Brian's 50th Birthday Bash

Hey folks!  Wow, a lot has gone down in August!  I am finally sitting at home with some free time on my hands and my laptop in my lap.  Let's blog, shall we?   Since you last heard from me, we flew to Alabama to celebrate Hubby's 50th birthday, my sweet Harry returned to college and Chip's 8th grade year is under way.  

Let's start with Hubby's birthday celebration!   We held it in Alabama at George and Callie's homestead that we loving call "The Bad Farm".  We call it that for many reasons…too many to count. 

When we arrived the day before the shindig, The Bad Farm was in complete disarray.  Should not have been surprised, but having floors installed the day before hosting sixty people at your house is even a little bit much for The Bad Farm.  No one seemed panicked that there was no furniture in the living room and ALL of the furniture was in the dining room.  Also, there was the small matter of the toilet being outside on the deck.  

Does this make anyone else start sweating profusely, or is it just me?   I started having heart palpitations and writing lists immediately upon arrival.  It just makes me feel better, like I am in control of something.  Ha, ha, ha! 

Miracles of miracles, the floors got done, the toilet got brought in from the porch and installed at 3pm for the 4pm start to the party.  No problem.  We also had much work to do outside on the 13 acre grounds to get things ready.  There was gravel to spread, sand to unload into horseshoe pits, decks to be scrubbed, furniture cleaned, bars finished, lights installed, coolers cleaned out, the slip n' slide rolled out, water slide blown up, grass cut, weed eating….but it all got done with the great crew we had helping.  It took every one of us! 

Along with all that we had to shop for all the food and drinks, and get prepped for a cookout. 

I want to remember that I invited 61 people and every single RSVP was a YES!  We had one friend, Baker that did not make it on the day of the party but every single other person we invited came.  Isn't that amazing?  They all came.  They all told me how much they had been looking forward to it!  

Here are tons of pictures of the preparations and the party!  Hope you enjoy them all! 

(NOTE:  Bob and Lana, some of these captions may be on the top of the pictures and not under the picture like you normally like them.  My apologies.)

Lydia helped get the chips displayed in trays….

Chip got the treat bags ready...

Desserts were displayed….

Centerpieces were finished…..

Decorations were hung up...

Donuts for the birthday boy….

Little Debbies, always a favorite…..

Great American Cookie Company, the birthday boys all time favorite….

When 4pm rolled around, The Bad Farm was MIRACULOUSLY ready for action...

Beautiful bar under the pavilion...

The Redneck Slip n' Slide was set up and ready to go….water sprayed, baby oil, baby shampoo, cooking oil….all kinds of mess was sprayed to make this super slippery! 

Chip manned the fire all weekend.  Burning anything and everything that he could get his hands on.  I was getting worried that he might have some pyromaniac tendencies…in fact, I am still worried.  It was about 90 degrees and he never was further than this chair from the fire. 

Then the guests started arriving.  Bob and his crew were some of the first on the scene. 

The pavilion swings were filled up pretty quickly.

There were plenty of seats under the pavilion. 

The Nice One (my sister) and her crew arrived from Tennessee. 

Please pick Bob out taking his photos.  The zoom is not fully extended. 

Our sweet friends started showing up with their kids, many of which we had not ever had the pleasure of meeting.  It had been 16 years since our old crew had all been together in one place. 

It was just like old times.  

Memories were revisited. 

Old nicknames were pulled out of storage and put into use. 

My girls were as gorgeous as ever!  The years have treated them well. 

Although, we are the only ones who don't live in Alabama, lots of these folks hadn't seen each other in years either.  There was lots of catching up to do. 

Why does my niece, The Queen, look like a grown woman?  CUT THAT OUT!! 

The LeClair crew came all the way from Texas.  We got to spend some good quality time with them and it was awesome! 

The Bad Farm owners.

My future daughter-in-law!  

Harry….I already have her picked out for you.  You are welcome.

Big brother, Joey. 

Little brother, Mike.

Cuteness OVERLOAD.  Can you even stand it?  

PJ is pretty cute too! 

Let the games begin…..

Man, this picture makes me miss my Harry. 

My people.  

The highlight of the evening was the reunion of The Car City Cafe softball team playing a super competitive game of whiffle ball with kids and adults.  

Teams were formed.  Pep talks were given.  Old people were praying not to get hurt.  Young people were left wondering what all the talk was about hamstrings and bad backs.  Real concerns, people! 

The kids were terrific!  Played hard and beat the heck out of the ball. 

Great defense was played. 

Lots and lots and lots of smack talking was going down. 

