Autumn With The Union Clan

Baba G has begun attending exercise classes with Ellen at offensively early start times. He really hates it. He dreads going and remarks about the sheer horror of exercise class throughout the day but he still dutifully attends, has lost some weight, and even feels better but he still whines about the class. He does this bright and early and then comes home to shower and dart off into the world for the day. Typically he comes home for lunch and ventures off again for a few hours before coming home to slump awhile and then cook dinner. He and Mom have recently taken to playing Dominoes after dinner and watching reruns of Fixer Upper. Dad seems entirely blown away by Chip and Joanna Gains.

Mama continues her slow mornings of coffee, breakfast, prayers, and then a lackadaisical dressing routine. She’s doing lots of volunteer work (Bingo, piano playing, Bible studies) and also spends time ruminating about her daughters’ personal lives. She also rotates various tasks with Carolyn to make sure Grandma and G-Bob have what they need. She’s really quite busy and I have to call ahead now to make an appointment for Love Time with Big Mama.

Ellen is working two jobs, also attends early morning exercise classes, has multiple boyfriends, and still manages to keep up with all of her favorite TV shows. Ellie did finally sell her house and has moved into a smaller nice place that actually suits her more than the big house did.  She has a beautiful South American girl moving in with her next week so she’s been enjoying her last month of making messes and not wearing pants. Back before wedding season I purchased a giant commercial cooler for my flowers. It’s a happy orange Tropicana refrigerator and the only place we could store it was in Ellen’s garage. Naturally Ellen huffed and grumped and told me I had to contribute to her electricity bill even though I run the cooler just two days out of every week. So this wedding season I’ve been working over at Ellen house which has been great for a number of reasons but mostly because I get to see Ellen when she comes home between jobs, dates, and TV shows.  I think she enjoys this too even though she complains about the mess I make every half hour or so.

Pippa has turned out to be an even better thing than I’d thought she would be. She’s much more comfortable now that we’ve been a family for a whole month. She loves me very much and follows me around and sits in my lap and lets me play with her feet and jowls and tail and ears. She’ll let me do anything to her while other people are lucky if she allows them to pet her. She thinks I’m pretty great. Pip makes me laugh out loud several times each day because she’s very weird and cute and sometimes I think my heart will pop. She leaves her back legs on furniture while she does other things like eat, play, or just watch me, so she pulls herself off with her front legs and makes them carry her weight while she chews bones or squeaks her toys. She also becomes very concerned when anyone sneezes, coming over to stare or offer a lick until you stop, and she's very possessive of our shared driveway. I’m even more elated to tell you that Buddy now loves her too and they wrestle and romp and play for hours at a time. Mom is surprisingly delighted by Pippa and Pip feels the same way. They have a weird little bond.

I’ve had my head down as I barrel through wedding season. It has gone very smoothly and I have never felt so calm in the workplace. Lux and U had it’s one year anniversary and has gotten some really wonderful reviews. I also got my first letter of upset from a bride, which made me feel icky for a whole day. It was actually a very nice letter with only one complaint and though I have my own thoughts on the matter, I was pretty tickled that it took a whole year to even mildly annoy someone. I count that as a win as I knew I had to hit a snag at some point. This past weekend I did the flowers for and attended the wedding of Amy and Lou and it was really special. (That first photo shows some of Amy's centerpieces.)
 Lou and I thought about meeting for the first time in French class and then we fast-forwarded fourteen years to me pinning on his boutonnière. There’s lots love and respect wrapped up in there and Amy and Lou’s wedding was one full of mutual admiration for everyone who came to celebrate. I’ve got one wedding left to wrap up the Fall season and then I just have a few Lux things sprinkled in until Spring. I’m not sure what I’ll do with the down time but I know what I wish I would do (write, exercise, volunteer) so that’s something to start with but most of all I'm excited for uninterrupted mornings in my favorite corner. I sit here most mornings to read, pray, drink my morning tea, and think big thoughts. And I look forward to it a lot - which is how one knows they are aging. I go to bed excited about breakfast.