Birthday Party

The Bieber party is still going on chez nous. After five straight days of rain, today was perfect. sunny and 75 degrees - which Catherine assured me it would be. The certainty of youth. How could the day not be perfect? I'm having a party.

My morning started early with the arrival of Ellen's son Zack. Ellen is in Norway and Jerry was off to 'enjoy' some 100 mile bike ride so we had Zack for a chunk of the day. My hat is off to all you people with three year olds... We were full speed ahead until Dad returned at a little after 3. Super lucky for Zack that the company brining the bouncy castle with velcro wall had to drop it off a couple of hours early so he got to bounce his little heart out before heading home.

The party was joint with Catherine's friend Gina who also has a May birthday. We contributed the venue and bouncy castle and Gina's Chinese parents arrived with trays and trays of homemade Chinese food. The girls decorated like mad - balloons, fairy lights, tea light candles. Now that it is after 10pm they have gathered every sleeping bag we own and are camped on the lawn about to watch the Justin Bieber movie on the projector I borrowed from work. Catherine is still saying it is the best party ever so I'm happy.

maintenance

One of the things I love about being an academic is never having had to give up the rhythm of the school year. I always loved the excitement of late summer and some new clothes and shoes, but best of all school supplies, and then the weeks at the end of May anticipating summer. Being a professor is much the same except the end of the school year has also come to mean physical maintenance. All the necessary things that have been put off I try to cram into the month of May while the children are still in school. The teeth get cleaned, a visit to the doctor - blood work perhaps - revisiting medications, some attention to the lady parts, and this year I dragged myself for a mammogram having not gone since I turned 40. That was this afternoon and I still feel a bit squashed and tender. I even decided to have a brow wax and that turned out to be a big mistake. Fine for about four days afterwards and then suddenly I broke out in random dry patches or bumps and just generally looked even more ill kempt than I had prior to my attempt to be better 'kempt'. I've also been for a kick ass 90 minute hot stone massage by our lovely masseuse Michele (Alison may have a cleaning lady, but we have a masseuse...).

The joys of having teenagers, really

This is the card I got from Sam on mothers day. He gave me $11 to buy two perennials that we planted together in the piece of the garden we have been working on for the last two years.

Catherine used my ipad and the next time I opened it....

Bieber fever continues around here

Catherine and her friend Gina are having a joint birthday party and here is the invite they made...

Some pictures

Sam setting up new chess set from Granddad.

Post-op Sadie. Growths and several teeth removed....

This is what post boot camp looks like....

Ta Da

Birthday eve

I am sitting at the dining room table, writing and listening to Catherine and her friend next door in the kitchen making my birthday cake. There have been shrieks of delight and despair, much giggling, and just now something that sounded alarmingly like the steam function on an iron. "Are you two ironing in there?" I asked. "We're just using the steam from the iron..." From what I have been able to glean the cake involves fondant and has necessitated repeated trips to check clips from some show called 'Cake Boss'. Now I am hearing things like "basket weave" and "save enough to make a star." Happy 48th to me.