Milestones

When I think of milestones I always imagine the biggies....walking on  the moon...discovering America...first baby...last baby...a cure for something...and birthdays.  I've had a few milestone birthdays in my life.  I have had a few surprise birthday parties for those.  I remember my 50th....my whole family showed up in my house on  a Friday morning around 8am.  I was up and dressed, thank goodness.  I came up from our rec room in the basement to find them standing in my livingroom.  Scared me to death but we had a great time.  They all had traveled from Chicago and my one brother came from Atlanta. Great family!  A big surprise party happened that night that not only included family, but friends from Church and work.  Good memories. Well, I've hit another "milestone" today.  I'm 60.  I can hardly say it and make it seem real. I'm not opposed to growing old...really, I'm not. Everyone has to do it and the alternative isn't what I want at this point in time. I'll save that milestone for another time, thank you!  But really...60?? When did it happen? I keep thinking that if I'm really 60 I should be different somehow. I  keep thinking that I should feel like a grown-up..that I should be smarter or something.  It came so fast that surely a "sonic boom" should have been heard! I remember when I turned 30 and was really upset. My generation always said: "Never trust anyone over 30." I felt sooooooo old then!  Now they say  30 is the new 20. Knowing some 30yr. olds I do believe they are right! It seems youth rules in 2013...more than it did in 1953.  Looking at old pics of my Grandmother holding me as baby, she looks just like she did when she died at age 94 in the 1980's! White hair and all!  Well, I'm not my Grandmother. I do trust people over 30.  I still have the greatest family. My super wonderful husband who puts up with me everyday. My great kiddos and grandkiddos. They are the hot fudge on my sundae of life.  My Mom who is my inspiration at age 86.  My sister who makes me laugh and loves me no matter what. All my brothers who are the best brothers on earth.  My friends and co-workers who add the spice.  My BFF Donna...you rock girlfriend! She put together a wonderful 60th birthday surprise carry-in at work today.  So much food! So much fun! So many cute decorations! Thanks from the bottom and top of my heart.  So now I'm going to flow through 60 years of my life quickly...hang on.  It's going to go fasssttttttt

I'm starting with age 5....

Moving on to age 8....Love the teeth!

High School....In this day and age all the kids get a million poses with outdoor and inside shots. Back in 1971 everyone just wore a sweater with a necklace, sat down, turned to the right, left, front...done!

Weddings....where are those crazy kids today?

Then came the babies.  That was also how we did it in my day.....first came love, then came marriage, then came us with the baby carriage!  Now Moms don't even need a Dad..just a container and a syringe.

I had to add this....I love Halloween and all the world loves a vampire! (I'm a 5mo. preggo Vampire here in 1983!)

TaDa!!!! Me at 60! I still can't believe it, but I'm going to enjoy my day.  It started out fun with my party at work:

Our early morning meeting included celebration:

Yummy food...this was just a teensy sampling of what was brought in!

These little tidbits were really good.  Spinach, feta cheese, cream cheese..all rolled in cresent dough...YUM!

This little message was on our message board:  I just noticed the Nursing Law note above my Happy Birthday..."the quiz is set up like the BAR..BAR means: Basic Annual Review...not BAR like "Club 42" bar.  If you live in Ashland you know what the Club 42 is!

When I got home a few surprises awaited:

Flowers from Craig and Amy in Oregon

Candy from my Sister in Chicago....and yesterday Jack got me a fun new popcorn maker because he knows how much I love making real  popcorn and with a ceramic top on our new stove, it's not recommended. Thanks Babe, and all my family and friends! I'm going to go now and contemplate how in the heck this all happened...and how blessed I am to be here to enjoy my life.

 

Eleven Is Heaven!

Last night we celebrated our Grandson, Anthony's,11th birthday.

He's the nicest 11yr. old I know! He's so funny and sweet (don't tell him I called him "sweet!")

Can you tell from his cake that he loves football?  My son took him to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio for the day. (Yes, he played hookie from school!)  They had a blast and enjoyed the time together..just the 2 of them.  Kiddos need those together times with Dad!

His little brother Cameron was eager to help celebrate!

His Mom made his request...Tacos...It was a taco fest! They were very yummy!

Some of the other party goers were his older Sister Driana.  She snuck in after she was done working at her very first job.  She got her very first paycheck too..a milestone moment!

