Day 03 – Your parents

well now!  i'm not sure what you don't know about my parents.  or, dad, i guess.  so, i'll try to give some new info!  : )

my parents met at work.  mom worked there first, and she got married while she was there.  her first husband was a real piece of work, didn't treat her very nice.  they were only married for 2 years, and the last year they weren't together, but it took mom awhile to finalize the divorce.  (idk why, we haven't discussed that, as of yet!)  she & daddy started hanging out prior to the divorce being final (ooh, scandalous!  lol) but in a group.  a bunch of them would go dancing & drinking at the bars.

even after she liked him, mom wasn't sure she wanted to marry him.  well, really, after her first marriage, that's understandable!  : )  so, things were going along in that direction, and then mom decided to go to florida & ... clear her head?  decide what she wanted to do?  hang out for a week and date some other schmuck that the friend of aunt jan's she stayed with set her up with.  lol  good times, right?  thank God that date was a schmuck!  heh.  who knows what would've happened?

anyway, that trip cemented my mom's decision & she & dad decided they wanted to marry each other.

March 3, 1973:

1983

no idea what year:

and, you've seen the 2006 picture from dad's birthday.  : )

there's a lot of middle stories, but in closing i'll just say this - i love my parents.  i'm SO BLESSED to have been born to them.  idk if i got to choose them or how that all works, but it was a good idea.  *grin*  when i was little, we would go on a family trip every summer.  usually st. louis.  : )  we'd go to six flags, the arch, the bowling hall of fame - and that was one of my favorite places!  i would like to go now, actually.  see what's new in the bowling world.  see if it's still there in this age of modernity.  that's not a real word.  i know this.  : )

i'm sure there's so much more i could say, but i'll leave it at that.

***********************

of course, i won't leave the POST at that, because what would a post be w/o a little snippet about my day?  and i could just do another post, ppl do that - have post specific posts & multiples in a day.  i like when that comes across on my blog roll!  *laugh*  i just don't think i'm going to do it, at least not today!


so, friday!  TGIF!  we had a mini-food day, but it completely slipped my mind even after being reminded yesterday.  i think it's because i didn't organize it.  i know, isn't that selfish?  and i'm sorry!  i don't like to be selfish!  i did forget, tho.  i wasn't going to partake, even though when i organize a food day i always say "you don't have to contribute to enjoy a treat!"  then my helper bee said, "have some food!"  and so i did.  : )  there were bacon wrapped, brown sugared lil smokies (turkey smokies, even!) and cinnamon rolls and chex mix and beer bread and dips.  soooo good!  it was deli day for lunch, too.  holiday friday, so there was like NO ONE around, so i ate by myself.  or, i would have if pablo hadn't been there.  we had a nice chat about his daughter & their plans for the weekend.  : )  he's a good daddy.  


the word of the day - again - busy!  i love it, even when i don't love the "pressure" i love the busy-ness and the sense of accomplishing lots of things during a day.  


after work, i went to the walgreens and the bank, then met aunt jan at exotic thai.  i was so excited that she had time tonight, because she has been SO BUSY herself, and we haven't hung out in so long! we had an interesting appetizer sampler, which was mostly enjoyable.  *laugh*  then, pumpkin curry.  okay, you know of my love for this dish.  it's practically the only one i get at ET anymore.  so, it comes out & i'm all excited & then... it was WAY TOO CURRIED!  :(  normally, pumpkin curry, while CURRY, is more sweet than heat.  this batch, tho, i couldn't even eat most of it, because of the heat.  it was still GOOD, but i couldn't taste the flavor through the heat.  : (  i let our waitress know & they remade it for me & it was perfect.  they're really so sweet there, too, i felt bad sending it back.  but i knew i wouldn't be able to eat it, and i just couldn't pay that much $$$ for a meal i couldn't eat!  


jan & i had planned to go to a movie or ice cream after dinner, but were so exhausted we decided to just call it a night.  : )  i came home & jammied, watched Burn Notice & some episodes of Huge.  talked to mom a bit & wrote this!  *laugh*  oh!  and i received this in the mail from micaela, who is such a sweetheart!  


