Serengeti Fitbit Badge - 500 Miles

I've been trying to walk at least 5 miles a day. Some days it's closer to 10 and some days I can't get off the couch.

Today I received the Serengeti Badge showing that since I started using my Fitbit I've walked 500 miles. I still jump every time my Fitbit buzzes alerting me that I've reached my daily step goal. It feels almost like a small electrical shock. I wish I could program it to shock me on those days I eat a little too much. Ah technology, where are you when I need you?

Date Night - Michael & Ashley

You know your relationship is pretty strong when you allow your boyfriend's mother to tag along on date night. Either that or my life is pretty pathetic when I tag along on my son's date night.

Ashley and Michael took advantage of $1.00 bowling night this past Thursday. Good thing for saving money. Bad thing that the bowling alley was full of kids. The competition between Michael and Ashley was going pretty well until the third game. Michael's competitive spirit is just a bit stronger than Ashley's (he's more like his mother). I left after the third game. I thought I'd give them a little time to themselves.

Happy Father's Day

Not everything turns out the way you hoped it would. I had the great idea of taking Dad to Harrah's for Father's Day. Karen, Dad and I each put $20 in a machine. The idea was to play together as a team and let Dad have the winnings.

Needless to say the winning total was $0. So Dad went off on his own and lost some more.

Harrah's is an easy place to meet for family dinners since Michael works evenings. But Jamie got called into Lone Jack for an emergency and he, Melissa and Violet weren't able to make it to dinner. Happy Father's Day, Dad. I'm thinking of a machine for next year!

Quick Trip to Florida

Most of my friends still work and a couple of them go to several conferences a year. They ask me each time to meet up with them but my schedule never seems to fit with the time they are going. This time they had a conference in Orlando.

We rented a condo on the beach at New Smyrna Beach, just south of Daytona. What more could you ask for than a pool, the beach, sunshine and good friends.

But these ladies are constantly on the go. I had a hard time trying to keep up with them. My favorite was what Debbie called "geriatric" karaoke. This bar was packed at 7:00 in the evening with people lining up to sing their favorite song. I've known Debbie for almost 20 years and I've always heard she was a good singer but I've never heard her sing. When each person took their turn singing their song you could still hear a buzz of conversation going on in the bar. When Debbie got up to sing, I swear the place was completely silent. She sang the old Patsy Cline song "Crazy". If she were a few years younger I wouldn't be surprised to see her on American Idol.

But besides singing and dancing each night we did find time to spend relaxing time at the pool. We're already planning our trip back to the beach next summer. I wonder which town we'll terrorize this time.

New Deck

Thirty days ago my deck looked like this (although not quite this nice).

I've only been in my house for 8 years and the deck was literally rotting. Violet couldn't even go outside and play on the deck without getting splinters in her feet. So I decided to replace the old redwood deck with new composite materials. I was going to hire a contractor but Jamie decided he wanted to take on the challenge.

Day 1 was exhausting. Jamie, Michael, Ashley and I started demolishing the old deck.

A lot of sawdust and a lot of wood.

And before half the day was finished, the old deck was gone. Only the main structure outline was left. Notice poor Ashley in the back of this picture.

She had the hardest job of hauling all the pieces of wood and putting them in the trailer. But I was right beside her. We finally got smart and got Mom's old wagon out. I was on a break when Michael told me Ashley had to reload one load twice. The wagon fell over!

No wonder she had to take a break. We started May 13 and the weather had been rather cool. This was one of the hottest days in May.

This is how the deck looked after the second day. Instead of replacing the screen porch, I decided to put siding on the east side and leave the entire deck open.

After day 3, the HOA decided to stick their nose in my business and sent me a scathing e-mail telling me to stop construction until I told them exactly what I was doing. Their concern was that I wasn't putting back exactly what I tore down. Come on people, times change and so does design.

In the end I won (like I was going to stop) and we continued with construction. The deck is a composite grey material with a black ornamental railing.

 Very neat and clean. And my deck is huge.

I can't thank Jamie, Michael, Ashley and Adam (a friend of Jamie's) enough for all their hard effort into replacing my deck.

It was a hard fight but now I have the best looking deck in the neighborhood and it doesn't look like it was built in the 80's. Happy Mother's Day to me!

Violet Does Gymnastics

Melissa signed Violet up for gymnastics. The first week Violet was a little shy and didn't want to participate.

This week she really got into swinging on the rings.

Then the balance beam.

Before they went to gymnastics, Violet was working on her birthday cards for Michael and Karen, so Melissa was able to get her hair pulled back. This is rare because Violet doesn't like anyone messing with her hair.

But all that work is hard on a girl. I think Melissa said she took a 3 hour nap. Could Violet be a contender for the 2028 Olympics? Oh my gosh, I can barely think about tomorrow let alone 13 years from now!

Happy Birthday Karen!

Karen always shares her birthday with Michael so I decided to do something special just for her. I was going to have flowers delivered for her at work. But for some reason I sent her a text yesterday and asked if she was working on her birthday. She replied "No", so I immediately called the florist and told them I would pick up the flowers.

I was going to leave them at Dad's for her to pick up today, but instead I decided to take them to dinner with us last night.

Later I asked Karen to take a selfie of herself and the flowers. She's just as bad at taking selfies as I am. I just can't get the camera in the right angle AND push the button.

Besides the flowers I got balloons for the table for dinner last night. Karen gave Violet her balloons so Violet would pose for a picture. Believe it or not, this is Violet smiling. Happy Birthday, Karen.

Happy Birthday Michael!

When Michael turned 16, I took an ad out in the Sedalia Democrat announcing to his friends that it was his 16th birthday.

That was our "social media" way of connecting with friends.

Although it's been 18 years, the ways of "social media" sure have changed. This is Michael today communicating with friends.

Yesterday I took Michael out for a little early birthday celebration. We had lunch and spent the afternoon at the Argosy Casino. Little winning, little losing, but we had fun.

Today the family gathered for dinner at Salty Iguana. It isn't a birthday party without Michael's "oldest" friend...his Grandpa.

And, of course, each year Karen has so graciously shared her birthday party with Michael.

I can't believe I'm actually admitting this, but today Michael turned 34. It seems like only yesterday he was 33. Happy Birthday, Michael!

Violet's Going to be a Big Sister!

Pinterest is an amazing tool when you need ideas for anything from meals to how to decorate your home. Melissa is a big fan of Pinterest (and Etsy - see the shirt!).

So when she wanted to announce on Facebook that she was having another baby, she enlisted the help of Ashley to create a chalk board with that subtle hint of "Big Sister, November 2015". The entire idea was to make it look as though Violet was making the drawing - see the chalk in her hand.

But no matter how you announce it, Violet is going to be a big sister around the 21st of November. June 30th, if the baby cooperates, the doctor will be able to tell whether it's a boy or a girl.

Lola Smiles

Lola was out on the deck the other day and I was taking pictures.

This is the first one I took of her. Then I told her she had to smile.

If you use your imagination - and you're a dog lover - this is the smile of a happy dog.