Swinging Good Time

We went over to Sara and Quincey's this morning and sat on the deck visiting. Charlie and Max got bored and decided that they needed more attention from Daddy and Papa so they talked them into pushing them on the swings. It was nice seeing the two men playing with the kids, even if they carried on their discussion while they did so. Meanwhile, Eloise just lounged around on the deck chair and smiled her cute little baby smile. It was a beautiful morning - I love sitting on the deck in that back yard.

A Good Day

It was another kite flying day. This time Amy and Sara took their six kids and I went along to take care of the babies, Aidan and Eloise, while their moms and bigger siblings flew kites and walked the trail at Big Bear Park. Here's some pictures of my little charges. Aidan is 10 months old, Elly is 6 months.

Windy Day Fun

What do you do on a windy day? Go fly a kite of course. I've never actually flown one myself but when Sara took Kenzie and Charlie out to the park with their kite, I went along to watch, but actually ended up taking a turn (my very first) at kite flying. It's a lot of fun. One thing I learned...it's very, very hard to get a picture of a kite flying! Maybe Sara got some better ones.

Perks of Age

OK - so this isn't much of a picture. What it is though is a celebration of the perks of aging. The way I see it, we all have to age (it's better than the alternative!) and some businesses are savvy enough to celebrate with us the fact that we've made it this far and are cheering us on our way.

Today Mickey and I enjoyed one of our 'girls days out' and went to various stores in search of the perfect border scallop tool by Fiscars. Along the way, we stopped at the Royal Fork buffet for lunch. Noticing their seniors reward program, I asked them how old one had to be to take advantage of it. Lucky for me, they regard us young 60 year olds as seniors so Mickey and I paid less for our meal and got the Senior Value Card as well - my very first senior value card! You can bet I'm going to collect as many different seniors perks cards as I can. If I have to be this old, why not take advantage of it and enjoy it all the way. It's not as if I feel old - I don't feel a day over 50.

And yes, we did find the much coveted border scallop tool. We got the last two in stock at Michael's.

Fun With Anson and Brooklyn

Lloyd and I had a chance to hang out with Brooklyn and Anson this weekend. That's always fun. Brooklyn is developing her t-ball skills and we had fun tossing the ball to her to hit. Then she tossed it to me and I swung the bad and hit the ball a bit too hard, walloping the poor little girl in the middle of the forehead, effectively ending the game. She recovered without a bruise so all is well.

Celebrating 60

We had a birthday party at Rob and Cindy's place tonight to celebrate my birthday. The whole family wasn't there - even Lloyd had to be travelling back to High Level today - but it turns out that that's all right. My main birthday gift was the announcement that they've organized a family reunion for my birthday to be held on June 7th. Sara has spoken to the out of town kids and they've all agreed to come. We'll have a picnic party at one of the city parks (already reserved), and one of Sara's staff will come for half an hour or so to take pictures. Hopefully we'll be able to get a fairly decent picture of the whole group of us (Lloyd and I, seven kids, seven spouses, and 16.5 grandchildren). It won't be an easy feat, but we'll make sure lots of pictures are taken. Sara and Emily are whizzes at Photoshop so we'll be sure to get at least one good picture of the crowd.

Cindy and Rob had their dining room decorated with streamers saying 60...60...etc., and presented me with a necklace with purple beads, disks saying 60, and a medallion in the center saying "Clearly a Classic". The cake had sixty candles on it, which took two of the men to light. The heat from the candles was so hot that the icing roses began to melt. It took several grandchildren to help me blow them all out.

It was a fun evening. Thanks kids.

Freedom 55, I mean...60

Today is the day I retired...I am no longer a secretary. It's a strange feeling. There was a large coffee party for me at work, lots of food and people, cards and gifts...and tears. Both my boss, Sandi (that's her with me in the top pcture), and I broke down. Sandi and I have a really good relationship...besides being so close in age. Her birthday is today...mine's tomorrow. She's less than a day older than me. I'm going to miss her...and the rest of the bunch at the hospital. It was a lovely place to work.

Our house is finally back in order now too...sort of. The carpets were reinstalled yesterday and cleaned today, so we're in the process of putting furniture back in order. Things are looking up. It's nice to be able to blog once again. I've got a lot of catching up to do.