{will try to remember to insert picture here when my picture option stops being a buggar!} 


on the back she wrote, "You look BEAUTIFUL TODAY!!!"  : )  which, aside from a very good hair day, is not so much true, but thank you, dear micaela!  i appreciate the card SO MUCH and it made me smile and i'm still smiling looking at it on my desk!!  


and now, i shall play a game or two of bejeweled and then i must go to dreamland.  tomorrow i need to go to the PO to mail a package to a direct swap requestor & then i might get to hang out w/ leyton & mom.  *beam*  that will certainly make me SO HAPPY!!!  there's a lot going on in the area tomorrow, things that would be so much fun to take the kid to.  but, we'll see what happens!  


have a great night & wonderful tomorrow!  : )  ttfn!

Day 02 – Your first love

Well, goodness me!  my frist love was named jamie, and he was my boyfriend in kindergarten.  we held hands, talked on the phone, went to each other's birthday parties, and played boy chase girl and kissed in the tunnels.  


ya know, sometimes as adults i think we forget about the silly things we did as children, when it comes to boy/girl things.  we forget how innocent it was to us at that age, and get all up in arms when kids do the exact same things now.  we put adult labels on kids, and i think it's part of what messes ppl up as they grow up.  the 5 or 6 or 7 year old chasing girls (or boys) is not "sexually harassing" them.  they are PLAYING.  when little kids give kisses, they are not thinking grown-up thoughts.  they are thinking, "i kiss mommy and daddy and gramma and auntie and uncle and brother and sister because i love them and i like them and it's what you do to say hello or goodbye or goodnight or whatever.  i like suzie/johnny and i want to let them know so i'm going to give them a hug and a kiss."  


anyway, *laugh*, back to jamie... we ended up going to different schools after 2nd or 3rd grade, but we kept in touch by writing letters up through jr high or HS.  he was a neat guy.  well, he's still a neat guy - we got in touch on myspace a few years ago.  he's gay now, but still jamie.  : )  of course, we talked for a couple weeks & caught up on stuff & then... 


and so it is, that some ppl come into your life for a period of time, and some come to stay.  those that are only here for a moment are no less important.  another thing to remember!  : )  


***************


so!  today ... wow.  thought my stuffiness was better, but after a couple hours, i was all blah again.  thankfully still very BUSY and so mostly my mind was kept off it.  except every once in awhile when i'd realize i couldn't breathe very well & i'd have to blow my nose, and then i felt like i was disturbing ppl.  *laugh*  sorry!  end of the day was hard.  had to talk w/ my newest helper bee about different ways to audit a claim, and she took it as she did something wrong - which she didn't but it'd been a really long & emotional day & so i tried to make her feel better but idk if it worked.  :(  hopefully tomorrow will be better!  it's friday, anyway.  and friday before a 3 day weekend, woot woot!!  : )  


i didn't stay late tonight, because i had to meet mom & leyton for dinner at incredible pizza.  first i had to GET there, tho.  found out that i wouldn't be getting a slushie, as the sonic in our parking lot was boarded up & is apparently out of business!!!  : (  no more slushies right after work!!  the one on elmore is staying open, happily, but still!  the one by my house is closing, too.  anyway, so i stopped at dunkin donuts for something to drink - discovered their pumpkin stuff is in!  yay!!!!  of course, the guy taking orders didn't know they had an iced pumpkin coffee.  LOL  it was like a comedy sketch.  i seriously wouldn't be surprised to get a note in the mail advising me i could be on some prank show.  i see the billboard next to the squawk box.  i order a pumpkin iced coffee.  (oh, after waiting a couple minutes because they were busy.)  the guy says, "a pumpkin donut?"  me, "no, a pumpkin ICED COFFEE."  him, "we don't have that."  me, "well, i'm staring at your billboard that says you do. *laugh*"  him, "*pause pause pause* *asks manager* oh, i didn't even know we had that.  okay, is that it?"  by that time it was!!  lol  oh, there was also an exchange in there about how i wanted a small but all the sizes were 99 cents so i might as well get a large.  *laugh*  


