Our Very Own Valet Service

This week we have been house and cat sitting at Debra and Rod's.  They were attending a food bloggers conference in Italy.  From all the pictures and writings, they are had a wonderful time.

We had volunteered to take them to the airport in Indy, and then to pick them up went they came home.
Today we drove down to pick them up.  Their plane was to arrive at 7:30 pm, allowing us an easy and safe time to drive the interstates around Indy.

We chose to go 9 to Greenfield and had our supper at the Bob Evans there.  I know, I know, we eat at Bob Evans in Anderson ALL the time, but it was closest  to the I70 on ramp, and we know what we like on their menu.  And, indeed, supper was delicious.

Then we drove 70 to 465 and had no problems circling Indianapolis via downtown.  We made excellent time, and arrived at the airport a little early.  Rod had instructed us to wait in the cell phone lot where he would call us when they arrived and were ready for pick up.  The "new" airport is so nice and easy to access.  There was a convenience store right at the cell phone lot.  Don went in and bought  ice cream and coffee for us.  So we enjoyed dessert and coffee while we watched the beautiful cloud formations, and the planes coming and going.

 It was a really fun "date" !  And before long Rod called and they had arrived.  So we picked up the world travelers.

They were very tired, having been up for 24 hours, but had many stories about their week.  We made it back home in an hour, and they were very happy to see "home."

Janie's Birthday

Today is sister-in -law Janie's 83rd birthday.  And the very best present you can give her is time to spend with more and more cats!  She does love cats.  So, since we are cat and house-sitting this week while Debra and Rod are in Italy, we took Janie on a birthday trip to pet the cats.

The cats were ever-so-sweet, and Janie declared it a perfect birthday party.  We ended the evening with birthday ice cream cones.  Janie, I hope you have many more happy birthdays.

Izzi's Dollhouse

Today was such fun.  Young Izzi Stewart, my friend and relative, came to decorate and furnish her very first doll house.  Her Grandma Jan Bronnenberg told me that Izzi


 had made such a cute little shoebox room last spring.  I saw pictures of it and knew that Izzi had talent and would love to do a doll house.  Then I found just the perfect bright yellow doll house at a rummage sale.  I knew that it had to be Izzi's.

Don and I brought it home, cleaned it up, and made some needed repairs.  Then I gathered together my inventory of furniture and accessories.  So today Izzi came for her first afternoon of work.  She became so excited that she decided to forego any paint and wallpaper (the house looked fine inside).  So by the end of the afternoon she had it all furnished to her satisfaction.

Now all she has to do is wait until they move into their new house in a couple of weeks, so that she can take it home.

Happy Fathers Day

Today is Fathers Day.  I celebrate, thankfully, having these two dads in my life.  I have always been lovingly cared for.
Above you see my Dad holding his grandson, Randy.  He did love his family very much, but took his job quite seriously.  He worked so hard to support his family, that it was hard for him to relax and have fun with his children.  I think he had a lot more fun with his grandkids, and he admired the kind of father that Don has always been, and the way that Don so thoroughly enjoyed his children.
We have all felt so securely cared for with Don as husband and father.  But, at the same time,  it has always been a lot of fun.  We have had many laughs.
Debra and Rod took their Dad out on Saturday evening for supper.  All the Smiths made a fun conference call from Cincinnati on Sunday, and the Hollomans came for a fun visit, complete with butter pecan ice cream.  Two dips......Dad's favorite!

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 57th anniversary.  It is hard to believe that it has been that many years.
Well, actually, if you count the 3 years that we dated, we have been together for 60 years, since we dated no others during that time.

We went to Sahm's restaurant to celebrate, and had their chicken cashew stir try.  It was delicious, as you can tell by the clean plates.  We actually shared one dinner.  They graciously allow you to do that.  Their servings are so ample that we can never finish a whole meal.  Half a meal is just fine.

The waitress had been married for two years, and she couldn't imagine being together for 57.  I told her it is all in choosing the right person. We were certainly too young to do that when we married at almost 21.  But, we have been lucky that it has all worked out.  We have worked hard, but always had a lot of fun and love to go along with the hard work.  We are so thankful for that!

Please, Don't Shoot!

Today I had shot #4 of the series of five injections to lubricate my knees.  The idea is to fill in the spaces where the bones of the knees are rubbing together and to thereby avoid having knee surgery.

Dr. Schick does a very good and painless job of giving these injections.  He first puts  in a numbing shot, and then does the injection.  Really, you just mostly feel the pin prick of the needles.  He puts the shots in the outer sides of the knees.

Today Dr. Schick was on vacation, so shots #4 were given by a young lady physician's
 Please  assistant.  Well, she said that she was trained to put the shots into the front of the knee, and she did not
give a numbing shot first, just sprayed on some of that "freezing" stuff.  Well, let me tell you, those shots hurt like the very dickens.  And I was left with two knobs on the front of the knees.

If she had given me shots #1, there would have been no 2,3,4, or 5.  Please hurry home,
Dr. Schick.

The Very Good/Very Bad Day

Today we met Jan and David Bronnenberg at Anita's Kitchen in Pendleton, and enjoyed a delicious lunch and lovely visit with them.
The three of them all had the famous breaded tenderloin sandwich that is Anita's signature menu item.
I was stuck having soup and cottage cheese because last night I broke a tooth.  It is not totally broken bus is wiggling back and forth in my mouth.  When we leave Anita's we are going directly to the dentist's office so that Dr. Busing can take care of the catastrophe.

And what a catastrophe it turned out to be!  He broke the tooth right off at the gum line, and then had to literally dig out all the roots.  He was very good at controlling the pain, but it took him a good, long time to complete the job.

When I got home, my jaw really began to hurt as the deadening wore off, so I took two of Don's hydrocodone tablets.  Believe me, then I felt NO PAIN  anywhere.  I pretty much dozed through the rest of the day and night.

Dr. Busing even called the next morning to see if I was doing okay.

Okay...and glad that is over.

Mothers Day

Mothers Day celebration was just as delicious and fun as it looks in this picture.  This family is always good for quite a few laughs.  We actually enjoyed the Mothers Day dinner on Saturday evening, and then we really took it easy on Sunday.

Dad had the usual good breakfast treats ready, a lovely card, and treats all day long.  He carefully instructed the kids that they should give me pink flowers for the yard, because that finished his gardening projects.  I did receive just beautiful flowers, and our yard and porch are the prettiest they have ever been.

I am a very lucky Mother and Grandmother!