A very grand birthday

There's a big family event coming up next week up in Raleigh, NC. My late mother-in-law's husband, Lou, is turning 90 years old! His son and daughter have planned a large party to celebrate and of course we were invited. You'd never guess he's ninety years old. While naturally he's slowing down some, he still functions like a healthy seventy-something. Drives, plays golf, lives alone with minimal help, and is still pretty mentally sharp. He never seems to change much as the years keep rolling by. If only we could all be so lucky, huh?

Gregg's brother and sister-in-law will be driving up from Jacksonville (Florida) for the party, and his niece Melissa is flying in from Washington state. His sister Karen and her son and his family live in Raleigh, so of course they'll be there already. Coincidently, Karen shares a birthday with Lou, which is part of the reason her daughter and brother are traveling so far to be there. Lou has his own big family from his first marriage (he was a widower in his 60s when he married my mother-in-law): grown children and grandchildren and in-laws and old family friends.  

Unfortunately, Gregg and I decided to send our regrets and not go. The biggest reason is that Gregg will be starting some major dental work a few days prior to the party, and he's likely not going to feel up to it. It's a three-hour drive away, no fun even without a sore mouth, and large social gatherings really aren't his favorite thing to begin with. He's also going to be somewhat self-conscious about his smile until the dental work is complete. I'm sure Lou will understand.

We will get to see Karen and Melissa, though! When Melissa heard that her favorite uncle wasn't going to make it up to Raleigh, she made a plan with her mom to drive down to see us for a few hours the day before she flies home. I can tell Gregg's really pleased about it. And there's a pretty good chance that at some point next weekend his brother Gary will stop by on his way up or down I-95 (Florence sits right alongside I-95 and there are two exits within a mile or so of our house). It will be good to see any or all of them!

This morning I mailed birthday cards to Lou and Karen, since they share the same day: August 4th. I hope they make it in time. 

Sunday this & that

As I get older, I find myself becoming less and less tolerant of heat. Today was 90 degrees (32C) and miserably humid. And it's only mid-May. I have a feeling this summer is going to be awful, and I was hoping for a little more time before the worst of it started. Sigh. This morning I went out around 9am to water the garden and half an hour later I could have wrung sweat out of my clothes. I came in and showered and stayed inside after that. I just can't stand it!

Which is unfortunate, because today was Carsen's 8th birthday party, and it was taking place at a local park. I bought her some books and a craft kit as a gift from me and Gregg and dropped it off at Marla's house prior to the party. Marla was disappointed that today had turned out to be so hot and humid. This time of year is always iffy as far as outdoor comfort level goes, but kids don't mind and I'm sure they had fun.

I ran down to Barnes and Noble to get Carsen's birthday gifts. Yes, I'm a last-minute auntie this year! The pet treat cutters/molds/recipes kit is a nod to the fact that Carsen has two new puppies this year, Boston Terriers the family dog gave birth to back at Christmastime. She loves her three dogs and will enjoy making homemade biscuits for them. I hope she likes the books, too. 

After dropping off the birthday gift, I came home and took a nap in the a/c. I felt guilty about this, because Gregg's been working on painting the outside trim on the house all day long. I would love to help him, but again, can't take the heat. I'm cooking him a nice supper to make up for it!

Speaking of a nice supper, the oven part of our gas range isn't heating. I'm sure it's a faulty igniter or something, but neither of us is handy with that kind of thing so I guess I'm going to have to find a repair person next week. I really can't be without an oven for too long! Because I knew it would be an issue this week, yesterday we fired up the grill and cooked a bunch of marinated chicken breasts and sirloin tips, which I'll make into dinners and lunches for the next several days. I also cooked corn on the cob and sweet onions wrapped in foil on the grill. I picked up the corn along with fresh tomatoes and a small watermelon from the farm stand, and tonight I'm making a pasta salad to go with grilled chicken. Tomorrow night will be teriyaki beef and stir-fried veggies with rice. Leftovers from both nights will make good work lunches, too, along with fresh salads. I can't wait until we're harvesting tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers and squash from our own garden, but the farm stand will do in the meantime.

A good Sunday night to everyone! Thanks for stopping by.

