Here We Go Again!

I've made my lists---I've checked them twice or three times---I've just about finished it all---just my personal packing is all I have left to do---half hour max. All the groceries are bought, games planned, gifts wrapped and stuff gathered in the dining room for loading. I have a little baking to do on Friday, but other than that, I'm set.

We're taking off very early on Saturday---6 a.m. to be exact. Steph and girls are spending the night here on Friday to make sure we get off as early as we want. You can find us here!

Another week without internet access. How will I survive? I'm hoping to find a Starbucks---and then actually being able to slip away for an hour or so each day. We'll see....

TSRCC

The challenge this month was to use a vintage item on your layout. Some of the layouts are from last month when the challenge was "distressing," 

Distressed edges and inked butterflies. The flower is also distressed.

 Vintage item is the dress pattern.

The buckle is the vintage item on this card. Vintage lace is used on the right page.

The yoyos were taken from an old quilt.

This page was distressed using ink and some torn paper.

More torn paper, inked and wrinkled tags.

Metal embellishments and scanned pages from an old book are the vintage elements on this page. This girl, Sandy could not bear to tear up her old book.

Linda used old pictures and a newspaper article for her vintage items. The buttons are old too.

Pam took her vintage metal flowers and colored them black with acrylic paint. You can also color metal with a sharpie---it will retain the shine that way.

Here's my layout about the house we grew up in. I had some old coat check tickets that I picked up at the flea market to make the title---12036. The key is old, but not from our house. I made a pocket to hold all of the vintage house papers---receipt for mom and dad's earnest deposit---$1000, the agreement from the builder to build the house, and several other old documents. The journaling block just tells the story of the day we moved in to the house. Dad lined all 4 of us up on the front porch. I was 4, Ronnie was 3 and the twins were 2. He told us NOT to move---and when he said NOT to move, we wouldn't move for anything. One of the twins pottied---can't remember which one, but we didn't move. We all got wet! I can still remember Ronnie and I trying to scootch away as the pee rolled towards up, but we ran out of porch and had no choice but to get wet!

I Always Thought Baths Were Supposed to be Relaxing---but....

I had planned to post this while on our Alaskan vacation, but due to my inconsistent internet connection, I couldn't. It's a little after the fact now, but still a pretty good story.

One of the things I look forward to on vacation is a nice, leisurely bath. We girls were busy on the ship from 9 a.m. and had finished our daily activities with trivia at 5 p.m. Now I had until 7 p.m. to myself. I was looking forward to lounging in the tub.

Back to the cabin. Butch was napping---drats---I need him gone. He got up, got ready and left by 5:30 to meet up with the guys. We girls are meeting them at 7 for cocktails.

 Okay, an hour and a half is more than enough time. I go in the bathroom to run the water. I couldn’t figure out the knobs for anything. After about 15 minutes, I decided I had to abandon the bath plan for a shower. I don’t know what I did, but suddenly the bath part started to work. Now I’m in business. I used the whole bottle of the bath gel for bubbles. I got out of the tub, dried off so that I could gather my bath “necessities” while the tub filled. I got my book, iPod and clock.

Now I’ve wasted 20 minutes of my bath time. I step in the tub---it’s way too hot. I finally figured out that the top knob was hot and the bottom was cold (later I learned that this was wrong, the top was pressure and the bottom was temperature. I have no idea what this extra spigot is next to the main faucet---sometimes water came out of it, sometimes not). I stood there and swished the cold water around to cool the water some. I can feel my time slipping away as I settle myself down. Once I leaned back, I slid all the way to the front and half of my hair went under water. Now I understand shower caps! Turns out the tub is way too long for me to “anchor” myself. I scoot myself back not realizing that I’ve set off a minor tidal wave. My hair gets dunked a second time as the water sloshes over the side of the tub and all over the floor. Now I have to lean over the side of the tub—which is higher than the floor---and fling the bath mat around to sop up some of the water.

I carefully settle back and use my knees pressed to the side of the tub to hold me in place. I won’t even describe that picture.

I open my book and start to read, only to discover that I can’t concentrate because the music is too loud. Besides that, I can’t see the clock from my position and don’t know how much time I have left. I decided to just give up because now I have to have some extra time to blow dry my hair. I moved forward to get the soap, which then caused another tidal wave. Add to that the soap was stuck and I had to use my nails to pry it up. The ship has soft water, so then I couldn’t tell if I got all the soap off as I still felt slippery.

