Women's Luncheon Table Decorating 2018

I've taken a few years off from going to my church's women's luncheon due to conflicts.

Mainly:  prom.

I was excited to get back to it.

This year Ellie's Young Life leader's grandmother was the speaker so she decided to host a table too.

I knew it was going to be a busy weekend because McDaniel was bringing A BUNCH of kids home with her from college.

And they were all staying at our house. 

More on that later.

So I wanted to keep my table decorations simple and/or that didn't require much shopping.

I decided on a dinosaur theme.

Why?

1) I love dinosaurs.

2) I have a lot of dinosaur home decor.

3) Dinosaurs seem to be popular right now.

When I told Ellie my theme she told me to not go crazy and keep in "Dino Chic."

But of course.

In the center is my Tyrannosaurus Rex cookie jar from Target the girls got me a few birthdays ago.

I ordered the big leaves from Amazon to use as chargers and a centerpiece.

I brought the other dinosaurs I had from home and put fake succulents in them to "Dino Chic" them up.

I alternated between driftwood napkins holders and gray napkins and galvanized metal and gold napkin holders and light beige napkins.

Those white plates came from a thrift store.

You might recognize my chia pet dinosaur I painted silver after I couldn't get a single chia seed to sprout.

I bought a bag of plastic dinosaurs on Amazon and spray painted a handful of them white for each place setting.

McDaniel got me this salt and pepper set from Target for Christmas.

Now on to Ellie's table.

She has a real eye for design and definitely knows what she likes. Most of this came from her room.

When I was 15, I had a poster of Prince on my wall. 

That's all I can remember about it's design theme.

One of the sweet college girls from my small group made Ellie a beautiful eucalyptus and white flower garland that she put around the center of her table. I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of it!

I love that each place card said Woman of God.

I wish I'd taken more pictures the next day!

The themes stuck mainly around spring.

After this forever winter, 

I loved all the blooms and color.

There were so many women there--the biggest luncheon I've been to yet.

And the speaker was FANTASTIC!

A few Young Life leaders came and one of Ellie's friends.

Two of the leaders are in my small group so when we discovered that we all were wearing jumpsuits, I suggested the natural thing.

Take a picture doing the Charlie's Angels pose.

Except I couldn't remember exactly how the pose went.

There's a Karate chop in the pose?

I'd like to say we were praying here but we were probably comparing shoes or pedicures.

It was an awesome event.

The White Witch, My Moment with a Cow and Choosing Joy

Last Friday I walked with a girlfriend.

It was so beautiful and sunny and warm.

We wore shorts and popped into art shops and a bakery and picked up Nigel from the dog groomer.

We walked all over our town and it was wonderful.

That evening, Monte and I cleaned up the yard and I did my most favorite thing.

I burned sticks in the fire pit.

I don't know why, but I just love picking up all the sticks

 our beloved huge Sycamore tree has shed 

and burning them in the fire.

It's such a satisfying and quick way to clean up.

I purposely save some greenery from my flower boxes from Christmas time each year to help start the fire in the spring.

The height the fire gets in a hot WHOOSH when I throw in the dried up greenery should be such a warning to all those who keep their Christmas trees up too long.

Fire. 

Hazard.

It was such a nice day and evening.

A neighbor came over to talk to Monte on the patio as I stoked the fire.

We got excited about finally starting to see 

neighbors out and about again.

Then it snowed on Monday.

Tuesday we woke up to a fresh blanket of snow.

I asked Monte if we were in Narnia and the White Witch was ruling and it was always going to be Winter and never Christmas.

He said,

"Yes. Yes, it is."

He grew up in Florida 

and has mentioned moving 

no less than 75 times.

I had to wear my gloves,

GLOVES,

in mid-April,

as I drove to bible study.

Our church is across from a big field with cattle.

The cows were standing close to the fence as I slowed to turn into the church parking lot.

I locked eyes with one cow.

Looking into his big eyes, I could feel we were having a moment and I could tell what he was thinking.

"Are you kidding me with this weather?!"

I actually shrugged my shoulders at him in response.

"I know. It stinks, buddy."

I didn't go into my whole Narnia White Witch theory 

because while I do remember lots of animals like beaver 

and wolves and a half-goat man in the Narnia story, 

I don't recall there being any cows 

and I just didn't want to confuse him any further. 

