On the road again

Whirlwind tours!I love them! I got home from work last Wednesday, unloaded the car, packed my smaller bag, and took off again Thursday morning. I met Catie at her house and we headed south to Charlotte for her baby shower. Back on the road Sunday to get Catie home. On to Huntington to see Elliott, Samantha, and Bryce. Home again Monday afternoon. Whew! It's a good thing I like my car, I practically live in it!

Friday, we took Ma to lunch for her (late) birthday. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Really good food, but much richer than we are used to. After lunch, we walked around Southpark Mall. Southpark is what they call "upscale". For us regular people, that means expensive. We looked in a couple of childrens' specialty shops. Ma picked up a little blue dress, 6 month size. I can't imagine why anyone would pay $129 for a dress that a baby will wear for such a short time. Not to mention what the baby will get on the dress! I've decided that a store like that is for two types of people: grandmas who buy that stuff for their little angels, and grandmas like me who look for ideas, then make cute stuff for their little angels. We use the money we save to add to their college accounts!

The baby shower was a lot of fun. Carol, Catie's friend for forever (kindergarten, at least), was the hostess. We had a veggie tray and a fruit tray that the three of us put together, a chicken nugget tray from Chic-fil-a, and a beautiful cake that Carol's mother made. Kathy, Ma, Carol's mom Joyce, and I were the "old ladies" of the group. Carol, Alissa, Alicia, Becca, and Catie were the "young 'uns". The girls have been friends since at least middle school. Catie, Becca, and Carol go back to kindergarten. They talked about being married, having kids, careers, and old times at school. When the name Josh came up, we all laughed. Josh was the boy who was in the same day care class with Catie. When she was 18 months old, he bit her arm. When she told me about "that mean old Josh", her eyes were huge and she was very serious. She finished telling me about the bite by saying "and that was not nice". I reminded the girls of that story and they all recounted their "Josh stories". We planned for the shower to last about 2 hours. Before we knew it, 4 hours had passed! It's amazing to see how 5 girls can get together after two or three years and pick up right whee they left off! Good friends are a treasure and Catie is very rich!

We didn't spend as much time with Ma and Pop as I would have liked, but it wasn't possible. I always fear that each time I see them will be the last. They are both 85, Pop has had a stroke, Ma has chronic heart problems. I doubt that one will live long without the other. That's just the way they are.

We made the drive home in record time. Catie was able to take a much needed nap while I went to see Sam and Bryce. Bryce is getting to be a chubby little fellow! He's got chubby cheeks and little rolls on his legs. He has fussy time. I explained that to Sam. It's the time of evening when babies feel the need to decompress. They cry and kick for no apparent reason. Bryce had just eaten, he had burped, he was dry and warm. He just felt the need to fuss! Eventually, he fell asleep on my lap. I am smitten!

Today, I hung the curtains over Abbey's closet. They're perfect! Then, I drove home. I'm tired!