Category: Family

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No Lake This Weekend

This weekend my sister has “reserved” the Lake cabin for herself and her family, so I’ve been told to find something else to do. Hmm. That’s a new attitude from her and her husband, and I’m not sure I like it. The cabin belongs to my parents and frankly I find it a little insulting to be told I’m not welcome there by my sister.

However, I am a good sport and “a big girl,” and I can certainly find something else to do this weekend. I’m thinking about a quick trip to Atlanta. My girlfriend is usually up for a Saturday night at the clubs in Buckhead. So we’ll see what kind of big city  fun we can scare up at the last minute!

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June Bugs

Is it just me? Or is this a banner year for bugs? It must have something to do with all the rain we’ve had this spring, which we needed and will hopefully not have the horrible problem with a late summer drought like we had last summer. But good grief! The bugs are out in full force.

We got back from a weekend at the Lake and I found three ticks on me when I took a shower. Plus, I’m covered with mosquito bites. Even though I used the OFF! each morning, going out on the Lake and swimming and sweating as much as you do when you are out on the water, I guess the OFF! didn’t last nearly long enough to keep away the mosquitos.

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Weekend at the Lake

This year Memorial Day comes early in the calendar year, but that doesn’t stop everyone around here from celebrating the first unofficial weekend of summer!

My parents have a little cabin on the Lake and we’re all heading down to Guntersville for the long weekend. I’m taking off work a couple hours early so I can go over to help my mom get ready. Mom and Dad and I will go down tonight and do the cleaning and set up to make ready for everyone else that’s coming tomorrow.

The cabin has been empty since Christmas, so we have to re-stock the pantry and the linen closet. We have to deep clean everything – there’s always a lot of dust and mildew to deal with. That’s what you get when you live by a lake and have the place closed up for 5 months.

My Dad will be busy cutting the little bit of grass and weeds around the yard and making the boats and motors ready for use. He also sorts out and cleans and repairs all the water toys and equipment, and all the fishing gear. We won’t see much of him until really late!

When my sister’s family arrives Friday night, we’ll have a nice big dinner and spend a couple hours down on the dock, and then Saturday we’ll all take turns driving the boats and water skiing, tubing, and fishing off the dock. I love this family tradition and it’s a great way to kick off our summer.

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Stuffed Like a Pig

Yesterday was all about food since it was my birthday.

My boss took me out to lunch and we invited his secretary and my friend in human resources to go with us. He wanted me to pick the restaurant, so I picked one that I know he likes – the Macaroni Grill. I think almost everyone likes good Italian food. We all ordered a different entre and then when it came out to our table we all shared between ourselves. That was really cool and one of the great things about working with these guys. We are a strong team and I think of several co-workers as fondly as I do my own brothers and sisters.

When we got back to the office, there was a surprise waiting for us – a birthday ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Everyone popped into the main conference room to wish me a happy birthday and get themselves a big piece of cake. So of course, I had to eat a slice – to hell with the diet on my birthday!

Then last night my parents wanted me to come over and I was hoping for a home cooked meal, as my mom is a great cook and there’s things she can cook that I can’t manage to have turn out any where near as good as hers. But my dad wanted to go out, so they told me to pick a restaurant. One of my favorites is an Asian Fusion restaurant, but it’s a little expensive for my budget and I would have loved to go there, but Dad doesn’t really like Asian food and he didn’t want to go there, so I just picked the Longhorn Steakhouse. My Dad is pretty much a meat and potatoes guy, and he likes just about everything on the Longhorn menu.

So I stuffed myself like a pig yesterday and had a very nice day celebrating my 30th birthday. Now, back to the diet!

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Oh My! Over the Hill Now!

Today is my birthday. The big three-oh.

I’ve always like the way my birth date writes out: 5/6/78 and if I ever have the urge to play the lottery, those are the numbers I pick. But I’ve never won anything from them – yet.

I’m smack dab in the middle of the Taurus sign, so there’s no fudging my horoscope like my sister does. She was born “on the cusp” which means on the day that the signs change from one to the next, and she reads both horoscopes each morning and believes them both. I read my horoscope once in a while for entertainment – I just don’t take that stuff very seriously.

I know the guys at work know it’s my birthday. Our human resources manager sends out an email to every on the first of every month to wish all employees with birthdays that month a collective “Happy Birthday!” My boss wants to take me out to lunch and I have to pick the restaurant. That’s kinda stresses me out, as I don’t think my favorite restaurants are the kind that he likes to go to. So I have to decide, should I go to one of my actual favorite restaurants? Or should I pick one that I know HE likes?