Two March hares

Today is a special day: my dear blogger friend Meike's birthday! Meike blogs from Germany and I love reading about her life and adventures there. A fun coincidence is that we're almost birthday twins; tomorrow I'll be 51 years old. Together, we're two mad March hares! *

I don't have any big plans for my birthday. Yesterday Marla and Martina came over for a few hours, and we had some simple appetizers and cake. I'd recently purchased a new charcuterie board and was eager to use it. The cake came from a local bakery (chocolate fudge layer cake).

Today, I want to pot up some more tomato seedlings, and maybe plant rattlesnake beans in the garden. The weather is warm and gorgeous and it's going to be a good day to be outside. All the early spring blossoms are popping at the moment: dogwood and redbud trees, wisteria, Carolina jessamine, azaleas. I even saw a few very early purple and white irises starting to bloom in a neighbor's yard!  I've always been glad I was born this time of year. Spring is my favorite season.

As for my actual birthday tomorrow, it's just going to be an ordinary workday. A simple and pleasant weekend with friends and my husband is more than enough for me. 

* Happy birthday Meike! I hope you're having a wonderful day!

A beautiful Sunday

I let the marigolds run wild after the summer garden was finished, and the bees spent all day yesterday taking advantage of the late season blooms. Temperatures tonight are expected to drop below freezing, so it was probably their last chance to prepare for winter.

Yesterday was also my dear husband's birthday! We had a quiet day at home (the weather was glorious, like Indian Summer) with the dogs and Marco. I made all of Gregg's favorite foods, including banana pudding for dessert. I have plans to make him a pineapple upside-down cake too, but he requested that I wait until the banana pudding is finished. 

Birthday weekend

The Saturday morning before my birthday, while I was in the midst of finally finishing my cake, I got texts from two of the three friends who were invited over that night. Both had last minute emergencies and weren't going to be able to make it to the party.

At this point I'd already made and purchased a lot of food and drinks and alcohol and I knew I was going to have way, way too much. Marla was the only friend I'd invited in advance who was able to come, and the neighbors I'd planned to text that afternoon weren't home. 

I was disappointed, but of course I understood. Martina and her husband had a friend in crisis and needed help finding temporary housing for his dogs, and Meisha had a family issue come up. And since I hadn't mentioned anything to the neighbors ahead of time, they had no way of knowing I was going to text them to walk over for cake that night. 

It was still a nice time anyway, even though it was just me and Marla. I set out small dishes of the food I'd prepared, made a small pitcher of champagne punch, plugged in the string lights on the porch, and we spent a few hours eating and drinking and talking. 

The next morning, Martina texted me and asked if she could stop by that afternoon. She felt about about missing the night before and wanted to bring a gift she'd gotten me. Of course, I said yes, and that afternoon we had another small "party" with more small plates of food and plenty of cake. I didn't make punch this time, but we did have a selection of hard apple ciders. 

That afternoon, my phone rang and I saw it was my nephew, which seemed odd. When I answered, he said, "Hold on a second!" and then him, his mom (my sister in law) and his wife Jessica all sang "Happy Birthday"! Even one of their dogs joined in by barking while they sang! It was so sweet! 

I got serenaded again later that day. Two of my favorite little kids (siblings) at the school have a sweet mom who saw on Facebook that it was my birthday, so she recorded them singing Happy Birthday to me and telling me that they love me, and posted it on my Facebook page! (Those of you that I'm FB friends with can go check it out if you're interested). That made me so happy!

Then on Wednesday, not-so-little P. and his mom met me at our favorite Mexican place for dinner to celebrate our birthdays...since P. and I are birthday twins. He's 12 years old now and growing up fast. It was really good to spend some time with them and they gave me a card in which they had written, "Friendship is a treasure, but you're more than a friend. You're family." That made me cry. 

All in all, it was a good birthday, even though it was nothing like I'd planned!

Back later today when I show you my gift from Gregg. :)

Half century

I have a big birthday coming up on Sunday...one of those years that end in an "0". It seems too crazy to possibly be true, but I'll be 50 years old! 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset about it, I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it. I've barely adjusted to thinking of myself as a forty-something and all of a sudden, I'm about to leave my 40s behind. Crazy, crazy, crazy. I'm sure it's like this for everyone, but whew!

