No other picture would do for my friend, Gem, whose birthday is TODAY!         

I’ve known Gem for over 3 years.   We met via our blogs, became good friends (I refer to us as sisters, actually), opened a design business together, went through ups and downs, talking a little, talking a lot, more transitions than we both care to count, I’m sure … the whole lot.

Happy Birthday, woman (as TLK would say)      Hope you get lots of chocolate and a perfect day.   Or should I say “weekend”.   lol

One of many friendly koi’s.

The oriental garden.

The ladybug train

See the frog?

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Today, it is my birthday.
Getting older… it is way better than the alternative, yes?

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My grandparents lived in a small town in Illinois, and it was always the highlight of our year to drive from Nebraska to visit them.

My grandma liked to winter in southern Texas, where they drove in their Suburban and camper.

She had a huge spoon collection, and the racks hung in the kitchen. Whenever they travelled or we travelled, a spoon would be added to the collection. I have some of those now.

She loved to make us roast beef for dinner, which I loved. I remember her calling the butcher mid-dinner one time because one of them was afraid it wasn’t going to turn out right, but of course, it did.

One morning, my grandma asked me what I wanted for breakfast. Our wires got crossed, and I got an egg white omelet. That was before egg white omelets were popular, you guys. But I ate it anyway.

She was always sweet, and I loved her very much.

Happy Birthday!

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The Little Kid’s birthday was today. She is 6 now.

It is hard to believe that 6 years ago, I was in the labor room, going through induced labor in a ethereal sort of way. I had drugs. I had drugs before the epidural because my anesthesiolgist was eating dinner. Then I had the epidural.

When they said, “You need to push”, that was news to me.

So, at 7:07pm on 肉嫁在线观看 13th, there she was, 7 lbs, 7 oz and 21 inches long. Everything about her was divisible by 7. Well, except for the 13th, which is still divisible by 7, but not evenly.

We celebrated today with pizza, cake and lots of presents, and of course, phone calls from the people far away, by the ocean (my parents).

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Whose turn is it to sing?

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Bank Holiday
Monday is Labor Day. In the US, this is our “late summer bank holiday” (if you speak the Queen’s English, or English in general, that should make sense to ya). Thank Goodness for late summer holidays. A day off is a welcome gift.

Preparing for the Birthday
My mother’s birthday is next Friday. TLK’s birthday party is next Saturday. Her actual birthday is the following Wednesday. My stepdaughter’s birthday is 4 days later. Planning 肉嫁在线观看 is always fun. To top things off, I should have a new nephew by the end of the month.

Anyway, 4 girls have RSVP’d so far. Do you think it’s rude to query the other 3 on Tuesday? I mean, a headcount is a good thing to have, at least for planning purposes.

(am I boring you yet?)

Roofing
Tuesday is the big roof replacement day. I’ll be interested to see how the new shingles look on the house. I’ve seen them on various other houses in town. The fiberglass (Heritage) shingles we’re using look so much better than the older composite shingles. They’re supposed to reflect light, so not only might our roof be cooler, but you can probably see our house from outer space.

Ok, maybe not.

Comments
Your comments and suggestions are always valuable. You may have noted that all the comments on the blog have disappeared. It’s not because of you… it’s because I am repairing a mistake I made when transitioning to the new Blogger Beta. Besides the comments, everything else should be pretty seemless. I promise not to zap your comments in the future. Well, as long as they’re not rude or, you know… crazy. Not that you would do that, mind you.

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