Time to let the water out. OMG! I put the stopper in upside down!! Here's a picture of it. There was nothing to grab to pull it out. Add to that, the water pressure and gravity making it impossible. All I could think of was that I didn’t want to have to tell our cabin steward what I did. I was determined to get it out. I ended up getting two nails under and then was able to get it up enough to get my fingers under. I only broke one nail.

In the mean time, after all this trouble, I discovered that I had gotten my book wet and bent! I managed to be on time to meet up with my friends, but I was so stressed out by the time we got to the bar, I needed a double!!

I can’t remember the last time a bath beat me!

Steph's Back to Blogging---

at least she says she is. We'll see how long it lasts. Click on her link at the right: "Steph's Stuff" to get there. She has two new posts, so you'll have to scroll down.

Another from me later...

One Lazy Sunday

I coughed all night---slept on the couch---was too lazy to go to church.

I did finish putting everything away from the shower. It was very nice, although I felt bad for Anna, the bride-to-be. She has a kidney stone and was miserable and in tears. She didn't really want to come. I put her on the couch and she was finally able to take some pain medication. When it came time to open gifts, Lauren, her sister, filled in. Mindy was the scribe. It went well and Anna could at least sit up and see the gifts---she even smiled a few times.

Our food was fabulous!! We decided we wanted it to be more of a brunch since we started at 10 a.m. We had shrimp and grits (Karolyn), Honey Baked Ham (Connie), cheddar biscuits, (Nancy) grape salad (me), apricot salad (Nancy), spinach balls (me), and tomato pie (Connie). We served dessert while the gifts were opened---meringues with clotted cream and strawberries (Karolyn). We had banana daffodils (Nancy) (a frozen fruit drink with champaign and "pretty" water (my assignment---basically "fruited" water). It was a nice assortment and different from most showers.

The timeline went EXACTLY according to our plan:
10---arrive
10:30---eat
11:00---open gifts and have dessert
12:00---everyone leaves (honestly, the last person left at 12:05)

We wanted an earlier start for two reasons---#1 When you have something at 12 or 2, it really wrecks the whole day. This way, our plan was that the shower would be over by noon which lead to reason #2 for starting early---and the main reason---we wanted to get in the pool. All the shower givers, Pam and daughters planned to swim. It ended up being Steph and I (Mindy had a friend from NOLA in town that she had to get back to), Pam and Lauren (she took Anna home and got her settled in bed---her mom stayed with her) and Karolyn and Lauren. Malinda was in town, but the Potters decided not to stay because they would have had to pick up the little kids to swim and decided it was too much trouble. It's really not all that much fun when you have to watch little ones. The rest of us had a relaxing 2 1/2 hours---great way to spend the afternoon. And I desperately need to get a little sun before we go to the beach. Connie had come over on Friday. That was only the second time I'd been in the pool this year. The first time was with Pam on Memorial weekend. We've just been out-of-town so much and May was too cold to get in.

I thought I'd get in the pool again today, but we woke up to rain. By 8:30, it was sunny and nice. I should have gone out then because by 11:30, it rained again. It's been cloudy all afternoon. I've whiled away the time in the sunroom ALL day---catching up on blogs, computer work and just reading. I took one break for the bathroom and to make my lunch which I brought in here. The only thing that would have made this absolutely perfect is if I didn't have to hear the "vroom, vrooomming" of auto racing in the family room. "He" was supposed to go shopping with Stephanie this afternoon---she needs a new vacuum and he has a Kohl's coupon to get her a better deal. He's all about the "deal." She canceled.

It's 3 p.m. now. I've been in here since 9 a.m.---that just never happens, but I think I'm going to try to make it happen more often. I have a 4 p.m. hair appointment, so now I'm going to take my nap.

What a great weekend!!

One Crazy, Busy Week!

I hit the floor running on Monday morning and haven't stopped. But, I've certainly gotten a lot accomplished. I'm hosting a shower here on Saturday along with Connie, Karolyn and Nancy. We've had it planned for a couple of months, divvy-ed up the jobs and have it under control.

Margarita was here on Monday. The house was clean since we were out of town last week, so I had her do some work outside---clean up the chipmunk mess on the front porch (they dig in my lovely planters, scattering dirt all over), water flowers, and polish a silver tray. Little did I know that the kitchen would end up being a wreck. If anything can go wrong, it will---not my personal philosophy, but it does seem to be true at the busiest times.

