Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you. ~Oscar Wilde
Yesterday marked my 25th Wedding Anniversary. We went out to dinner at The Melting Pot, which is a high-priced 4-course fondue experience usually taking two hours or more to complete. There are few chooses on the menu but each is exquisitely unique and delicious from cheese to salad to meats and vegetables to chocolate! We tried to remember the last time we had been there. We have a picture of the Princess with us for another anniversary eight years ago, our 17th, when she was three years old, but she remembered the experience very well and has urged us to go every anniversary since.
Memories are such funny things. I would not have remembered the Princess bringing her VeggieTales cup or her struggling with chapped lips on that day without this picture. She was in a phase of licking her lips too often and I was trying to get her out of the habit. Even at three, which was when the "why" stage kicked in, I could reason with her. She was a dream child to take to restaurants, even this one with a hot pot in the middle of the table and taking two hours to finish.
Finances, having taken a big turn downward since that time, kept us away from such extravagance, but we splurged for the one-time Silver Anniversary dinner. We took no pictures of it though; we just plain forgot to take a camera, which happens often when I am more into enjoying the experience than recording it. Today I regret that, however this was not the celebration we have planned. My husband has all these SkyMiles that earn us free flights, hotel stays, and even shows. He wanted to whisk me off to New York this week. I was not as excited about it as he was, but I am warming up to the idea, even though the hotel is way too many stories high for my comfort. We agreed that we would wait until we are debit free with our credit cards and have saved up enough to cover the expenses SkyMiles do not cover, like food.
Otherwise my anniversary day was pretty ordinary, except that my husband has this entire week home for vacation. He needed it just to catch up on things around here (and preserve what sanity I had left, I think). Being that it was Tuesday, we went to the horse barn for the second time this week as the Monday morning person needed us to fill in for her. My husband went as well on Monday, but we have the routine down so well with the two of us that it was difficult to think of things for him to do. Yesterday it was raining and muddy. I had to walk carefully because one of my mud boots has a long cut in it, which kind of defeats its purpose. After the horse barn, we went to filled the gas tank and refill our gallon water jugs at Koger, as we always do on Tuesday.
While waiting my turn to take a shower, I worked on a résumé for a neighbor, who lost his job at the beginning of August. This is the Princess' best friend's family and your prayers for them would be appreciated. They homeschool and the mother works a paid part-time position at their church watching children to make ends meet. At the end of August, ends are ends for them, so I offered to take a look at his résumé, which was the first at-home job I did for several months on our first computer about twenty years ago. It was for a company that helped people find jobs overseas up until the Desert Storm War when the company closed down. I am not an expert, but I got to know that people tend to give too much information that actually works against them in the potential employer's evaluation process. A résumé does not land the job for you, it is just a billboard to get you noticed. Less is more, particularly with how far back the job history goes. You do not need to give them your age and most employers do not call places you worked ten years ago.
While my husband was driving us to and from the restaurant, I finished the book I was reading, Cruel Harvest, which I will be reviewing later. This week I also began looking into redesigning the church website the way I thought it should be done from the beginning as the church board was thinking of hiring someone who did a few other Nazarene churches' sites...I have to say that they may have looked typical for a website about twenty years ago. My problem with the design I did was I tried to please two differing ideas that just did not mesh well together. Since all but one couple in our church is over 45 years old, we need to appeal to a younger crowd, but I could not get everyone on board with my ideas for a website. Things may have changed. My church may be ready for change. We even discussed a name change. Having the mindset that we are a start up church with a new name, new website, and even new sign may be exactly what we need. We already have a new praise and worship leader, so why not just go for it all?
Memories are such funny things. I would not have remembered the Princess bringing her VeggieTales cup or her struggling with chapped lips on that day without this picture. She was in a phase of licking her lips too often and I was trying to get her out of the habit. Even at three, which was when the "why" stage kicked in, I could reason with her. She was a dream child to take to restaurants, even this one with a hot pot in the middle of the table and taking two hours to finish.
Finances, having taken a big turn downward since that time, kept us away from such extravagance, but we splurged for the one-time Silver Anniversary dinner. We took no pictures of it though; we just plain forgot to take a camera, which happens often when I am more into enjoying the experience than recording it. Today I regret that, however this was not the celebration we have planned. My husband has all these SkyMiles that earn us free flights, hotel stays, and even shows. He wanted to whisk me off to New York this week. I was not as excited about it as he was, but I am warming up to the idea, even though the hotel is way too many stories high for my comfort. We agreed that we would wait until we are debit free with our credit cards and have saved up enough to cover the expenses SkyMiles do not cover, like food.
Otherwise my anniversary day was pretty ordinary, except that my husband has this entire week home for vacation. He needed it just to catch up on things around here (and preserve what sanity I had left, I think). Being that it was Tuesday, we went to the horse barn for the second time this week as the Monday morning person needed us to fill in for her. My husband went as well on Monday, but we have the routine down so well with the two of us that it was difficult to think of things for him to do. Yesterday it was raining and muddy. I had to walk carefully because one of my mud boots has a long cut in it, which kind of defeats its purpose. After the horse barn, we went to filled the gas tank and refill our gallon water jugs at Koger, as we always do on Tuesday.
While waiting my turn to take a shower, I worked on a résumé for a neighbor, who lost his job at the beginning of August. This is the Princess' best friend's family and your prayers for them would be appreciated. They homeschool and the mother works a paid part-time position at their church watching children to make ends meet. At the end of August, ends are ends for them, so I offered to take a look at his résumé, which was the first at-home job I did for several months on our first computer about twenty years ago. It was for a company that helped people find jobs overseas up until the Desert Storm War when the company closed down. I am not an expert, but I got to know that people tend to give too much information that actually works against them in the potential employer's evaluation process. A résumé does not land the job for you, it is just a billboard to get you noticed. Less is more, particularly with how far back the job history goes. You do not need to give them your age and most employers do not call places you worked ten years ago.
While my husband was driving us to and from the restaurant, I finished the book I was reading, Cruel Harvest, which I will be reviewing later. This week I also began looking into redesigning the church website the way I thought it should be done from the beginning as the church board was thinking of hiring someone who did a few other Nazarene churches' sites...I have to say that they may have looked typical for a website about twenty years ago. My problem with the design I did was I tried to please two differing ideas that just did not mesh well together. Since all but one couple in our church is over 45 years old, we need to appeal to a younger crowd, but I could not get everyone on board with my ideas for a website. Things may have changed. My church may be ready for change. We even discussed a name change. Having the mindset that we are a start up church with a new name, new website, and even new sign may be exactly what we need. We already have a new praise and worship leader, so why not just go for it all?
~ My Lord, thank you for 25 years of an extraordinary marriage made up of over 9,000 ordinary days. ~
