Arrrgh!!!

Like most of you who visit here, I expect this week to be a busy one. We're hosting part of my family for Easter dinner. We've planned the menu, and we have a rough idea of how many people will be here. I'll set two tables, and by the end of the week, I may have to add one more small table to that. Luckily, we have room and dishes to expand on short notice. Usually seating is the most difficult aspect of a family gathering. I've put vanity seats and benches and office chairs, and the barrel chair in the living room into play when we've been surprised.

This Easter we will have only one little one with us, our almost-three-year-old granddaughter. I have to bring the plastic Easter eggs up from the basement and clean them, so we're ready for an Easter egg hunt. Dear Husband is going to be the filler of the eggs this year. I'd also like to hang some plastic eggs from the baby redbud tree at the front of the house.

We've begun the lists of cleaning, and shopping. I know what linens I plan to use, and I'll check on them early this week so that we don't have any surprises. I'll have to keep on top of laundry through the week, because once I press the dining room table cloth, I won't be able to set my clean laundry there while it waits for me to find the time to fold it.

I changed quilts on the living room wall, and I really miss the much darker one. I didn't want it to sun fade, so I returned the Stars and Stepping Stones quilt to the wall.

While it uses the same colors, and even some of the same fabrics, it has a great deal more tan in it. Once we get into summer, and the leaves are giving us some shade, the darker blocks will stand out.

I still have not gotten into the gardens. The garlic chives need to be trimmed today! I'll have to get out there this afternoon because storms are on their way again. When I can get back into the gardens, I won't have enough time to clean them properly, so I need to do some emergency things today.

Does anyone know how big a ham you need for 20-22 people? And would I be better off with two smaller hams? I'll have to surf, so that I can order today.

I hope you're all having a good weekend, and that you enjoy the coming week!

Tomorrow, our exercise guru, Gentle Dragon, will be visiting with one of her daughters in Pennsylvania. I've been invited to lead exercise tomorrow morning in her place. Friday, another sub filled in, and her style is very different from GD's. We kept up with her, but there was some grousing in the ranks.

I know that I will be welcomed and loved tomorrow, because I will be leading them in one of GD's easier routines! *G* All I have to do is point out how much easier this one is....and I'm a shoe-in for their friendship and good will.

Actually, all these adults are self-starters. Just about all of them could lead the class should they be asked.. Two of them would just call off class and we'd all go out to breakfast, which is a lovely idea!

I've been meaning to revisit the routines on the days between our exercise sessions. Good intentions and a $1.25 (my how inflation has affected us!) will get you iced tea at Mickey D's, but it won't get that exercising done. I pulled out my cheat-sheets today, cranked up the music and did the first 30 minutes of the session. I had to go back to do the fastest cardio piece a second time, and I'll have to review it tomorrow morning, too, but we'll get through the session reasonably well.

My sis, Nan, gave me exercise clothes for Christmas in recognition of the invitations to sub for Gentle Dragon. The pants are black, and the top is bright orange! She wanted them to be able to find me at the front of the room! She also gave me a wardrobe of head and wrist bands, and socks to complete the outfit! At least I don't have to worry about what to wear!

This will get me off to a healthy week, and help me get all those errands run. I'm delighted to be able to help, and equally delighted that Gentle Dragon will be back on Wednesday! *S*

If you are not familiar with the early spring perrenial called "Squill," please go to this link for a picture of what's growing in my garden.

http://www.twofrog.com/images/squill28.jpg

Google Images has a number of pictures of squill, but this one is the closest to what has volunteered in my yard. It's spread nicely over the past 15 years, and continues to move it's way across the grove floor. The chipmunks have moved some of it to my sidewalk garden, the herb garden and the grass on the north side of the house. The leaves are a bit darker and "strappier" than grass, so you can see the contrast.

Squill is well worth adding to your gardens for contrast with crocus, and the blue would be lovely mixed in with daffodils.

