My Birthday Surprises

 I had the Best Birthday ever from Rick this year.  It wasn't the money spent, but the quality of time spent with me and the places he took me to.  It started with Saturday night at the river listening to a live band play for about 4 hours.  They were good and the name of the band was Vanguard, and they were from Lexington, Ky.

Before going out to hear the band play we went to Wendy's for Chili and a hamburger and fries.  That was so we wouldn't get hungry while listening to the band.  The band was appearing at Proud Mary's, a local restaurant at Clays Ferry, which also sold alcohol, so many people were drinking, eating and dancing while their kids played in a huge sandbox.

After we left Proud Mary's Rick was hungry so we stopped at a McDonald's, bought burgers and took them home to eat.  The next day, which was really my actual birth date, Rick took me for a motorcycle ride and we ended up at Madison County Regional Airport.  There was a big jet there, so we unlocked the gate and went inside the tarmac to get a closer view of the jet.  We don't see too many small jets land here, but they do land here at times.  We waited there and soon it boarded and took off, so we came on home.

We were waiting at home killing time for about an hour and then Rick was going to take me out for a birthday dinner at Derby City Truck Stop in Mt.Vernon, Ky. because I like to eat there and then we were going to go to Lake Linville and watch the sunset, but we didn't get to do any of this because a friend called Rick and asked him what we were doing, so Rick told them that it was my birthday and that I wanted to go out to dinner.  They quickly told us to be ready in ten to fifteen minutes and they would pick us up and treat us to a birthday dinner.  In about seven minutes they pulled up in a brand new Mercedes Benz and we were off for a great adventure in the country.  We drove on roads we have never been on before and saw some of the most beautiful countryside that I had never been to or seen before.  After about an hours drive we ended up somewhere near Nicholasville at a Malone's Restaurant.  There I was treated like the Princes that I am, (haha) and we ate some of the most delicious food that I have tasted in a while.  Nothing was spared, they even insisted that I have a goblet of wine with my meal.  They all made me feel so special.  They even sang Happy Birthday to me as loud as they could.  We all had so much fun.  On the long way home they turned on music that we could all relate to and we sang out loud all the way home.  

It was a birthday that I won't forget.  It's not often that I spend time with friends like that, and they said that they would like to do this more if it was alright with us.  I'm looking forward to more fun times spent with friends, but next time I won't be drinking anymore wine.  That was something that was just out of the ordinary for me and for Rick.

Rick wants to go back to Proud Mary's again next weekend, and I'm looking forward to it.  Rick doesn't dance, and I do just fine wiggling around in my chair to the beat of the music.  I'm quite content with that.

My two wonderful and loving daughters gave me an Adidas jacket that I love for my birthday, and I will be wearing it tonight when I go to watch Carson play ball.  All in all, I had a wonderful birthday.  My children have always made sure that my birthdays were great, but this year for the first time in nine years, Rick remembered my birthday and showed me that I was someone special to him and he made my birthday last for the whole entire weekend.

Thank you all for making me feel so special.  I love all of you.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention the birthday videos that I received from Sharon & Bo, and from Megan & Myles.  They were so cute.  

There's nothing like family

 A few days ago, Sharon along with Lyv & Myles came by to pick me up and we spent the afternoon together.  Sharon helped me select a new cell phone and then she treated all of us out for an early dinner at Red Lobster.  What a treat that was!  I hadn't been there for quite sometime.  The last time that I was there was when Brian was still with us right before the pandemic hit, and we treated ourselves to a meal there, just the two of us.

See how excited I am about my new cell phone.  I love it!  It does everything and now it doubles as my iPad because it's so big, and I can see everything really well on it.  I can't believe that I kept my old little tiny cell phone (iPhone 5s) for so long....but I do have to say that it was easier and lighter to carry than this new phone.  I have a set of air pods so that I can leave this new large cell phone in my purse and not have to hold it all the time. 

Here we all are, below, in a group picture.  The first picture is a normal picture and of course the kids, including Sharon, just had to also pose for a silly picture.  

  

They love being silly, and just as long as not every picture is a silly one, that's okay with me.  I don't make very good silly faces because my face is silly looking all the time.  

Myles was so excited about his meal. Myles and I split a meal and that was his half of the meal.  

Doesn't it look good?  I thought everything was SO DELICIOUS!

Sharon and Lyv also split a meal, but I don't think that Lyv was as excited about her meal as Myles was about his.  

I can't thank Sharon enough for our expensive meal out.  That was way over and above, but I sure enjoyed it, almost as much as I enjoyed spending the afternoon with all of them.  I hope we can do this more often, not eating at expensive restaurants, but spending time together as a family.

