Super Sunday

The day started off with an early morning walk...where we crossed paths with some of the 2400 (!) runners in the Melbourne and Beaches Marathon. The half marathoners were about 1/2 way through their course and the full marathoners were on their second "loop". You could kind of tell who the serious runners were...the skinny, but muscled people...they all looked like they were moving along at a pretty good pace when we saw them run by between mile markers 20 & 21.( We knew it was the group going for the long haul...because we saw our friend Angela go by.)
While they ran on, we went to have breakfast...haha It was chilly this morning...so I was wearing my long sleeved Steelers t-shirt. We were in line at the Blueberry Muffin when our friend Lynn said "It's Super Sunday! Who're you rooting for?" I said "The Steelers!" The girl next to me in line had on a team team too...she said "The Bears!" John said "The Dolphins!" Guy two down said "The Chargers!"...and we all laughed. So who are we rooting for...who knows...I think I'm leaning towards The Ravens (they beat my team after all...) It reminds me of the year the Steelers really wanted to win it for Jerome Bettis who was retiring. The Ravens have  been lucky...and sometimes that luck is just what it takes to put you over the top.
(and I liked the story I heard on NPR this week when Jacobi Jones' mother made a New Orleans style lunch (dinner?) for 150 team members this past week. (because Jerome Bettis's mother did the same thing one year when The Steelers were in Detroit.(speaking of Jerome....how did he NOT get in the Hall of Fame?????)
Well...the Ravens WON and what a great game to watch! Beyonce had a cool half time show...that light display was AMAZING ....but I personally think maybe that's what caused the power outage...hah.
 I've had a song on my mind lately...for some unknown reason...Pat Travers- "Boom Boom...Out go the Lights"...maybe it was a premonition...haha. That was definitely a strange twist.....thought it was going to cost the Ravens the game...but they pulled off the win in perfect style...with skill and lots of luck...which is fitting since that's how they got to the Super Bowl in the first place!
The best part of the night was a visit from Chuck and Pat. It was GREAT to see Pat out of the house. She is in a battle for her life right now...and chemo is taking it's toll. Her cancer is kind of a rare form of Lymphoma...and aggressive...but she was in good health before it hit and the doctors have been able to be aggressive in fighting the cancer. That's great...but it's not easy....even for someone who was strong to begin with. I've been sending notes and cards...but this was the first time I've seen Pat since it all started and it was so nice to see her. I know it was not easy for her to agree to join us...but Gayle assured her the group would be small and we would all wash our hands and keep our distance as needed...and she hesitated at first...but she came! We were happy and I think she was too. So for me that was the biggest win of the night!

Lunch at 'Tiffany's"...I mean the Topp's!

 I had a nice afternoon celebrating our friend Lindsey's upcoming wedding. Her wedding will be on February 23rd..(.aka Megan's birthday and Brittany Roy's due date!) Today was a shower hosted by her sister Laura and her other  bridesmaids.

 This same time last year we were having tea with Laura...and like Laura...Lindsey had a picture perfect day for her party. We were outside under the trees. The theme was "Tiffany's"...with the black and silver and blue...and "diamonds" and "pearls". It was pretty...simple but elegant and very fresh looking.

 These were just about the only people I knew...haha...not really...but I don't know many of Lindsey's friends.The lady on the end next to Gayle...was wearing the same dress as me...haha

Aunt Nancy and Lindsey-check out her perfectly blue champagne cocktail!

Lindsey's friend made the cute cake!

invitation and favors

 Cute balloon someone brought. Lindsey likes purple....the colors of the shower were not the colors the bridesmaids will wear.

smiling for all the photographers...

cute cake.....I didn't realize it was the cake at first....thought it was a decoration. It was good...but I'll take butter cream over fondant anytime...haha

 Aunt Nancy (always fun to talk to...and dance with....) with Laura...(sister of the bride and bride herself last March)
 It was a nice afternoon. Lindsey was happy to have everyone there. she got some nice gifts and was very gracious when she thanked us all for the party. I enjoyed talking to Gayle and Lindsey...getting tips on where they found things..(.decorations, etc). Many of the young women there were recently married or  are engaged to be married.... so there will be lots of celebrations for all of them soon. Found out that the groom to be is a relative of someone I knew from our Holy Trinity days. The mother of one of Brenna's  classmates  back in grade school recognized me. It was fun to hear about her daughter Brittany...who got married in the last year or two. It truly is a small world!

Preparations continue

 I have been keeping myself busy with odds and ends...getting ready for the wedding in May. And as you can see from the photo above...stockpiling assorted items.( I may be driving up in a U-haul if I keep this up. haha) (not ALL of that is going...but a lot of it is)
 We have been trying out different colors to decide which green is the right one. I think we have decided. Once I hung all of them up...I was able to see which one I liked...then sent a picture to Megan for her decision.