Speaking of chipmunks.....the little rodents are up and around and making themselves known. I saw two of them doing the "Oh NO I WON'T....Oh yes you will" dance earlier this week. You know, they must keep their babies in the burrows until they are almost full grown. I don't think I've ever seen a baby chimpmunk!

Chimpmunks and mosquitoes....two things I could really do without!

We're all yet living at Chez Buffy. It's been a busy week. I have a list of chores, and I'm still trying to wade through it. I have most of them done, but I still need to work out linens for the tables. One of them is done. I need to press the crocheted mats for the second, and see if the pink table cloth will fit the third.

Saturday morning, Dear Husband and I will be cooking up a storm. He's making lasagna for Easter Dinner. His children consider that to be a holiday meal. He's also going to do a Caesar salad with diced marinaded chicken. I have refrigerator rolls to bake, and I'll help Elegante Mother make brownies. I need to boil eggs for deviled eggs, and potatoes for Hot German Potato Salad.

I think we might manage to get part of the afternoon off, and DH is treating us to dinner out.

There will be 20 people here for dinner, plus two kibitzers early in the afternoon. I'm delighted to have my family visit, and share a meal.

I hope that you all have a wonderful day, and that it's filled with family. Happy Easter, all!

I spent a good part of last weekend working on quilt tops. I wanted to finish up several projects. Easily 20 years ago, I took a class on the "Smoothing Iron" Quilt. I chose fabric in tan, red and navy blue for the sample that I wanted to make. I got about half of the blocks pieced and set the project aside.

I'm from the "Waste not, want not" era and it bugs me to have unfinished projects hanging over my head, so I decided to work on the "Smoothing Iron" quilt again. I changed the dimensions in mid-stream, which necessitated adding blocks to the sides of the existing rows. I still have to add borders. I hope that Elegante Mother's sewing bee will accept this top for the church bazaar.

I've had four flower blocks on which EM and I have collaborated, pinned to the quilt wall. I finally decided that they needed to be sashed and bordered. Now that I have the top done, I think I need to trim the outer border. I feels as though it's overwhelming the center.

And, I thought I had finished all but the last row of the halloween quilt, until I realized that I'd put the last piece of border on upside down. (sigh) That's an easy problem to fix, and then I get to go to the fabric shop to look for fabric for the final border! YEA!!

I realized that I'd been working on some very unusual colors in one weekend! I took a picture yesterday so you could see what I mean:

I'm sure that I have blogged about this before. I feel that English should be the official language of the United States. We're living at a time when this attitude is being challenged. In the past, immigrants have come to our shores and those who successfully integrated, learned to speak English.

Choosing not to learn English forces you to depend on others for information about social services, medical assistance, shopping choices, directions on the road, or for every aspect of your life. If you don't speak the language, you'll need an interpreter to seek health and welfare help, to apply for citizenship, to read a bus schedule or to pay bills. You might be at the hands of people who stand to gain through your ignorance.

Not speaking English forces you to live among people who speak your native language. It isolates you and prevents you from enjoying all that the United States has to offer. While there is comfort living among family and friends, do you want them to have to handle every aspect of your life?

I feel so strongly about the issue of English as our legal language that I am willing to devote my spare time to teaching English as a second language, and teaching reading. I have a teaching certificate. It wouldn't take me that long to re-train formally, but I can assist now through the literacy groups that are available in my area. I have several acquaintances who have done this, and I know others who are willing to teach. All it takes is a willingness on the part of our newcomers to want to learn.

I've been reminded of this issue by an e-mail which crossed my desk this weekend. Theodore Roosevelt had this to say on the subject, in 1907:

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be NO divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but ONE flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

We have SO much to offer. Why limit yourself to a small portion, when you can have the whole pie? Teddy Roosevelt was right. If you choose to come to the United States, be prepared to become and American, and only an American.

....if I can remember them all.