so, i have my coffee, and i head down the road.  my normal ramp to the bridge is closed, so i figure i'll go around to the river drive ramp, because the 7th avenue ramp will have a line & i'll have to wait through 5 lights.  it did, but then when i got close to river drive - TRAIN!  d'oh!  and it was a long one, and then it stopped & i said ARGH! and turned around & went back to 7th avenue.  oh, what a time!!  *laugh*  


finally got to incredible pizza, and mom & leyton came to greet me - they'd been there for 1/2 an hour, playing.  we headed to the buffet & who should come up to us but friends from our old church!  i'm FB friends w/ nick, but hadn't seen him in person since he was probably in jr. high!  *laugh*  and his uncle paul, i don't think i've seen him since phil & jen's wedding, which he officiated at.  so, that was really cool!  


we ate some foods & watched thomas & blue's clues, and then it was GAME TIME!  mom went across the parking lot to get her glasses at the vision store, while leyton & i played some air hockey (he won!) and basketball & rode the carousel & there was a game where we had to throw balls at a screen & try to hit some gophers.  that one was so cute, but kinda sad because when you hit the baby gophers they CRIED!  *sniffle*  and why were we throwing balls at poor defenseless gophers anyway?  lol  oh!  there's a game where you throw balls at a fence inside a horse's mouth & knock out the planks.  that leyton was pretty good at, too!  still working on his aim... i of course had to play a couple rounds of skeet ball...!  and mom & leyton played a lot of DEAL or NO DEAL!  leyton likes to make deals.  LOL  


when we left, it was raining, and the sky was the most amaaaaaazing colours!!!  oh my heck!  i took some pictures, but i'm not sure how well they turned out...   

oh, i did remember to give leyton his bulldozer that turns into a saw.  he was excited.  i hope he likes it when it's outta the packaging!  like, i hope it's a fun toy to play w/... 


anywhoo!  that's my day!  now i feel like i could sleep for a week - but there's still one more day of work to go!  


oh!  i got a postcard from france today!  gotta send out about 4 plus a package to the netherlands on saturday.  : )  

happy thursday evening & have a FAB FRIDAY!  : )  ttfn!!!

A Month About Me

... Cuz, you know, the rest of this blog is never about me...  LOL


You can check out the full list under the All About Me page toward the top of the blog there.  


As this is Day One - Introduction, I'll give a brief synopsis of me at the moment.  Because how I describe myself changes from day to day.  I mean, it's all me... just what do I want to share at that moment?  *laugh*  Anyway, today - 


My name is Carrie Marie.  My dad named me - he liked to joke that he named me "Carrie" because the plane "carried" him home just in time for my birth.  He was in Texas & got here just in the nick of time.  : )  Marie is after my great grandma, Veronica Marie.  I've often thought of Veronica as my "other name" or my "what if" name.  I think if he'd named me Veronica, I would be Ronie instead of Carrie.  


As you probably saw in the About Me area - I love the Lord with all my heart, and am SO THANKFUL for His salvation and all the blessings He's given me.  


I like to read, especially when sci fi & romance meet.  I love.  LOVE.  LOOOOOVE Tv.  Lots of different Tv.  I like to go to movies and eat movie popcorn.  I like soft pretzels, but not at the movies because they're like way overpriced, and even though I don't have a problem paying for overpriced popcorn, paying for an overpriced pretzel messes w/ my sensabilities.  Heh.  


I grew up with my mom & dad & little brother.  Later, I finished growing up with foster cousinsiblings, and foster sibs.  I grew up in Iowa but went to private school in Illinois, crossing the Mighty Mississippi every day.  I went to college in a little town in Iowa.  I have worked over 20 jobs, and currently am in a job that I like a lot and think God created especially for me because He knew it would be perfect!  : )  I get to be kinda a social director along w/ the other stuff I do, and it's really neat (most of the time! LOL).  


My dad passed away on Halloween 4 years ago.  I miss him every day.  I'm writing a book about him for my nephew, Leyton.  