Yesterday I spent some time with Suzanne and Carson.  Carson carried his electronic keyboard down from upstairs and let me play some classical songs on it.  The keys light up so you know which keys to play or I wouldn't have been able to play anything.  It was fun.  

Here is a picture of Carson & Suzanne during one of their outings.

I love my family with all my heart and I have missed them so much.  Jimmy's death changed things so much and then when things were beginning to get back to normal for me, the pandemic hit and then Brian died.  It's not been easy for me these last few years, but I hope that things will now start getting back to normal, or at least as normal as they can be without those we have lost.

My old GMC

My brother Dennis, pictured here with two of my children, put this picture on Facebook of my old GMC Pickup truck.  I remember having some really great fun times in that truck.  I even had to push it out of the driveway to get it to start, but I loved that old truck just the same.

Took the day off...

Tomorrow it's back to normal, but today I took the day off and I spent it with Megan, Myles and Sharon, and we did nothing but girly stuff.  We looked and shopped for baby clothes, mainly a zebra sleeper for Myles and found some seasonal outfits on sale, Buy One, Get One Free and how can you pass that up :)

We had lots of fun today thanks to Suzanne for scouting around and finding the zebra sleeper in Lexington, Zac and Jen for the Red Lobster gift certificate which we made good use of today on Red Lobster's all you can eat Shrimp Fest, and for just being around family.  You can never go wrong hanging around with family.

I love spending the day with my girls and wish that Suzanne could have joined us too, but she was enjoying spending time with Matt in his new detailing shop.   Jimmy took the opportunity to go riding today and then settled in to raking leaves which he says he loves to do, so I guess all of us were where we wanted to be.

(This picture I borrowed from Val's facebook page)

Yesterday Sandie, Valerie and Lillian stopped by to visit.  It was a beautiful day so we all sat outside while Lillie chased the cats around the yard.  Princess likes Lillian because Lillian is so gentle with her, so she let Lillie catch her. Valerie invited us to go to the Pumpkin Patch with her and Lillie, and I'm hoping that nothing interferes and that we'll be able to go with them.  I think it will be fun and I'm looking forward to spending time with Jimmy's side of the family too.

Today our ride led us to Sharon's house

After working all day Megan stopped in to visit her mama.
Megan has 8 weeks to go before the arrival of
baby Myles.

My daughter Sharon Walker and granddaughter Megan Malear.

My sweet granddaughter Megan Malear.

Today our ride was short.  We rode to Irvine, Kentucky and ate at Cedar Village then I decided to visit Sharon in Richmond, Kentucky.  We also rode to Walmart to look for about a 16 gallon cooler to carry on my bike.  Right now I carry one that is 28 gallons and sometimes also a really tiny one that only holds 6 cans of pop.  I want one that is in between those two sizes, one that will fit nicely on my passenger seat and won't be too cumbersome.  When I find the one I want I'll buy it, but until then I'll keep searching.

Jimmy, Zac and I are thinking of going on a ride together.  If Sharon can get off work by 12:30 p.m. she can also join us and we can all meet Megan for lunch and then continue on our ride.  Sounds like a winner to me.  It's about time the family gets in gear and we start riding together again.  Life's too short to waste any more time.

The Weekend...

The weekend is starting to shape out nicely already. Friday afternoon Sharon & Megan treated Jimmy & I to a wonderful late afternoon supper at a lovely Mongolian restaurant in Lexington. They brought one of their church friends with them to join us and to Megan & Sharon's surprise, their church friend turned out to be Jimmy's cousin. Zac was supposed to have joined us too, but you know that darn work sometimes gets in the way of a little fun. ..So maybe next time Zac.

I never miss an opportunity to brag on my beautiful granddaughter and I think she is pretty enough to be in the movies, if I don't say so myself. I may be mistaken, but I think Zac probably took this picture of her...He always takes such beautiful pictures of his sisters, but he can't miss with such beautiful subjects. Megan is quite a photographer herself... she may have even taken the picture herself. I don't know who took it but she sure is p.r.e.t.t.y. I lifted this picture from Megs Myspace site...I couldn't resist.Isn't Megan a beauty? She's currently a freshman at the university and she's seeking part-time employment. I guess they just don't give her enough homework to keep her busy, hehehe. It's not at all how I remember my college days. It seemed that I never had extra time for anything but homework.

Saturday Jimmy puttered around the house taking care of fixing some little things that needed fixing and then we watched the Green Mile again. I love that movie and have watched it several times. During the last half of the movie we baked some frozen pizzas and not five minutes after I got my pizza eaten up, Matt & Tori called to ask us out to eat. What a bummer! Their timing is always off and we have had to declined their invitations many times. I hope that one of these days we'll get in sync with each other.