I'd originally thought I'd have a big get-together to celebrate such a milestone, but it hasn't worked out. When I talked to Gregg about it, he asked if I'd mind keeping the party small because he's not feeling up to having a lot of people over and having to help host. He's got an oncology appointment looming next Monday where he'll get the results of a CT scan he had last week. This will determine how successful the radiation has been and whether he'll need further treatment or not. With this hanging over his head, he doesn't feel like any major entertaining, and truthfully, I don't either. 

So instead, I'm having a small party on the back porch Saturday night with just two or three close friends. Marla and Martina, of course, and a new friend I've made at work, Meisha. Later in the evening I might text a couple of friendly neighbors and invite them to walk over and have a drink or a piece of cake. I plan to have some good food, good desserts, and a few different drink choices (alcoholic and non). I bought some pretty string lights for the porch, too. It should be fun, and not too stressful to pull off like a big party would be. 

 

I do feel kind of sad that Gregg is the only family I'll have celebrating my birthday with me. My dad died just over a year ago, and I haven't been in contact with my mom since last summer. * I don't have siblings, although I love Gregg's. In fact, I invited his sister to come down on Saturday to spend the night and attend the party. I would love to have her (so would Gregg), but she thanked me for asking and then changed the subject. It kind of hurt my feelings, to be honest. Not because she's not coming, but because she didn't even seem to really consider it. 

Of course, Marla and Martina are like sisters to me, and I have an abundance of friends. I have a really good marriage. I'm grateful for every bit of it, and I don't have any right to complain. I try not to. I don't always succeed.

These are just things I'm thinking about as I prepare to turn fifty.

* It's better that we're not in contact. It's been really hard coming to terms with that, but it's true. It's sad and hard and I wish things were different, but I've started to prioritize my own needs and my own well-being. It's past time that I did.

Birthday weekend

 

Nearby peach orchard in full bloom. 

(McLeod Farms, McBee, SC)

Yesterday was my birthday! I've been having a really nice weekend. First of all, this area is beautiful this time of year! How gorgeous are those peach trees? And here are blooming dogwoods at the end of my driveway (my neighborhood is full of dogwoods, wisteria, and jessamine at the moment):

We're still having some chilly nights, but my lettuce is coming along nicely. I planted it in a plastic kiddie pool this year to save space in the raised bed, and it seems to be working out well. I'm looking forward to fresh greens.

And of course, my tomatoes and peppers are getting big and will be ready for planting out in a couple more weeks (I hope).

On to birthday gifts! Gregg went shopping with me yesterday and I picked out three new bird feeders to hang in the back yard. We put them up this morning.

And my main gift was a really nice new grill! We bought it last week and Gregg spent hours putting it together one afternoon. Lots of cursing was involved. :)  It's the nicest grill we've ever owned and I'm excited to cook with it! We couldn't try it out yesterday because of rainy weather, but tonight we're going to break it in. I went by the butcher shop yesterday and had some thick, beautiful ribeye steaks cut (the price ended up being eye watering, but it's a special occasion, right?) and I also went to the farm stand and bought some Florida-grown corn on the cob, new potatoes, and zucchini. Tonight we'll have a small feast! :)

Of course, my birthday post wouldn't be complete without mentioning my birthday buddy Little P.! He turned 11 years old yesterday (I turned 49). I went out to eat Mexican food with him and his sweet mama earlier in the week. He's growing up so fast!

We always take a birthday selfie. It's a tradition.

His mom told me he's really into the video game called Fortnite, which I know absolutely nothing about, but it turns out you can buy gift cards for it and do.......something...with them. No clue, but I got him a Fortnite gift card and also an ice cream shop gift card for his birthday. He seemed thrilled! Video games and ice cream seem like a really good birthday gift for an 11-year-old boy. 

Birthday recap

No, I didn't drop off the face of the earth after my last blog post. In case you were wondering!

My birthday week/weekend was a lot of fun. I had intended to write about it right away, but then it was Monday morning before I knew it, and that kicked off a really busy, really stressful week at work. By this past Wednesday afternoon I was crying in my office, it was so bad. After that, though, things improved, and I managed to end the week yesterday feeling okay again. Exhausted, but okay. So here I am.

