Stay In The Lines!

No boat work just yet.  We spent another weekend on wedding stuff, which has actually been pretty fun so far.  That's not to say that Ken and I aren't getting a little stressed.  I've woken up in the middle of the night a few times with an immediate sense of panic.  What are we forgetting?  How are we gonna get everything done on time?  What if it rains?!  I'm sure everything will be fine for our daughter's upcoming wedding.  We just want her to have the wedding that she's dreaming of.  Having a wedding in a barn is a lot of extra work, but a lot less expensive too.  If you've been following us, you know we're very frugal but always figure out a way to make our dreams come true.  Our daughter is following in our footsteps, and doing a great job of putting her wedding together.

In between endless trips to the hardware store and barn, we managed to make the 1.5 hour trip to Baton Rouge on Saturday for a "couple's shower" for our daughter and future son-in-law.  Since they both go to college there, our daughter's future in-laws (who also live in Slidell but have a place available to them in Baton Rouge) decided to have a get-together for them with their friends from school.

Although rain was predicted, the afternoon was warm and sunny ... perfect weather for boiled crawfish!  The "couple's shower" was casual, with boiled crawfish and burgers on the grill.  Ken and I were finally able to meet some of the college friends that we've only heard about, and hang out with our new extended family a little more.  It was a good group of people. 

After everyone ate, Peggy (Erica's future mother-in-law) brought out a bunch of burlap runners that she'd cut out for the wedding.  She had created a stencil for the "to be" couple's initials/monogram, and added the outline of the stencil to the ends of each runner.  Brown paint on the stenciled monogram would complete the project.  With twenty runners, there was a lot of monograms to be painted!  Peggy had the brilliant idea of supplying paint and brushes ... and having everyone paint a monogram.  We didn't get them all painted, but we knocked out quite a few.  Even the guys were painting!  There's nothing like boiled crawfish to bribe a young college boy into painting monograms.  It was good, clean fun and kind of reminded us of coloring when we were young ... stay in the lines!

That's me and my paintbrush in the lower right-hand corner ...

 The monograms look really good, and the newlywed couple will have a great keepsake that was created by friends and family. 

On the drive home that evening, Ken said that seeing our daughter so happy and doing so well made him choke up.  I knew exactly what he meant.  I've said it before, but it just warms our hearts to see her so happy ... with a good head on her shoulders and an independent, secure personality.  I can't speak for other parents, but raising a child to grow up with those traits is all we ever wanted.  Will she (or her husband) make lots of money and have lots of stuff someday?  Who knows ... who cares?!  We just hope they "stay in the lines" ... and out of debt.  Happiness in their household is all we wish for them.

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!