Birthday Party Pics

Just a few pictures taken at Alex's birthday party this afternoon. It was a really nice time. The weather could have been better but the rain held off until the festivities were over. We had hot dogs and burgers on the grill, chips, beverages and of course CAKE!! We only stayed a couple of hours. Even though I can see improvement every day, George's energy level is not up to par yet and we didn't want to push it.

It's My Birthday!


Alex on his new Train


Presents!!


Calissa


It is pouring rain out there right now which is a shame because it's the Old Home Day celebration in Tilton (the next town over from where George lives) and they were scheduled to have a big firework display tonight. They plan for this all year and Mother Nature has to throw a monkey wrench in the fun. :-(

It's Almost Vacation Time

Woohooo! One more day and I am on vacation until July 8th. It doesn't seem like it's almost July. The weather has been a bit humid and rainy over the last couple of weeks but not all that warm. Yesterday was probably the nicest day we've had in 2 weeks with temps in the mid 80's and sun all day with no humidity. Today started out promising but soon turned cloudy and it is now raining lightly. The air is also quite heavy.

George also has next week off but we don't have any major plans set in stone. He is still recovering from pneumonia and although he has gone into work everyday this week, he hasn't worked a full day and is pretty tired by the time he gets home. I feel he should have taken this week off as well to fully recover but since he already has next week off, he felt he had to at least make an appearance at work this week. His boss has taken pity on him and hasn't loaded him up with projects. She's also been real generous about letting him leave whenever he wanted.
I have some major house stuff to do at least a couple of days next week, meaning I plan on doing some sorting and tossing whatever I don't need or want anymore. I've got a lot of junk here and also a lot of good stuff that I really won't need to take with me. If I can weed out the stuff going to the dump, then I can tag everything I don't plan on taking with me and I can have a BIG house sale. It's going to be a big project but the sooner I get started, the easier my transition will be. With heating oil as high as it is, it would be really nice if I can be out of here before winter.

We've decided that we are going to postpone the camping trip at least until later in the summer. Boo Hoo can you see my tears? LOL I would like to take a day trip to the beach one day and walk around, do a little shopping and have a nice seafood dinner somewhere. York Beach in Maine is a really nice place to walk around, the shops are nice and it's not as crowded as Hampton Beach. There's also a lighthouse called Nubble Light that is a nice attraction and a fairly decent place to just sit and enjoy the sun. I used to go up there often all by myself with a folding chair and a book, to just relax. You can just watch the crowds come and go, enjoy the surf, or watch people fishing. I'm not much of a beach person, really. I can't see the point of greasing myself up and laying in the sun and the water is way too cold for me to swim in. So we will pick a day that's not so hot and humid and relax. I wish I had known that last weekend was the sand castle competition at Hampton Beach. I would have liked to see all of the creations and take some pics to share. But of course, I found out a day too late. Maybe I will be on the ball next year.

We are also going to get out passport pics done and get our passports. Who knows when we might want to take a trip up to Canada in the future? George has a lot of family in the Montreal area and we both want to go back to Toronto one of these days. We are also talking about maybe taking a cruise next winter. Might as well be prepared!

On July 3rd, we are having a family BBQ. I'm not sure if we will be at my parents house or my brother's house, but I imagine if it is hot we will gather at my brother's because he has a pool. Either way, I am looking forward to it since it is always a good time.
George and I are also planning a reunion BBQ for all of our friends that we hung out with back in high school. We've talked to quite a few and they are all on board. It will be an awesome time especially since I haven't seen a lot of these people in 25-30 years. I think we are shooting for the last weekend in July, and I can hardly wait, it will be a WHOLE lot of fun. These are all people we partied with in my parents basement just about every weekend. Should be a lot of funny pictures from that party, I'll tell you what. If everyone drinks half as much as they did back then, there will be plenty of Kodak moments. I'm thinking maybe I should invite my parents too...I think they would get a kick out of seeing how everyone turned out. We were all a little wild and crazy but no one has done jail time. LOL

Saturday is little Alex's 2nd birthday. We are going to his birthday party in the afternoon but I imagine we won't stay very long. It will all depend on how hot and humid it gets and how George feels. We missed the graduation parties last weekend and I was a bit sad about that but it couldn't be helped. We did send cards along with Jon and Nikki, and we were there in spirit.

It is a race weekend here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. I saw a bunch of the big tractor trailers carrying the race cars up the highway off and on during the week. Add that to all the folks taking their vacation starting this weekend, and that makes for some heavy traffic. Oh joy! ;-)

I hope everyone has been having a good week so far.
Congrats to Kerry on getting her driver's license this week!