That night while at small group, one of the girls there said she thought we were in the movie Frozen and Elsa was pretty darn honked off.

That made me laugh.

And what else can we do when the winter drags on and on and on and on and the bitter cold snaps back like we weren't just sitting on our back patio with a neighbor last Friday or walking all over town with a friend?

A sweet boy with special needs in our church was baptized a few weeks ago.

He's non-verbal and has a smile that lights up any room he's in.

I've had the privilege of having him in my Sunday School class.

I actually let him use scissors during craft time once not realizing, 

he's not used to being given scissors.

That explains the bigger than usual smile on his face that day.

The family showed a video before the baptism of them asking the boy questions to see if he understood what it meant to accept Jesus.

He nodded yes to knowing he was loved by Jesus 

and pointed to his heart when they asked where Jesus lived.

The pastor asked the boy's father how he saw God in his son.

He answered with one word.

"Joy."

This boy who can not form words with his mouth, spoke volumes to my heart. 

He possesses such a clear outpouring of joy that can only come from heaven.

His father baptized him in what was one of the purest, sweetest moments I have ever witnessed.

There wasn't a dry eye in the church.

My car had thick frost on it this morning on DAY 3 of Winter's Return.

But I know I am loved by Jesus 

and I know where He lives.

So today I choose joy.

That Time I Almost Died in Whole Foods

I guess I always thought there was a good chance I'd die in a Whole Foods parking lot one day.

It's truly the most dangerous, out of control, let's-make-this-whole-parking-and-driving-
thing-up-as-we-go-place I've ever been.

Don't get me started on the electric cars 

that MAKE NO SOUNDS 

as they whip out of a parking space 

unannounced right in front of you.

I heard this song some time ago a guy wrote about the Whole Foods parking lot. So I'm not the only one with all these feelings about it. WARNING: There is a bit of language at the end.



When my oldest daughter first got her license, the Whole Foods parking lot was OFF LIMITS.

It really does dig deep into all the meanings of "defensive driving."

Maybe Ellie's "Norm MacDonald" driver's ed teacher SHOULD take students to the Whole Foods parking lot. 

It could be a lesson on how NOT to drive 

or that our country is just a vending machine spitting out driver's licenses 

to people who really can't drive.

All in cars with lots of bumper stickers.

Granted, our Whole Foods is close enough to our house that we could walk, which we do A TON when the weather permits.

But being as we live in OHIO, the weather does not consistently permit.

So I have to drive.

In complete contrast to the nightmare in the parking lot, INSIDE Whole Foods is a pleasant, esthetically satisfying time.

Except on Friday evenings when they do a wine tasting.

But that's a rant for another day.

I had a plan for dinner the other night that Ellie gave a big ol' thumbs down to.

I quickly put together a different plan that required me to get just a few things from Whole Foods.

It had been raining and storming all day. 

It was so wet that I saw an actual duck, soaked to the bone, fly out of my neighbor's yard.

But it had stopped.

Perfect time to make a run for my life in the Whole Foods parking lot.

I was quickly knocking out my list and humming along to whatever music was playing in the store when my phone rang.

It was Monte. He told me to hurry because the tornado sirens were going off 

and he didn't want me driving in, well, a tornado.

The ambiance and music was so pleasant

 that I didn't hear the sirens!

As I started unloading my cart at the check-out, I noticed how dark it was outside and how hard it was raining.

I was taken a little off-guard because I HAVE IMAGINED what my death 

in the Whole Foods parking lot would look like. 

 I've seen the whole thing played out.

But dying INSIDE a Whole Foods?

Hmm.

I didn't see that one coming.

The cashier was super chill and asked me about my day and what I was making for dinner. She scanned each item with the urgency of a slow sloth.

I kept nervously looking outside so she'd get the hint. 

Danger was coming! Seek shelter! Assume the tornadic position!

I resisted the urge to scream,

"HURRY THE FREAK UP!"

As I walked away, I heard the woman behind me tell the cashier about the tornado and her need to hurry and the cashier said,

"Oh, those sirens are never right."

Poor Sloth's going to die inside 
a Whole Foods for sure!

I got soaked getting to my car (after a car almost hit me, for the love of Pete!) and practically blown away getting into the house.

The lights flickered several times as we started dinner but the tornado warnings were called off and it went back to just good ol' thunder storming.

And I lived to tell the tale.