A Three Day Weekend

You might be under the assumption that every day is a weekend for someone who does not hold a job outside the home, and that is true to an extent. While it may be mostly true for me, for Bruce it is anything but. Most weekends he carries on with his paying gig, taking time here and there for other activities, including my market set up, and take down. My suggestion to skip the market was met with enthusiasm by both parties involved.

After struggling with technical difficulties, as in new phones etc., the weekend got off to a good start, with yard work done by noon Saturday. Our Netflix problems came later, but for the time being we were happy. A Memorial Day pool party was in the works, and lo and behold, Bruce came with me for the shopping, which is either a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. He tempers my frugal nature. :)

While heading to our car, outside Publix, we saw a girl with a heck of a lot of balloons, which I could not for the life of me figure out how she was going to fit them in a car.

By golly, she managed to get them all in the back of that black Jeep! After unloading the car at home, we took off again for Fresh Market for the hamburger meat. While there we bought a delicious whole chicken, some salad, and that was dinner. Highly recommended.

It was to be dinner and a movie, however, Netflix refused to cooperate. Long story short, rebooting finally did the trick. By then Bruce had fallen asleep...

Sunday, after a full breakfast at home, we went on a bike ride in the surrounding neighborhoods, including a stop at the owl house. Seriously, what would this blog be without an owl picture? I was so delighted Bruce got to see one of the babies, who, in true owl fashion, just stared down at us.

Our ride included a stop at the lake lot which is looking very fine due to another neighbor's efforts. We thank him.

I began preparing the party salads---macaroni, and potato. It was a darn good thing I was not making deviled eggs because, for the first time in a long time, those eggs were a devil to peel. Wonder if that is where they got their name? Generally, the bring them to a boil for two minutes method, followed by covering the pan for ten more, followed by immersing them in ice water does the trick, but not this time. Yikes that is frustrating. I'm sure it was because my eggs were just too fresh.

After quilting, and watching golf, we went to Hill's Happy Hour which was fun as usual. We brought along the corn hole game for another activity besides drinking which we are all very good at. Some folks were good, me--terrible! One, of the only two bags I got on the board, knocked in our opponents bag, sealing the win for them. Note to potential players--Gail is not good to have on your team.

Then it was both Memorial Day, and party day. After getting a start on our party preparations, we made time to attend the service at Greenwood Cemetery.

It was a good one, much more moving than last year. In fact, several times I was brought to tears. The man in the foreground, saluting the flag, was crying himself when he tried to recount the loss of one of their long time members.

It was so sweet when the lady chaplain took over for him. It is mighty easy to take the military for granted when you have no skin in the game, isn't it? That said, Bruce's Uncle Rolla died in WWII, buried at sea in the Pacific. I don't know how his Grandma ever got over the loss of her only son. I cannot imagine.

Once home, I prepared a fruit plate, which turned out kind of pretty; bonus points for the tasty pineapple.

A pretty serious rainstorm began at 11, causing me a little panic, as you can imagine when you are having a pool party, however, by party time at 1, things were looking good, and improved steadily throughout the day.

We had the usual, hamburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, shrimp cocktail, the aforementioned salads, and corn on the cob. Good thing David likes to grill because I sure don't! Cheryl, David, and Catherine all came, and just like the old days, the adults were at one table, while the kids (!!) were in the kitchen. I was only sorry that Fallon's parents, John and Glenda, whom we met for the first time Monday, were not able to stay for the food.

I bought myself a little treat...

and used my Mom's tablecloth, thanks to Lisa, who hand-delivered it the other day. After our food settled, some went swimming, and some got very serious about corn hole. Bill and Eddie annihilated everyone they played.

Catherine was a good sport, playing all afternoon with mixed results.

As I mentioned, the weather turned out to be beautiful, with a lovely shade spot on the side yard to play. The pretty girls watched.

Because she was not able to come to our little party for Bruce on his birthday, Michelle brought him a delicious ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. The candles, provided by her, were sparklers that refused to blow out.

All in all, it was a perfect day.

By eight, the dishes were done, the tent taken down, and the food all put away. Me--I crawled in bed with my Nancy Drew--The Mystery of the Moss Covered Mansion, which is still a good read. With only about twenty pages to go, I still can't figure out the mystery! It must be noted, however, there are  some scenes which are not politically correct, that's for sure.

As I type, Bruce is back at it, on a conference call using the speaker phone. I amuse myself by trying to figure out who is talking...

Gail