Retired! the cake (pt 1)

I'm really not as excited as the picture card says. I'm supposed to be, I guess, but it's just not happening. Of course, on my very last day I worked until four o'clock. It's alright, I don't need to go back.  I hope.

A couple of my sisters and I planned to meet for supper to celebrate. They began inviting a few more family members and ended up with 26 or so people! That's how we do things in this family...start small and let it grow.


Everybody jumps on the fun train. Sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews, sons and daughters-in-law, grandies and great-grandie. Just a big mix of family...which is why it was perfect.

Well, almost everything was perfect.  Angie declined making a cake because her house is being remodeled. So Sid ordered one. She went to the place, wrote down what she wanted and got this in return. "Ahhhh, Retirement Congrat Mary"

Sid's explanation for the error is that there's one less teacher in the world. The outcome is that people can't spell and certainly don't know grammar. She was quite embarrassed, but I think it's adorable and a great story.  

Sid could be an English teacher herself. She held several jobs during her husband's military career, most of those involved writing, planning, proofreading and such. She's got a touch of perfectionism in her veins, so the drive to the restaurant must have been pure torture. 

It's entirely possible that they (Angie felt a bit ashamed having declined earlier) were more obsessed by the blunder than I would be. That's one reason I'm still tickled by the whole event--to work so hard and have to face (of all people) a retired English teacher with a mispelled cake. Not "ahhh" but "arggg."

What have you done when you've discovered a grammatical error in a place of business?

Family Times

I've not been getting into the studio much lately, especially last weekend. Our youngest granddaughter celebrated her 7th birthday with a party on Saturday. She's the dark haired one in these pictures. Caki and Sophie are close in age and in love. What a pair!

This sweety is a fun-loving, never serious, darling. We love her so very much and had a fun time watching her and her friends run, jump, and play for a couple of hours. To bottle that energy!

On Sunday the oldest granddaughter celebrated her baby shower. Yes. BABY. Shower. I'm not believing it, still. The baby girl, Amelia, is due in April. If the baby looks anything like her mom, she will be stunningly beautiful. My sweet little Dusti is gorgeous and wonderful. It's difficult to believe that she's graduating, having a baby, and beginning her "grownup" life.  

Her shower was perfect--gray, white, and pinks. Her friends and mom decorated; my sister, Angie, made the cake; and a cousin made pretty cookies. There was party food of every kind and some delicious coffee-flavored punch. 

If it seems that I'm bragging, I suppose that I am. I love my boy and their wives, and my grands. Now there will soon be a great-grand. More family. More to love.

But none of them are giving me time in the studio. It's attend this, do that, can you, please help, and so on. The ME time is coming, however, with retirement this spring...right after the new tyke and Dusti's graduation. Will I make it till May? What do you think? 

Adam and Jenny and Marley, oh my!

A couple of days ago I mentioned that my life is "up-side-down-and-out." Well, indeed, it is! We've been busy moving the middle son, daughter-in-law, and their 6-year-old into our house. It's been bad, really. Their house flooded. Just when everyone else seems to be leveling off after the recent floods in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas, we got a torrential rain. 

The run-off had no where to go, so it ran through Adam and Jenny's property and flooded the house. Everyone was away, so they are all safe, but the house...oh, the house!

One of her versatile costumes

To make matters worse, they were packing for a long-awaited Disney vacation. Perhaps they were not totally aware that the water was still in the walls and floors, where it stayed while they enjoyed Disney. 

It stands to reason, that when you leave a mess, you come home to a mess. But their mess continued to fester and multiply. The floors are soft, the walls are rotting and there's mold everywhere.  

I don't want to get all into their business but so I won't mention insurance, FEMA, Servpro, or a demolition company. 

I am going to say Richard and I are grateful to have a modest home that can accommodate them, and her parents are helping with childcare, so we are actually doing okay. I don't want to think of their having to live in a small camper or paying rent on another place.  They have enough worry. 

So our lives have changed drastically, but we are happy to be able to help the kids. And we are enjoying our little red-head!

On a side note: our stinker baked a cake (with Jen handling the oven) and decorated it with sparse purple icing and sprinkles to celebrate LSU's win. All this, of course, before the game was at half-time. Between taking orders--big or small piece, ice cream, spoon or fork--and tending to dessert, she cheered her team on. 

I need to tell you about our church fair last weekend and hope to get to that soon, now that I've found my equilibrium. But first I should get to Sunday Quilt Inspiration, so I'll see you for that tomorrow...