Let me rewind to my birthday, March 23rd. When I got to work that morning, I caught a teacher-friend of mine in the process of putting a "Happy Birthday" banner over my office door. It was so sweet of her! It really started my day off on a happy note. I made her pose for a picture to capture the moment!

Other gifts were soon to follow. A big card made by the kids (and teacher) in the autistic class, along with a little decorative bucket filled with candy and an assortment of fun pencils. A pot of fringe tulips and a card from a handful of other teachers. A beautiful bouquet of spring flowers and balloons sent by my parents. Hugs from several of my favorite students. It was probably the best day at work I've had all year!

The fringe tulips after they finally opened. Aren't they gorgeous?!

When I got home, Gregg gave me a water lily bulb he special-ordered for me to go in the container pond where the goldfish (rescued from the school aquariums) live. It doesn't look like much now, but it's going to be beautiful in a few months. The variety is called "Georgia Peach". 

My other birthday gifts were a new pair of walking shoes, and a nice set of knives (sorely needed in my kitchen).

On to Saturday, March 25th. My little get-together was fun, although only Marla and Martina were able to make it. I'd hoped Martina's husband, Will, would be able to come, but he had to work until too late. I also urged Gregg to invite his friend Ben, but he declined to do so on the grounds that Ben, although a nice and fun guy, likes to drink beer and when he drinks beer, he often gets loud and kind of annoying. I told Gregg I didn't mind (I wanted him to have some male company and Ben's a good guy despite his faults) but Gregg said he didn't want to risk him making a nuisance of himself. 

Marla did bring her little girl, Carsen, for a while right at first. As always, her daddy came and picked her up after she'd visited for a little while and had some food. That little girl is really growing up.

Carsen and Poppy

For food, I remembered something we'd done at a previous workplace for a staff lunch: crock pot hot dogs! Yes, hot dogs can be heated for a couple of hours in a crock pot and they turn out perfectly steamed and delicious. The night before I made an awesome batch of homemade hot dog chili (if I do say so myself!) that could be kept warm in a smaller crock. I also made my homemade guacamole that always gets raves, bought a couple of different kinds of dip (including salsa), and several kinds of chips and crackers. The first local strawberries are ready early this year, so I went and bought some and made strawberry daiquiris for drinks. And for dessert, we had a bakery-purchased caramel cake. It was all so easy and so good! Marla brought a beautiful platter of fruit with a yogurt dip, and Martina brought chocolates and candy purchased on her recent trip to Germany to visit her grandmother. We weren't lacking for good things to eat!

We had fun. The weather was nice, so we spent several hours on the back porch, talking and drinking daiquiris.

The next thing I did to celebrate my birthday was almost a week later, this past Wednesday. I went out to dinner with Little P. and his mom. As you all may remember, P. and I share a birthday so we had to do something to celebrate! We went to a fancy build-your-own hamburger restaurant (his choice), and I gave him a couple of new books for his gift. He started reading one of them at the table, so I consider that a success. :) The funny thing about giving him books was that my gift from him and his mom was a gift card to the bookstore! Haha! We both love books.

Before we left the restaurant, we had to take our traditional birthday selfie! I look terrible in it because that was the afternoon I'd cried at work, and my face was still puffy and my makeup was gone. Seeing my favorite little boy made me feel better, though! We're now 48 and 10 years old.

The inside of my birthday card from him.

Suggestions?

Hey everyone! My birthday is tomorrow, but I'm not going to be celebrating until Saturday night. We've invited a few friends over for food, drinks, and cake/dessert. I'll be buying a cake from a bakery, but I can't decide what food to serve my guests. Please help me!

What I DON'T want to do is spend the whole morning and half the afternoon preparing food, which is what I usually do when we have company over. I love to cook and entertain, but when it's my birthday celebration weekend I don't want to do that much work! So now I just can't decide what to make. I'm not totally opposed to ordering pizza or Chinese or something, but restaurant food is so often disappointing to me these days. What I'd really like are a few simple, party-worthy recipes that aren't too much trouble to make and that everyone will enjoy. 

If you have any ideas or suggestions, please share them with me so I can make a plan for Saturday! I'm really at a loss here.

(Drink ideas would be great, too!) 

Thanks in advance! :)

Saturday night stuff

I made it to the weekend! What a rough week. I hope I never develop another ear infection; it's been really awful, but it's finally starting to improve. This morning when Gregg left for work, I went back to bed and slept an additional three hours. I guess I needed the extra rest.