Morgan called to see if she could have friends over. I warned her that it would be okay, but that there better not be a mess since I was having the shower. They showed up around noon---7 of them---boys and girls. They ended up making mac and cheese for lunch and then baked brownies. You might think you know where this story is going, but you would be wrong. They did clean up---although I'm the one that had to apply the elbow grease to the boiled over mac & cheese water on the stove. They were here 8 hours!!! Yes, you got that right---EIGHT!!! I sort of have a love/hate relationship with having them here---glad they feel welcome, happy to know where they are and what they're doing, fine with all the food and drink consumed, but at the same time, wish they would go somewhere else, mess somewhere else, leave after a reasonable time, bring their own towels, etc.  But what really got to me this day was that I was searching for one of my Starbucks insulated cups. I have two. When Steph and Mindy stopped by after work, I asked them about my cups. They didn't know anything. It never occurred to me that they were out at the pool. Here's the result of that:

Somebody BROKE one of my cups! Morgan is paying for that. I've figured out what really bugs me the most when they are here---is that feeling of having no control. I want to seem like the nice "grammy" so that they really do want to hang out here. But for crying out loud, I've got to get this figured out. About the time I set a "rule" with the girls, something else pops up that I didn't think of. Rule #259---no using my cups! I think by the time I hit rule #300, they'll give up and quit coming.

Now back to the story of why the kitchen is a wreck. Here is the email that I sent to my "shower cohorts" on Wednesday morning:

Okay, I'm trying to remain calm, cool and collected. It's hard.

Yesterday, my dishwasher flooded my kitchen. That's a slight exaggeration---it only flooded the part between the counter and island all the way down, sopping the rug. I cleaned up that mess.

Butch thinks he can fix it. He has the entire dishwasher torn apart---I've never seen so many parts. Then he brings in the hose from outside and has me turn it on. I went on record saying I didn't think that was a good idea. It wasn't---you can figure that one out.

Anyway, what a HUGE mess. All I can say is FTS (or DFTS---"double"---Nancy and I made that up for really extreme situations). 

I think I just need to leave and hope everything is all cleaned up when I get home.

PS Not a word to your hubbies. It would not be good for Butch to think I have no confidence in his appliance repair abilities. The Maytag man he is NOT.


End of email. Now I have to eat crow---he did get it fixed and cleaned up the mess. Still, it seems like I need to give the kitchen a thorough cleaning---seems a little grubby now with all this activity and foot traffic.


Wednesday afternoon, I went to the grocery store and started my cooking. I decided that since I was going to be in the kitchen anyway, I'd get a jump on food preparation for our family vacation next Saturday. We'll be at the beach from July 2nd to the 9th.

I put on my showtunes, poured myself a glass of wine and began chopping Vidalia onions (the best) for my spaghetti sauce. Despite my Italian heritage, when I cook Italian, it's an event. I go all out. I've got toasted ravioli and Italian bread in the freezer from St. Louis. We'll have a nice Italian dinner at the beach.

I make really, really good sauce. My mom made good sauce too---not so much in my opinion, but everyone else loved it. It never had enough meat to suit me. I use 4 lbs. of ground chuck. I like it thick. I think it's better than mom's, but I've never made it for any of my siblings, so they might disagree. It seems kind of sacriligeous to criticize your mom's cooking, especially when she was "full-blooded." But, oh well. I'm just glad to have this done and in the freezer ready for our trip.

I also made the spinach balls for the shower and made a second batch for vacation. Just a little planning is all it takes to stay on top of things and save me some valuable time next week. 

I cut the hydrangeas for the floral arrangements. I'll make them tomorrow. Annabelle hydrangeas are so easy and beautiful. Just cut, put in water and let the vase run dry. They will dry to look exactly like this. The leaves will wither, but the flowers remain beautiful. I'm going to add some nandina and whatever else I have in the garden to make the arrangements.

It was a fun, relaxing couple of hours in the kitchen and I'm ahead of the game for Florida.

This morning, when Mindy was here for breakfast, Butch showed her this little thing he made to save a buck. Butch, Mindy and Stephanie have joined a running club in preparation of a 5K in August. Butch saw something similar to this and then priced it. It was $18.00 which he thought was outrageous. Did he forget my Starbucks cups were $15.95 each? Mindy thought it was hilarious. Can you see the zip ties? It just hooks on your hand while you run without you actually having to grip it. 

He showed it to Stephanie this evening when they went running. She got a laugh out of it too. Then he showed her another that he found at Academy Sports for $6.00. He's going to give Mindy his "homemade" one. Now, to my way of thinking---he could have gotten each of the girls a $6.00 one for the cost of the $18.00 one. That's why he has more money than me!