Time outs were called to deliver little people to their Daddy! 

It was a close game!  

Many laughs were to be had. 

Donuts were delivered to keep blood sugar up! 

Team picture.  

Top row from left…Wayne, Mark, Joey, Jack, Ivan, Reid, Bob.  

Bottom row from left…PJ, Greg, Matt, Birthday Boy, John.

The offspring of the boys (most of them!) 

Back row…Elizabeth, Tucker, Alex, Tyler, Wes, Zach.

Next row…Lauren, Zander, Ryan, Cole, Drew, Peyton, Lydia

Kneeling….John Wilson, Savannah, Elyse. 

Me and my forever friend, Amy. 

The Queen and her momma! 

Lana caught with Cheeto cheese on her finger!  

No idea what the score was, but lines were formed and handshakes exchanged by both teams.  

Party favors. 

Red Sox water bottles. 

Red Sox string bags with baseball goodies for the kids.  

There was much partying that continued into the evening.  

Horseshoes, Corn Hole, Dancing, Drinking, Visiting, Laughing.  

It was just a perfect gathering to celebrate fifty years of living!  So much fun to be surrounded by family and visiting with long time friends.  I know not much has changed but the numbers on the calendar.  

Happy Birthday Hubby!  Fifty looks great on you! 

Home Gym

I posted seventeen times in July!  I have not had a seventeen post month since January of 2013!  I know Bob and Lana were thrilled!  The rest of the free world could probably care less.

Let's see if we can keep this nice trend going where I relive the everyday, mundane happenings around here that my parents love to hear about!

Weekend big news...I pulled the trigger and got to work on the office purging, cleansing, purging project on Saturday morning.   I mentioned it was on my "To Do" list so I decided to get after it.

Purging was intense.  Dust was flying everywhere.  Papers were sorted, trashed, filed, organized.  Trash cans were filled. Three bookshelves were reduced to one. 

One, nice, tidy, organized bookshelf. 

Then what did I do with the new found space?  

Home gym, baby! 

The boys got me a great weight set, a tall mirror, a stability ball and a BOSU half ball for my birthday!  Exactly what I wanted and now I am set up!  I can do a solid weight work out with this equipment! 

We also rounded up all the random exercise equipment we have scattered throughout the house and garage and consolidated it on this side of my office.  Nice to have it all in one place. 

Of course, once got it set up we all had to try out all kinds of exercises.  Me and Chip were throwing a weighted ball back and forth and then we progressed to trying to bounce the ten pound weighted ball off the BOSU and catch it.  Not sure that is exercise, but it was a challenge.  Well, this old girl was on the big purple ball and I was heading backwards with heavy weighted ball overhead and no brakes in sight.  Legs flew up, my back crashed into the lizard cage, shoulder smashed into my desk.  Chip was howling with laughter.  I was cussing cause it HURT!   Why cry when you can cuss!  Not my most coordinated effort!  Dang it!  

I felt old until Harry also went off and over the ball and crashed into the sole bookcase remaining in the room and almost knocked the whole thing over.  We were wild.  Maybe we should have just padded the walls!  

I put the home gym to good use this morning after my run/walk!  BTW, we did a 28 minute run without stopping!  Woo Hoo!  I came home and did a great little circuit while I was warmed up and already sweaty.  It felt great and I was thrilled to have it done…AND I didn't fall off of anything!  YES!  

In other news….

• Had an amazing brunch with my girls Beth and Karen on Sunday morning.  Two solid hours of visiting and good food!  And a Bloody Mary self serve bar.  Loved it. 
• Chip went to a sleep over this weekend.  Him and his buds pulled an all-nighter…no sleep.  He was a zombie Saturday afternoon but had an absolute blast! 
• We went to a lawyer today with our last will and testament information.  Our Will is going to be drawn up officially and we will sign it in a few weeks.  That will be a relief to have that done and I will mark it off my 50 Things To Do Before I Am Fifty list!  Then we will go about trying not to die so the Will won't come into play! 

Hope you had a productive weekend and are off to a great start this Monday morning!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Top Ten Tidbits

Quick Friday post because I am on a roll here!  July has been a banner month for blogging!

1.  Me and Chip are absolutely addicted to a show we found on Netflix called "Arrow".  So good. We have plowed through about 22 episodes in a week.  Can't wait until he wakes up so we can watch one before work!  Seriously good.

