It's her birthday and we're gonna PARTY!

Saturday,
December 13th we will be celebrating Gma Betty's 80th birthday with a TOGA party. We'll start at 2:00 in the afternoon.

Can you come? It willl be at Betty's (Gma, Aunt, Sister)Northern California residence.

Please let me know if you plan to come.

Energized by Aunt Robin and me.

BYOT (Bring your own toga)

A mom couldn't be more grateful!

Grateful for what you might ask...grateful that her son works for a well respected place of employment (Microsoft), grateful that he has a beautiful wife, and three equally beautiful, wonderful children. Grateful that he (the son) let his mom (me) actually visit him at his well respected place of employment, eat lunch there, meet a buddy that he works (and plays) with and then tromp around the impressive campus of said, well respected place of employment. It was a beautiful sunny day...hey we were all grateful for that! We were official visitors who had to sign in with an official Microsoft badge. YEAH! I wanted to say, "I AM THE MOM (or should it be, I AM THE BOMB?)!"

They know how to have a good time in Enumclaw!

Briggs was with Dad buying massive amounts of legal fireworks from the Muckelshoots (what a great name for a Native American tribe). Livvy was at home with Mom, Emily and Grandma Susie. Emily must have been asleep...the house was SO quiet. So, Mom says..."Let's make a tent. You and Briggs can sleep in it tonight". The tent was set up with blankets to sleep on and a TV/VCR with a movie to watch. SOOO, fun! If there had been room for me I would have crawled in with them. No, probably not! They would have had to call the pramedics to get me out the next morning.

A conversation in the Tahoe (not Lake Tahoe)

Briggs to Olivia - "Don't touch me!"

Olivia to Emily - "Don't touch me!"

Janeen (the Mom) to Briggs, Olivia, and Emily - "Don't touch each other!"

Janeen (the Mom) to Emily - "DON'T TOUCH LIVVY!"

Emily to Mom - ..."but I love her."

Mom to Emily - "You can love her, but just don't touch her."

Grandma Susie in the front seat loving every moment of sibling/mom interactions.

A week ago Friday on June 13th

Yep, it was on Friday the 13th...Mickey took me to a wonderful restaurant, the Slocum House, and then to see Phantom of the Opera. You might ask...what was the occasion? Well it was to celebrate that I haven't fallen on or close to that date for three years. Cause for celebration? YES! But then we won't mention that November 1, 2006 I fell from the counter in my classroom, breaking my humorous (NOT funny!) and requiring surgery to implant a titanium piece. But, still, I haven't fallen on my face on or within 2 days of a Friday the 13th. Ohhh! I may have just jinxed myself. When is the next Friday the 13th? As an added note...the opera was stunning! I love the music.

Here are a couple more pictures from THE wedding...

Where in the heck were Bailey and Little Lindsay?

April Witt Weds Dr. Peter Hull

Last Saturday afternoon, April and Peter threw a huge open house party for good friends and some family. It was a surprise wedding. April and Peter did not want the traditional wedding, just a party where their friend Michelle was the Justice of the Peace and performed the wedding. It was a beautiful, warm and slightly windy day. I think my favorite part of the wedding was when Peter walked up to officiator, Michelle, holding his daughters (Maile and Amanda) hands. They waited momentarily while Mickey walked in with April on one arm and Lauryn on the other. Mickey then took all the girls to one side while April and Peter repeated their vows. There were about 80 people there to witness the occasion.

My Whiny Wednesday Kid Birthday

Jacksen (son of Amber & Randy) turned 5 on June 5th (his star birthday). He had a Super Hero Birthday Party and we were invited. There were A LOT of kids there and they had a great time. I loved the birthday cake. It was a skyscraper with Spiderman crawling up the side. Be inspired!

Another great Megan meal (NO, meat, thank you)!