One last thing. This morning I went for my regular nail appointment. I finally found someone I really like---Christine---her American name---I can't pronounce her "real" name. I have an 8:30 standing appointment and have been to her at least a half dozen times now. She wasn't there when I arrived. I was only waiting a couple minutes when a girl walked in and said hello to me. Thinking it was Christine, I got up and started following her. She looked at me real funny and said, "do I have you?' I say, "are you Christine." She says, "no." I say, "oops, sorry." I really do have to start paying attention! That was pretty embarrassing. You know what I'm thinking---I don't have to say it---it's much too politically incorrect!!

The Trip From Hell---O---It's AYM too!

Yesterday I was happy to have plenty of time at the airport to catch up on things. That was before all the delays. When we found out our flight was delayed 20 minutes, we were pretty bummed because we only had a 25 minute connect in Denver. Plus, we knew there wasn't another flight to Nashville after that one. Turns out that our flight was delayed about an hour. The pilot assured us that he was going to make up most of the time in the air. We pulled back from the gate---he came on and said there was a problem---the right engine didn't start. Back to the gate. Within 15 minutes, we were told the problem was a bad starter---which couldn't be fixed. We all had to get off. I immediately went to the counter to see what our options could be. Turns out, there were NO planes flying anywhere east after ours. To make matters worse, all flights for the next day were already booked except the 2:15 p.m. which still had 2 seats. The agent suggested that I just wait and see what was going to happen.

They got us another plane that was to arrive in 30 minutes. They assured us that they were holding all the Southwest connecting flights in Denver except for 3. We finally take off. The flight is uneventful until we reach Denver.  We couldn't land due to weather. We had to circle for another 45 minutes. Once we landed, we had to run to our connection which was, of course, at the other end of the concourse. On a happy note, they kept the last 8-10 rows completely empty for us so that we didn't all have center seats. Butch likes the aisle and I like the window. We had a little boy in the middle who slept the whole flight.

We got home at 1:30 a.m.---but at least we made it! I took a shower and felt good to be in my own bed.

Today I had my day group AYM here. The assignment this month was to document your daily or weekly routine.

Sally decided to document her "Fridays with her mom." Her mom lives with her. Her health is failing, so Fridays is something they always looked forward to---hair appointment, a little shopping and lunch. They can't do much now, but Sally wanted to be sure to remember the fun they had. 

Suzanne took some photos of the important things in her life every day---"Bits and Pieces of Every Day." I loved what she did with the flowers. She did her journaling on the yellow tags which she put in a pocket under her initials.

I've presented them with a challenge for next month---copy a design from advertising---magazine or food boxes---I want them to notice that inspiration is everywhere.

Ahhh, Internet Access!

I'll admit it, I'm addicted to internet access. Here we are at the Seattle airport after a crazy check in procedure. I've NEVER seen an airport this nuts---and that includes Chicago, Atlanta and New York---almost put together. I guess when you have 20,000 people disembarking from 6 cruise ships, that puts quite a strain on the airport.

Anyway, here we are, with a 5 hour wait until our flight to Denver. We don't get home until 11 p.m. Our friends have "ditched" us. Not really. There were only 4 seats left on the earlier flight, so we magnanimously told them to go on. Heck, I've got FREE internet access now. It'll take me 5 hours to get caught up on everything I wasn't able to do all last week.

I follow a little over 100 blogs. "What? Why? How?" you ask. I love people and I love blogs. I really like keeping up with family and friends this way. In order to manage them all, I use a "blog reader"---which means, rather than having to literally look at 100 blogs a day, I go to my reader and it lets me know which blogs have a new post. Since most people don't blog daily, it's pretty easy to keep up with. But when you are out of the loop for a week, they can really add up.

So, for the next 5 hours, I'll be as happy as a lark with my iPod, Starbucks tea and 170 blog posts! Ahhh, so glad to be back on the mainland with FAST, FREE internet access. I'm spoiled.

Our Suite Aboard the Princess

This is our first suite. All four of us are in cabins, side-by-side. We have adjoining balconies---in fact, this is our first balcony too. Very nice---quite a bit more room than the regular cabins. We were upgraded for booking over a year in advance. Worth it.

Dario, our cabin steward, arranged Butch's pajamas like this. I guess one look at them made him decide that this was all I was going to get...

Just me and my book...