 His other older Sister, Summer wasn't as happy about getting her pic taken...no time to doll it up...but I think she's lovely!  She's the artist who surprised me with this lovely painting she did.  I love it Summer! Thank you so much!

It's fun to get gifts when it's not your birthday!

Gifts were opened....tacos eaten..and then:

Candles blown out!!  Happy 11th B-day Buddy!  We love you tons!  (Now stop getting so old, it makes me look bad!)

Peek-A-Boo

The other day when the weather was really nice, not like today when the weather is really not nice,  I was about to walk out the back door for a jaunt in the woods with the dog.  I saw these guys snacking up at the beginning of the trail.  I grabbed my camera and tried to zoom in.  Can you see them?

One deer here.

Number two deer there. (Oh no, now I'm sounding like Dr. Suess!)

How about now?  Click on the pic and hopefully my attempt at drawing a line around them will be evident.

  Oh well.  They were gone as soon as they heard, saw, or smelled Eddy the Boxer and me.  They like to play hide and seek as much as they like peek-a-boo!

Cheerio!

Yes, I was feeling a bit British today after watching the season finale of Downton Abbey last evening....I won't go into the gory details but it was a heart stopper and required a stiff upper lip to get through it.  I so wanted a scone afterwards.  I'm  really looking forward to season four.  That's saying alot because season four will air next Winter and we're not even done with this Winter yet...thinking about another Winter is making me sadder than season three.  To make me feel so much more jolly,  Jack and I watched another hilarious episode of this other British show:  Miranda

Just looking at her face makes me laugh, but her show really is a knee slapper!  But I knew I must return to my roots and get over this obsession with these TV shows from across the pond.  After dinner tonight I had a desire to make some Greek yumminess.   My favorite Greek pastry is Galaboboureko...Now that's a mouth full!  It's a custard pastry and even though I enjoy making Baklava, it's not my favorite.  This pastry just reminds me of my Mom, home and comfort.

It's made with Phyllo dough like Baklava, but the filling is made with eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, butter, and an ingredient that always surprises people.  Farina....or maybe you call it "Cream of Wheat" cereal. 

Oh my...I wish you could take a bite of this warm, syrupy, creamy goodness!  I'm taking it to work tomorrow since I don't want it hanging around my house tempting me!  You're welcome to join us there and give me your opinion....this pastry or Baklava? I make it..you decide.  On a final note...my roots are also connected to my Dad's side.  He was German and today he would have been 93...he passed away in 1976 at age 56 and I miss him everyday.  Happy Birthday Dad!  I may like Greek food better than saurerkraut, but I love you  more than anything!

Sharing The Love

We don't celebrate Valentines Day with big "go out for dinner and movie" plans.  We're content to stay home and enjoy time together. And we enjoy sharing the love with family!  I decided to make dinner for my Son's families....So I put together a couple of different meals..one for Phil's family and one for Jack's.  I got a frantic call from my daughter-in-law, Amanda as soon as I came home from work asking if I could watch the girls until Phil got home from work because she was going to work.  Sure, no problem!  So these 2 monkeys came and played for a few hours while put together the dinners I had planned.

I had fresh strawberries for some homemade icecream I was going to make...good thing I bought extra!
I took off for a bit to drop off some food at Jack's and caught him home with his 2 boys.  The girls were out working...and doing a school project.  So it was men's Valentine's dinner night I guess.

Cameron with his glaring glasses, my son Jack still in his hospital scrubs (he works at a different hospital than mine) and Anthony....Hope you enjoyed the meal boys!

I found these beauties waiting for me when I got home from work.  I love the vase with it's sparkly jewels around the rim and also jewels on some of the flowers..can you see them?  I think you can see one on the pretty purple leaf:

 When Jack left for work in the morning I knew he had on his Valentine themed tie...he has themed ties that he wears for any and all holidays...He's festive like that.  However, when he came home I happened to notice something else he was wearing. The conversation went like this: Me: "What are those?"  Jack: "Socks" Me: "Where did you get them?"  Jack: "From my sock drawer"  Me: "Who gave them to you?"  Jack: "You"
Me: "I gave you those socks? When?"  Jack: "Probably around Valentine's Day".....We have many stimulating conversations that pretty much go in that direction. Well, here's what caught my eye and I give him 10pts. for wearing them and for enjoying the simple holiday made for love...Love you Jack! Happy Valentine's Day a day late!