 I had to hang the banner to see how the paper lanterns looked next to it. That's the other thing we are still working on. How do we want to hang the lanterns...in a bundle...in a row (alternate lengths)...they WON"T look like they do above...that was just an experiment....Once we meet with the Mackey House staff again in February...we can look around the area where the reception is going to take place and kind of imagine what will look good in the space....and shelve the rest. (for another party of course...haha)

 I am making some photo collages to put on display. Played around with different backgrounds...but settled on the three boards above...they should hold all the pictures I have in mind...and be easy to hang/or place in a nice grouping. The background is just white and black...the ribbon is white.( Most of the background will be covered up by the pictures...once I have them all.)
 While looking at the pictures I had to laugh...check out our feet in the picture below. They are positioned just like my grandmother Eileen's feet in her wedding picture. My Mom always had us position our feet that way...Now I know why! hahah

Anne, Martha, Ellen

Grandma and Grandpa Welch

one of my boxes

I have been buying champagne a bottle at a time and storing it away...I figure one bottle at a time is a little less "painful" when it comes to cost. I do that with a lot of things...buy a little here and there until I have what I need/want. I'm sure it doesn't save me money...I may even end up spending more.....but I don't mind. It's a mental thing for me. John has told me NOT to buy any wine...he doesn't want to haul it all up there...when we can buy it there....which of course makes sense...we are going to have a well packed car as it is.  :)
 I ordered some " glasses" for the toast.....and was trying to come up with a way to designate the ones for non-alcohol drinkers. Charms ?. ...ribbon?...and then came up with the idea to paint some polka dots on the bases with the paint leftover from my other projects. I think they look cute...and the non drinkers will be able to easily spot (no pun intended...haha) their glasses. And...the kids might like the polka dots!

When the moon is in the seventh house....or something

I don't know what was in the air...but we had one strange patron after another yesterday! They were either asking for really strange "favors" or being unreasonable (as far as I was concerned anyway)...so allow me to rant a little.
The first lady (?) of the day was giving my co-worker an earful about her fine that was due. "There's no way...how can that be!"...etc etc for what seemed like 2 minutes. I glanced over to see how much she owed and to see if I could give J a hand. Well... turns out the patron owed .20cents! Sometimes people are so obnoxious...I don't say anything...I just pay it myself...or take it out of the money other patrons  give us when they say keep the change. But...sometimes (like yesterday) people are just so annoying that I decide I am getting that 20c if it kills me! Turns out the fine was from Dec 2009...When people are going on and on ...in my head I am saying what I can't say out loud
Her- "No one told me I owed this money...how did it suddenly get on there?" (there's no way to back date when a fine was assessed)
in my head -  It's from 3 years ago...that's why you don't remember...and no one said anything because they didn't want to hear you complaining about paying 20c when you are checking out a pile of books worth hundreds of dollars!
After all her ranting and raving...she finally paid up and left.
Moving on.....the director notified us to be on the look-out for someone who was supposed to be coming in. A part time resident who had a $50.00 or something fine on her card. She had been in and paid $30.00 towards the total...but I guess after she got home she started thinking about it and came back and complained to the director about how we treat "Canadians" and she's sick of it...and on and on...thankfully I missed that episode!

We  had a lady call..(.poor J again)...and said she owed $7.60 on a book...but she was pretty sure she had donated to us in the first place so she wanted us to cancel the fine. That's the first time anyone asked for that....

One regular patron... friendly but kind of annoyingly so...patron noticed a book he had requested, checked out then reconsidered and returned...was still on his card. He is also the type who will obsess over it until it is resolved...which unfortunately won't be until the book gets back to Port St. John by way of the courier. No courier on Sat/Sun and Monday is a holiday which gives Mr. D plenty of time to get worked up about it. I was happy (can't help it) to hear it was actually the director who waited on him...so not only does he know that we made a mistake...he knows WHO made it! I tried to reassure him that it would get resolved...don't worry...but he just kept saying "It better not get lost!" "I better not get charged" ...etc etc...
I tried to stay calm and to myself I just said "Go home!...It will be fine!" "How often do you come in here...have we ever given you a hard time about mistakes YOU"VE made!"

There was an assortment of other minor incidents...missing items, misplaced items...etc...and I was so glad when the day ended and I could go home!!!

Roll Tide!

 Had to use my Alabama mug this morning...to celebrate another victory for Brenna's team! Quite a game last night...they sure looked good. I felt bad for Notre Dame...they were not looking up to par...kind of like the Gators last week. It must stink to get to the National Championship and not play as well as you "normally" do. But then again...ND didn't have the competition that Alabama got all year in the SEC....I think there is no doubt that we have the strongest division in college football. Next year will be interesting...the Gators will have to face Texas A&M and Alabama...(maybe...depending on schedule next year)...it will be fun to watch!

The tree is coming down today. Last night during the game I packed up the ornaments...started with one group and just kept going...till everything was packed up and put away. Had to do something to keep awake to watch the game...I'm too old for these games that start at 8:30! Ha...seriously...I enjoy them so much more when they come on in the afternoon!

My dog is also officially "Old". This is Kiena on New Year's Eve....sleeping through most of the fireworks. Thank goodness! She's usually pacing around all upset...this year she didn't wake up until  at least halfway through the neighbors "display". One loud boom...woke her up...she kind of looked around like she was thinking "what was that?" But stayed pretty calm.