Seattle

 We decided to take a tour on the "ducks". Connie mentioned that it was Butch's birthday, so they gave him a crown. He just "loved" that. He doesn't like anything that brings attention to him in a public way. He kept taking it off, but our driver had already discovered it was his birthday. As a result, he kept calling attention to him on the entire tour. The funny part was that Connie was actually trying to get back at me for what I did to her on her birthday. Remember the huge sombrero and birthday serenade?

Here's the famous Space Needle. I didn't want to go up---I'm not afraid, but had just been up in the arch a couple months ago. I figured at least in the arch, it was fun to look at things you could recognize.

Just exactly what I want to do on my vacation. As soon as we stepped inside, I turned around and went back out. It was hot and stinky---not my type of place.

This me waiting outside. It took the gang about 20 minutes to browse around and decide there wasn't anything they wanted to buy. I could have told them that.

The original Starbucks---although I didn't get my venti, iced black tea, shaken with 3 equals here, I did get one. I couldn't be in Seattle and NOT have my Starbucks tea.

Linda, Connie, me, Karolyn.

I feel a lot of pressure to hurry up and get off the internet. It is so expensive. I bargained with Butch. I told him that I would not gamble, drink, or shop if I could purchase 500 minutes for $175. If I was by myself, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But since he's "available" to scrutinize the bill, I couldn't get away with it. Anyway, he agreed to 250 minutes for $100. So I told him, the deal was off. I'd monitor my minutes, but I was going to drink, gamble and shop. He was okay with that. 

Hi, my name is Barbara and I'm addicted to the internet....

Later....

What's in a Number?

When you hear the number 60, what does is mean? 12 x 5? 60 days same as cash? 60 minutes in an hour? Well, today, 60 takes on a whole new meaning. It's Butch's birthday! 

We happen to be in Seattle right now with 3 other couples---the Potters, Bohans and Broussards. We'll be boarding a ship tomorrow for an Alaskan cruise to celebrate our upcoming 40th anniversary along with the Potters and Bohans. Wow, 40 years. Seems like a long time, yet it has flown by.

That's why, honestly, Butch turning 60 seems so unbelievable. Where has the time gone? On our way to the hotel yesterday, we were talking with our friends about leaving St. Louis on January 1st, 1977 and how our landlord cheated us out of our $175 deposit. That was to be our moving money.

Butch had gotten a promotion to City Manager in Charleston, West Virginia with Central Parking System. Stephanie was a newborn and Sandy was 4. The landlord kept putting us off about inspecting the house. We didn't realize that he intended to cheat us. As a result, we ran out of money pretty quickly when we got to Charleston. We stayed a couple of nights at a flea bag motel. We ended up buying a rug and blanket from K Mart and sleeping on the floor of our apartment. Our furniture and belongings didn't arrive for 2 weeks---but that's another story.

Anyway, to say "we've come a long way baby" is an understatement. We were a couple of beer drinking (well, not me), smoking, bowling kids. It's been a great 40 years. We are blessed. And my 60 year old guy doesn't seem like it!

So You Think You Can Dance....

has started up for the summer. It is one of my favorite reality shows. It's going to be on Wednesday and Thursday nights at 7 p.m. on FOX. I just love this show---the dancers, the music, the costumes and the choreography---just great---not "old timey" like Dancing with the Stars.

Tonight's show introduced us to the top 20 dancers. The dances were great. I just love the contemporary ones that tell a story. I'm finding that any dances that include props like doors tend to be my favorites.

Another fun thing they are going to do this year is to pair 10 of our past favorites when this year's dancers are reduced to 10.

I must warn you---that obnoxious Mary Murphy is back this year. Her voice and especially that annoying laugh just grate on my nerves. When she screams about a dancer being on the "hot tamale train", I really want to derail her! In fact, when she wasn't on the show last year, I totally took credit for that. I wrote sent an email to the network complaining about her ridiculous, screaming behavior. I was very happy when she was off the show and felt certain that it was due to my complaint. Now she's back. Sheesh. I just hope I can bear her in order to enjoy my show.

Off to cruise Alaska tomorrow. We'll be in Seattle until we board the ship on Sunday. I'll report from there---it's going to be cold! But the best part??? When I get home, the cicadas should be gone!!
Later...

A Tasty Find

Okay, I have to admit, I haven't made or even had these yet, but they sure do sound and look good. Just thought I'd share.

Carmelita Bars

1 jar Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch (has to be this kind!)