Being A Bruiser At Work

Time for a little post about work.   I work in a very dangerous place...dangerous in many forms, not like a policeman, fireman, or Indian Chief, but in the form of cords, wet floors, needle sticks (dirty needles),  low hanging lights, just to name a few. Items like these:

See all the wires? See the IV poles with the legs that stick out? There are also knobs on the tables that you bump into and let us have permanent  bruises on our legs.  Battle scars! But last week our good friend Donna fell in the operating room on a wet floor.   She tore her hamstring muscle on her right leg.  She gets the biggest bruise award.....Don't look if you're sqeamish!

This is the back of her thigh...bruised from the knee up! OUCH!  Then to make matters even better,  yesterday one of the Docs accidentally stabbed her with a drill point...double OUCH! Yes, we work in an interesting environment!  But I snapped this pic of Donna with another co-worker, Stephanie...Donna looks great and she's a real trooper..or she takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'!

The past couple of weeks I've been helping one of our RN's...Shay, learn how to be a scrub nurse.  Here's a few pics of our adventures in scrubbing for a total hip replacement.

Getting our helmets and battery packs on so we can survive in our space suit get-ups...we call them "togas". I'm hiding behind Shay...I'm so shy!

Shay is getting all zipped in while I get her ready to be "gloved".

Toga on.....check!  Gloves on...Check!

Success!! She's laughing, I'm waving...so  lovely.
Shay turned 40 this week so of course that was reason to celebrate and bring food to work.  I  made my Greek chicken recipe the night before and Jack got up early and threw it into the oven for me...(thanks Babe!) then I took these little bits of yumminess out of the oven:

House smelled great at 6am! Then it was into a crockpot to keep warm all day and arrived at work to put them with the other tons of crockpots full of yumminess in different forms....we know how to party!

Yep, we may get bruised,  bitten, smacked by patients, stuck by needles, tripped by wires, slip on wet floors and stand for hours in space suits...but we know how to party and how to do a good job for our patients and also how to love what we do, inspite of what we do.....

One Pic Post

You know me and my trusty camera...always on alert, always ready to share a ton of pics... Today I will just share one photo....

This is my lovely niece, Amy....she delivered her 2nd child today!  A boy named Parker John...I haven't seen any pics yet but my Mom says he's cute and has hair....most important, right? This makes #28 Great Grandchild for Mom!  What was really fun was her rush to the hospital.  Amy and her hubby dropped her daughter, Ella, off at Mom's...my Sister Midge (Amy's Mom)  (2YaYa's) lives there too....at around 2:45am...and rushed to the hospital where Parker was born at 3:16am! Just a few minutes after arriving! She's a nurse and her hubby is a fireman, paramedic...yep, us medical people are so smart!  Congrats Amy and Eric and Ella on the new member of your family!   

Making Tracks

This weekend was one filled with "making tracks"....first I spied these on a walk:

Some little critters making their way to their home I imagine.  Then I made a few tracks myself.  First I made fast tracks to get my hair cut on this trail:

Lots of farm land on my way to the little town of Nova where my hairdresser does her magic!

  Tracks back to Whispering Pines...I always tell everyone to watch out for the white fence and then you'll see the pine trees...don't miss the driveway!  The next tracks were made up to the church for our annual chili cook off and skit night....traditionally called "Cheap Nite Out".

Tables filled up and the chili was judged.  I didn't enter this year. If you recall, (nobody probably does except me!) I won the "best tasting" category last year. But I digress...

Our emcee, Greg, starts the festivities after dinner with the winners and awards. Then we moved into the skit portion. My 11yr old Scouts were first:

Followed by many other fun and enjoyable talents.  I have pics of all the other acts but my post would be too long.  I just have to show the winners of the skit contest....It was these 2 crazy ladies:

They fell off a turnip truck on the way to somewhere!

They were a hoot and did a great job of ending the night of good food and good fun!  Late this afternoon Jack and I made the final tracks of the weekend up to the Creepy Woods for a little hike.

Top of the hill you can see the lights of Ashland..almost looks like Christmas lights!

I said it was late when we went up to the woods, but it really wasn't quite this dark..just my camera...but I thought it looked like a bunch of campfires in the woods...we don't call it "Creepy" for nothing!

Final tracks back to home and getting ready for the week ahead.  I hope everyone had a nice weekend, unless you were out East and battled storm "Nemo"!  Now it's time to make tracks to watch Downton Abbey! I always want to eat a scone and drink a cup of  herbal tea while watching!