Happy 7th Birthday, Matthew!

Matthew had his birthday party today - on his birthday!   How cool is THAT!


Friends and family gathered inside and out on the deck to wish Matthew a happy birthday!   It was definitely a house full of love! 

Matthew had a great time opening his presents, careful to send a heartfelt "Thank you!" to each person.  Matthew had a great time at his party - and so did the rest of us!  Parties at Amy and Greg's are always fun!

 

 Matthew told all of us that the only thing he REALLY wanted was a wallet.  I was hoping to find a place where I could buy a dozen wallets (probably plastic) for $15 or so.  If I found them, I would have wrapped them all up separately and signed each one from a different relative.  But then that's my sense of humor. 

I wonder what THIS present is......................

Could it be????

It IS!!!!!

THE WALLET!

(from Aunt Lori)

With money to put in it!

...and let's not forget the card!

Baseball is life!

Happy birthday, dear Matthew!

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The Help

As good as the book.  Really!

The casting?  Unbelievable.  I knew who every character was as soon as they were on the screen.  (Did I mention that I read the book?)

This book/movie was set in 1961.  I was 13 years old then.  There was certainly racial tension in the East in 1961, but thankfully, nothing like what was found in Mississippi.  I watched this movie with a heavy heart that any of God's children would have to feel what the ladies in this movie (and many like them) felt at the time.

Although the story was full of grit, character, and courage, there was a heavy undercurrent of sadness.  I felt it even more in the movie than in the book:  to actually see faces show the pain of racism - to see bodies portray the weariness of their daily existence - to see the hateful smirks and self-righteous attitudes of women who had (and were very aware of) the power to make life miserable for another human being.   I was silent - speechless - thoughtful - and grateful for the strength of the human spirit.

In the end, the story, for me, was about courage, about "right", and about human connections - regardless of race.  And most of all, about hope. 

Well done!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Don't drive like a punk!

That's what Richard said to me when he got in the car last night!  Me?  Drive like a punk? Oh please!

And where were we driving???????

TO THE PHILLIES GAME!!!!!

Richard offered to take me to the Phillies game as an early birthday present.  It took me about a tenth of a millisecond to answer...

HELL, YES!!!!!!!

Thank you!  

I had never been to Citizens Bank Park and I hadn't been to a Phillies game in more years than I can count - probably at least 20 years. 

SO!  We went - Richard, Michael, Alex (Greg's son) and me!   And what an amazing time we had!!!!!!  I'm still smiling!

As you can see, we had GREAT seats right on first base - high enough to see everything but not so high that we felt that we weren't part of it.  (The picture was taken with Michael's phone so it gives you an idea but seems farther away than we were.)   We had a great view of the field, the main fantabulous scoreboard and all of the little scoreboards that were full of information!!!

AND... as if that wasn't enough... we each got a Placido Polanco bobble head doll (do we call them dolls???)!  My first bobble head!  I mean... really... Life is SOOOO good!  

I think it was all those years sitting on all those benches in all those bleachers - watching the 17,896 baseball games that my kids played in 954 different leagues (Okay, my numbers might be slightly off, but they're close!) - from T-Ball to Babe Ruth to college - that gave me this great love for the game of baseball.

When the kids were little, I'd let them play hooky from school (is there a statute of limitation on hooky???) and we'd go to the Phillies opening day game. What fun!  We'd take a big thermos of lemonade and some treats - sit high up in peanut heaven (with free tickets that we collected from the Phillies Franks packages) and root, root, root for the home team!

Our home team didn't fare so well last night, but Shane Victorino hit a home run in the 5th to ring the bell in centerfield and make my night complete!

I would have been really disappointed if we hadn't gotten to see the bell ring.  Like everything else last night, it was amazing!!!!

It was a fantastic night - one that I will always remember.  The seats were perfect, the weather was the best of the summer, the game was terrific (even though we lost - minor detail) and the company was even better!   Who could ask for anything more?

"Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.
A-roundin’ third, and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way I feel."

Centerfield by John Fogerty 

P.S.  I did NOT drive like a punk!  :-)

Do you have any good baseball memories???

* * * * * * * * * * *

Got car??

I do!!

Finally!  After 171,000+ miles and almost 9 years, I think it was time.

My old red friend has gone to live in Maryland.  Selling the ol' red Honda was more stressful than I can even explain.  BUT it yielded me $2,000 more than trading it in so I guess in retrospect, it was worth it.  Not fun, though!  I couldn't have done it without the help and support of my kids.
(sounds like I'm accepting an award).

So!  Where have I gone, you ask?  Well... to work and um... hmmmm.  That's about it.  I'll have to manage some kind of  "trip" this week. 

Richard and Scott both gave me lessons on what the heck was on my dashboard and how to use it all.  Personally, I think when you have to read 20 pages to find out how to listen to the radio, technology has developed a life of its own and is laughing at us... well... at least at me. 

Car stories anyone?

* * * * * * * * * * *

Did my car just put me in "Time Out"????