Does this look delicious? It was! We had her wonderful broiled stuffed mushrooms (of course!), a summer salad consisting of cucumbers, green onions, little tomatoes (no salmonella here) and rice vinegar. Also two kinds of humus with some whole wheat bagette. BUT! the signature dessert was the best...melon Jello with Dots (yep, multi flavored Dots) and topped off with Dream Whip. Dang! this was a meal to dream about (get it?). Do you want the recipe for the mushrooms or Jello? Get in touch with Megan - she'll be glad to help you...I think. This was a FUN meal.

Remember the video of Carter riding his bike? I took these pictures the same evening. Gotta share...they're too cute.

Whiny Wednesday

There are no pictures to illustrate this day. Thank goodness...

The day started nice and early...a 7 a.m. dr. appointment to dtermine why my left hip hurts so dang much! The reason...congenital hip defect! I don't have a round hip joint - it's like fitting a square peg in a round hole. I will probably need a hip replacement in 15 - 20 years.

WHINE!

I drove to the Veteran's Administration to pick up some meds for Duane (he'll be 90 this year - and has dementia- but is doing okay). The pharmacy doesn't open until 8:30 a.m. I will need to wait 30 minutes.

WHINE!

Once the pharmacy opens, I wait 45 minutes for the prescription to be filled!


WHINE!

I have a dentist appointment at 10:00 and it is now 9:15. The dentist appointment is 45 minutes away. The dentist is 30 miles away. Gas costs $4.33 cents a gallon.

WHINE!

I actually made it to the dentist appointment only 5 minutes late. That was a pleasant surprise. Next comes the whine...I need two crowns replaced and I have one cavitiy.

WHINE!

It is now only 11:30 and as far as I'm concerned my day is done, but NOOOO, I get to go to a kid birthday party later in the day. I'm DONE!

HAVE A NICE DAY!

The Carter Kid Can RIDE!

Do you wonder if Carter can really ride a two wheeler? The answer, a RESOUNDING, "YES!". He is really good at it. In fact when Grandma Betty and I were driving down the street, there he was riding away. I thought it was a much older kid. Nope it was the CARTER KID. WOW! Enjoy the video.

The 60th Birthday (AHHHHH, it's killing me to write that!)

You already know about my preparatory 60th Birthday Party, don't you? I
had to be prepared a few days early for the EVENT by a SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY encouraged by Andie, Lindsay and friend Teri. YEAH! Seriously Surprised! Surprised by the thought itself, surprised by the number of friends/parents of previous students who were there and SURPRSED at the wonderful preparation. IT REALLY SURPRISED ME!

I am so aged! There was much happening to make it an easier transition from middle-age to old age, but still! 60 years old? It's ridiculous for me to be anything beyond 40. Being 40 is bad enough, but 20 years beyond that? AHHHHHH. The day started early (DUH, any day starts early!) with my egg people singing me happy birthday as I walked in to get my egg, bacon, multi-grain toast and pepperjack cheese breakfast. They even presented me with a signed b-day card. AND, I didn't have to pay for my breakfast. Who do you think shared my 60 year secret with them? MICKEY ! Oh, but it doesn't end there...After my free breakfast, I entered the multi-purpose room at school where there was a large gathering of adults to celebrate those who so willingly volunteer their talents at school...again, they broke into song - HappyBirthday- to Mrs. Witt. Who do you think shared my 60 year old secret with them? MICKEY! And is it over even then? Nah...Midway through the day I receive a call from the office saying I had something beautiful delivered for me...and who was it from? MICKEY! The flowers are just beautiful. Don't you agree? Of course you do...I' m 60 and you have to be careful...I'm fragile.





Am I done with the day, YET? Nope. We went to dinner at my current favorite family restaurant, the Olive Garden where we were joined by Norm, Lindsay, Carter, Marin, David, Emily, Julie, Ryan, Grandma Betty, Andie, Bailey and Easton. What a wonderful, kind 60th birthday...kind, because, remember, I am 60 and fragile.