Happy Birthday Michele

Today is Michele's birthday and she's spending most of it stressing over packing for her move to Colorado. She tells me no special plans for a birthday dinner with Bruce. I suspect on her daily walk this morning she snuck into the grocery store for a pint of her favorite Ben & Jerry's.

But she did not escape the birthday sombrero picture. While she was in Kansas City for Easter, I forced her to take a sombrero picture that I could post on her birthday. Happy Birthday Michele. Dinner on me this weekend (and ice cream)!

Babysitting a 2 Year Old

Melissa had a doctor's appointment so it was my turn to watch Hazel. Violet and Lincoln were in school so there were no other things to entertain or distract her but me.

She's really very easy to watch. The only problem is her attention span is about 2 minutes so you have to keep changing things up. We started by taking all the dominos out of the drum then throwing them back in. When that fun wore out, I put the dominos between her toes. It took her quite awhile to shake them off into the drum.

Melissa's appointment ran late, so I let Hazel pick her own lunch. I opened the refrigerator and she picked turkey, cheese, grapes and Cheetos. For those grandmothers out there that might be reading this, if you let the child pick the food, pick their own plate, put their own food on the plate, it eats up quite a bit of time. Notice the ball in Hazel's arms? Michele brought this ball at Easter and Melissa forgot to take it home. I took it as an ice melter and Hazel wouldn't let it down...not even to eat. As much as I spent the day laughing, I'm now ready for a nap!

It's No Longer Just Dirt

The foundation for my house is done. The curing process is almost finished and soon backfill and plumbing will begin.

I know it's still several months before my new home will be finished but it's great to see progress. Let's hope the weather holds out and more work can be completed.

Happy Birthday Teresa

Teresa celebrated a milestone birthday reaching the age of 60. I may laugh at her getting older but then I realize that the older she gets, the older I am.

Teresa wanted to do something different than our regular family birthday dinners so we went to play bingo at Hamburger Mary's.

While we were close many times, none of us were lucky enough to win. By the way, this is one of the female impersonators and not just another girlfriend!

In keeping with my sombrero birthday picks, I snapped a quick picture before we left. Happy Birthday Teresa. Two more years until retirement!

Progress on the New House

Michele, Courtney and I went by to check on the progress of my new house.

There was so much work going on we had to dodge all the heavy equipment while trying to get a picture. This is what the house/lot looked like just a week ago.

And now I have a foundation and basement walls. I understand the concrete has to cure for 8-10 days. I'm hoping by the end of the month I'll have something resembling a house!

Easter Sunday

I love holidays. I always feel like Monica from the old TV series "Friends". I'm always the hostess. It takes me weeks to figure out what to do so everyone has a good time.

I do tend to go a bit overboard. I filled plastic eggs with candy and money but didn't realize the massive number of eggs would overflow their Easter baskets.

I was so happy to have Michele and Courtney join us. Michele planned her own version of an Easter egg hunt for the adults. I saw an egg which I didn't fill while the kids were hunting their eggs. When Michele told us to go find the eggs, Michael beat me to the one I had scoped out. I'm just not as fast a runner as I used to be.

Teresa tested positive for Covid a few days before Easter so she wasn't able to join us for dinner. But we found a way to social distance and visit for awhile. While planning holiday events may be stressful, I wouldn't have it any other way.