to be one of the girls....

 

Evelyn, Emily, Abigail, Mariel, and me!  We celebrated Emily's birthday with a beer tasting at a small local brewery.  What actually happened was I heard them talking about it, and invited myself.  Shh, I felt better when they said they were going to ask me anyways.  

I had a coconut stout that was out of this world, but my favorite was a peanut butter s'mores, a dark beer with only a hint of those flavors, mmmm.  I cannot tolerate much alcohol, good thing you can get really small glasses!

At home, there was pulled pork simmering in the crockpot, with lime juice, salt and pepper, and brown sugar...it smelled amazing when we got home.  I mixed some with a bourbon bbq sauce, a little bit of hot sauce, and put it on a tray of tortilla chips, added shredded Mexican cheese, and jalapeños on half...into the oven...opened some black olives, sour cream, salsas, ect., and dinner while we watched some football.

This was actually from Friday night...Jon, Abigail, Camille, Sonja, Charlotte Claire..

...and last evening, Mariel, Emily, Abigail, Evelyn...

Jon way in the background, Paul, Mariel, Camille, Emily, Abigail, Evelyn...

and Sonja...Char and Cam had gone to see an anime movie with their friend Carmen...they came back in the door, and eight kids were here...

Sunny, because she's cute.

Suri was NOT cute this morning.  We usually put the kitchen garbage can in the laundry room at night, because we know that Ms. Suri is a piggy pie.  Well, last one out here last night didn't remember to do that, and although I've narrowed down the suspects, what good does that do?  I looked at the mess this fine morning, garbage from one end of the kitchen to the other...I had cleaned out the refrigerator yesterday, of course I had!  Just as no one randomly stops over when your house is clean, that's the way it goes.  I'll spare the details of the goodies, but when I surveyed the mess, here are the thoughts I had, in no particular order:

1.  Suri, I hate you.

2.  rrr, who was the last one up?

3.  Where do I even start?

4.  I'm thankful for disposable plastic gloves, which I bought at the beginning of the pandemic...

5.  I'm thankful for paper towels, too...

6.  "Let the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in thy sight..."  You know that song, based on Psalm 19? (By The Rivers of Babylon?)

Well, no one likes a big mess, but it had to be cleaned up, so I cleaned it up.  Coffee grounds mixed up with all of it made it challenging....I mopped with bleach after, and cleaned off the bottoms of my slippers.  Now the floor is nice and clean!  

So I don't actually hate Suri.  I don't care for garbage, but I totally understand being tempted by yummy smells and having a little feast.  She gets rumbly in her tumbl-y, just like Pooh bear.  

Oh my goodness, last night, for some reason, my phone alarm went off at midnight!  I was dreaming that it was Paul's alarm, until he started nudging, and saying, "turn it off!".  It is SO hard to fall asleep sometimes, and I had to do it all over again....ugh.  So when 6:30 rolled around, I was not ready to get out of the warm comfy bed, but who ever is?  

Today, I am going with Miss Sonja K., she has to get her booster.  Now, no matter where you stand on these vaccinations, you have to admit, they don't allow for any personal leeway.  A medical procedure should not be one size fits all.  She has already been vaccinated, and had Covid...and when we were sick here recently, she had some slight symptoms, so she's probably one of the most immune people out there...she doesn't need more immunity, but in NY state, all college students are required to get the booster, and also all healthcare workers, so she has no choice, unless she were to totally drop out.  It's absurd, but there's nothing I can do but pray for her, and be supportive.  

One week from today, I'm going to Fort Lauderdale!  I've never been to that area in Florida, but the girls found a really nice airbnb with a pool, and walking distance to Publix...I'm a weirdo, part of the fun of going to Florida is Publix!  The weather forecast looks fair enough, seventies and partly sunny...I would rather 80 and full sun, but hey, it's 12 right now, and everything is covered in fresh snow...looks like sparkly diamonds, but some sand and sun, I'll take it.

My girls are kind to include me in their little get-away.  They work very hard, as Em is a nurse practitioner  working in pulmonary care, seeing patients in the office and in the hospital...Abigail just started her own accounting business, and Mariel works in oncology.  Their vacations are simple and relaxing, and full of spontaneous fellowship...it's encouraging just to be with them, as they have good attitudes and know that all that befalls them is for their very best.  Emily is a super relaxed traveler, one of the best travel buddies. She just doesn't get worked up.  

And, in April I'm going to California for a week!  It's hard when your kids grow up and move across the country, but it's sweet to visit them!

We'll be going to the library so Camille can stock up on books, and to Aldi to stock up on essentials.....time to get dressed and head out into the cold...brrr!