I have a really large extended family.  My dad had 9 brothers & sisters & mom has 4.  I have ... I counted once... I think I have over 70 cousins (1st, 2nd, maybe 3rd).  In a family that big, of course I'm closer to some aunts/uncles/cousins than others, but I love and am loved by each & every one of them. We get together every year for Christmas and in the summer, and at other odd times throughout the year.  I was talking to someone the other day who also comes from a large family, and they don't spend any time at all w/ their brothers & sisters & nieces & nephews.  They're okay w/ it, but it really made me sad, to think about being completely ... autonomous like that.  


I have 10 nieces and nephews, soon to be 11.  My brother, Phil, has 2 boys, Anthony is 12 and Leyton is 3.  You see pictures of them all the time on this blog!  My friend Julia has a girl & a boy, Sarah & Andrew.  My friend Joy has a girl & a boy, Kathryn & William, and one on the way.  Sarah has 2 boys, Stephen & Chase.  And Debi has 2 boys, Jacob & Adam.  They all hold little pieces of my heart.  : )  


God has truly blessed me, and I'm thankful every day for His gifts!!  


I don't like to go to bed, but I LOVE to sleep!  If I could work 5pm - 1:30am, doing the job I do now, I would love it!  Since that's unlikely, I should probably stop staying up past midnight.  *laugh*  


And that's the introduction to me for today!  One other thing that probably goes w/o saying once you've made it this far down... I like to write and I usually have a lot to say about nothing at all or everything at once.  : )  And all of this is probably stuff you know, if you know me or have been reading my blog for awhile!  Sorry about the repetitiveness.  That's not a word, is it?  What word am I looking for there?  


ANYWAY!  *laugh*  I'll try to come up w/ something you might not know about me for future posts.  Keep you on your toes or somethin!  ; )  


********************


And just a quick blurb about today... Rather interesting one at work, some crazy stuff goin on for the first of September!  After work, I made it to the JD Store for my friend in the Netherlands - got a postcard & a little surprise.  Also got a surprise for Leyton, if I can remember to bring it tomorrow!  : )  


Came home & I was all excited to make my butternut squash ravioli... and it was MOLDY!  Gross.  So I made regular bowtie & mushroom pasta, and it was good, but ... ya know.  Chatted w/ April, watched Secret Life & White Collar & What Would You Do & oh, started a new show, Huge.  Only have seen 2 epis so far, but I am really liking it!  ABC Family has some good shows, I'm tellin ya!


And now, really, bed!  : )  Have a great one!  


ttfn.  

strangeness

um.  so, it's 1:18.  inthemorning.  we're in the midst of a storm.  i'm only sorta tired.  i'd like to watch about 2 more hours of mylifetime (well, Drop Dead Diva) or What Would You Do?  alas, i fear i won't get to sleep til about 2 as it is, and tomorrow is fixin to be another busy day.  still, i decide to blog before heading to dreamland.


i write because it's me.  there have been (and will be again) days where i haven't blogged, it's true.  but for the most part, i have to write the thoughts in my head or i lose them.  that happened last night - i'd shut down the computer and outside all these thoughts about space and space travel ran through my head & i had to write out a post in my head before i could sleep! (but not the kind of space travel that exists now.  star trek kinda space travel, where you live on a cruise ship in space, essentially, and can travel to different worlds.  sci fi space travel kicks butt.  actual space travel ... not so much.  i mean, not to pooh pooh on the reality of astronauts or anything.  i just have no desire to enter the vacuum of space in the contraptions currently offered up.  cramped shuttles... no thank you!  


so, strangeness #1: recently there are a few blogs that i follow that have suddenly stopped.  like, someone's posting every day or every few days, pretty consistently, and then all of a sudden - nothing for weeks!  i don't understand that.  like, how do you just give up writing?  sure, you're busy.  things in your life have changed and whatever.  but... how do you GIVE UP WRITING?  of course, maybe these ppl are still writing just in a different medium.  a couple of them have recenly posted "goodbye" messages or something.  "well, this has been an awesome blog, but i'm busy with life now, so goodbye!"  *laugh*  i don't get it, but i think it's cool that they would take the time to let their readers know they can take em off their rolls or something!  heh.