We did get to see them later that evening when they came over, along with Suzanne to play board games again. We snacked and played several types of games. Matt wins at Scrab*ble, so of course that is his favorite game to play. Tori & Suzanne prefer Aggra*vation, a marble game that requires absolutely no thinking to win...well maybe a little strategy sometimes, but the more you make a game plan, the more likely you are not to win the game. It's purely a game of chance and a lot of disappointments as you are repeatedly sent home to start the game over from the beginning. Hence the name Aggrava*tion. We sometimes call the game SORRY because you spend a lot of time saying sorry to your opponents, as you knock them back home.

The games lasted until about midnight and then we wished them a safe ride home. Jimmy hasn't been playing lately because the bull riding championships are still on, but we play right by his side so he can join in on the laughter & fun we have. Besides, we like to aggravate him while we play. hehehe. That's one good thing about our small house, it's so small that you are never very far away from one another.

The weekend is still young...we still have one more day and also an extra hour because at 2:00 a.m. this morning we will set our clocks back one hour. I hope everyone is having a fun filled weekend. I know I am and I love it!!!

An afternoon with the babies & health updates

How sweeter does it get than spending an afternoon with the babies. This is little Kyra and she will be six months old on July 24th and what a wiggle worm she is. She's the hardest baby to hold...she loves to move and squirm around and you really have to be on your toes when you're holding her.
This is Dyan and Sandie. Dylan has discovered the joys of taking pictures using his grandma's cell phone...or anyone's cell phone, it really doesn't matter. Dylan will be 3 years old on Friday and he invited his Papaw and I to his "pizza party." His mom kept telling him that it's not a "pizza party" but a Birthday Party.
(L-R) Valerie, Erica, Kyra, Sandie, Dylan, Jimmy, Suzanne is somewhere out of sight and I'm taking the picture.
A favorite spot of most kids, but Dylan doesn't like being in the hammock by himself. I think it's just too shaky for him and he feels like he's going to fall out of it. Here he is with his mom Erica.

Giving orders as usual. I think he's telling me to stop taking his picture.
While Dylan swings in the hammock with anyone who is willing, Jimmy is taking full advantage of holding sweet little Kyra all he can. Kyra doesn't like being put down and we know why...too many people are willing to cuddle her in their laps all day long. Erica works in a daycare and Kyra is used to being carried around by the staff and when she comes home there's Daddy, grandma, Aunt Val, and a couple grandpa's & grandma's and some great grandparents as well.
This is her way of telling me to stop taking so many pictures of her.


Yesterday I told you that Jimmy took my bike in to have a slow leak repaired and this is what was in my back tire. I'm glad they found the problem and repaired it. I sure would hate to be on the road to visit Motherkitty, Tomas & Kitten Yarn and have to make an unscheduled stop on some lonely highway. As far as I know we're still coming to visit next week for a few days and I'm sure looking forward to seeing everyone again and jumping into that beautiful blue pool with that "hunky pool man."

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Reva's dad was hospitalized on Friday and had surgery last Monday. He had a stone blocking his common bile duct. Once that was removed he seems to be doing fine and getting better. Hopefully he won't be in the hospital much longer. Reva's mom is staying with them at the cabin and they're making their daily journeys to the hospital from there. If all goes well with Reva's dad they still plan on visiting next week. We've all been looking forward to our trip with much anticipation.

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Thank goodness blogger has that new "Draft autosave," for the posts we're working on, because I just lost my post and was certainly relieved when I found it all there and intact. What a relief...WHEW! I don't compose my posts ahead of time...I sort of ad-lib as I go along, so when I used to lose them I had to start over from scratch and then it wasn't fun anymore.
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I went to the sleep disorder doctor yesterday....she & her husband both run the sleep clinic. She stays in the office and I've only seen him when he came in to read my sleep study tests each time I was there and of course he also went over my results with me.
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She told me yesterday that I had already lost 10 pounds since I began using the breathing machine at night and if I would really try, I could lose more. I wasn't aware that I had lost any weight until she told me. I'm too heavy for 10 pounds to even be noticeable. My blood pressure was also way down and she said that it was because my heart was no longer being stressed by me not getting enough air in my lungs at night. So that was really some good news to hear and I'm really pleased with my progress.
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It rained for about 3 minutes yesterday and it's looked like rain all day today with the skies alternating from fluffy white clouds and blue shies to black looking stormy clouds, but no rain. I guess I should be thankful for the little rain we got yesterday and count my blessings,
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Jimmy has been patiently waiting for me to finish my post so we can go eat supper. Now the choices begin...where to eat today?