All of my plants survived the cold snap quite well. I covered everything with old towels, plastic, and large, overturned plastic pots. It looked weird but it seemed to do the trick. I may have to re-cover everything tonight and tomorrow night, but according to the long range forecast I should be good after that (at least for another week). 

Yes, it all looked funny, but it got the job done!

In other news, I did our taxes today. That's a chore I dread every year, but it wasn't too bad. It only took about 3 hours and now that's off my mind for another year. We're getting a decent little refund back, due to the fact I have extra taken out of each paycheck to cover all Gregg's self employment income from his aquarium gigs. Better to have too much taken and get a refund than have a nasty surprise (a big tax bill) at tax time. About half of the refund will go to some house repairs we've been needing to do, and the rest will go into savings. 

My birthday is coming up next week! I'm planning to have Marla and Martina over on Saturday to help me celebrate. Gregg will get off work early, and Marla's husband will probably stop by with their little girl for a while. I'd love to invite Martina's husband, Will, but he works on Saturday evenings. There will be food, cake, and drinks. I'm excited for all that because I'm still staying faithful to my diet. I've lost 19 pounds since the beginning of January! A day to treat myself (and see my friends!) will be a nice break for my birthday! One of my gifts to myself this year is a new pair of walking shoes. My old ones are worn out, and a nice new pair should help inspire me to walk further and more often. I hope so.

The school year is winding down. When I go back to work on Monday, we'll be in our final quarter of this year. I can't believe we're only 9-10 weeks away from being done. And there's a week of spring break in there that doesn't count (at Easter). On Friday we had a professional development day in the district, so students had the day off. Besides one hour long virtual training session for clerical staff at 8am, I had the rest of the day to catch up on work before getting off a half hour earlier than usual. The teachers were in the library all day listening to presentations be our principal's mentor. And speaking of our principal: she announced to the teachers on Friday morning that she's been diagnosed with breast cancer. She said she begins treatment next week. I have no idea what this means for our school for the remainder of this year. 

It's always something, this year. Thank goodness it will be over at the end of May!

Festivities

I've had such a great birthday this year, and there's still more fun to come.

For the first time I created a birthday fundraiser on Facebook, kind of on a lark and not expecting anyone to actually donate much, if anything. I picked Doctors Without Borders/Medecins san Frontieres and was pleasantly surprised that we've exceeded the automatic $200 goal that Facebook sets! I'll be doing that again next year--it's such a worthy charity.

I finally figured out what to get Little P. for his birthday. I asked his mom what kind of gift cards he might like, and she said his favorite place in Florence was Cold Stone (ice cream). So all your suggestions about ice cream were spot on! I ended up getting him a $25 gift card to Cold Stone and a tie-dye parafoil kite. He seemed pretty excited about both!

Since the nurses at school got me the pretty flowers with the Happy Birthday balloon attached, all the staff and parents and students saw that it was my birthday and I got lots of well wishes all through the day. A couple of the kids gave me hugs. It was nice. After work, I met up with a couple of friends, Paulette and Marian, and we had an early seafood dinner at Tubb's. After we ate, it was book club night, so we proceeded to Karen H's house (she was the host). I was given more flowers and cards and even a gift card, none of which I expected. It was so very nice of them!

Gregg's gift to me came earlier in the week: a nice food dehydrator! I'd been wanting one since last fall, and with my garden prospects for this year looking good it should be a useful gift. I've already made some delicious apple chips, and some less-than-stellar banana chips (I need to keep working on that recipe). I'm hoping to use the machine to cut down on food waste, since most vegetables and fruits can be dried and added to recipes later. I'm also interested in making homemade (good quality) treats for George. Dried strips of chicken breast treats cost the earth and should be easy enough to make in a dehydrator. In any case, I'll have fun experimenting!

The last part of my birthday festivities will be happening on Saturday. Season 2 of Bridgerton drops on Netflix on Friday, so on Saturday (Gregg's day to work late) Marla and Martina are coming over for food, birthday cake, wine, and a Bridgerton marathon!!! I'm sooo excited! Gregg looked at me funny when I told him that was my big plan for my birthday. "That's really what you want to do?" he said. Umm, YES! Marla and Martina both thought it sounded fabulous when I suggested it! We're going to have so much fun, even if the sexy Duke of Hastings won't be a part of season 2. :)

It's been a very, very good week. I'm such a fortunate woman.