strangeness #2: how can something as simple as parking be such a major issue?  parking as in a parking lot at work or church or the store or wherever, not parking as in "let's go to makeout point."  LOL  


strangeness #3: 

he looks happy, right?  we had lots of fun tonight, for the most part.  and yet there were still meltdowns.  over silly, stupid things that ... make no sense, even from a 3 year old perspective!  i had to go to the bathroom.  leyton wouldn't let me.  like he literally threw a FIT w/ gutteral voices and everything because i needed to pee!  what is up w/ that??  i thought maybe he was scared to be alone (i remember sticking my fingers under the door to the bathroom when my dad just wanted 3 minutes of privacy to do his bidness, but i was terrified of being left alone on the otherside of that door.  of course, i think just prior to that we'd been watching tales from the darkside or ripley's believe it or not or some scary ass episode of fantasy island or something.  LOL ) but he said he wasn't.  well, he said he was, then i told him he should have just told me that before and i would have stuck him behind the shower curtain or something, and then he calmed down & said he wasn't really scared.  but his second meltdown was the next time i had to pee, so... idk!!!

you don't really need to go to the bathroom, aunt carrie.  (LOL)

anyway, jen's vb game ended up being a trounament, meaning they play til they lose, meaning she wasn't going to be home til after 11.  so she asked me to ask mom to come get leyton to spend the night there so i could go home.  leyton was all excited at first, and then about to go into fit mode again.  but that one i understood - he was ubertired but didn't want to go to bed.  of course!  (i find it interesting that i have NEVER had a problem w/ him going to bed at mom's. but there seems to be more of a routine there... idk.)


strangeness #4: i... don't remember what this one was going to be.


anyway, that means i've shared all that's sharable for now!  LOL  i leave you w/ a series of bed jumping.  that's right, aunt carrie is a big proponent of (safe!) bed and couch jumping.  i still remember the fun of bouncing all over the place on a bed and/or couch, so why would i deny my kids the opportunity?  : )  have a great wedensday & ttfn!  : )  

get ready... 

get set... 

and ... go!  : )  

Goodnight!  : )   

just a quickie, because it's about 40 minutes past when i should have been in bed!  but i got to chat w/ joy tonight, so that was worth the lateness.  : )  i didn't get to check in w/ april about her first day, but she left me a FB note saying it went well.  yay!  God is good, ppl, God is so oooo oooo good!  : )  


i got to chat w/ aunt judy tonight as well.  she called to tell me about uncle gary's 67th birthday party (well, more of an open house, come say hello & happy day, not really a party) on sunday.  hopefully leyton & i can make it out there!  she's going to look for some pictures for me, and told me one story about how, when my dad came to visit her on leave from the Navy, she didn't recognize him because when he left he was 5'8", and when he came back he'd grown 4 inches!  lol  


today was definitely a monday!  it went really well, just hectic.  i didn't get a chance to do anythink i'd planned as far as my actual work goes until about 4:30.  the rest of the day was all email and phone issues.  not as in i was having issues w/ email or phone.  *laugh*  as in, i would get a lovely email asking me to help w/ an issue, i would help with that issue, and then 3 more would pop into my in box.  i would just be working the last one, when ... you guessed it!  it went along this way allllll day.  i loved it!  : )  (good thing, too...lol)  finally things quieted down around 4:30, & i stayed til 6 to get the paperwork done.  tomorrow, the plan is to complete the rest of my error report that i prepped on saturday!  woot!  


oh, aside from all of that - had to visit the vampires before work.  my appt wasn't until 8:40, and i showed up at 8:20, expecting to have to wait, so i had a book w/ me.  i hadn't even had time to read 3 sentences when they called my name!  i was in & out by 8:35, and to work at 8:45!  how's that for service on an 8:40 appointment?  *laugh*  also, i had a meeting (it was a really interesting and kinda fun one, too!) at 10.  


