Friday night was awesome because at work I got free tickets to the Astros game and we all went. There was a huge thunderstorm during and after which flooded a lot of Houston. Chris got us home safely though but my stomach was in knots the whole time and hasn't settled into place yet.
Chris had a birthday which we happily celebrated with his family and then our annual trip. Between Chris's birthday and mine there are 17 days that we get to be the same age. That time is drawing to a close this coming week. Chelsea, Colin, and I got him a 16GB purple iPod nano that he has been eying, a beard trimmer, and a pair of Oakley sunglasses. He also got several things from his family at a combined birthday dinner for him and Peter. Chris and his dad both have birthdays in April; Peter on the 9th and Chris on the 12th. We ate at Star Pizza which was delicious as per usual. Peter got Chris an absolutely fabulous telescope for his birthday! It is wonderful. On a clear night you can easily see the rings of Saturn and two of it's moons. This thing is powerful! I love it.
We took the telescope with us to the group's annual trip. For several years now we have been taking a trip in April to the beach but, thanks to Ike, there are no more rentals on Bolivar so we headed to the river instead. The place we stayed was so perfect and beautiful and idyllic and wonderful that we all said we wouldn't mind getting the exact same house every year.
You can kind of see the house from the back in this photo of Matt, Lisa, and Chris K. It's directly above them on that rocky cliff overhang. Look at the flat roof with windows along the whole wall. That was the back living room. We were right on the edge of the Blanco River.
Then in the next shot this is the view of the Blanco River running by below from the patio area outside of the house we rented.
A section of the riverbed was higher than the rest right here so we could easily cross without getting wet much above mid-calf and only in some places.
Below is a shot of the river from directly on the river. Chris took this one with his camera on the tripod which was situated on the bare rock sticking up out of the river. This is apparently called a "rocky bare."Here's another picture showing the depth of the drop off after the high "rocky bare" ended.
This is Matt, Julie, Caleb, Chris K., Lisa, & Brandi having a swim on Saturday evening.
The lighting was perfect for this shot. I know the water looks green but it's really just a reflection from the trees overhanging on either side. The water was the clearest I've ever been in. FREEZING but clear.
When Chris and I were standing in the water we were surrounded by little fish and we could see straight down to our feet and all the little fish too. It was amazing and refreshing. Chris K. apparently jumped in the river at midnight the first night of the trip but that night Chris and I were so exhausted that we were crashed out by 11:30 and missed it.
Here is a picture of me chilling by the river's edge. We got all these great pictures because Chris and I had already been swimming once that day and didn't want to go again so we played veggie / fruit baseball while they swam.
This is my favorite picture of Caleb from the whole weekend. He had such a great time at the river.
Ah, this was the life! What a weekend it was.
And then for the down side - Chelsea is not doing well in school at all and is in serious danger of failing the 11th grade. It makes me angry and sad and worried and frustrated all at the same time. Chelsea assures me that this progress report doesn't reflect some missing assignements that she has just turned in but I'm nervous. She is on restriction and that always sucks for me too.
My mother still can't wrap her head around the fact that I'm no longer Catholic like she wants me to be and continues to try pulling her tired old guilt routines - this time about my wedding. She told me that she wouldn't be recognizing my marriage because it wouldn't really be one since only a Catholic wedding would lead me to Jesus or some such rubbish.
I think Jesus would be really happy to know that, of all the people wandering the earth, Chris and I both happened to be in the same city at one time, happened to be interested in writing a novel, met, happily found a mutual compatibility, fell in love, and built a relationship and a family out of our little lives. I don't think that has anything to do with who officiates our vow ceremony.
And it IS "OUR" wedding - mine and Chris's. Not my mother's. She had one and planned it the way she wanted. There is no reason why I would plan my own wedding to be something that goes against every fiber of my being and have it religious in any way. I want it to be fun and beautiful.
Anyway, as a result of the fact that I'm not having a Catholic wedding, my mother said that she would not be recognizing my marriage and that she could not celebrate something that isn't even there. (Yes, these are direct quotes and not hyperbole.) So I told my mom that I would not be inviting her to my wedding. There is no reason I could come up with why I would invite someone to my wedding so they could condescend to me about their religious opinions to me during the ceremony and then join in the Celebration of our Marriage for the reception when she would not be "recognizing our marriage."
Then my mom wrote me a lengthy e-mail about her religious views and how I was pretty much damned to hell if I didn't have a catholic wedding and that she couldn't "just be happy for me" because it went against everything she believes in. But that she really wanted to come to the reception for our wedding so she could be with me on that day; but not the ceremony, just the reception.
So I responded to her in no uncertain terms that for the last time, I'm not Catholic, I don't believe in the catholic religion and that I would never have a catholic ceremony for a wedding and if she didn't like it then why did she have a problem with me not inviting her. It would be ridiculous of me to open myself to that type of judgmental manipulation.
Well then my dad writes to me to tell me how I'm so harsh to my mother, that my remarks are vile and I have crossed the line, I should be ashamed, and that he is not coming to my wedding either.
So now neither of my parents will be in attendance at my wedding. And you know what - that might just help it to really be the happiest day of my life. You never know how mysterious God's ways really are.
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