TGIF

We are going out to dinner for Gong Gong and my birthdays tomorrow night, and Kevin & Rachel are driving up for the weekend! GG & PP are so busy at their new place that we are lucky to get an evening of their time tomorrow! Danny is racing in Oklahoma this weekend; hopefully that "cold front" will kick in. Mr. Fix-it has been busy installing a new ceiling fan to replace the one that broke in the guest room, helping a friend with his son's dirt bike, it's always something! I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderfully handy man. And a handsome one, too.

Weekend at Barbara's

I'm too sleepy to write more than a line or two, but had a WONDERFUL weekend with my dear friend, Barbara, and her husband Gary, in East Texas! It felt like a fun time at a bed & breakfast, with good friends and a few friendly pets, too.

Rain!

We're finally getting a little more rain this morning! Quick updates - Andrew is planning to ride his bike for some fun & exercise this weekend while I visit Barbara in East TX. Danny moves into his Denton apartment on Sunday. The Cowboys play tonight in the new stadium! Murr C & I went to see Julie & Julia on Tuesday night - it's a fun chick flick. Gong Gong & Pop Pop are having fun at Franklin Place. She emailed this morning that they had dinner last night there with Bill Mercer and his wife; he was the sports broadcaster who called lots of baseball games, and they loved talking baseball with him. Okay, off to work!

Happy Birthday Danny!

Danny is 19!!!! When I asked what kind of birthday cake he wanted me to make, he said "can you fix ribs instead?" That's my Danny! He didn't inherit my sweet tooth, but he loves to eat everything else. So, I grilled pork ribs, shrimp and sauteed scallops, with asparagus and corn, and he was happy. Fruit tarts with a candles on top were his "birthday cake". Danielle gave him a gift card to the shooting range, which he loved! He also received the favorite gift of a 19-year-old - cash. Hope you have a great 19th year, Danny - you are a blessing!

Wed 7/29 Handsome Husband & Horses!

Took a break from chores to go photograph horses (and my very handsome husband!) in Grapevine after work. While we were there, Danny texted us that Troy Aikman was eating dinner where he and Danielle were... Andrew said "how come he can afford to eat dinner where Troy Aikman is eating?", and I suggested maybe it was a Wing Stop, that T.A. does commercials for, which made him feel better. After all, we had just "dined" at Steak n' Shake for $7 total!) Gong Gong & Pop Pop are moved into their apartment, their air conditioning is finally working, and they are enjoying their new home! Murr C & Papa C have been socializing again - going to breakfast and visiting friends. Danny will be 19 on Friday.. one more year and we will have to quit saying we have a teenager and start saying we have two grown children... ouch. Guess I'd better go do those chores now...

Thursday

Just a quick post... we spent a nice "birthday" with Papa C this weekend... Gong Gong & Pop Pop moved into their new apartment yesterday, and I've been helping unpack, set up the computer, etc. We're having a wonderful break from temps over 100 degrees! The company that Kevin works for moved into new offices this week. Happy Birthday, Kelley (she is 21 today)!

Friday

Feeling better after having a 24-hour bug of some kind that Danny shared with me! Getting ready to paint the dining room. It will finally be a real dining room! First, it was a wide open play place for Kevin and Danny. When Kevin was a toddler, we would put the baby gates on the doors in the dining room, and when Andrew got home from work, he would lay on the floor relaxing in that room while Kevin played all around him and "told" him, in his toddler words, about his day, while I cooked dinner. Later, it became "the computer room" with a big desk. At some point, we "inherited" the big mahogony bar from Gong Gong and Pop Pop; they had purchased it at an antiques auction, and when they moved to Kerrville, they didn't have the space for it, so we added it to our "dining room/computer room". When Danny moved to his college dorm, we moved the desk and computer into his old room (yes, now the computer can be viewed in complete privacy, without "MOM" walking by to check what is being viewed!). Now that Gong Gong and Pop Pop are downsizing to a retirement community apartment, we have inherited their dining room furniture, so we will finally have a REAL dining room! I'm looking forward to having family holiday dinners there!