I spent some time with a friend at her house yesterday afternoon. After a while we began playing Upwords. I've seen this game advertised, and always wanted to play it, but until yesterday I never had the opportunity. So it was fun. A little challenging though based on the letters I kept drawing, as you can see in this first image.
It was a nice afternoon.
Yesterday I had the chance to have lunch with a friend I haven't seen in years. She's the daughter of my neighbor, and she and Jessica were good friends as they were growing up, although she's a few years older than Jessica. (she also babysat for Leah and Caleb occasionally)
We went to The Rail Yard in Gloversville. I've never been there, but I always hear good things about it. All the good things were true. It's really nice, and we opted to eat outside in the courtyard. It was wonderful.
This is Sarah. It was a good afternoon.
The assignment for today is "rocking chair".
When I was first married, we moved in with my mother-in-law in her apartment in the Bronx. There was not a rocking chair to be seen in the apartment.
10 months later, my son was born. When I arrived home from the hospital I was surprised to see this chair waiting for me in the living room. My husband had purchased it for me as a gift. I don't remember if I ever even mentioned wanting one--I think not--so the chair was an extra special gift because he thought of it and purchased it of his own accord.
I've rocked 5 of my own babies in that chair, along with Alex (see post from May 25--Memorial Day Parade), and his brother for a short while. Not to mention grandbabies once in a while. So the chair has served me well over the years.
About 5 years ago, Caleb decided he was going to remodel the staircase/coat closet. He took down all the hooks, so we didn't have anywhere to hang our winter coats--the rocking chair became the "coat hanger", so all winter and most of the summer too the chair is completely covered in coats, hats, extra blankets, etc. He still hasn't finished the staircase/coat closet, so the chair will have to do.
Anyway, this chair holds special memories for me, along with holding our winter gear.
I took a ride to Johnson Hall this afternoon. I wasn't too inspired in spite of being glad to be outdoors on such a beautiful day. One of my friends works there and we had a chance to chat for a few minutes before she left for home.
I took this photo yesterday (Wed), but then got sidetracked and remembered a little too late that I hadn't posted it yet. So here it is.
Remember that flower garden I mentioned previously. Well, after Caleb got busy on it, this is what it looks like now, in anticipation of becoming a vegetable garden.
We have a young man staying with us. He's been here for a while. It's been a real pleasure having him here. He's loaded with energy and it's really uplifting to be around him.
We happened to have an empty bedroom that he's staying in. Well, actually it had furniture in it and a collection of all sorts of things--you know, kind of like the "catch-all" room. A lot of people have a room like that, or at least a closet like that. By "empty", I mean empty of people.
Anyway, when he moved in, he decided that he'd help out and clean the room out. (just my kind of guy--you know what a cleaning binge I've been on lately). So more "stuff" went the way of garbage pickup or Goodwill.
Then one day, when I was in the kitchen and he was trying to cook his dinner, he asked if I'd like some help cleaning out the cupboards. More "stuff" became history. Hey, I'm liking this guy more and more lately...
So, here's the icing on the cake. Tonight I was getting dinner ready before leaving for Bible Study, and he said how much he'd like to plant a vegetable garden. ("Where did this guy come from?", I wondered)
Remember that flower garden that I planted years ago (when I cared) and haven't taken care of for the past bunch of years? I suggested that he use that area, since I'm sure the soil is pretty rich and probably just needs to be tilled.
He liked that idea and the next thing I knew he was out there cleaning out the old timbers I used as an enclosure. O. M. Gosh, I might just have to adopt this guy.
Let me mention that he's got a job and pays his way--often even buying food to make dinner for the rest of us. hmmmm
He gets along really well with Caleb. They seem to have a lot in common. That's a relief for sure.
There's one thing that's kind of uncanny though. He's got the same name as Caleb.
Wait!!
It is Caleb!
Good grief--when did he grow up?
Caleb decided he wanted to make dinner for tonight. He made pulled-pork. Then we decided to invite Jessica and her family over to join us for dinner.
Dinner was yummy.
Since dinner was impromptu, there wasn't any dessert. Someone mentioned going to Karen's for ice-cream, but as I looked out the window at the practically howling wind, and knowing it was only about 50 degrees, eating ice cream outdoors in the wind didn't especially appeal to me, or the others when they thought about it.
So! Not having been to Wemple & Edicks at all last summer, I suggested going there since I knew we could sit inside. Agreement was unanimous.
Off we went.
Another funky sign.
When Jessica was 5, she joined the Tri-County Twirlettes. (a dance school that taught tap and baton, and performed in parades 3-4 times/summer, plus an annual recital) After a few years, the director added jazz to the dance schedule.
Although Jessica is a few years older than 5 in this photo, it shows her performing at the Fonda Fair--which is also something the group did every summer. (the original photo isn't out-of-focus--this one is because I had to hand hold it at a slow shutter speed).
When Lauren (Jessica's daughter) was 4, she began taking dance lessons. Tonight was her first recital. Although the recital lasted 4 (four, FOUR, F.O.U.R hours), it was still a hoot to see her perform. She did such a great job. She's a natural!
It was another opportunity to think about the past and all the years I sat at Jessica's recitals (and Leah's because she also belonged to Tri-County Twirlettes until the owner moved away for health reasons)
Again the words of that song came to my mind, "You're gonna miss this", because I do. (It could have something to do with the fact that Jessica's recitals were NOT 4 hours long, but who knows).
Leah wanted to go shopping today. We went to Crossgates. This was my view (of the dressing rooms) for the majority of the time we were at the mall.
She was very successful in her quest for some new summer clothes. I did not shop, I was basically along for the ride.
It was a nice day.
The assignment today is Happy Faces. My plans for this afternoon were to attend a bbq at my sister-in-law's house, so I knew (hoped) I'd be able to get some smiles at some point. It's nice when your Plan A works for a change.
When cousin Andrew and Leah and Caleb were younger, we were at Sharon's house and they did the spoon-on-the-nose thing. Naturally I got a photo of it. So today I asked them to humor me and do it again. Amazingly, they cooperated. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to find that older photo and post it with this one. But if not, here ya go with this one.
For some reason things are always crazy hectic around here by the end of April, beginning of May. This year was no exception. Leah's birthday is May 4, Caleb's is May 2. She wasn't even back from Kenya yet, Caleb was still at school and I was feeling pretty frazzled--but if you asked me now what I was frazzled about, I couldn't really say.
All of that to say that we didn't get a chance to "do cake" for their birthdays. So we did it tonight.