I saw a rufous-sided towhee yesterday. It was working it's way down the bare branches of a shrub near the big bird feeder. We get one or two birds from several varieties as they make their way north and south. We rarely see the Rose-breasted grosbeaks which seem to be fairly common here, but we've seen the gold and taupe and black Evening grosbeaks, and apparently, the towhee is part of that larger family. The thrush can't be too far behind.

Goldfinches and house finches and red-winged blackbirds are back, and we have plenty of robins. We're still waiting on the herons and egrets, and it's just as well, because the water is REALLY cold yet. Dear Husband said that he saw something very large flying past the house but he couldn't tell me if it was one of the sand hill cranes or a heron.

On another subject, I hope that my sister, Nan, will blog about her experiences over Spring break. She and her two daughters went on a church-organized mission trip to help people in New Orleans who are STILL trying to put their homes in order. The story sounds fascinating. She became very fond of the homeowner, who sounds like a testament to determination. Write, on, Nan!

Our Red Hat Lady group met for lunch yesterday. The ladies are a hoot to chat with, and it was fun to see the smiles on the faces of the other patrons of the restaurant as they walked by our group. I'm always reminded of the song from The Music Man with the line "Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, cheep, cheep, cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more..." but I'm happy to say the conversation does not include gossip. It was cute to see heads bent together as they chatted, and bobbing in agreement. The woman sitting next to me has been to China, and we talked about her trip part-way up the Yangtze. Her husband is from Scotland and as a retiree he is learning to play bagpipes. The two of them have been to the Tattoo in Edinburgh, and I'm green with envy. A woman across the table worked in Iran in the days of the Shah. It's fascinating to hear about that period of my life from her point of view. A number of our ladies are either getting ready for surgery or are recovering. There's been talk about re-naming us the Walking Wounded, but I doubt anything will come of it. I know a lot of people think the Red Hatters are a frivolous waste of time, but they're wrong. This group has the most amazing experiences to call on. I learn something new every time we meet, and they are incredibly civic minded. Way to go, LADIES!

I've come down with the putrid throat again. In fact, I can't make any sound. I had to hand a note to my mother about the cinnamon bread that was waiting for her breakfast, and you should have been there when I tried to pantomime that the cat had come in the kitchen window. (Sigh) She's deaf and I can't talk. What a pair.

Dear Husband has been working on the renovation of the timbers in the Herb Garden. I'm going to do a bigger entry on this later, complete with a couple of pictures, but I wanted to describe what took place yesterday. DH doesn't realize that the upper branch of the garden has perennials in it, that haven't begun to show their new growth. I saw him walk over the bed, and thought...."That's okay, there are plenty of feverfew plants there. No problem." Then I saw him drop a ten or twelve foot cedar timber the length of the bed. Poor feverfew. In all fairness, this is not an easy job, and he's carrying those cedar timbers around all by himself. If I could have afforded it, I would have hired a landscaping company to do this work for me, but it would have been thousands of dollars.

We came home from luncheon yesterday, and I walked out just to touch base with DH, and let him know I was home. As I looked around, I saw the lavender (that I had been babying) lying on the ground north of the herb garden. He must have seen the dismay on my face, and he said, "It's dead........isn't it?" I really tried not to look dismayed about that lavender, but I must not have been able to mask it. This is the deal. My gardens need repair and renovation. I HOPE that DH is careful as he works, but if something gets killed off, I will either replace it, or look on it as a chance to create a new garden. I am NOT nagging him, given that he is doing all the work on this on his own, when he could have been playing with his boat.

So.....does anyone have suggestions for plants for my herb garden??

I've missed you all. It seems that we have all taken some time off around Easter, whether to clean house or determine the direction of our lives, and the blog world has been rather quiet. I hope that we'll find things of interest once again, and be able to find time in our busy lives to share them. Happy Spring to you all. You have my hopes for warm sunshine, bird song, and the joy of another day.

My entire extended family loves flowers. They all know that I love to have fresh flowers on the tables or the island in the kitchen when they come to visit. This year they brought pots and pots of flowers with them.