2.  I made an Eye of the Round last night with a weird cooking method that turned out a gorgeous hunk of meat.  My people love hunks of meat.  Oven preheated to 500 degrees.  Season the meat with salt and pepper, put it in a baking dish fat side up and throw it in the oven (no water, no foil).  Turn heat down to 475 degrees, cook for 7 minutes for each pound (mine was about 20 minutes) then turn off the oven and leave the roast for 2 1/2 hours (do not open the door at all!)  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Slice thin.   It was great!  Reminded me of the Eye of the Round my mom used to make on a big ol' rotisserie we had.  Yum.  I will make that again.

3.  Starting to make a list of things to pick up for Harry's return to college.  Summer went fast.  He is jazzed about getting back. I am excited for him and know he is going to have another great year.  We will definitely miss his sense of humor and big personality around here.  And those random hugs he lays on me every once in a while as we pass each other in the kitchen?  I will miss those most of all.

4.  Running (even slow) is way more mental than physical.  My mental game is weak.  I will however give myself a pat on the back for running three days this week without my partner (she is on vacation) in the early morning darkness.  That is a first!   I must be serious about this half marathon training!  I did three 25 minute runs with no stopping this week.  Except today, I did stop. Three times. About 15 seconds each time!  Just had to catch my breath.  I have got to toughen up!  Next week we run for 28 minutes without stopping!  Son of a….

5.  Hubby got a membership card from AARP in the mail this week.  He is turning fifty shortly.  That is just wrong on so many levels.

6.  I want to redo my office.  First, give it a thorough purging, cleaning, purging.   That is two purgings because there is all kinds of stuff in this office.  Then….New furniture. New lighting. New floors.  Seems like a big undertaking.   Need the Bob and Lana crew here to motivate and help me!

7.  Today is the last day of July.  Isn't that nuts?

8.  What could possibly be the reason that in the last two months the Excel program on my computer has started running as slow as molasses?  I mean, I can literally fold a load of laundry waiting on a spreadsheet to open.  All the other applications seem to be working the same.  Once I get the spreadsheet open it seems to work normally.  Saving data in excel also seems to have slowed down, but nothing as dramatic as the initial opening of a spreadsheet.  I open ALOT of spreadsheets.  I do not understand!

9. Hubby is getting his brain scanned today to make sure his aneurysm hasn't changed.  Prayers for good results would be appreciated.

10.  I just drank the tiny bit of balsamic vinegar left at the bottom of my bowl of cherry tomatoes.  Now I am choking.  Wouldn't that be a crazy way to die…choked on balsamic vinegar.  Still coughing.  Think I am going to make it.

That is it!  Ten random thoughts running through my head!  Hope your head has better stuff than that going on between the ears!

Happy Friday!  

25 Minutes

Is so damn long when you are jogging.

That is all.

Chicken Doritos Casserole

Tonight, I was stumped for what to make for dinner so I perused the pantry, did a quick spin through Pinterest and landed on a casserole made with chicken, Doritos and a special sauce.  My people don't like casseroles.  I knew before I started cooking that this would not be a welcome addition to the dinner rotation.  I charged on anyway, because sometimes I get sick of cooking the same dang things.  These boys like about five or six things and don't like to mess around with any variations or changes to the norm.  I braced myself as I started pulling stuff together and the boys wandered into the kitchen to see what was cooking.

Here it comes....

The looks I got when I described their upcoming dinner was making me laugh and it was just the beginning.  They were staring into the bowl of special sauce.  Lips were going up.  Eyebrows were raised.  To say the boys were NOT looking forward to trying this concoction would be the understatement of the year.

Harry actually texted his Dad and said "You might want to stop at McDonalds on your way home.  Mom's got some mess going into the oven."

I just kept being positive, telling them things like "I think this one might surprise you."  It is an old southern recipe (pretty sure that is a lie!) that is super popular around the world (big, fat culinary lie!)

I pulled it out of the oven and the skeptics gathered around and the comments started flying.  Chip's first comment was "This looks exactly like it is going to look when it comes back up."  Hubby said "Why did you use Doritos?  Wouldn't Tostitos have been better?"  The best of the night was Harry's description when he said "This looks like a bird flew into a Chuckie Cheese, ransacked the place and then barfed this mess into it's baby's mouth."

On that note, everyone dig in and enjoy their yummy dinner!

Who wouldn't want to cook for these chumps???

And, guess what?

{Big Dramatic Pause}

They liked it.

Turd blossoms.

Harry: "It's not bad.  Tastes kind of like tacos.  I can eat this."

Chip:  "Wait a minute.  Mom, this tastes pretty good."

Hubby:  "I like it. It seems like a good meal for cold weather.  I would eat this again."

So, in the end they did not hate it, they ate it and I may very well make that "old southern staple recipe that is popular all over the world" some other time.