trish & i met her daughter, megan, at culver's for lunch.  my tastebuds were kinda spotty today, but i did manage to enjoy my ham & swiss on rye.  actually, since it was on rye, it was probably a good thing my buds were only at half mast.  lol  


after work, i headed across the street to hy vee - grocery day!!!  i got the normal things, milk, cheese, OJ, soda, tortillas, cottage cheese, brownie bites...mmmm... and i also found what looks to be amazingly delicious butternut squash ravioli.  i can't wait to make it, with a sweet cream sauce!  i'm thinking lots of nutmeg & cinnamon, but am going to taste one first to see what would go w/ it.  bacon might also be involved in this sauce... : )  i'll post more about it on the menu after i've made it, tho.  WITH pictures!  i thought there was something wrong w/ the camera uncle gene & aunt nancy gave me, but it just needed to be charged.  woot!!  


jen texed to see if i could watch leyton tomorrow, and i said of course.  : )  so, i'll bring my big camera & have some fun pictures of him tomorrow.  he's so cute, and i've helped shape a love of photography in him, i think. or perhaps made him a little center of the universe... hmmm.  the other day, he was riding his horse & said, "do you want to take a picture of me, gramma?"  and he said the same thing to me last week, when i had to explain that my phone doesn't take pictures.  LOL  


good times!  and now i really must be going... oh, but i will leave you with the postcrossing i found in my mail today.  from Canada - ironic, since i was just talking about my love of that country yesterday, right??  : )  

BEAUTIFUL red fox!  : ) 


ttfn!  

snuffy again

grrrrrrr.


i dislike being all fuzzy headed & stuffy & unable to breathe & headachey & blaaaahhhhh!


but do you like being all those things?  


i didn't think so!  lol 


i slept pretty well.  i don't remember what time i went to bed, but i woke up a lot to blow my nose!  and also i had a weird dream about a group of gunmen.  i woke up as i was running from one of them, because i had a leg cramp!  apparently i was running in my sleep?  wth?  


finally got up around 11, i think.  idk.  *laugh*  but i had to go pick up my Rx at WM.  (acronyms are us!)  it'd been waiting for a week.  whoops!  then, i realized i should eat something, but fixing something at home didn't sound appealing.  and of course my head is so stuffy that my taste buds are dampened, so i didn't really want to BUY anything.  still, i decided to pick up a cheeseburger from hardee's, and i needed milk so i got some of that, too.  i'm so glad grocery day is in 2 days!  oye!  


after that outing, i was pretty exhausted, so i watched some Psych, Royal Pains, took a nap, Burn Notice, now i'm catching up on Rookie Blue.


i love cop shows, that's no secret!  what you might not know, though, is how much i love CANADA.  shows shot in toronto are my favorite, because inevitably, i get a bunch of shots of this: 

credits

the CN tower.  you may remember my love of towers from this post.  idk why i love them, i've never even been up in one, that i know of.  but i think it goes back to my love of the Arch in st. louis.  i've been up in that many, many times!  as a kid, it was awesome, because it's a very small space, and there are these benches... as an adult, it's kinda cramped for the same reason!  lol  but the views are spectacular that high up!  


i love the tower rides at amusement parks.  the ones that take you up REALLY FAST or give you the free fall feeling by falling really fast?  yeah.  i love them!  i also always ask for the highest floor possible when staying at hotels that have that option.  i love to look out my window & see the city vista laid out before me.  it's amazing, and awesome, and now i really wanna go to Canada!  (but doesn't it suck that you have to have passports now to get to canada or mexico?  when i was a kid, we'd just go w/ a copy of our bc!  yeesh.)  


anywhoo... my headache is getting worse.  :(  i made some tortillas so hopefully they & the tylenol will kick the headache out soon!  i might resort to night time meds, but i hate to do that because usually i wake up in the morning feeling like i have a hangover!  :(  meh.  we'll see.  LOL  


i hope your day is headache-free & that we all have a great start to the week.  ah, mondays.  thank God for a 3 day weekend coming up!!  : )  


ttfn.

