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It is a nice day out. I have lots of "homework" to do today. I think Stan had a good birthday. He got lots of well wishes from family and friends. He enjoyed his German chocolate brownie cake. He didn't feel like going out for steak for lunch or dinner, so I fixed hamburgers for lunch and shrimp pasta primavera for dinner.
Off to do laundry!
I had a wonderful day. Having Jess Sprinkler here made it even more fun. Jess is a great guy and he and Stan were like two kids. The system is complete in time for us to enjoy our joint birthday present.
Many thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I've got some really wonder friends!
Today is Stan's birthday. He got a Belgium waffle with peaches and whipped cream, bacon and milk. He got a card from me and one from our stuffed bunny. He isn't feeling 100% today so he's taking his after-breakfast nap right now. It's his birthday! He can do what he wants.
We're going to Hoffbrau for lunch today to split a steak and baked potato. I'll probably make shrimp primavera for dinner. I like making his birthday special.
Stan got up and made me a wonderful breakfast - perfectly fried egg, toast, suasage and hash browns - and the most important beverage of the day, COFFEE! Our joint birthday present is the irrigation system that should be complete today.
Our neighbors and friends across the street will be leaving Monday to move back to Madison. It has been so much fun having them here and they will really be missed. This year, the Blands sold their house and moved nearer their children and grandchildren. We almost lost the twins and their older brother next door to relocation, but they decided to stay. Jennifer sold her house to be better able to help care for her mom. We have new neighbors in Bill's house and in the Blands and they seem to be really nice people. Stella, Armando, Kathy and Troy are the longest-term neighbors. Sherry is still two houses down and is such a joy to know. She is still recovering from a bad fall a few months ago. We closed on our house December 29, 1981. In those years we've had some really great neighbors. Terry and Mary who had the house across the street built are still two of our favorite people as are Mike and Carrie who who purchased the house after a couple from Burlington Northern purchased it then moved away. We seem to really like the couples that move into the yellow house across the street.
I think we knew from the start that this was our forever home. We've shared 35 birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases, Thanksgivings, and Halloweens here. We've always said we'd never move because we'd have to clean out the attic. The real reason is that we have made so many memories here. We've hosted more or my family's events here than anyone else in my family except my mother and grandmother. Those memories fill every corner.
It's nice to reflect on those memories on my birthday.
The irrigation system is about 2/3 complete. The lines are all in for the back yard and they are beginning to cover the trenches. They spent several hours trying to get under the driveway. The water lines was about 4' below the surface and the man digging it was about 5' tall.
I made Pasta E Fagiola a couple of weeks ago. I had enough left over for several meals that I put in the freezer. Stan made cornbread and I got the soup out and thawed/heated it for lunch. Freezing made it even better than it was the day I made it. This is a recipe I will be making every time I run out of frozen.
I am having such a wonderful fall.
I saw a FB event posting for Fright Night in Weatherford so I booked a hotel room and purchased tickets for the event at the Pythian Home. (https://www.pythianhome.org/History.html)
The event was well planned and quite nice. We stayed at the Hampton Inn and the staff there is really wonderful. The hotel was completely full, partially due to a wedding, but it was so quiet we thought we were the only ones there. The room came with breakfast and that got us on our way home with even more smiles.
We purchased a book called Unexpected Texas by Tui Snider from the author who quite graciously singed it for us. Yes, when we got back to the hotel, I immediately started reading about all the unexpected places in Texas. The author is a really outgoing and fascinating lady and an award winning author. Check out her website at http://tuisnider.com/.
Other than the burger place (Justice Burger) that had their doors open for business but told us they didn't open until 12:00 - it was 11:50 (we left and had lunch at Cracker Barrel), and the Dairy Queen who thought it was perfectly acceptable to serve fries that had black holes in them, we had a really great time.
After a week of nice temperatures, we are back into the 90s until Sunday. I've been trying to update our web page so I've not been updating my blog. It was down due to something with the servers for about a week. Tripod has done a really great job resolving issues I've had as I've gotten back into both the blog and the web page.
I am doing the photo album buy years and the closer to present I get, the more digital suff I have available. I shared some of the photos on FB and didn't have to wory about naming protocol. To put them on the web page using Cute FTP, I have to make sure I am following protocol exactly or the photos won't transfer. When I was learning all this, we had to use protocols but eventually, windows made it mostly unnecessary. Spaces, dashes, etc. were OK. Glad I remember the old-school way of doing everything, even html coding, because some of it still applies!
Our neighbors across the street, Shana and Jeff, are going home to Wisconsin this month. She accepted a job with the University of Wisconsin and while I am so happy for her, I am sad for us. On the other hand, we want to take an extended trip to Wisconsin, so we will see them again pretty soon!
After 36 years of hand watering, we are finally installing a drip irrigation system. I think it will be a good improvement. The past several years, we've had stone walls and steps installed at the sides and across the back of our yard to terrace the steep slope. I can now easily walk to the bottom of the yard. The terrace gives us more opportunity for flower beds and borders. The result has been an influx of bird, butterflies, and a plethora of honey bees. We haven't had that many bees in years!
I am so happy with the many choices we've made over the years. We actively planned for retirement for many years. We have some minor health issues, but hey, we're old! There's little else we really worry about. We are doing a lot more together now that we are both retired. We are doing things that we hadn't considered previously because they fall on a weekend and we had too much "work" to do at home. I plan to sign up for classes in the Spring and reserve Summer and Fall for having fun.
I really want to pinch myself sometimes because this seems like such a dream after so many years of working.
I retired on July 7, 2017. Lots of family, friends, co-workers and tenants came to wish me well. So far, it has been wonderful. I have time to sit outside and enjoy relaxing, taking time to do things I've always had to put off, and just enjoying life.
Love really is the answer to everything. Hate is self-consuming. Haters, bullies, fake Christians spiral down into an abyss of their own creation - lonely even in a crowd. We are, after all, the person we create.
Hope the new year finds my friends well. I am planning my retirement for the last week of December this year. I love my job but want to spend quality time with the hubbs. We have been so blessed for so many years.
Stan's foot issues are finally behind us. He did about two months of casts in November and December to keep him from flexing his foot and at the same time did hyperbaric treatment every day. He is now released from restrictions and is celebrating his full recovery. We started the ordeal in September of 2014 and finished in December 2015. He is well worth the effort!
We addressed the back yard slope with rock walls this fall. I can now get to the bottom of the yard on very large rock steps (about 5 x 5) and am so happy with the added safety and beauty.
We lost Trixy this fall. She was partially paralyzed and used a cart to get around when we weren't carrying her. She was a brave and sweet little Boston but the nerve damage apparently started causing seizures. It is hard to be without a dog but we don't plan on pets for a while.
We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Christmas Eve was at Mother's with friends and family. Christmas Day was very special, getting to spend it with two very special young ladies we hadn't seen for a while. New Year's Day, Walter came over for ham and black eyed peas.
Again, Happy New Year. May it bring all the joys life can hold.