Birthday boy

 Little P. and I have a birthday coming up next week! He's going to be nine years old. I adore that boy, and it's fun that we share a birthday. This year I have no idea what to buy him for a gift, though. A couple of weeks ago I asked him what he wanted, and you know what he said? "I don't know, I really already have everything I want." I thought that was rather mature, given how he usually has a big list of expensive items in mind when holidays and birthdays roll around!

I pressed the issue a bit the next day, since I'm going to get him something and need ideas. After giving it some thought he mentioned that he went to a birthday party at a skating rink a while ago and didn't have his own pair of skates. Since I know nothing about kids' sizing, or how fast his feet grow, I didn't feel comfortable with that suggestion. It's a specific enough request that it's likely someone in his family has already bought the skates, anyway. When I asked him what else he might like instead, he just shrugged. 

So, dear blogger friends, what would you buy for a nine year old as a birthday gift? I love to buy books for kids, but only if they like to read and will appreciate them. I'm sorry to say that even though P. reads really well (and well above his grade level), he's not turning out to be a real reader. What he does like is building things with Legos, and projects that involve electronics and robotics and even math. He recently qualified to begin the advanced/gifted academic track in school, so he's a really smart kid. And he likes active outdoor play and sports, typical boy stuff. Any suggestions will be welcome (not too expensive, though).

I have two more Little P. updates for his fans. Remember I told you he had a crush on a little girl in his class? Everything was going well until the day the teacher asked the class who had been whispering when her back was turned and the girl ratted P. out. He showed up at my desk that afternoon in a state of high dudgeon, a betrayed young man! From that day on, Love was Dead. 

At the end of January Little P. had his "Vocal Star" audition. He had picked I'm Still Standing by Elton John to sing. His mom said that when he first got up on the stage and saw the people looking at him, he froze, and then his bottom lip started to tremble. She thought, "Oh, no...." but then he pulled himself together, managed to smile (although she knew he was on the verge of crying) and then sang his song all the way through. His voice shook but he finished it! She told him afterwards how proud she was of him, even if he didn't win. I was pretty proud of him, too. That took guts!

 And look how handsome he looked in the new jacket she bought him for the audition:

(This picture makes him look so grown up for an eight year old! He doesn't really look quite this grown up in person).

Last of March, first of April

 Gregg finally suggested a birthday present for me that I was excited about--a new hammock to replace the one that wore out years ago. We still had the big metal hammock stand to hang it on stored in the garage. I picked out a red quilted one and we brought it home on Sunday. I've been relaxing in it every afternoon since!

It takes up half of the back porch, but I love it. With the screens keeping mosquitoes and bugs out and the ceiling fan to keep a cool breeze circulating, the porch is that much more comfortable and fun. My porch is my happy place.

This hasn't been an altogether happy week so far. A woman who works in our school library got devastating news about her beloved dog over the weekend and they had to have her put to sleep on Monday. The family is heartbroken, and I feel terrible for them. Then I embarrass myself by starting to cry every time I talk to Robin (the coworker) about it. I guess the loss of Ginger is still too fresh for me to interact with others experiencing pet bereavement right now. It seems to have triggered a load of fresh grief for me. It's strange. And hard.

Something else is happening that's bothering me. My 83 year old neighbor has been very, very ill all of a sudden. Her birthday was the Friday before mine, and we noticed lots of her family's cars at her house over the weekend. Since her kids, grandkids, and even some young great-grandchildren all live locally and come over a lot, we didn't think much of it at first....but then this week started and there were still cars there, and one of her daughters was spending the night. I finally sent her a text, just checking in, and found out that she had been in the hospital for 8 days and wasn't released until her birthday! We had no idea. Her daughter is staying there at night for the time being to keep an eye on things. Apparently Miss Luella had pancreatitis first, then a preexisting heart arrhythmia starting acting up, and then she caught pneumonia. Eight days in the hospital! At her age, that's scary stuff. She said that she's very, very weak and is having a hard time eating and drinking enough and can't seem to get any energy back. No wonder! I've been trying to think of something we can do for her, but all I can come up with is maybe fruit and flowers? I don't know what she can or can't eat, but a small basket of fruit seems harmless and some bright flowers might be cheering. If anyone reading has any suggestions I'd love to hear them! Of course I've told her that we're right next door, day or night, and to please call if she needed anything at all. I also offered to run any errands she might have. We've tried to think of other stuff that might help, but her family seems to be taking excellent care of her. Gregg did roll her garbage can back under her carport the other morning. We can't think of much else at the moment. I imagine her recovery is going to be long and hard, and once her family isn't there day and night maybe we can do more for her. But again, any suggestions are welcome.

