My Birthday Month

One thing about having a birthday on the first of a month is that it sneaks up on everyone, including the birthday girl! So I'm "all in" on celebrating for a whole month... which I don't do actually. But it's nice to think about, and it allows me to splurge a little bit when I feel like it.

Lew did buy a chocolate cake for me. It cost over $30! But it was delicious, and I had several pieces. Yummy!  (I wouldn't let him light the candle since it is too cute to let melt.)

How I Spent My Birthday (and the Next Two Days)

I was a complete sloth for three days. All I did from Wednesday through Friday was sleep, read, eat, and watch stuff on TV.

I did go visit a friend yesterday morning, so I guess I should remove the word "complete" from the first sentence of this post.

I am paying for my slothfulness today. I dealt with the mail piled up on my desk, used the elliptical machine, took a shower, and I am currently doing laundry.

I will close this post with a photo of my birthday cake. It was chocolate. The frosting was sickeningly sweet... just the way I like it. Yum!

Birthday Photos

I had a very nice birthday yesterday!

I went to work for a few hours. One of my colleagues brought me these lovely flowers.

Lew made cheese nachos for my birthday dinner...

... and he bought a Triple Chocolate Cake!

 

As for a picture of me on my birthday? I have only one!

Yes, I left work mid-afternoon and stopped to visit Mom. I hadn't been to see her for a couple weeks due to the bad cold I had, but I am now well enough to visit. Dad was there, too, so the three of us had a nice time chatting about my new status of being 60 years old.

Happy May to all!

Chewy!

Chicken, cheese, chocolate....

(Chuckle!)

Happy Birthday . . .

. . . to me!

Today I celebrated my last birthday in my 50s. Doesn't seem possible.

Lew made breakfast and then late afternoon he and I went for pie & fry. The day was topped off with Dad treating us to ice cream. It was a yummy day!

I visited Mom early afternoon. She and I talked about what she was doing 59 years ago today!  Kim and Kaelen called to video chat with Mom and me, and they started the chat by singing "Happy Birthday."  They did a lovely job.

Debbie dropped off a birthday gift for me yesterday.  The gift consisted of LEGO-themed birthday napkins, a jigsaw puzzle of LEGO mini-figures (combining two hobbies!), and some chocolate shaped like a jigsaw puzzle.  I asked her where she got the chocolate, and she said that she made it!  I then asked her if she was sure we are related.  She replied that the chocolate's easy to make with a mold.... Well.... I say maybe easy for her!  LOL!

Weekend Words

Basketball. Dad and I watched the Maine High School State Championship games on Friday night and all day Saturday.  Five classes for both boys and girls, so that was a lot of basketball!  Fun.

Bowling. The PBA bowling season is in full swing. Lew watches a lot of the preliminary rounds for each tournament on FloBowling. We both watch the televised finals. Today was a doubles' final, and the guys we were rooting for won!

Mom.  Even with all of the sports to watch, Dad and I still made our daily trips to visit Mom at the nursing home.  She loves our visits and so do we.

Cookies.  Dad buys delicious chocolate cookies at the grocery store and I eat my fair share of them. I must stop doing this if I want to continue to fit into my clothes, ha ha!  I say to Dad, "Why did I just eat that cookie?" and then we both agree it is due to the yumminess.

Snow, Football, and Puzzling

We survived Saturday's blizzard. About a foot of snow, I believe. We never lost power or cable TV, so we were happy about that. 😁

We just had another great weekend of NFL playoff games! The Super Bowl is now set, and it should be great fun to watch. I think I am pulling for the Bengals. But I would be okay with a Rams win, too, because Lew and I both like yelling, "Cooper Kupp!"  He's such a great player.

I just finished another jigsaw puzzle (a gift from sister Kim). It was quite enjoyable to do, and the subject matter is one of my all-time favorite things!

"Chocolate" ~ jigsaw puzzle by Eurographics

7:37 P.M.

MULTIPLE CHOICE: (Choose only one.)

The title of this post — 7:37 P.M. — represents the time for which of the following?

A)  Nutritionists announce that chocolate is really a vegetable, so eat as much of it as you want!

B)  Scarborough, Maine is named host city for the 2040 Summer Olympics.

C)  The sun comes out after a day of constant rain.

D)  Our mail is delivered.

Answer:
A?  Sadly, no.
B?  Ha, ha!
C?  It is almost 8:55 P.M. and it is still pouring out. (Plus it's dark by 7:37 P.M. anyway.)
D!  Lew then put his raincoat on and went out in the dark to get our mail.  Thank you, Lew!

Working at Work

After over a week of working at home, I returned to the office today.

The first thing I did was have my temperature taken (a daily procedure that they instituted last week). My temperature was fine, so I got to stay!

Although I kept up with some things while working from home, I had left a lot for "when I get back on Monday." So I had a busy day "digging out" and I'll leave it at that.

Complete change of subject: We are still eating my birthday cake! So yummy, and I'm sure there are no calories in it. 😉

Happy Valentine's Day

Lew bought me a lovely dessert for Valentine's Day.
He couldn't remember the exact name of it, but it's very similar to "Death by Chocolate."
It would be a fine way to go.... 😍

Today's Observations

Flag football is more fun to watch than tee-ball. There is more action and it is faster moving.

