the final finish - phase 3!

  OK, where was I?! So the bride's table is done with their Oreo sundaes now.....or rather Mel and JP have finished the last two! The happy couple quite speedily opened their fab presents. Then we were all trying to swarm out to watch them drive away... always a thrill you know!! But alas, the throngs prevented me from viewing the precious scene. Back at Phil and Deb's, we decorated Tony's white Dodge with a dazzling array of balloons, glittery snow, rose petals, gel clings, streamers, and caution tape. The following words covered the windows: "Real Men Marry Teachers!" "Honk for Kisses!" "Babe on Board!" etc. etc! As they walked down the sidewalk that was lined with well-wishers throwing rice and snow glitter, I was reminded of the game, "Spud!" LOL! With caution tape and streamers trailing behind, they were off with a cloud of black diesel smoke to honeymoon the days away! Daniel and I were off on our important mission to nap back at Ben's. Supper was a delightful occasion at Applebee's with Cliff and Wendy. Since Wendy is back in the teaching game again too, we had lots to discuss! After relaxing a bit at Ben's, they soon headed back to PA. Wades stopped by next and we ate treats again. Monday morning dawned a perfect day to go shopping for fabric at Amish stores! Rhonda and I had wanted to do this on Saturday afternoon, but the Amish run daylight hours instead of Mennonite hours and the shops closed too soon. While the guys and Jacob were shopping at an outdoor store called "The Fin," Rhonda, Neil, and I were fortunate to be able to browse through a fascinating place called "Grandpa's Cheese Barn" where I tasted gadoodles of kinds of cheeses, dips, jellies, meats, snacks, etc. But surprisingly, I couldn't even begin to taste them all as there was so much variety!!! Daniel acted shocked when I told him this; I wonder why?! We also ducked into a candy shop that sold peanut butter balls the size of baseballs!! We decided to try a monstrous  peanut butter cookie instead. We were informed later, that these places were huge tourist traps with high prices, but we didn't care. We WERE tourists and had really enjoyed them! Back to Monday, Ben, Daniel, and Justin patiently waited in the car while I chose a solid kelly green piece at the first Amish store. No cc machine, and only natural light....but over in the corner sat the modern Bernina sewing machine! Did it run on battery or what? I am so intrigued by the Amish, because their life makes no sense to me! I know some people probably think the same thoughts about my life, but you know how it is, we all have our own version of "normal!" I tried in vain to bear this in mind when I found myself staring at the Amish, trying to see if this kind had to wear straight pins or buttons, black leggings and black shoes or bare legs and flip-flops!! LOL there is SO much variance between all the different orders. The second fabric store was much more modern; it even had printed fabric! I bought a poly-cotton light jade green and a solid purple piece so Daniel can call me "Barney." :) Next we had pizza and hot subs at Lem's, a local joint that I promptly fell deeply in love with for two reasons! One - their cheese pizza is incredible! Two - they have 24, mind you 24!!! flavors of soft serve ice cream! I treasured my towering, coconut cone to the last lick! On the way to Columbus, we stopped to shop a bit. Ashley and I made one run through Cabela's before leaving the guys there in their bliss while we shopped  the more inspiring nearby Hobby Lobby. Back at the airport, I once again sailed through security with thanksgiving brimming over in my heart for the new "Stand with your arms above your head zoom around security thingies!" Love them! Our flight out was delayed at least an hour due to weather somewhere else on the continent. I watched 5 ladies that were into knitting! They all whipped out their current projects and got their needles a flashin'! Maybe someday when I learn how to focus and count stitches, I will become a knitter. Ironically, Daniel's dad was patiently waiting for us in Atlanta while we sat in Columbus. He had gone way earlier than he would've had to though. We finally made it to Atlanta, and the Dodge Dart darted in line and picked us up! Thanks to Daniel's brilliant idea of having Dad pick us up from Atlanta instead of in Nashville to save time, we were able to sleep soundly at Dad and MomDenise's instead of fending for ourselves in Atlanta because we would have missed our flight to Nashville! When we stopped at Chick-fila for a bite to eat, Daniel felt impressed to give the elderly lady sitting near us $20 since it looked like she was either homeless or having a hard time. Her eyes teared up, she was so thankful since she had just lost her babysitting job! She wondered if I was a Mennonite, said she had done some kind of mission work with some Mennonites years ago in New York. Dad slipped another $20 on her table while we were visiting with her...So hopefully she felt as blessed as we did! Tuesday, we slept until we woke up, {which is an interesting paradox, because of course you always sleep until you wake up whether it's by an early alarm or not!} I did some laundry, and sat out by the pool with my book, my nook, a peach, a glass of ice water, some whoopee pie cake, and a fork! I had it made in the shade of my large sunglasses and lil straw birthday hat! I took an occasional dip to cool off, and reveled in the relaxing afternoon. MomDenise made it even better by bringing me out a refreshing cherry limeade! Talk about pool service! DaddyWayne smoked some succulent ribs for a tremendously satisfying supper....Cam came back home and MomDenise popped some of the Amish popcorn we had bought her. Like a ninny, I'd bought several foodie gift items for people at Grandpa's Cheesebarn not thinking of the fact that we wouldn't be able to fly them home with us since we had only carry-on luggage! Thankfully Cam didn't seem to mind toting my bag of goodies home with him. Danl proclaimed that we had to get back home Wednesday, so while he was in town with Dad, MomDenise, Erica, and I quickly headed for town as well! First stop was Wilson's Fabric Outlet where I ended up with four more pieces of fabric!MomDenise sweetly gifted me with the black with white polka dots piece that I had picked out! "Thanks again!" I purchased a lovely mint green that I just HAD to buy a grey chevron button for, a red print that will be super for Christmas, and a green circles over black abstract piece. Counting the 3 pieces from Amish country and the soft grey and red cotton that Kelly gave me from Saudi Arabia, I netted 8 new pieces to add to my stash on this trip! Yay! Now I just need to get with it and add them to my closet! Our next stop after Wilson's was to sample the frozen custard from Frizzles. I had just told Danl on the drive up that I really wanted to try out Frizzles soon, so I was tickled that my wish came true! My boring in the box plain vanilla cone was superb! Not sure if it quite equaled Culver's though! The last shoppe we stopped at, called "Bakers on Main" was my hands down favorite though! It's an unparalleled place - a combination of a café and endless rooms of unique etsy-style novelties to browse through. I bought a cool little gift for one of my friends that has a birthday in February.... hint, hint! We left the AL mountains around 5, and pulled in to our home sweet home at 9:30 pm. Even though it was only a week ago today that this adventure began, it feels as if torrents of water have passed under the bridge. And the most amazing thing is that now I have an awesome new sister! No souvenir can ever compare!