On a happier note, Marla and Martina are coming over Saturday! And Marla will bring little Carsen over for the first hour or so (her daddy will come pick her up after a little while so the party can continue baby-less)! I haven't hugged that baby in over a year. She's about to turn three, so that's over a third of her life so far.

This was back in January. See? She's a little girl now!

It's going to be a fun time. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again, and there will be birthday cake, and so my birthday celebration continues. Today is a half day at work, and after that we're on spring break. I'm looking forward to it.

Sunday Supper--Birthday Edition

 

 

A friend of Gregg's gave him some duck eggs last week. They said they're good to eat and even better to bake with, but we both felt a little strange about it. Neither of us have ever eaten duck eggs, but there's a first time for everything!

Tomorrow being his birthday, I asked G. what he wanted for a special meal. His immediate answer was "Meatloaf!" Yes, out of all the things he could have picked, my husband chose good old fashioned meatloaf with real mashed potatoes for his birthday supper. I'll steam some broccoli for a side dish. So that's how I'm using two of the duck eggs, in the meatloaf, and three more will go into the cake I'm getting ready to pop in the oven. It's going to be pineapple upside down cake, and I'll post pictures of it tomorrow if it turns out pretty.

It's been a beautiful day here. Blue skies, fluffy white clouds, autumn colors in the trees, warm sunshine.....and we have a new President! I didn't realize just how stressed out I've been lately about the election and I feel so much lighter and freer today than I have in a very, very long time. Gregg says it's the best birthday gift he could have asked for! 

Book shopping for kids

Did I ever mention that my 6 year old buddy, Little P., has the same birthday as me? Well, he does! I saw him Friday afternoon and we were talking about Leap Day. I said, "P-----, after Leap Day on Saturday, this Sunday will be March 1st. Do you know what that means?" and without even a moment's hesitation he shouted, "It's almost our birthday!!!!!" Indeed!

On the 23rd of this month I will be forty-five and he will be seven years old. Isn't seven a nice age? (I'm not so sure I'd say the same about forty-five). I'm trying to decide on a book or books to buy him for a birthday present. He likes to read, and reads on a third or fourth grade level already, which should make it fun to pick. Here's what I'm considering, and I wonder if any of you would like to give me some input on this.

1. A nicely bound hardcover copy of a volume of children's poetry. Shel Silverstein's books were pure fun when I was his age. Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic are both superb. There are, of course, plenty of other volumes of poetry for children that would be good, too. 

2. A set of good chapter books like the Magic Treehouse series or the ones with nonfiction themes like biographies and historical events. 

3. Classic children's literature, like something shown here:

Then, of course, there's plenty of newer fiction for kids on his reading level that's supposed to be really good---modern favorites, if you will. Whatever I decide, I definitely want to get him a book or books for his birthday.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

A whole year already

I'm off to a birthday party this afternoon!

It's hard to believe, but little Carsen will be a year old on Tuesday! We all love her to pieces. I'm going to be the boring auntie that always buys books for her. Luckily her mommy and daddy read to her every night, and her nursery has bookshelves with her very own collection of books being built. I do hope she will love reading as she grows! I have a couple of books here at my home that I plan to read to her when she's big enough to stay over: The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh, The Velveteen Rabbit, a beautifully illustrated hardback copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and a first edition of Dinotopia. I also have the first 5 books of the Little House series in one hardback edition, but once she's old enough to read I plan to buy her a set of those of her own. A child that loves books is always my favorite kind of child!

