What a jumbled, emotion-filled roller coaster of the last few days! From the terror of a teen granddaughter's accident, to the relief of her survival and the heartbreak of facial injuries, to the joy of a safe outcome and the hope of her future! Add to that my husband's 75th birthday on Saturday and Father's Day today!
All day Friday I worked on Howard's birthday dinner: Roast beef po-boys, 7-layer salad, Texas sheet cake with Natural Vanilla Bean ice cream, my favorite. I made the roast early, so as not to heat up the house, making the salad while it cooked and putting the cake in when the meat was done.
Then I remembered our son, Jamie, the chef, telling me he likes to make the sandwiches ahead, wrapping them in foil and letting the delicious gravy soak into the crusty bread, to be reheated later. That sounded like a good idea, but it was surprisingly time consuming. The salad took time, too, and between finishing the cake, straightening the house and helping put leaves in the dining room table, collecting 8 chairs and setting the table, I was ready for a rest before our son Greg's family came over for the celebration.
The whole thing pleased Howard so much I was glad I had pulled it off, and we had a wonderful evening with the kids, planning to have his actual birthday free to run around and eat out. "Look at those clouds!" I said as we headed off to Stillwater the next day. We wanted to eat at Olive Garden, our favorite place. The sky grew darker and darker, and jagged lightning flashed ominously in the distance. We decided to turn around and try to beat the storm home.
Back in town and feeling safer, we had a nice lunch at Chili's while the rain sluiced down the plate glass windows. By the time we were through, the sun had come out and we caught the end of an estate sale, 75% off by this time. Fun! Browsing the local department store and picking up a special card for our granddaughter at Hallmark made us tired enough to go home for a nap. After that, the day dissolved into an evening of Gaithers, Welk, and a special on televison cowboys, our cultural heritage.
Today, Father's Day brought a special day at church with the men presenting the service. A highlight was a 22-voice impromptu male choir singing "Onward Christian Soldiers." The wonderful timbre of the masculine voices filling the church brought tears in the appreciation of fatherhood. Our speaker, known as the Will Rogers of our church, was endearing, funny and challenging in his homespun wisdom shared so guilelessly.
A brisket/ribs/sausage barbeque lunch at the rustic Stage Coach with our family rounded out a wonderful Sunday. A family wedding next weekend and seeing loved ones gives me something to look forward to, even as I view online early pictures from another granddaughter's distant wedding we missed on Saturday. We plan to go east in the next few weeks to add support in our young patient's recovery. Meanwhile, our own 55th anniversary is coming up, and then my birthday a week later. God, direct our steps in this dance of life!
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