 Last week at work we got busy fast...apparently all the snow birds are back! We were extremely slow the two weeks before/during Christmas break...then BOOM December 31st we were busy all day. It's like a bus unloaded. and they all got out and came to the library..(.or they dropped out of a hole in the sky...like the cloud above...haha) Lots of card updates, etc...and increased volume. That's good...keeps us in business. I will be going in later this morning and expect to be busy.  The New Year is off to a quiet start......

Christmas 2012

 Well Christmas has come and gone and as usual, time seems to be moving forward at record speed. We celebrated less than a week ago...but it seems like much longer. Oh well...I guess I really am getting old...haha We enjoyed a kind of quiet Christmas day with Rob, Shane, Brenna, Megan and Paul. A small ham from Honey Baked Ham and a Roast Beef along with the usual sides served us well. My favorite was the Sweet Potato Pudding (recipe from Bon Appetit a couple of years ago.). It's sweet potatoes mashed with a little bit of sugar, half and half and orange juice. Topped with a gingerbread crumb crust. It's good...not too sweet...and we were able to make it Gluten-free for Megan. I ate all the leftovers over the next few days :)

We also had time to go over some details for the wedding. The DJ/Planner had sent us some checklists to fill in. Kind of like who is going to do what, when etc. What song(s) we want for different time during the ceremony, before the ceremony...etc, etc. We  (Brenna, Shane, Megan and I) were talking about the play list and then like a scene  from a (bad)(haha) movie...we all started dancing at the table and then around the table. It was fun. We all agreed the 4 songs we listened to were MUSTS for the dance set! Shane has also been officially added to my list of "motivational" dancers...haha I made Megan try on the dress my friend Lisa brought over. I had mentioned the frustrating search for a dress...and Lisa generously said..."What size is she? She can wear my dress...she can do whatever she wants to it...it's already been through several weddings....(4?6?...I can't remember how many people she said have used it.). Well...one look at the puffy sleeves and the large bow on the rear-end...and we knew it was unlikely...but Lisa had dropped it off...and I have not had the chance to go dress shopping with Megan...so I told her to humor me and try it on. It fit perfectly...length and size...(of course...try on 50 dresses that DON"T fit and someone gives you one that fits perfectly...and IS the ivory color we also wanted) Anyway...Megan has already ordered a dress...so we knew she wouldn't need one...

 but we all agreed minus the sleeves and the bow...it was a nice dress and it certainly fit well. Pretty beading Nice train...but that would get in the way of dancing....

                                                  looks like something from Dynasty....haha

          Oh my! I don't remember this on Lisa...the bow part that is...I remember she looked nice

Karen, Anne,Lisa and Dixie- some of the Oak Ridge gang at Lisa's wedding

So here's what the view coming down the aisle could've  been...check back after May 12th to see the alternative...haha

 You can't really see it in the photo...but I had puffed sleeves on too...June 1990.
 It was nice of Lisa to offer the dress.

A Weekend of familly and fun

Our neighbor's house-best decorations in the neighborhood...haha

 

 

 

The month is winding down and Christmas is right around the corner. We enjoyed stopping by our friend's house last night for their annual Eggnog party. It was fun as usual. The weather was perfect...kind of chilly...but clear skies...just like I like it. We arrived at their house as the annual neighborhood  boat parade was finishing up...that would have been fun to watch but we did see the last of the boats pulling into their respective docks.

 The party is always a nice one...lots of tasty food and drinks. we originally met them when John did a big job for them about 12 years ago. John and Don hit it off...and we've been friends ever since. Mary and John share the same birthday. (12/20) It's also great to see the friends . Most of them are a few years older than John and I...but lots of fun...and it's great because whatever we are experiencing at the time...more than likely they've been through it with their kids/family, etc. Last night we got to talk weddings...that was fun.
One friend Kathy K. had a daughter who got married about 6 months ago. I enjoyed hearing Kathy's stories about the planning, decorations, guest list dilemmas, etc. She is from a family of 8? or 9 girls...just with her family they had 80 people...hahah...and they made it work...so I'm sure we will too. The place they held the reception was one we had considered...so it was good to hear the good/bad about it. In the end they had a wonderful time...and I know we will too. It's a great group of friends they have...reminds me of the "gang" my parents had...lots of similarities.  And they too all started out at Our Lady of Lourdes church...haha

 Today we got together with David, Paul, Bridget , Rob and Shane to celebrate Shane's 14th birthday...which we all unfortunately thought was his 13th...oops. we had a big 13 on the cake...he looked at it funny...Brenna thought it was put in wrong...then he told me .."Aunt Anne. I'm 14! Not 13!" Like I said...OOOPS! At least the cake tasted good.

 We combined the celebration with an afternoon of watching football at a local place that is popular with Dolphin fans...they were happy with the outcome of their game...but unfortunately they didn't make it to the post season...because the teams that needed to win/lose...whatever...didn't. They looked pretty good though. (Maybe there's hope for next year.) Reid, Chandler and Reid's father -in-law and his wife stopped by briefly...then went to another place where Reid would be able to watch his Green Bay Packers win. It was a BEAUTIFUL day...and we had a good time together. I think Shane enjoyed his 13th 14th birthday!