Memorable Birthdays

 A few birthdays that are most memorable to me.

When I was ten, my Grandpa gave me a watch.  He gave a watch to all his grandkids on their tenth birthday and since that was my "golden" birthday, it meant a lot to me.

All of my birthdays growing up were always overshadowed by our annual church conventions.  They could be anywhere in the United States, wherever a church was hosting it.  So lots of the time, my family worked that in as one of our vacations.  When I was older and couldn't get out of work, the rest of the family would call me and sing Happy Birthday from a gas station phone wherever they were.

The birthday that I remember the most though, we were at the Midland, Michigan church.  I was so excited to make a friend that year, Maria.  She was my age and lived there.  We became penpals afterwards.  But the night of my birthday, everyone from the convention sat around a huge campfire singing songs and the whole crowd sang Happy Birthday to me!  It was very special.  

Maria asked me to stay overnight at her house so I KNOW I asked Mom and Dad for permission and thought they'd said ok, so after the bon fire, I left the church grounds with Maria and her family.  Her house was gorgeous!  We'd just got settled into sleeping bags in her room when her mom came in and said that my parents were on the phone. hmmm... 

Apparently they thought I'd wandered into the woods behind the church and police had been called.  Everyone there were combing the woods for me before someone thought to call Maria's family.  So some excitement!!

The other very memorable birthday was last year.  Robb's bagpipe band had wanted to play at his grave in his honor and bagpipes really don't sound very good in 15 degree weather, the pipe major asked me to give them a date during warm weather for them to come play.  So I planned a birthday party for myself with a band!  I invited friends and family to join us at the cemetery and so many people came to hear the band play.  It was a gorgeous day.  They also played Happy Birthday for me and then they toasted Robb with Scotch whiskey, leaving a dixie cup of it on his stone.  He wouldn't have drank it, but I poured it on his grave later on during a walk.

After the concert, lots of speeches and tears, everyone was invited back to the house for cake and lemonade.  It was a great time and so wonderful to share memories with my friends and family.  The band members wanted to see the picture board from the funeral and people milled all over the house.

I'm sure more memorable birthdays are to come but for now, those are the most memorable in different ways.

Stripes tell no lies

Leon's haircut was NOT popular with his dad and Jen, so he's getting a redo tonight from a hairdresser friend of Ryan's.  

Granted... this pic was a few minutes ago with bed head and his (my) favorite blanket, watching "my Youtube."  Kind of like me saying I'm going to watch my news channel. LOL!  He cracks me up.

As far as he knows I deleted this picture.  NOPE!

Back in high school, I had super long hair.  It hung all the way to my butt.  Straight as a board.  Most of my sisters and myself are doomed that way.  A couple of them developed a natural wave to their hair that they hate, but don't we all hate our hair at some point?  I guess we should be content with what we have...

I'm the sister on the far left with one of my shorter styles.  Although I think it's in a pony tail and COULD possibly hit my bottom if I let it hang.

The sister in the middle once drew a picture of me with staticky hair wrapped all around me.

Once.

ANYWAY!  I got my hair cut and was wearing a striped sweater.  I got home from the cut thinking I looked super cute and looked into the mirror.. One side of my hair hung down to one stripe, while the other down to the next 2 inch stripe...  My head was NOT tilted!  

I went back to the salon immediately and they fixed it.  My current hairdresser did that once too.  

ONCE.

So now I'm in the habit of wearing striped shirts when I get my hair trimmed...

BUT poor Leon.  No amount of stripes will help him as a guide.

Weirdly Reminiscent

Leon has been riding the bus home.  It's just too cute when he gets off the bus, looks both ways and darts across the street like a dinosaur is chasing him.  Then cuts across two yards to run into the house exuberantly exclaiming "I made a new friend today!"

He doesn't remember their name.  And when asked if it's a boy or a girl, he got distracted and said that he has TONS of girlfriends.  In FACT, one gave him a quarter on the bus.  He said that the bus driver had NO idea someone gave him a quarter right under her nose!

hmmm...  