We have four of the largest Easter lilies I've ever seen. Mother and I bought two of them, and then we lost our minds and bought a golden yellow petite lily, a fuchsia azalea, a tiny pot of something called "Get Mee," which is a form of campanula, and two new orchids.

My oldest sister sent us the most beautiful cut flower basket that I've ever seen. My second sister brought us a wonderful, bright, pot of yellow tulips.

And, I have a 15 inch cobalt blue vase that is filled with fuchsia carnations, purple, lavender, pink and white chrysanthemums, eucalyptus, and heather.

We have blooms everywhere! It's a joy to have the house filled with flowers at a time when flowers are sparse outside. We're supposed to have warmer weather this week, so we should see plants beginning to bud, soon. I noticed that our new little red bud tree is beginning to purple up. YEA!!!

Dear Husband is an officer in a masonry corporation. He's risen through the ranks from a laborer to a bricklayer, learning how each job is done by doing it. He has 40 years of experience at laying bricks.

This evening we have been sitting in the living room. He has the remote for the TV and is switching between two equally detestable shows. One of them is a do-it-yourself show on how to create your own patio kitchen. He's been fairly quiet, but as each segment ends, he points out the key piece of information that was omitted. I really hope that nobody who watches this program gets the idea that they can do this project without professional assistance. It's a project that is WAY over the average person's capability, and the cost to clean up the errors or starting fresh would be significant.

We were rather surprised to see them working with a saw that didn't have a blade guard. I'd think that OSHA would require them to adhere to the current safety rules.

The "pro" didn't mention that when you lay brick, you have to figure out how many brick will fit the space horizontally. If you blithely go about laying bricks on that first row, you are likely to get to the last two spaces and find that you can't squeeze in both bricks. You need to know that spacing so that you keep your mortar joints the correct width as you run the row.

The "pro" also didn't know how to "butter" the brick properly. There wasn't enough mortar on the second brick.

When they showed the finished fire pit, they commented that they had put saw marks on a corner brick to make it look as though the pattern of laid bricks went all the way to the end of the row. What they didn't mention was that they needed a different kind of brick to be able to create that touch.

"How-To" shows are great for getting fresh ideas, but perhaps not great when it comes to carrying out more complicated ideas. You'd think they'd want their watching audience to have success at their projects, so they'd continue to watch the shows. Maybe people are smarter than I give them credit for being. I suppose I can stop shouting "Don't try this at home!" when I watch these things.

By the way....the other show that was disgusting was one of those nature shows that let you see all the babies being eaten by sharks and crocodiles and piranha and snakes. I know the world is a dangerous place, and that survival of the fittest is the law of the land, but I'm not watching any show that focuses on predators. I'm not watching another merkat take a hit!

My family is so funny.

Sunday I came down with laryngitis. I've been without a voice for four full days. This morning you can hear me, but for the past four days we've had to use every means at hand to communicate.

I was trying to talk to Dear Husband about something that he would have to do in my stead because I couldn't use the phone. I was seated at the computer, trying to dash off a hand-written note to him, when I had one of those "DUH!" moments. I turned to the computer, brought up Word, and changed the font to 14 or 16, and typed like a mad woman. He could read over my shoulder as I typed, and it made "conversation" a lot easier.

I found that rather than try to make sound, if I whispered they could understand me. Well, Dear Husband and his son could hear me. Elegante Mother is more than a bit hard of hearing these days, so we did a lot of lip reading, and the guys would fill in what she missed.

I needed to gather information for a personal financial report. I had to call two banks to ask for account amounts. The secretary at the main bank and I are friends, so I called, got her answering machine, and squeeked a request that she send me her fax number. I faxed her an explanation of what I needed, and we conversed on and off through the day via fax.