Carsen's main gift today is a beautiful hardback book of Mother Goose rhymes. I spent the better part of the afternoon at the bookstore yesterday looking for just the right thing. The illustrations are gorgeous in this book and I hope they capture Carsen's imagination as she grows!

And so that she would have at least one book that she can hold (and drool on) right away, I bought her another book made for toddlers. It features squishy, crinkle-y sea animals: turtles, crabs, sharks, whales, and sea horses. I chose it since her "uncle" Gregg is known for his love of animals found in the water.

As I wrapped the books yesterday Gregg remarked on what a lucky little girl she is--to have so many people that love her and want to make her happy. I suspect today's party will be extra nice. For one thing, Marla and Toyo wouldn't agree to any kind of baby shower or party before Carsen was born. As some of you may remember, their first baby only lived a few days and never got to come home to the fully furnished nursery and the dozens of gifts waiting for her. Their caution during the next pregnancy was understandable, and so there hasn't been any special event for Carsen until now. Marla and (especially) Toyo have large families that dote on the baby, and lots and lots of friends, too. In addition, they just bought a new house last month and will be eager to show it off. Their move was so recent that I haven't even seen the place yet.

I'm so happy for their little family: a beautiful little girl with a first birthday to celebrate, a new home with space for their growing family where they can make a fresh start, and lots of friends and family to celebrate their good fortune with.

So I'm off to a birthday party! Have a great Sunday, everyone.

Catching up at the end of March

This month seems to have flown by at the rate of January and February put together. March is my favorite month of the year, and it's almost gone already!

I realized I never posted pictures from my little birthday get together(s). It was such a lovely weekend that I want to blog about it to remember it.

First up: I decorated the dining room with paper flower garlands purchased years ago from the dollar store, no doubt for one of my "girls' night" gatherings. I made lots of party food, which included ham ranch pinwheels, raw spring veggies with dip, strawberries and grapes, a fruity white wine sangria flavored with apple brandy, and of course the carrot cake I had bought for my birthday.

And Marla brought this little sweetie along with her, which was fun for us all. Martina gave the baby a tiny stuffed turtle, which she loved:

I got a lovely gift from Martina: a pretty basket with gardening cloves and wooden cooking spoons, which were handmade by a local artisan. Aren't they pretty?

The birds are Carolina Wrens, which is our state bird and also a species we see frequently at our backyard feeders. I love these and can't bear the thought of actually using them, even though they're supposed to be fine for use as long as you're willing to do a little extra maintenance. Carolina Wrens are also on one of the mugs I bought myself as a birthday gift earlier that day from the Wild Birds Unlimited store (I dropped in to buy seed in bulk for the feeders).

I love these bird mugs and want the whole collection. I started with these two.

The day after my birthday, I went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant with some of my book club friends: Marian, Rita, Karen H., Karen R., Paulette, and Kathleen. The place has wonderful margaritas and fresh tableside guacamole. I got a bunch of cards, and one gift of a tiny stuffed narwhal from my friend Karen H. It puzzled me at first.

Then Karen reminded me of something I shared on Facebook the other day that she particularly enjoyed:



When she saw the tiny pink narwhal, she thought of me. I love my friends!

After the birthday weekend fun it was hard to go back to the grind of work last week. We still haven't had our spring break yet, because it's tied to Easter which is very late this year. We also had a few long weekends taken away since Christmas because we had to make up some of the days lost to Hurricane Florence. The kids are wilder than ever and everyone is fed up and sick of being at school (the staff too!). Good Friday (our first day off) can't come soon enough!

I start a conversational Spanish class on Tuesday. Keeping up with my lessons on my own has proved challenging to say the least and I think the structure of taking a course will help me reignite some enthusiasm for continuing to learn. We have lots of parents at the middle school who only speak Spanish so there's a real need for it at work. The adult education center connected with our school district is offering the course for only $35. Classes are from 5-7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays for all of April and May (with the exception of the week of spring break). I'm really looking forward to it!

That about finishes up what I've been doing/thinking about this month! It's so beautiful outside right now. Our screened in back porch has become my "happy place" and I spend hours every day sitting out there, enjoying the mild spring weather and watching the birds at our feeders. Spring in South Carolina is something to see.

The view from our driveway.

Our neighborhood is filled with blooming wisteria.

Our dogwood tree out front is blooming.

View from our front door.