Apparently it was a kid with My Little Ponies.  and they didn't let him play with them so he got a quarter.  ?

Kids are weird.

Speaking of weirdness...    Eh - I've got nothing weirder than that today.  But try me tomorrow!

My imaginary bloggy friend, Jane, is almost back from a hiking vacation in Ireland!   I'm sure she'll post her travel journal on her blog. But I've lived vicariously through her photos on FB and am envious of her trip.  

Someday... Someday...  I'd love to go back.

Here is Meri kissing the Blarney Stone.

And the kids on a boat ride around the Skellig islands.  

The Skellig Michael was where the end of the last Star Wars movie ended. 

 So someday, I want to climb to the top and check out the beehive huts.
Robb says my next husband should be ok with that.

He's sometimes weird like that.

String on my finger

I needed to pick up Meri and then Leon after work yesterday.  As soon as Meri got in the car, she asked, "So what time is our parent/teacher's conference tonight?"

*crickets*

OH...  That one note I stuck on the fridge!!!  The 27th really snuck up on me!  The date typically does do that to me.

We got home as quick as we could and could NOT find that note.  I KNOW I'd stuck it on the fridge, but it may have gotten lost when everything got swiped off the thing by a certain short person that lives in our house.  

No worries Maddy!  You've got an alibi! ;)

So when Robb got home, we got everyone packed back up in the car and we headed over to the high school.  The whole way there, Meri thought maybe it was a 15 minutes after thing, like 5:15 or 6:15.  I was thinking a :30, as in 5:30 or 6:30...  Robb hadn't even realized there was a conference scheduled.

As it turns out we were all wrong and our conference was at 5:45.  We were 30 minutes late...  

Figures.

BUT the lady we met with didn't have anyone and was just eating a sandwich between parents so we got to meet with her immediately.  She's been on maternity leave until 3 days ago and hasn't had a chance to get to know Meri yet, so it took all of 2 minutes for her to say, "Are straight A's normal for her?" and "She's doing great!"  

We scrambled to get there for that!?  We already knew it I guess...  

But it's always good to hear it from someone else.

In the meanwhile, Meri was exploring the band rooms with Leon.  We tracked them down and found Leon had gotten permission from the band folks to bang on the drums.  

He's pretty good!  I think they're scouting for some fresh talent...  He's got to add some height before he wears those babies though.

The cymbals did scare him.  

As soon as they crashed together, he put them on the floor and said, "Put this down!"

 

We left Meri there for play practice.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep.  My mind wandered everywhere...  Where my kids might go geographically someday, how often or infrequent we'll get to see them, monetary things, headache things, whether I need to see a chiropractor, etc...  I actually need to see one today. 

I get to see Maddy on Saturday!!!  Yay!   

I better post these things on the fridge so I won't forget.

The Girl Who Said Yes

That title sounds like a Dr. Who episode, but that one was titled The Girl Who Waited.  That was a weird episode!

This story is about a little girl who was sick.  According to her, she had a headache in her shoulder.

Her mother took her to the doctor and he checked her over.

"Does it hurt when I tap on your shoulder?"   "Yeeessss...", she mournfully replied.

"Does it hurt to move your knee?"  "Yeeessss....", she mournfully replied.

"Does it hurt when I wiggle your big toe?"  "Yeeeessss...", she mournfully replied.

"Did you fall down on the grass?"  "Yeesss...", she mournfully replied.


The doctor scratches his head and grins.

"Did your brother hit you on the shoulder with a sledgehammer?"  "Yeeeessss...", she mournfully replied, shaking her head slowly.

The doctor leans back a little and said softly to her mother.

"This little girl better learn how to say "No" before she gets to her teen years..."

True Story!!  And I HAVE learned to say No, but am I selective about when I use it???  Yeeessssss....