I didn't know anyone at the second bank, but I went online to their website, and managed to find an e-mail address. I typed out the problem, and my request. They called me and asked me to tell them the last four digits of my Social Security Number, and then she gave me the info over the phone. Two out of two! Not bad at all. It takes some creativity, but you can get around a lot of problems in this electronic age.

What struck me so funny about my family was that as I struggled to communicate with them, their hearing got better! Dear Husband has been saying "What?!" a lot this past year. I discovered that when he is focused on me, he can hear me whisper across the room. If I have EM's attention, and she is watching me as I speak, she must lip read to get some of what I'm saying, and she's more likely to be up front about what she's missed now than she was a few years ago.

To resolve this situation, I have to be sure their attention is fully engaged! Dropping a plate behind their backs, standing on the cat's tail, "accidently" spraying them with the hose at the sink, touching them when they don't know I'm there......what else could I do???

I'm so very lucky that they were supportive. My voice is coming back, and the sinus stuff is abating. It's nice to know that I could have gone to bed, and they would have taken over for me, but it's even nicer to know that they were willing to work with me to mitigate the problems.

I'm sending a big THANK YOU! to my family, and to everyone who has helped make this week easier.

Yesterday, I had one of those days where everything takes ten times longer to accomplish than it should. I thought I'd be able to breeze through a stack of things at my desk, but it was more like slogging through a tar pit!

When my parents lived in southwest Missouri, they had wonderful gardens. The year I lived with them, I discovered that my mother is a plant/bulb impulse buyer. She'd see something in a magazine and shoot off an order. When the order came, she'd hand the box to my Dad, and he would get his trusty shovel, and head out. By the time I got to watch this little ritual, they'd lived there about twelve years. Everywhere Dad put his shovel into the ground, he brought up six or eight bulbs that were already there. I think every inch of garden had been planted by then. So, for every new bulb she wanted planted, there were six or eight to be given away, shared with friends, or ditched!

There was something else about the land they'd settled on . They lived in STONE County. I've never seen a place more aptly named. Other than where my father had arranged for soil to be trucked in, there was just three inches of soil on top of rock. If you picked up a rock, you'd find it was nesting on two more just waiting their turn to get to the surface, so we really tried not to disturb the rocks! So, Dad was limited to the built-up gardens for his planting forays.

I know...that was a bit off the subject, but yesterday reminded me of those frustrating planting days. I had my union report finished early. It sat on my desk for a couple of days before I got ready to print the check that was to accompany it. Two minutes, tops, right? Nuh uh!

The last thing I do before I cut the check is to be sure that the totals on my report match the totals in the computer ledgers. My heart sank when I realized I was way off. I pulled up the Union Dues Payable account, and scrolled through it, and discovered that we have had a new employee for a full month, and no one had told me. (sigh...)

The report was already filled out. There was no room to amend it. I pulled up an electronic version of the report, corrected it for current charges, and filled it out for just the one employee, checked the totals (which looked much better) and then I cut the check. I made copies for the accounting firm, copies for us, and copies for a union representative. When the accounting people can't figure out that I've paid in full, using two report sheets, I want the union rep to be able to explain things to them. Finally, I addressed two envelopes, had Dear Husband sign everything, and gathered our copies together for filing.

This little chore should have taken two minutes. It took more like 90, and that put me behind on everything. I had to work in the office for a bit after dinner to be sure things that were needed today were done. I've had several chores turn out like this. It's no wonder that I can never see the surface of my desk.

I've been bookkeeping for our company for 20 years. You could say that I'm an old hand at it. But, every now and then, a spate of things occur that simply take longer than you expect them to. In this case, communication about the new employee would have helped, but it's not always this sort of problem. To work here, you have to be a self-starter. You have to be able to resolve things in a timely manner, and you have to be a mind reader! And, I wouldn't want to work anywhere else!

A week ago today we saw our first heron and our first egret for the season. Oddly, they were almost sitting together. They couldn't have been more than 15 feet apart in the same pond. That's unusual behavior. Usually the herons are very solitary, and usually the birds are spread MUCH further apart when they are fishing.