1 pkg. milk chocolate chips


2 cups flour


2 cups oats


1 1/2 cups brown sugar


1/2 tsp. salt


1 1/2 cups butter


1 tsp. baking soda

Combine flour, oats, melted butter, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Grease 9×13 pan. Put 2/3 mixture in a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips, then butterscotch sauce over the top, then crumble remaining mixture on top. Bake at 350 degrees for another 17 minutes. Let cool, then serve.

Idina Menzel and the Nashville Symphony

I took Mindy and Stephanie to see Idina Menzel. I saw her in St. Louis in January---it was the best show! Idina has the most amazing voice. I am always blown away by her. Near the end, she sings another song from Wicked---For Good---a cappella---without a microphone. Unbelievable.

Click on the link below for Defying Gravity---also from Wicked. Idina originated the role of Elphaba---the green witch.

Idina Menzel---Amazing!!!

Enjoy!

Victoria Runs her First 5K!!

And are we proud of her! She participated in a program through her school called "Girls on the Run." It's sponsored by New Balance and is all about building self-esteem. Victoria loved it---especially the pink and green running shoes. It's a commitment---you get the shoes, but then you can't quit. At each meeting, they have a snack, self-esteem discussion and then some sort of activity leading up to the 5K. 

When they actually worked up to the 5K, Victoria felt like it was too hard. By the next meeting, she admitted that it got easier. What an accomplishment for an almost 10 year old. Her grandpa is working up to a 5K himself. Maybe they can eventually do one together. As for me---I'll cheer them on---although I could be all over the pink and green shoes!

Elizabeth Graduates

There was a lot of excitement for Elizabeth leading up to graduation. On Wednesday, Sandy and I went to pick her up at 11:15 so she could come home early since we were visiting. Her teacher asked if she wanted to take her grammy to see her room. I asked her which chair was hers. When she pointed it out, I plopped myself down, saying---"just my size." All her little kindergarten friends started laughing. Elizabeth thought that was so funny and retold the story to everyone. 

 On Thursday, Sandy and I went shopping. Elizabeth was excited to have her grandpa picking her up. She wanted to go to the Rootbeer Stand for lunch---an old A&W that now sells hotdogs and root beer floats. Butch said the food wasn't all that great, but it was something that E was really looking forward to. Afterwards, they went geo-caching. Mitchell was along too, but he doesn't get "in" to it the Elizabeth does.

She also told me that one of the songs they were going to sing at graduation was "Mackarena Math" and that we were supposed to do the dance with it. Turns out, no one did the dance (except me from my seated position). I didn't let her down. Seems she told her little class mates that her grammy would do it. I'm glad she could count on me!

We had front row seats at both graduations. I told Sandy that I didn't care what it cost---it was a fundraiser anyway. We got the 8th grade seats for $500 and then only paid $50 for the kindergarten seats. Sandy said that the kindergarten parents didn't realize what it was all about. Worked out really good for us. Front row seats are "gold." No rush to get there an hour ahead of time.

 Elizabeth got Strawberry Shortcake dolls from her mom and dad. These dolls are quite a bit different than the ones from the 1980's. These are larger with longer legs. The only thing that has stayed the same is the smell. They're still cute.

This little girl is getting "big." Too fast if you ask me.

Entertaining Eads Style

Stephanie and Mindy were both out-of-town for Memorial weekend. Saturday was a work day for us. So, we decided to have the Potter's and Black's for a barbecue and poker game on Sunday night. 

Connie had a rehearsal dinner at her house on Friday night, so she has a lot of food leftover. She brought one of Virginia's famous (and fabulous) cheese balls, corn casserole, baked beans and a dessert tray. I did pork steaks and corn bread. Pam made potato salad. Everything was delicious.

It may sound like Connie provided the lion's share of the dinner, and she did, but technically, she owed me. Way back in the early 90's, after one of our walks, she invited the girls and I to dinner for omelets. Then she had to have me bring the eggs, cheese and I think the milk and mushrooms. When I arrived, I asked her what she planned to have for dinner if we hadn't come! I have a long memory! I've had a lot of fun kidding her about that for years.

 I got these cute little leaf plates from mom's "stuff." I don't think anyone else wanted them, so I took them. Now I'm glad I did. I've already used them several times.

 It was a nice evening---despite the noise of the cicadas---so we ate outside.

 How's this for a centerpiece?

 The poinsettias are left from Christmas. Usually, I keep them in the sun room, but decided to put them outside this year.

The other side of the patio. We did re-stock our fish. We'll see how many are left when we get home.

Did anybody else do anything fun?