Saturday, June 7

Up around 7:30, but skipped my exercises after breakfast, and just went ahead and showered, since we planned to go to a church later for the baptism of triplets...grandbabies of friends of ours.

Mother opted to stay home this morning, so I gathered lunch stuff for her...Ramen noodle soup, cheese and crackers, veggie chips, and a hunk of cake.

Later, Hubbie and I dressed for the event, and headed out shortly after 10:30. About 50 gathered for the baptism. Before the ceremony began, the parents of the babies brought them around to meet everyone. When one of the babies arrived at our pew, the infant boy was handed to me, and I held him for a long time.

When the priest had not arrived by 11:30, we were told that he was officiating at a funeral in a town about 30 miles away. So our friends announced that we should all retire to the fellowship hall to enjoy refreshments while we waited for the priest.

I still had the baby in my arms when we left the church. Others were holding the other two babies, and the parents and grandparents seemed completely unconcerned. They were probably relieved to have others tending the babies for a while.

The babies' mother was at the door of the fellowship hall, and I asked if she missed her baby. She said no, she knew he was in good hands. Those babies never fussed at all as they were handed from person to person, even though we were told it was past their feeding and nap time.

After a while, the grandmother took  the baby from me, so I could get refreshments. Refreshments included dips with crackers and veggies, pimento cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sliders, ham roll-ups, brownies and cookies, with a choice of sherbet punch or water.

Much of the food contained yellow cheese, so I settled for a chicken salad slider, veggies and dip, grapes, brownie and chocolate chip cookie, with water to drink.

The hall was decorated simply, with white table clothes, and well-used toys as centerpieces. Ours featured a stuffed giraffe with a nose that had obviously been gnawed on by one of the babies...all of them, at five months old, are teething.

The guests dressed similarly to us, with most ladies in light spring colors, which seemed appropriate for an event involving babies. White slacks and tops, with pastel blouses were favored, so my choice of mint green blouse over white fit right in. Hubbie wore khaki slacks with a white short-sleeve dress shirt and light blue tie.

The mother of the babies wore a white, strapless sundress, and the grandmother wore a layered watermelon pink dress with long sleeves, and the grandfather wore a blue suit with a yellow tie.

Everybody was in "happy" colors for a happy occasion.

The priest finally arrived around noon, and we learned that he had been further delayed, because the cemetery was 30 minutes away from the town where the funeral took place, which meant that he had to travel an hour to get back to our town.

We all understood, and we were patient in waiting for him. We continued being patient while he indulged in refreshments before we all went back to the church. This is a very busy priest, who is responsible for three parishes in the region.

At the church, the baptism proceeded quickly, as the parents, and the grandfather brought the babies forward. The babies were adorable, dressed in white polished cotton. The girl was in a long dress, of course, with pale pink trim, and the boys were in rompers with pale blue trim. The outfits included matchng bibs, and the girl wore a lacy headband. I asked the mother earlier where she had found these matching outfits, and she said she got them online at a site specializing in baptismal clothing.

We were seated too far back to really see the ceremony, but we could certainly hear the babies, who almost simultaneously began to wail. We couldn't help but laugh at this. Later I commented to the grandmother that the babies were just making a joyful noise.

The priest (who, incidentally, is Indian) went right on with the ceremony, performing three symbolic rituals...pouring water over the infants' heads (spiritual washing of original sin), anointing their eyes with oil (that they may see God's glory), and applying a bit of salt to their mouths (protection from attacks by Satan).

The ceremony ended around 12:30, and we were back home before 1 p.m. We changed our clothes, and then Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where she went to her jigsaw puzzle.

Hubbie went outdoors to pick up some limbs blown down by yesterday's storm. But it was so humid out there that he soon returned to the air conditioning.

We got a call later that we were under a severe thunderstorm warning, but after only one clap of thunder, the storm moved east.

Mother and I started supper preparations around 4 p.m. Tonight, we had breakfast for supper...baked potatoes, cubed and sauteed with chopped onions, egg substitute scrambled with onions, mushrooms, and cheese, and biscuits served with a choice of honey, pineapple jelly, or strawberry jam. Cup of coffee completed the meal. This was the supper I intended for last night, but a power outage sent us to the fish house, instead.

Mother was ready to go home after supper, so Hubbie accompanied her, and then I went over there and put drops in her eyes later.

Tonight, Hubbie was interested in watching the Belmont Stakes horse race, so I recorded it earlier, and we began with that this evening. We were rooting for California Chrome to win, but unfortunately, he did not.

Then we watched a 2012, PG-13, movie chiller..."The Woman in Black," also recorded on DVR. This haunted house movie stars Daniel Radcliffe  (of Harry Potter fame),  and is scary without being gory...just right for a Saturday night ghost story.