Between cars (did I mention that I sold my car?), I'm driving a Ford Focus that I rented from Enterprise. 

I thought the car was fine and that we were friends until I got to the bottom of my street and the radio shut off.  Then a message appeared on the dashboard that said "When you buckle your seatbelt, the radio will unmute."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????

All right!  I know I should wear my seatbelt and now that I'm getting a new car that will not tolerate my independence, I will develop the habit of putting on my seat belt.  (I promise!)

BUT... to shut off the radio???  C'mon!  Beep at me!  Blink at me!  But DON'T shut off my radio!!!!

:::: deep breath ::::

Down the road I go with my seatbelt buckled - off to work, enjoying the radio.  Life is good.

When I left work in the afternoon, I got into the car, buckled my seatbelt (I learn quickly) and headed home.  About 5 minutes from home I received a call from a car dealer on my cellphone.  I picked up the cell phone... held it to my ear... and the radio stopped.

NOW the dashboard tells me... "Connect your Blue Tooth device and the radio will unmute".  Really???

Not... "Please connect your Blue Tooth device".  Not... "I love you.  Please connect your Blue Tooth device."

CONNECT YOUR BLUE TOOTH DEVICE!

 Pissed me off!  I mean it really did!!! I won't even tell you what words flashed through my mind, but I assure you that they were not nice OR kind (sorry, Gram). 

When I told Amy, she laughed and said that my car put my in "Time Out"!  That's exactly what it felt like!

Okay... so I have slight "authority" issues.  This car REALLY pushes my buttons!!!

The radio will unmute???

Really?

*sigh* 

I can hardly wait to take this control freak of a car back to Enterprise!!!!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Gone but not forgotten!

I SOLD MY CAR!!!!!

I am SO relieved!  I had so many inquiries about the car that I talked and texted my cell phone completely dead - out of juice - every day last week - by 2:00 in the afternoon! 

The mileage was a major issue for a lot of people.  The little dent in the side didn't help either but hey... it was little and it added character!  NOT to mention that it provided a slight intimidation factor - letting people know that if they want to do battle... I've already got a dent... so bring it on!!  (not that I would ever drive with that kind of attitude)

There were 2 men who were supposed to arrive at around 8:00 PM to buy the car.  Richard offered to come so that I would not be alone with strangers in the car or the house - and especially with the cash involved.  I gratefully accepted his offer!

BUT...

I went out for a little bit and when I got home at almost 6:30, the men were already standing in my driveway! 

As usual this week, my cell phone was dead.  So there I was with 2 strange men - no cell phone - alone.  All I could think about was how stupid it would be to get into a car alone with 2 strangers and ride away from the house. 

It is my nature to believe that everyone is nice - everyone is kind.  But.. my nature has been known to be wrong.  Common sense and my nature are not always friends, but I was trying!

As it turned out, the men were really nice and had no interest in going for a ride.   They looked all around the outside and inside of the car and then asked me to rev the engine (they had opened the hood). 

After they listened to the engine (and attempted to haggle some), one man handed me the cash for the car and asked me to count it.  He walked away to go talk to the other man and I TRIED to count the money.  My hands were shaking so badly I could hardly count!  I don't think I ever saw more than two or three hundred dollars in cash at one time.  I was surprised at how shaky I was, but oh wow... was I!

One of the men followed me into the house to do the whole title thing and then they were gone.  I would say they were there 15-20 minutes, tops!

They had no sooner pulled out than Richard pulled in - approximately 6:45.  He thought he was getting here an hour early.  Surprise!!

ANYWAY... Richard recounted the money for me and suggested that we take it to the bank, which we did.  He got a chuckle out of my obvious discomfort with the whole situation.  I was pretty rattled, but by the time we got back from the bank, I was able to laugh a little too.  But, just a llittle.

Whew!

NOW to get the new car!  It should be ready Tuesday or Wednesday they said.  (and then there goes all that nice money I just got)

The salesman at the dealership asked me what color I wanted.  I told Allen (Allen Slifkin, the salesman who helped me)  that my first choice was light blue.  My second choice was light green.  Alan said that he didn't have any CRV's but he'd see what he could do.

When Allen called the next day,  he said that they had a demo (the Manager's car) that I could have for a good price (if a new car could possibly have a good price).  I asked what color.  Allen said it was silver.

"JUST what I wanted", I responded quickly!   (Hey!  I just finished riding around for 3 years with a dent in the right side of my car.  Do I really care that much about appearance???)

Hi ho, Silver!  (You ARE familiar with the Lone Ranger, I assume, and his horse, Silver???)

So, silver it will be! 

Life is good!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Bring out the fiddles and banjos

My new car has a button that gives me a list of all the XM channels.  I discovered the Bluegrass channel.  Now no one will ride with me.

Ok... well I don't know that for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm going to join the Philadelphia Folk Song Society... wear nothing but flowered muumuu's... put a flower behind my ear and go barefoot. 

Hmmmm I did that in the 60's.  

Life is a circle!

What style from your past would you like to bring back?