7 Quick Takes: June 30, 2012 (Vol. 125)

~ 1 ~

This week found my family taking part in a local large groundbreaking ceremony (for a medical facility).  While we were initially asked by someone if we were willing to be there to represent residents of the area, it was only after I agreed that I was told that one of us would need to speak for about two minutes.

To the company’s credit, they didn’t even ask to know what I was going to say ahead of time, though I did send it to them.  The woman that I was in contact with told me that she loved what I wrote and that she was just adding one line to the end, as I would be introducing the mayor to the stage.

Let me tell you, kids, that is not a sentence I believe I have ever been told before.

Okay, so this isn't the shovel we used. It was a shiny new shovel instead.

So, we met the mayor, as well as a couple of state representatives, the CEO of the medical group, and a variety of other people.  As a matter of fact, our family did one of the shovels for the official groundbreaking – right between the CEO and the mayor.  Life is crazy sometimes, huh?

Oh – that’s right.  Hang on.  Our whole family didn’t use a shovel.  Our mayor is apparently quite the politician and asked our little Molly (who looked about as cute as could be that day) to help him with his shovel.  Well played, Mayor.  Well played.

~ 2 ~

Prior to the groundbreaking, I asked Jack to time my remarks, to make sure that I was under two minutes.  After I was done, he said, “Wow, Mom!  That was great.  Did you write that yourself or did you have a speech writer?”

When I burst out laughing, he pointed out to me that some people did have speech writers.  I agreed that there were, indeed, people whose job it was to write speeches.  I, however, am my own speech writer.

~ 3 ~

It was an ego boost to find out that Jack wasn’t the only one to wonder if I wrote it myself.  Several people at the groundbreaking inquired (to other people, who passed it along to me) as to whether I had written it myself.  A woman from the city (who introduced me to the mayor prior to the ceremony) even made a beeline to find me afterward to say how impressed she was and that she was shocked when she found out I wrote it myself.  She said she hoped that I did more public speaking, as she thought I was “a natural.”

It was a pretty amazing day!

~ 4 ~

I haven’t been online much this past week because my sister and four of her six children came to town for a week.  We had such an amazing time, and each time they leave, it feels a little harder than the last time.  (It doesn’t help that Molly was crying when they left because she wanted them to stay.)

She has amazing kids, and she, of course, is pretty darn amazing herself too!

I also found out that my sister and I have one aspect of humor that we share, and it almost got us in to trouble one day in the living room when we couldn’t quit laughing.  It’s fun when you learn something new like that (even if you risk getting into trouble).

~ 5 ~

I also got a chance to get to know one of my nieces better.  We’d never talked quite as much as we did when we went out on the town for several hours one evening to take her senior pictures.  Not only was it fun to get to spend so much one-on-one time, but it was a continuation of what has seemed to become a semi-tradition.  This was the third set of senior pictures that I took of nieces/nephews in less than a year.

My very favorite part though?

This niece felt like every picture of her has always come out poorly.  Because of some eye issues, she has suffered through a lifetime of looking kind of sleepy in pictures.  As you can imagine, the thought of a couple of hours of pictures left her kind of nervous (and pretty skeptical that we would even walk away with one good one).

The day after our time out (which she later told me was the highlight of her trip), I got to present her with almost 100 pictures, all lovely.  After she looked through them, she gave me an extra long hug, and I couldn’t help but get teared up.  As much fun as I had all week, I think that moment was probably my highlight.  I loved being able to help her know that she could look just as lovely in pictures as she did normally.

~ 6 ~

Do you know how you can tell that we’re having a drought?

When it finally started raining the other day, we all just went out and stared at it.  Then, the whole time that it kept raining, I couldn’t help but think over and over, “I’m so glad it’s raining.”

Not that we’re not still in a drought, but it has definitely been nice to have just a bit of rain this week.

~ 7 ~

At the end of our week, we learned of the sad news of a family, that our family is friends with, who found that their baby had passed away at 20 weeks of gestation.  The next day, my friend was induced and their baby, Alexander, was born still.  They shared a photo of Alexander’s tiny hand around his mother’s finger, along with the quote, “The father of mercies and God of all comfort comforts us all in our affliction so that we might comfort others who are also in any affliction.”

Many prayers to our friends as the mourn Alexander’s passing, and await a time that they will be with him again.

This post is linked to 7 Quick Takes and Weekly Wrap Up.

Related posts:

7 Quick Takes: June 22, 2012 (Vol. 124) 7 Quick Takes: June 1, 2012 (Vol. 121) 7 Quick Takes: June 9, 2012 (Vol. 122)