(64)

today, daddy would have been 64.  my post to leyton today was about the surprise party we threw for his last birthday.  check it out, of course!  you know you want to!  : )  


this was the first birthday of his that i've worked.  the past 3 birthdays, i've taken part of the day off.  and today's a saturday even, i know!  and i woke up w/ the full blown sore throat & stuffy head.  : (   but i went in for 4 hours anyway, and it was worth it - i got my error report mostly done!  some of the ladies brought in breakfast, which was nice.  it was a good 4 hours, including the productivity!  : ) 


i left at 1:30 & met mom & leyton at dynasty buffet.  thankfully i still had my tastebuds at that point!  i had crab ragoon, peanut butter chicken, some shrimp, a stuffed mushroom, and some salads (cottage cheese, pasta salad, some veggies).  and ice cream for dessert, cuz it sounded good.  leyton was in a good mood starting out.  unfortunately, he had a meltdown after he ate.  : (  i'm not sure what exactly transpired, but he threw himself into it & ended up getting the family museum taken away (that's where we were headed after lunch), which of course only made it worse because then he was stuck on the "i want to go to the family museum" thing.  and then, as quickly as it started, it was over & he was bright & sunny leyton again!  what annoyed me more than his fit, was the way mom treated me when i was talking to him.  she even pulled the "i spend more time w/ him than you do," card!  and THEN she did the EXACT SAME THING i'd been doing!  (and it worked, so there!  lol)  


so, instead of the museum, we went back to mom's & played for a couple hours.  it was fun, and he didn't miss the museum!  i started to go downhill, tho, and had to lay down for awhile.  he was sweet & brought me the box of kleenex!  and then sat by my head to talk to me.  heh.  it was cute, even if his foot was in my face!  *laugh*


i left a little after 5 & went to red lobster for bob's birthday.  when i rsvp'd for the celebration, it didn't even hit me that they shared a birthday.  i knew it.  i knew it was today.  yet somehow... i think the Lord helped a lot in that!  so, dinner was awesome, since my tastebuds held out thru appetizers & only cut out 1/2 way through my soup!  i'd wanted salmon (duh, when DON'T i want salmon?) and had been craving it ever since i got the invite!  however - to answer the question above - nothing sounded good to me.  :(  even the soup didn't really sound good, but the comfort aspect did, if that makes sense?  i drank about 4 glasses of lemon water, too.  nice!  well, it was nice, but you know what i mean!  LOL  


it was good to celebrate a birthday, bob's birthday, and visit w/ his parents & angie & meet another friend, jenille (spelling?  not sure!).  good visit, good food, good service, and bob's parents picked up the tab!  that was so sweet!!  i need to get their address to send a thank you card... : )  


(instert grumbling about not having a charged camera for pictures... altho, bob's mom did have the waiter take one of all of us, so maybe i can get a copy of that one!  *smile*)


after dinner, there were more festivities planned, but i just wanted to get in my jammies, so after hugs all around, i came home.  oh, wait, first i stopped at WM to pick up my rx that i've had called in forever, but haven't been able to pick up.  did you know the pharmacy closes at 7 on saturdays?  they're open til 9 the rest of the week, but saturday, close up shop early!  *boggle*  so, that was frustrating, now i have to go back tomorrow!!  pooh!  


i've spent tonight going thru pictures of daddy's birthday.  i only cried once... i miss him.  i miss his voice, his smile, his laugh, his hugs.  i miss his funny emails.  i miss his Love ya, Your Dad signatures.  i miss daddy-daughter dates.  


hug your loved ones, even if it's over the internet *HUGS*, even if it's a postcard or letter or phone call or fruit basket.  say "i love you," often.  don't be afraid to shout it from the rooftops.  teach your kids kindness.  protect their hearts - protect YOUR heart - from things they (you) maybe shouldn't see. pet your pet.  and most of all, ENJOY this life with which you have been blessed.  Jesus loves you, as do i, and i wish you a goodnight filled with sweet dreams!  


t
t
f
n