I'm trying to make a mental note that they return around tax time in April.

The red bud is showing color, and the forsythia is just beginning to loose it's blooms. I was happy to see buds on the last of the miniature lilac plants. I love watching spring unfold.

Whatever happened to traditional American cooking?

I know that the entire nation is concerned, if not obsessed, about weight control and cholesterol, and healthy eating. And, I know that there's just so many ways you can publish stories about meatloaf and mashed potatoes or fried chicken. I know that the food magazines have to provide something new each issue or they loose subscribers.

I don't mind trying new things. Over the years we've had family members introduce us to a cold corn salad, a pesto and goat cheese spread with dried tomatoes, and other recipes that you wouldn't call old-fashioned cooking. But, it seems to me that you can't open the page of a cooking magazine without finding the oddest ingredients, now. Have you ever read the food section in a Martha Stewart magazine? That woman never makes due with one ingredient where she can use twenty that you have to order either from her company or from an obscure shop in Manhattan.

Frankly, mango salsa on fish doesn't do a thing for me. Neither does kiwi chutney.

I don't need to learn Cordon Bleu cooking techniques. I need to learn techniques for quick, flavorful food that doesn't require thirty steps, and twelve special pans or utensils to make.

I don't mind lighter, healthier recipes, but enough with the cutesy stuff!

...or was it salsa?

I have the Betty Crocker New Dinner for Two Cookbook, that was first published in 1964. I probably bought my copy in 1970 when I was first married. It has a number of basic recipes that many people would call "comfort food," today.

One of the sections talks about "All-American Favorites," and gives you suggestions for regional cooking. My section of the country is the Upper Midwest, and this is a list of the foods that they say are common to the area:

Bacon and Eggs
Cherry Pie Cobbler
Corn of the Cob
Green String Beans
Honey and Biscuits
Mashed Potatoes
Mushroom Gravy
Pork Chops
Pumpkin Pie
Roast Beef
Roast Turkey
Rutabagas
Smelts
Steak and
Sweet Cider

I've never eaten smelts or rutabagas. But, I HAVE eaten food from the other four regions. We consider ourselves to be fairly open to a variety of American cuisines. One of my English friends commented that she was surprised that I thought there was "American food." I should have specified that I was talking about the food of my childhood...in the American Midwest. We have endless cuisines now, all based on region or ethnicity.

From the Far West we've had Apple Dumplings, Bean Sprouts, Eggs Foo Yung, Jack Cheese, Orange Juice, Walnuts, and Water Chestnuts.

From the Southwest: Barbecued Beef, Chili Con Carne, Grapefruit, Hot Chocolate, Lettuces, Melons, Summer Squash and Tortillas.

The South: Baked Ham, Baking Powder Biscuits, Deep-Dish Peach Pie, Fritters, Shrimp Gumbo (or in our case, almost ANYTHING Creole),and Watermelon. (Actually, I'd move watermelon to the Midwest, because I remember the fields along the Mississippi.)

The New England area has meals that you read about in books: Anadama Bread, Boston Baked Beans and Brown Bread, Boston Cream Pie, Broiled Lobster with Drawn Butter, Clam Chowder, Codfish Cakes, Cornmeal Pancakes and Real Maple Syrup, Cranberry Sauce, Gooseberry Tarts, Indian Pudding with Nutmeg Sauce, and Succotash.

I've missed out on the Anadama bread, the codfish cakes, cornmeal pancakes, gooseberry tarts, Indian pudding and succotash, but I've had all the rest.

I'm sure a lot of what we consider standard fare in the Midwest came to us from pioneers moving through our area to the west, and even more came from immigrants who decided to settle here. When I was a child, my mother served "mush" at breakfast. It was browned in butter in a fry pan, and served with maple syrup. I think they call it "Polenta" now, but that was a meal that had to have come from the pioneers. Beer and cheese and dairy are pretty standard in Wisconsin, and probably came from the Germans who settles there. The Great Lakes give us fresh fish. Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri are states known for corn-fed beef. Some of our heavier meals must have been developed at a time when men and women worked off more calories, and needed to eat to be able to work. And most of those meals were made out of what could be grown in the garden and canned.

