A Rose Among Thorns

Last week I forgot to download photos from the birthday dinner last Sunday so I'm putting a few of them in this week.  It is so cute to see those boys playing with cousin Paislee.  

She is one of those kids who is "go, go, go".  She crawls like nobody's business, pulls herself up onto furniture and walks behind this old walker that I got second hand and all my kids and grandkids have used.  

Last weekend we went to my folks for my birthday.  We have made a tradition out of going "home" for my birthday.  Mom makes corned beef and cabbage and strawberry pie which is still one of my favorite meals even with my taste and smell gone.

There is a greenhouse about 3 blocks away from my folks and we went to look.  Mom usually buys a few things for my birthday and I got some begonias and a purslane which is a funny plant that looks an awful lot like the weeds that grow all over the driveway.  It has very pretty flowers.  

This week was spring break so I didn't go look after boys this week.  I found two gallon bags of grapes in the freezer that I didn't know were in there and made grape jam the old fashioned way, without pectin and a lot of boiling.  It tastes different, Jim says, but I wanted something with more fruit than sugar.  

I've been slowly "deep cleaning".  This week was our bedroom and it took me three days.  That included taking down the curtains and having Jim move the bed so I could dust and vacuum behind it.  I used to move the bed and all the other furniture around, but no more.  I feel like I'm still getting a workout when I have to lay down to vacuum under the bed.  I was annoyed after I was all done that I forgot the ceiling fan and had to go back and dust it.  I'm having a hard time with the sorting the clothes part. I like to keep everything because I never know when I can use it again.  It would be easier if I didn't ever go back to what I've kept, but I do.  So, I keep it all.  

I started in the office the end of this week and finished the toy closet.  That was a job.  That took me two days because .... something .... I don't remember .... got in the way.  Maybe it was birthday lunch.  I had a lovely dear friend take me out to Perkins and I ate pancakes and she had salad.  

I'm forgoing bedtime snacks these days.  It may have something to do with my meal choices.  

I enjoy sorting all the toys, making sure they are clean and all the pieces of all the things are together.  Of course, once grand children descend on us again, it will be just as big a mess as ever.  

Friday, Lynette and I went to the first fitting for her wedding dress.  It was even more beautiful than I remembered.  It was a drizzly, cloudy day and we had a lovely time.  We went out to lunch and then shopping for "mother of the bride" clothes.  When it was time to pay, I discovered my wallet was gone.  After some panicking and frantic calling, I found it where we had lunch.  After all that hullabaloo, I forgot to get the information my tax man asked for that afternoon.  Sigh.  

I just remembered what held me up on the toy closet cleaning.  

Wedding Plans.

One of the nicest things of this weekend was an "old friends visit".  Not that we are so old, but we have been friends for over 30 years.  That's a long time. 

Now, a new week has started and the first thing that will be done tomorrow, (after breakfast at 6:30) will be finding tax information and taking it to the CPA on a day when I am supposed to be at home and not running around town.

Full moon on the 12th.