Saturday Slight

 

Twas party time at the Lovestead last night.

I still find it difficult to believe that Annie has turned 44 years old this week. 

In fact, I must have been in denial last Sunday while shopping at Super 1 in Bonners Ferry. 

While in the baking aisle, I picked up a couple of cake mixes, some frosting and two candles indicating her age: 43. 

Just before putting items from my cart on the check stand counter, I had started doing some mental math. 

The bagger had to ask me twice, "Paper or plastic?" because when the subtraction of 1978 from 2022 yielded an answer of 44, I simply looked at him with a blank stare and kept having a conversation with myself.

"No, she can't be that old," I thought, "but I guess she is cuz the numbers don't lie." 

I'm sure that bagger thought I was surely brain dead because I still hadn't yelled out "plastic." 

Finally, I regained my senses and spit out the answer and then announced to the checker that I had to go back to the baking aisle and get another "4" cuz I had my daughter's age wrong.  

She said she'd hold on to the "3" and that it was fine if I waited to go until my groceries had been bagged.

And, so, last night, Annie blew out the correct candles for her birthday, with a little help from her friend Kenny. 

Little Kenny was the life of the party last night, trotting through the house sniffing every piece of furniture, trying out Foster's cushy bed, asking to go potty and then starting a herding contest between dining room and living room with Bridie and Liam.

The two Lovestead collies eventually ganged up on Kenny, even though he escaped their presence a couple of times. 

It was great fun to watch, even with Foster snarling from the couch, insisting to all that he was the king of the dogs for the evening, and that the others had better take note. 

And, so we had great birthday fun and enjoyed some family visiting. 

Barbara and Laurie had been preparing for a trail class schooling show at their place today, so horse talk blended in with doggie fun. 

Plus, Annie had a nice family party. 

This morning it's been nice to see that, so far, the weather isn't quite as bleak as predicted.  

Maybe we'll luck out, and possibly those forecasters will be wrong. 

I'll be spending some time helping out at the horse show and then coming back to cozy up inside, probably watching some college sports. 

So, it should be a fairly laid-back family day. 

In other news, my niece Laura, who did a stint with the Peace Corps, sent me a the most recent Peace Corps newsletter, which happily announces that the volunteers are coming back to countries around the world after the Pandemic.

And, who should appear in one of the photos, but our cousin Rich who was here visiting a few weeks ago. 

In the picture below, Rich is the guy in the suit behind the "to" in the second row among the South African contingent. 

He served for a while in Ethiopia.  Then, came the Pandemic so he came home and waited to be called up again.

So far, on this round, he's been going through orientation and should soon be settled in to wherever he'll be serving for the next two years.

It will be fun to follow his activities. 

Good luck, Rich.  

And, Happy Saturday to all.