We eat a much lighter diet now than our fore bearers used to. There are fewer courses, and the choices are lighter in calories, but we still fall back to some of the comfort food. I find fruits and veggies at the summer Farmer's Markets to be a form of comfort food. In the freeze of the winter, pot roast or macaroni and cheese might call to me.

I suppose the biggest difference in my cooking over the years is the use of herbs in these basic recipes. I have an herb garden, so I can grow fresh herbs, and I can harvest those herbs for winter use. Basil and dill, fresh or dried, are my all time favorite seasonings, but I love a little thyme and bay leaf in beef stew. How about a little minced chives in scrambled eggs or egg casseroles? Or a bit of salad burnet (tastes like cucumber) in your salad.

Yes, I use herbs, and some spices, but my cooking plan is still very simple. I don't mix in twelve ingredients when three or four will do. I thought my cooking was very simple until I met Cop Car. She's the Queen of simple meals! But I think I may have "turned" her with the tomato-garlic-minced onion mixture for the bruchetta! She ate it (leftover) for BREAKFAST! *G*

It's Monday morning, and I have just 15 minutes or so to let you know what we've been doing before I start my week.

Friday, April 27th was my youngest sister's birthday. You know her as Nan, from Just My Opinion, although she has been too busy to blog for some time.

Elegante Mother, Dear Husband, My-Sister-The-Nurse and I drove down to the wilds of Indiana for the weekend to help Nan and her family celebrate. It was a WONDERFUL weekend!

We left the Chicago area early in the morning on Friday and rolled into their driveway about 4:00 in the afternoon. We ambled through the fields rather than taking the tollway system (which in my opinion, needs to be blasted off the face of the earth where 294 & 80 join and pass south of Lake Michigan!) When we arrived, I realized that she'd figured out we were coming. It was supposed to be a surprise, but the girls cleaning their rooms must have given it away. *G*

Nan's hubby, The Major, was an outstanding host. He went grocery shopping Friday afternoon, and bought enough food to feed the homeless in Indiana. While we were there he served smoked pork chops, salmon, and rib eye steaks, all cooked on his new outdoor grill. The only thing I was requested to do meal-wise was to put together salads, a real hardship! *G*

We chatted Friday evening. Saturday, we had a lazy morning, and then the ladies drove to the most wonderful nursery to buy plants for Nan's container garden on the deck. We spend the afternoon outside rocking in the deck chairs, sitting in the sun, or shade, as one wished. That afternoon, one of the girls came flying home from a baseball game to get ready to go to the Jr.-Sr. Prom. Wow.....that's an experience to live through. I hope Nan will post a picture of the couple. Nan had to hem the dress which was perhaps an inch too long, and do her daughter's manicure and pedicure. A friend helped her with her makeup, and she wore her very long, curly hair piled up on her head.

After dinner, we chatted, and waited for the prom-goers to return home. Nan's oldest daughter and her boyfriend watched movies. It was the most bone-less weekend. We just eased through the day and enjoyed each other's company.

Sunday morning The Major put on the most amazing breakfast! Bacon, waffles, scrambled eggs and juice. It really hit the spot. We had time to gather on the deck once more, to sit and chat before it was time to pack up and hit the road. Dear Husband was facing a payroll with a new version of Quick Books, and we were a bit concerned about having adequate time to wade through the new program. It was really hard to pull ourselves away.

Pictures....we took a last gathering of pictures on the lawn....piled into the car, and we were off!

I'm SO glad My-Sister-The-Nurse was able to join us, and SO glad that we got to help Nan celebrate. It was just an exceptional weekend!

Happy Birthday, sis!