 

Our cat Marilyn is an escape artist. She dashed outside again today, right under our noses. She was safely recovered by Lew.

 

Although Josh's football team lost again today, they did score a few touchdowns. We will continue rooting for them in the weeks ahead. Go Mariners!

 

Zack's team did win today. We are enjoying Black Bears football. So far we have figured out how to watch every game from the comfort of my parents' living room. (The "figuring out" part has been an adventure. Three different providers so far over the first four games.)

 

When buying reserved seats online for the movie theater, it can be confusing which row is the front of the theater and which row is the back. Fortunately you can exchange the front-row seats you inadvertently bought as long as there are other seats still available.

 

Warm chocolate chip cookies are yummy!

September Start

Lew wasn't feeling well for most of last week... bad cold... and guess who is feeling yucky now? I am thankful it is a holiday weekend so I can get one more day of rest tomorrow. I wasn't planning on doing much this weekend anyway. We've been watching some U.S. Open tennis, and I've done a little reading. Quiet stuff.

Thinking of and praying for those who have been, are being, and will be affected by Hurricane Dorian. I know the weather can't be predicted with 100% accuracy, so I am impressed by those who track and monitor these storms so closely. Advance warning is crucial. Yes, it is better to be safe than sorry.

I will end on a more upbeat topic.... Chocolate. I love chocolate! I have been buying the Atkins version of peanut butter cups. I think the idea is to limit how many you eat. I ate far too many today, all in the spirit of "Feed a cold." You gotta do what you gotta do!

See Sun Rise

This past Monday morning, I saw the sun rise!
(Yes, I know the sun isn't really moving.)

It was Gina's idea to go to the beach to watch the sun come up.
Haley had no choice; she had to go with her grandmother.

Kaelen thought it sounded like a grand idea, so she and I made a morning of it.

We met Gina and Haley at the beach, watched the sun rise, then came back to the house for hot chocolate and chatting.

It was a lovely way to spend an early morning while on my vacation!

I Am Popular Today

My office-mates and I had a lot of people coming in our office today.

From the hallway, everyone could see a clear plastic container with red items in it.

Those red items were candy bars!

Dad had a bunch of Kit Kats (left over after the family visit) that he wanted to share, so I took them to work.

There are still a few bars left, but my co-workers made quite a dent in the stash.

Thank you, Dad, for making me a very popular gal at work today!

Move Over, Picasso!

Tonight I went to a painting event with fellow Batgirl Anne-Marie. We wore aprons to protect our clothing from paint splatters, we ate chocolate chip cookie desserts, and we laughed... a lot.

Below is my finished painting. It is supposed to be a dandelion. The instructor told me mine was very "abstract."

I will not be quitting my day job.

COOKIE!

After dinner tonight Lew announced he bought some chocolate chip cookies today.  Chocolate chip cookies... my favorite!

He then proceeded to tell me I could have only two cookies. Apparently he gets nervous if I eat more than two.... Something about compulsive eating, but I'm not sure what that means....

I then asked Lew several questions, after which I concluded I should buy cookies in secret if I wish to eat more than two at a time.

Then I would be a closet cookie consumer.  Even better... a closet chocolate chip cookie consumer.

COOKIE!

More Chocolate, Please

My office at work is a fairly large room. In fact, I share it with three other women.

Because we have the space, leftover food from staff meetings,etc. usually ends up in our office. (I tell people, "This is where food comes to die.")

Today we had coffee cake and danish tempting us all day. It's just not right. Our coworkers need to start helping us eat all this food.

But one thing we don't mind having all to ourselves: chocolate.

We will never say "no" to chocolate!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries by Debbie.  (Photo by Lew.)

Bakery Treats!

Tuesday night — while Kim and Joe were still here — Lew was describing the delectable goodies available at The Baker's Bench in Westbrook. He is especially fond of the creme horns.

Lew did such a wonderful job that Glen asked, "Are they open right now? Let's go!" Sorry, Glen, they close at 5:30pm (4:00pm on Saturdays).

I got the following text from Lew while I was at work today:

I told him there had better be a creme horn waiting for me! He assured me there was.

But imagine my delight when I was presented with this for dessert tonight:

Yes, I got part of a creme horn.  But the Chocolate Mousse Bomb is the best!  Yum.... Thank you, Lew!

Lew also made a creme horn delivery to Glen's house — enough of a delivery so Glen could share with Debbie, Josh, and Zack.

As for Kim and Joe? Well, they went home yesterday, so they missed out. But I think that maybe, just maybe, we could track down some creme horns during their next visit!

First Lunch

We had a big family gathering at our house for lunch on New Year's Day.

The main item on the menu was make-your-own Italian sandwiches.

Score one for Adam's sandwich!

Eli and Adam enjoyed drinking milk out of cups made of chocolate. (I wish I could take credit for the cups, but I can't.... Debbie made them.)

It was a wonderful way to start the new year!