Since You Last Read

It has been a busy few weeks here. Two weekends ago, my siblings and I threw my parents a surprise 60th birthday party. I was skeptical that we would manage to keep all five of us from blowing the cover. We went up on Saturday morning because J wanted to get his haircut. I dropped L and T off at my sister's house, and J and I went to my cousin's salon. Originally, I wanted her to do J's hair, but she had two parties to go to that day, and she was running late. I told her one of her employees could do it. The girl who did J's hair didn't cut it to his liking. In fairness to her, she did do what he asked, and he could have asked her to cut shorter the parts he wanted shorter. He just felt she was incompetent, and decided he wanted his hair left alone. I explained to him that if he wanted it shorter and cut differently all he had to do was ask her to do it. She cut it how he explained he wanted it done.

It was then off to decorate the hall for the party. My parents thought they were coming to a dinner thrown by my sister's boss. They made us sweat though because they both were out of town doing things that day, and we were afraid they weren't going to get back in time. They actually got back to their house early, so it worked out. My sister got them there, and they were surprised. Everyone had a nice time.

The following Sunday L's family and a few neighbors came over to our house for a party. It was a busy morning filled with last minute cleaning, and cooking. Luckily, I was smart and decided to just make venison chili, cocktail wieners in grape jelly, hamburgers, and hot dogs. Even better the weather cooperated and we could have everyone outside instead of trying to fit 30 plus people inside. The leaves weren't quite at peak, but there was still plenty of fall colors around to add to being outside. T enjoyed playing with his cousins. L's parents spent the night, and he enjoyed playing with Ammy.

L was off for Columbus Day the following day. He and his father finished off the boat refurbishment. L took his parents out on the lake before they headed home. Glad to report the boat's motor didn't break, and the boat didn't sink.

Last Saturday, I took J shopping at the outlets. It was also a nice day, but a little windy. It was a little cold walking in and out of the stores. J only bought a sweatshirt and a t-shirt. We walked into every store though. He was just being conservative with his money. He wanted to make sure he had some left for the rest of the month. I bought T some nice things at the Gap outlet. They were having a huge sale and you just couldn't beat the price. I also bought some things for myself at Eddie Bauer which also had some nice deals. That night, J went and stayed at a friend's house. He had a good time hanging out with his friends. They were hoping to go kneeboarding, but they had senior day on Monday for the soccer team. They had to do their work for Monday and Tuesday for school. Plus, the coach called a last minute practice for them.

In between the weekends their were the usual soccer games. J goes even though he can't play. We are hoping that they win enough play off games to get them to next Thursday. If they do, J can play with the team for the rest of the playoffs. I really hope that he can play a game or even more. J also went to the homecoming game. Our football isn't really good, and they played the defending state champs. We were just proud that they kept the score reasonable. We also have been watching the MLB playoffs. For those who aren't my friends on FB, I am a diehard Phillies fan. I have been now for 30 years as of yesterday. No, I haven't kept track of the date for 30 years. It was just mentioned during the game yesterday that 30 years ago the Phils won the world series. I watched that game and became a Phillies fan on the spot.

Tomorrow is the next soccer playoff game. We all may be going to that. On Sunday, we once again may try to get J a winter jacket. It is starting to get cold here at night. We even had some flurries last night. I will let you all know if he finally picks out a jacket. Until then, I hope you all have fun.