Lainie

A Quick Hello

It's been a long time since I've had to play nursemaid but I think my hard work is finally paying off. I can actually see some improvement in George today, although he is still coughing quite a bit. The doctor said his improvement would be very gradual and he has finally kicked the fever, but he is still getting head and body aches and can hardly speak more than a few words before another coughing fit begins. Of course I have had to do all the talking and he only fell asleep on me a couple of times. I am going to blame that on the fever and meds kicking in rather than him being bored. :-) He did finally eat a real meal today for the first time since Saturday so there is hope. I'm not sure if he will be well enough to go to work on Monday but we will see. Viral pneumonia is not a whole lot of fun. :-(

After work today I went shopping for a birthday present for George's grandson. Alex will be 2 on the 28th and that is also the day of his party. I got him some Thomas the Tank Engine stuff and a couple of outfits for the summer. He's such a cutie pie, I can't wait to see the excitement on his face.

Tomorrow would normally be my "off' Friday but I have to go in for at least half a day. Work has been crazy lately. We've had parts shortages and so many little problems that now we are behind schedule. Hopefully we will make our shipment on Tuesday but if not, we should only be 1 day late at the worst. I guess going in tomorrow will be a small price to pay to get this done. I have put in for a weeks vacation for the week of July 4th, and I want to make sure I can still have it off.

I don't have too much to post, just been busy with work, domestic duties and force feeding fluids and medication. Hopefully I will have a more interesting post next time.

~L~

bigger pics

Can you see them better now? :-) Hope so. Enjoy

Party Pics

Iggy, you crack me up. LOL I was never unconscious but it was a damn good party! It's taken me awhile to find some time to download pics and all but I have several for your viewing pleasure.
As I said in my previous post, George had a pretty good idea that lunch with Jon and Nikki was just a front for a party. I lied my ass off, right up until we pulled into the driveway. By then there was no need to lie any longer since several of the guys were outside cooking on the grill. George saw them and gave me a look. I, of course, acted innocent but he knew better. We parked the car and greeted everyone, then headed inside. It was already 95 degrees outside and very humid, so we all grabbed some plates full of food and went inside where there was some air conditioning. George made the rounds and the biggest surprise was seeing my kids and Jessie and Brad there. He was very happy to see them, and he hugged them all. (He's a big hugger.) I hadn't seen his brother Ray in about 30 years and when he saw me, he grabbed me and put a huge bear hug on me. He introduced me to his wife Diane, and she and I hit it off right away. I do remember her from school but I was a couple of years younger than her and she didn't recognize me. We talked for awhile and then I went to visit with my kids. As I was talking to Sara, I looked around the room and I couldn't believe my eyes. There sat George's wife, talking to her son Patrick. All I could think was, WTF is she doing here? I can certainly understand her being at a party for one of her kids or grandkids, but why on earth is she at her soon to be ex husband's birthday party? I have nothing against her, believe me. Her cheating on her husband and leaving her family has actually made my life better. If it wasn't tacky, I would actually thank her. LOL But...come on. (Found out later that she was invited by her son Jon, against daughter Nicole's wishes, which also explained why Nicole was in a bad mood.) Well, it didn't change anything, because I didn't let her bother me. In fact, once again, she didn't speak to me nor did she talk to very many there. I think she had to be quite uncomfortable anyway, seeing how my kids were socializing with her kids and everyone was having a really good time getting to know each other. Her own sister Bev was there and they still aren't speaking to each other, but Bev and I talked and she is a sweetheart.
Anyway, we had cheeseburgers, hot dogs, potato and pasta salad, assorted chips, dip, and of course, the cake. It was done up in the shape of a cheeseburger, and was cleverly done. Tasted damn good too! Everyone was having a wonderful time, and Nicole took quite a few pictures, which I have included in this post. There was $135 folded up and tied to the money tree, and George also got cards with cash in them, some DVD's, an Eagles CD, and the digital camera that I got him. Everyone had a great time, and George was very happy.
Cutting the Cake

Money Tree

Grampy and Alex

Grampy and Calissa

Me and the Birthday Boy

Bev and Alex

Patrick Kiley and Calissa

Brad Sara Jessie and Eric

George and Brad

50 Years Ago


So there ya have it. Surprise party over and I don't have to lie again until next year! LOL

We had some really hot and humid weather over the weekend and I am glad that the humidity has taken a break. We hit 102 on Tuesday and it was really uncomfortable. It's actually quite pleasant outside now, about 70, and I went for a walk a little bit ago.

I suppose I should get the towels folded and put away. One more day of work this week and then I can enjoy a couple of days off. We have events planned every Saturday for the entire month with two graduation parties and a birthday party still to go. We are also going to George's nephew's high school graduation on Tuesday. Busy Busy!

Enjoy the rest of the week and the weekend!

Lucky B*tch Day

Off Friday...AAAAHHHHHHH. It felt good to sleep in this morning. I never woke up until 7 but didn't get up until 8.

