Not bad for a Monday (or Wednesday, for that matter)

That’s pretty much how I feel today- the weekend was busy (do we have any other kind around here?) but I’ve started the week feeling cheerful & contented.

Chris made it home safely Friday morning. He went into work from the airport to unload his tools, intending to stay & work the rest of the day; fortunately for Chris (& the management of his company) his boss told him to go home to see his wife & not come back until Monday (Don is a perceptive man- besides, he has been on the wrong side of my temper before about overworking Chris) I ended up having to go into the office for a couple of hours; the ladies had decorated my cubicle with balloons, streamers, & a bouquet of roses. They also presented me with a pair of small gold hoop earrings. I left work around 11:00 & stopped by the grocery store, so Chris beat me home by about an hour. We were able to spend some time alone, sharing lunch & catching up on the news, before Sam got home from his tournament (he & his partner lost their match, but the team did very well overall- 1^st, 2^nd, & 3^rd place in singles, & 3^rd place in doubles) The evening was spent in Livermore at a surprise party for our friend & dance teacher, who just received his full Royal Scottish Country Dance Society teacher’s credentials after four years of training & exams. They had an impromptu dance & dessert potluck, with cake, fruit, & ice cream.

My birthday started quite early with a call from my MIL at 6:30 am, in order to warble her annual rendition of “Happy Birthday”. I gave myself permission to skip the gym, instead going over to the store for a couple of lawn chairs, a tablecloth for outside, a really cute throw rug with a rooster on it, & three bags of groundcover mulch to dress up the front flower bed. Sam vacuumed & mopped floors, Chris mowed the lawns & cleaned up the patio, while I did the prep work for the House to House dinner that evening. We took a break around 1:00 for BBQ sandwiches & ice tea, then I took a little nap, while the guys cleaned up the chaos I left in the kitchen (what can I say- I’m a messy cook!) Chris decided to fill a couple of small holes in the dining room wall (from when we replaced the curtains with vertical blinds) which led to him touching up the paint over the patches, which then led to the entire south wall downstairs being repainted- did I mention that he is ADHD & doesn’t know how to relax? Actually, it was quite nice to see a fresh wall, ready to hang some new plaques & artwork.

Our company showed up around 5:30; I must say, the evening turned out quite well. I made chicken fried steak & chicken, mashed potatoes with cream gravy, baked sweet potatoes, & cornbread; the other 3 couples brought salads, ice cream, & a quarter sheet cake. We sat inside to visit before dinner, as the weather turned rather warm this weekend- upper 80’s to low 90’s- then enjoyed our meal. The sun had gone down by the time we finished eating & clearing off the table, so we went out on the patio to enjoy the cooler temperatures. I asked everyone to bring a small wrapped gift, either white elephant or under $5.00, so we had a gift exchange to celebrate everyone’s birthday, then had dessert & coffee. That is when Chris gave me his gift: an 18-inch string of pearls! They are just plain gorgeous, all 8-9mm & just slightly pink, with a silver bead clasp. The party broke up around 9:00, since we all had church in the morning.

I made up for the busyness of my birthday by being exceedingly lazy on Sunday. The only thing I accomplished after church was finishing the last border on the church quilt, which took me all of 30 minutes to complete. The rest of the day was spent snacking, napping, & reading- the guys went to help a friend of ours move into his new place out in the country & didn’t get home until after 8:00, so I didn’t even have to fix dinner. I did manage to work on a few rows of my poor, neglected Tofutsie socks; I made a counting error 24 rows back, so I’m currently un-knitting back to the mistake. I’m ready to start something new & different, though I haven’t found what I want to try next; as much as I like these socks (with the exception of having to join & tweak a couple of patterns to make them work), I’m tired of working on them. That’s me- a process knitter- love to start things, but I’m always ready to finish & move to the next project.

I’ll be around to visit you all in the next couple of days- I’ve been neglecting all of my walking since last week & I hear the track calling out to me: “Your brother’s wedding is only 80 days away!”