Had a really nice birthday weekend.

We started the weekend off a bit early by leaving work at 3 on Friday. Zoe came over and we watched Grand Torino and baked some cookies. I really enjoyed the Clint Eastwood movie and if you haven’t seen it, you really need to check it out. The movie is not about cars and it is not an action movie, it is actually about a grumpy old man that you can’t help but like.

Saturday morning, I did my long run (9.5 miles) with Terry, Karla and Lori. Then after a shower and some breakfast, Zoe, Alli and I went to the mall and did some shopping. Zoe needed new shoes for Volleyball and we found them with no problem. I was shopping for pillow shams for the master bedroom. I found some I really liked, but they were $30 each…….I did NOT buy them. I am not about to spend $60 so my pillows look nice on the bed! James applauded my decision and I will just keep shopping until I find something at a reasonable price.

Zoe, Alli and I enjoyed lunch on the patio at Panera.

(photo taken with my old, beat up, Motorola Razor phone)

Saturday afternoon, James and I did some household projects. We also let Alli have some nude time on the deck with her potty chair close by. It was not a great success. After watching her like a hawk for over an hour, she finally went pee-pee and we quickly grabbed her and placed her on her potty chair, catching the last few drops. We praised her like crazy, but she was unimpressed. She was more interested with the pee-pee that got on the door mat and kept pointing to it. Oh well, we are just dabbling in potty training at this point, so no big deal.

Saturday night, James cooked me a special steak birthday dinner and we watched 2 episodes of the HBO series Carnivale. We are ½ way through the second season and it is getting really intense and exciting. It is killing us to wait for the next movie to come from Blockbuster in the mail because our local store does not carry season two.

Sunday, my younger brother, Bill came to visit. Saturday he had smoked some meats, so he was kind enough to bring us leftovers for lunch. We feasted on pulled pork and ribs. I, of course, ate way too much. Around 3, we picked up Malcolm and Zoe and headed down town to get ice cream and just wander around and enjoy the cool air and walk off all the food. The high for the day was only 68 degrees……….very nice for August.



Zoe, Alli, Judi and Bill

We had planned on taking some family portraits this weekend, but ended up putting them off because Alli has a cold and a runny nose and James and I are both getting sick as well. We will be sure to take some as soon as Alli’s nose is a bit dryer.