Apparently the "surprise" will be removed from George's surprise birthday party. Last night he asked me if he should start practicing his surprise face. I asked why, and he said he was fairly sure that lunch with Nikki and Jon was just a front for a surprise party. It's a good thing I was on the phone because I am not sure I could have kept a straight face. I did my best to convince him otherwise but I don't think I was very successful. He said he was giving Jon a hard time regarding the time we were supposed to show up at Jon's Condo and Jon was getting flustered and insisting that 1:15 was the best time to go to lunch. He also said he knows I am in the middle of it all somehow. Hmmm Ya think?? I tried to prove that I wasn't, but he has an answer for everything. I'm still going along like I know nothing, and hopefully the actual surprise will be some of the guests that we've invited. There are a few people coming that he hasn't seen in several years so that will be a fun reunion.

It's pouring down rain today, how wonderful. We do need the rain and I have nothing planned today that requires me to be outside, except for a trip to the bank, but that can wait until a little later. Hopefully the rain will slow down some later on. I was insightful enough to pick up groceries yesterday on my way home from work, so that's another chore done.

We've had a really good spring so far and the only rain we've had has been in the last few days. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow into the mid 80's and 90's on Sunday with lots of humidity. I'm not a fan of the humidity but some warm weather would really be welcomed.

Sara has been trying get settled in her new home but she's come up against some roadblocks in getting her change of address taken care of and her car stuff dealt with. She needs to get her car registered and inspected but she can't do that until she can prove residence and she also needs to insure her car in Massachusetts. She should have listened to me and registered her car here in NH last month when it was due. But she figured she would just deal with it all down there. But now she is trying to take care of all that while driving an unregistered and non inspected car...not good. I just hope she doesn't get stopped. She can't afford a fine on top of everything else. She's been there a week and I could hear the frustration in her voice. She also needs her birth certificate (which I have) to take care of some of these things. I'll be seeing her tomorrow at the party so I will get that to her.

Time to get some things done around here.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Lainie

A Little Blogging

I hope everyone is doing well and you are all able to enjoy some nice weather. The month of May has been very good to New Hampshire except for the fire dangers all around the state. We've not had much rain all month so everything is pretty dry. Saturday afternoon we had several small thunderstorms roll in but they were all quick hitting producing very little lightening and only a trace of rain. We didn't have any plans to worry about either so we just enjoyed a quiet afternoon inside with a movie.
Friday night my sweet daughter moved out of her apartment and into her boyfriends family's house. Of course, that meant a pit stop at my house to store some of her things that she doesn't have room for at the moment. As I watched box after box follow the bed, dresser and desk, I realized that more stuff was actually being moved into my house than out. Her room is now jam packed and she claims she will be over one day this week to organize it some, but I won't hold my breath on that actually happening this week. I did remind her, however, that I am also going to be sorting out my own stuff and purging the house in the coming months before I move up North, so she will eventually have to move her stuff into storage. She has her eyes on some of my things anyway so a storage unit might not be a bad idea until they are ready to get their own place. I am hoping to have my house up for sale by the spring, if not sooner. Ideally I would love to be moved out of here before winter hits. If I can get this place shaped up enough to put it on the market by then, I most certainly will. I'm in no rush, but the thought of paying a ridiculous heating oil bill this winter is quite motivating. I do realize we will be paying for heat at George's place but he heats his house with a pellet stove which is far more economical than oil.
This coming Sunday is George's 50th birthday. His daughter Nicole and soon to be daughter in law Nikki, have been planning a surprise birthday party for him on Saturday for the last 6 weeks. They've got BBQ theme decorations and ordered a cake shaped and decorated like a cheeseburger. (Cheeseburgers are George's favorite food.) They even found confetti in the shape of ketchup bottles and spatula's. They took up a collection from all the guests interested in contributing and are making up a money tree for him instead of gifts. I have no idea how much they collected but Nikki said it was 'a ton'. (I got him a Cannon digital camera which I hope he likes.) I am sure he thinks something is going on but hopefully he will think it will be on Sunday and we will surprise him on Saturday. Both of my kids and their significant others will be there as well, which I am sure will make him happy. He's been trying to get all of our kids together for weeks now but something always comes up. Hopefully I can get some good pics to share.
The next few weekends are going to be pretty busy. Two of George's nephews are graduating from high school and we've been invited to both graduation parties, both on the same day, one at noon and the other at 3pm. At least they are graduating from the same high school so we will only have to go to one Graduation. Then we have George's grandson's birthday party at the end of the month. He will be 2. I also have a Saturday afternoon when I am meeting a couple of girlfriends for lunch. We were unable to do that last month so we definitely have to squeeze it in this month.
I have taken the first week of July off from work. We were given the option to have it off without pay or we can use our vacation time, or we can work in another department. I have plenty of time so I took the week off. I think George's job has a shut down that week anyway so we will be able to do something together, even if it is camping. (Yeah, I will complain but I will go.)
I suppose I should get moving here and get the dishes washed. I am enclosing a picture of The Huntababes, resting comfortably after his long weekend field trip. He sure does look tired, doesn't he?


Have a great week everyone!