Happy Birthday Nita!

Today is my sister Nita's 28th birthday. Yeah, and I had my 28th birthday last May, no we're not twins, with a weird reason that one was born months (2 1/2 years actually) apart from each other, it's just that we refuse to grow up so we get to decide how old we want to be when we have a birthday. And I'm deciding Nita will be 28 this year.

My brother and his family are all at Nita's house helping her rebuild her back yard fence that was damaged when the Hurricane went through Houston a few months ago. I'm sure they are having a great time digging holes and sawing wood and all that Handyman stuff. Not to mention they are eating and drinking well. Nita is a fabulous cook and Michael never goes anywhere without a sofa size cooler of Lone Star and Shiner. Jolea was really hoping we'd partake in the festivities too. Too many tool belts can spoil the project if you know what I mean.

We survived Halloween... no pranks this year. My door decor is still hanging, sometimes these things come up missing. Jolea and I went out to rent movies around 7 and there were VERY few kids on the street. My usual girls showed up and I loaded them down with double handfulls of Reese's varieties. I think everyone must caravan over to the the ritzy side of town and hit on the Big Houses. Next year I think I'll just give the girls a couple of bucks each and forgo the candy... we don't need it in the house. Now we feel like we have to eat it. I'll make Jeffrey a goody bag to send home with him, or I'll go trick or treat the girls again.

I'm sitting out here having the Breakfast of Champions.... cookies and coffee! Not just any cookies, these are some of Grandma's cookies. Not my Grandma or Jolea's Grandma... but the School Grandma. Our school is so fortunate to have met the most wonderful woman a few years ago. She came to us when her grandson was in Kindergarten (he's in the 2nd grade now and lives in another town), she informed us as she was dropping off a huge tray of baked goods in the office that day, that her hobby was baking. She would try new recipes once or twice a week and she and her husband would sample the creation and then she'd freeze them. Well her freezer was full and she had to get rid of some things. Of course people at a school will eat anything as if they haven't had a meal in two hours, bring it on!

She began bringing us what we call Grandma's Treats once a month. We decided to time the deliveries with staff meetings. This not only helped Grandma Janice keep her freezer cleaned out but also kept me from having to spend $$ on refreshments and you wouldn't believe how many people show up at a meeting when they know there is something to eat, especially something good!

We didn't have a meeting yesterday, it was Halloween, that day on the calendar that tells us it's time to start laying on the extra pounds to get us through the long hard winter. Grandma delivered 6 or 7 large plastic containers of different kinds of baked goods. There was a dark chocolate brownie like bar so full of huge chocolate chip and covered in thick orange frosting, a layered pumpkin spice cake, carrot cake, toffee bars, cranberry cookies (with fresh cranberries, not those dried rubbery kind) and these cookies I'm eating this morning (and a few others, I can't remember because there were just too many to try.) These are a light shortbread with all the fruit and nuts that would be in a Fruit Cake.... delightful. They just melt in your mouth. This is what Fruit Cake was supposed to be. Nita... this would be a hit at the clinic for your Fat Week at Christmas. Hey, I cleaned up the mess and bring the containers back to Grandma so I get to bring leftovers home...

Jody did so well with his exercise program Tuesday and Wednesday and then yesterday he was feeling very achy when I came home... wasn't able to go for a walk. But he and Jolea managed to stay up late and watch two movies (he plinked on a mandolin all the way through the movies! Yeah! That's entertainment...) I'm hoping he'll feel like going to Garland tonight. It should be the last one of the season, if they have it. Time changes tonight and those Old Foggies will be heading to Luby's Cafeteria around 4 for dinner and off to bed by 7:30 next Saturday.

Have a great day, it's going to be beautiful in North Texas.... mid 80's... Indian Summer! I hear plinking... everybody up!

Happy B'day sister!

She's back!

Welcome back Maria!
We missed you.... I don't know where this underline came from but I have got to get rid of it!

And he's off....

The boy child (aka Bubba, Buddy, Bobba Loo, Buck Tumbleweed, Buckwheat... our son) is leaving for his whirlwind tour of the Virgin Islands to visit Jolea and then he's off to backpack Europe for about 3 weeks. I just keep having these visions of American Werewolf in London pop in my head. You know the part where they are bee-bopping down the road in the dark and they hear the howling!!!! Then they have to run with backpacks on!!!!! After seeing that movie I never wanted to wear a backpack. That's why I drag my luggage on wheels, and I try not to bee-bop in the dark. He and the buddy he's going with came by school this afternoon to say good-bye. They will leave VERY early in the morning and were off to watch a Roughriders baseball game tonight. I told them about my backpacking fears.

Hubby got a good report Monday from the test to see if his white count was up after the shot, it was thank goodness. He hopes to never have that happen again. The shot that is. I have got to find out what to feed him to help keep the white cells up. He said he had never been in that much pain, and it was all over his body. At one time it was his back, then the pain would travel to his thighs, then his shoulders, then an ankle and so on. It seemed like it took him longer to bounce back from the shot for the white cells than it took him to get over the chemo treatment. He felt crummy all weekend. We missed out on going to Garland. If any of you know how to keep you white blood cells up let me know. Hope it involves eating chocolate ice cream.

He did go in to work for a little bit on Monday, just to turn in the disability paperwork. His boss is really going to miss him. The boss is worried about working with the "dufus" that is working in Hubby's place. One of those people who is never where you need him when you need him.

Hubby's been spending his free time, when he feels like it, working on a mandolin, a guitar and now he's taken up an old hobby that he put on hold for a few years.... leather crafting. Yeah Jolea, you will not only have the lovely melodic strum strum of the Strummer, but also the bang tap tap tap tap of the rawhide mallet. Aren't you excited?

He also moved the Strummer into the guest room. I didn't ask why... thought it may have to do with Bubba bringing his stuff back home.... as in moving in, back home! Well it was a nice couple of months. Front bathroom was always clean... only 4 loads of laundry every week... Oh well, it's parenthood, kind of stays with you forever doesn't it? Maybe Bubba will come home and buy a place of his own, he has a good lead on a house that won't be ready to sell for a few months.

If you are reading Jolea's blog you know her plans... if not, I'll shorten the story, she's coming home next Wednesday, same day Bubba leaves from the Virgin Islands and their visit for London. This will be good, she's a little neater than Bubba. Hope she's not too disappointed that I don't go anywhere or do anything anymore. I do want to go to the new shopping center off Bethany and Hwy 75. That will be fun, it looks like the shopping area on McKinney Ave. in Dallas. I just hate shopping alone. I just don't care for shopping period.

Have a good one... I'm beat, and off to bed, yeah it's only 7:30 but the second day of school totally kicked the tar out the first day. Yesterday was a breeze compared to today. Oh no! We're already building up for Friday!!!! If I had some orange juice I could have a Painkiller, just like in Marina Cay.