I have the same feeling as this balloon I found behind my lace leaf maple. After weeks of thinking about, then preparing for a party (Anders’ 3rd birthday get together), it’s over and I have a sense of flatness. Not depression, just a kind of, “Well, what now?” attitude. I’ve been busier than normal: shopping, mowing, vacuuming, preparing/making food, organizing my deck and house for company which included such mundane tasks as ensuring that there’s enough toilet paper in all three bathrooms, putting out the stool for the littles to wash their hands, tying the seat pads on my deck chairs (they live inside to keep them clean) and washing down my ancient Styrofoam cooler for the overflow drinks.
As is somewhat typical with Younger Daughter, she bought these balloons without looking at the size then we had no place to hang them. This works although Mari is puzzled by the situation. She was NOT a fan of the company and was confined to her room, aka Cat Jail.
One of Anders’ gifts from Auntie was very popular. He loves bubbles and could manage this contraption very well, in spite of not being six like the directions recommend.
All the grandsons, besides baby Ian, got very soapy!
Opening gifts is so much fun!
What is this spinning thingie? All three boys tried it out in the kitchen. It made me dizzy to watch.
Sharky loves babies and Ian was happy for the cuddles and was quite talkative.
Grandma got lots of snuggles too.
And when Ian was overwhelmed by people after his nap, a rousing rendition of Old McDonald distracted him. Excuse my face, but I was in the midst of mooing like a cow. I have no photos of the food or cupcakes, but the guests seemed impressed with the salads, sandwich fixings and dessert. I thought I’d gotten way too much turkey (not true) and not enough roast (also not true). The sourdough bread that I’d recently bought was a disappointment–so dry. I put too much horseradish on my own sandwich and nearly choked myself! LOL Some of my favorite memories of the party will be the three oldest boys playing together, of Sharky and Anders sitting side by side putting together Duplos vehicles, the guests sitting around on the deck watching the boys run around/play frisbee with grandma while they chatted and ate, but mostly the joy of being together as a family. Now it’s on to the week, including…
Clearing off my deck so it can be pressure washed, then later stained. My construction guy will need to deal with the table; I can’t move it. My back is finally feeling better, so I’m not taking any chances!
Looking forward to two coffee dates with friends. One just returned from a long road trip, so I’m excited to hear about her adventures. The other will be taking care of Mari while I’m gone on a couple camping/glamping trips: the first with John and his family to the ocean and a few days after I get back, the San Juan weekend. We also like to share our deepest and darkest secrets with each other–the mark of a true friendship. Note: I don’t really have lots of secrets, but I don’t blog about everything, ‘ya know?
Finishing the LONG Book Club book that’s been hanging over my head. It’ll be a relief to move on to lighter (literally) things.
Hopefully, seeing John–who has been spending lots of time with his visiting Texas family; that will probably continue since the granddaughters will be here all month. His older daughter left today, so he might be even MORE tied up.
As always, I shall remain flexible and open to whatever happens. I don’t have much of a choice!
Leave a Reply