where. I shrugged, and piled into the car and we headed off to Orange City, Iowa.

My disheveled appearance was partly remedied by rolling up my sleeves to hide the stain. The glitter, however, was another story. I tried rubbing it off, I tried shaking it off, nothing worked, I was stuck being the "pretty one."

My cousins wedding was supposed to begin at 3 P.M. We arrived 3 minutes late, only too find members of the wedding party leaving mumbling something about forgetting some detail.

Before I go any farther, I just want to say that this wedding was an organizational nightmare.

The actual wedding did not begin til about 3:30. Once seated, the beginning of the ceremony went without a hitch. The grandparents were seated, the parents, the "who gives this man to be married..." When it came time for the message, my uncle had it all prepared. The one detail that was overlooked was a stand for his notes. It was quite difficult to refer to his notes, use hand gestures, and pull out his bible at the same time. Needless to say, the message was wonderful and straight from Romans.

When it came time for the vows, I was quite surprised. Instead of the traditional repeating them after the pastor, my cousins had memorized them and added Ruth's promise to Naomi when she refused to return to Moab. I really enjoyed their recitations.

Then came time for some special music and the lighting of the unity candle. Walking up there together, they lit the candle together. It went out. They tried again, this time it stayed lit. Holding hands, they waited. Behind them, the candle again flickered out. They ignored it, and gazed at each other lovingly.

With the special music finished only two things were left. The pronouncement was the usual. Then after granting Jesse permission to kiss his bride, he grabs her and gives her a bear hug! haha... everyone laughed. Embarrassed, he then kisses her.

They then walk out of the room, and the ushers begin the mass exodus. Seriously, the ushers motioned for the first group to exit with exaggerated hand motions that remind me of cattle herding. Hurrah! Hurarah! Before one row was finished they would motion for the next row, so that by the end we were almost stepping on each other trying to keep up!

If you think that was a disaster, wait til you hear about the refreshments!

Everyone was out of the sanctuary in record time, and waiting for refreshments. Three tables had been set out. On the outer two tables were two punch bowls, and the middle table held the "main course".

Nowhere were signs, or any obvious right way to snatch the snacks. So people lined up, on both sides of the tables going opposite directions and running into each other somewhere in the middle. It was absolute chaos! On top of all that, the middle table had chips, dip, nuts, and a relish tray but only had napkins for the guests! There weren't any plates until quite a bit later but still very few. The ones that did manage to get a plate were held in high esteem and treated like gods and godesses. jk Not quite, but you get the idea.

Anyway, the bride and groom were almost non-existent. One could find one of them at any particular moment, but finding them both together was a rarity. After finally finding both of them, and giving them our blessings and farewells, we headed back home.

Upon arriving home, we were excited that the company Roca hired to replace the water lines in our town was all finished. My parents hadn't had water since last thursday! We turned on the faucet and nothing but air came out! Seeing a note on our front porch, we found out that the company had neglected to connect about 25 houses in the town, and we were one of them!

A message on the answering machine directed us to a neighbor that was willing to share her water with all the people that had been neglected. So we hauled all the buckets we owned down to their house.

We were living like pioneers! Hot water had to be boiled for the massive dish pile, showers had to be taken elsewhere or neglected, and buckets had to be filled and ready for bathroom use.

A wise person once said that "you don't understand the necessity until it is taken away." (Or something to that effect) That is very true.

The last consequence of my 4 hours of sleep was my neglect to bring shorts. I mean, what was I thinking? Its summer, and all I brought was two pairs of jeans! How silly can I be?