Happy 41st......

Ron's birthday has not quite been the birthday one would want/expect. He had to work....ALL DAY (it is 9:00 and he just called that it will be really late when he leaves.) He has had a huge project going on and it was supposed to be two weekends ago, but got cancelled. It moved to last weekend, there was an equipment problem late last Saturday night. It got moved to this weekend....Ron's birthday.

I had made dinner reservations earlier in the week, when we thought this weekend might cancel, too. So, one of the other guys offered to stay behind at dinner time so Ron could keep his birthday dinner reservations with me. I got dressed and took his suit to him at his office, where he changed before we headed to eat.

It was a wonderful dinner! We went to the Capital City Club and enjoyed conversation, food and the beautiful view of the city. Ron had a steak, while I opted for the snapper with pico de gallo grits. (Now, I am not a big fan of grits....I know, there must be some Yankee blood in me somewhere.....but these were GREAT! Who would have thought -- pico de gallo and grits.)

He walked me back to my car before heading back to the office. At least it was on his birthday and not mine! Just kidding! It wasn't quite the birthday I wanted for him this year, but it turned out to be just fine....nothing better than getting all dressed up, good food and great city to enjoy! And, we have a key lime pie (his favorite) to enjoy tomorrow afternoon with the boys. As for his gift, we'll have to plan time to go get it soon ......I just couldn't decide on the right size seersucker pants to get you today, Ron :)

Happy Birthday, Ron!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

The boys and I hope your day is WONDERFUL!!! (...even though you had to work...)

Fun on a Friday Night

When Ben made Cocky Spur last Saturday, Ron spotted a black bear that he loved (at Build A Bear). He already has one huge grizzly named "Rufus" that he made several years ago. While at the beach last Sunday, he decided to make a "Rufus Jr", one ofthe black bears. The sales person was very annoying and so he decided to just not make it.

Last night after we dropped of one of Ben's friends who'd spent the afternoon Ron wanted to go make "Rufus Jr" so we headed back out to Build a Bear. We has a blast helping Ron make his new friend....who Ben also LOVES!

Stuffing Rufus, Jr.....I love the way Ben is looking at his daddy!

Putting in the heart (no idea who the two kids are).

Introducing Rufus, Jr......or, RJ.

Slideshows, Dead Frogs and Bumper Problems....

You've probably noticed the picture slideshows on my last couple of posts. I'm not a big fan of slideshows on blog pages, but I realized last week that blogger actually has a size limit for attaching pictures and videos. In an effort to save space, I have relented to use these when events warrent a huge amount of pictures to be posted. So, bear with me on this issue!

Now, onto other things, last night after dinner we stopped at Walgreens to pick up a few things before heading home. (I'll post later with pictures about "Boomer".) When we pulled up our neighbor across the hall had her adorable new baby, Maggie, a little weiner dog outside. We just had to stop and play with her. Like our Maggie, she likes to chase the froggies around the grass and sidewalk. While we are laughing at her chasing, Clay notices something under Ben's foot....guess what it was....yup! A dead frog. He's killed it by stepping on it! Yuck!! Ben -1, Frog - 0.......

And then this morning Ron calls as I'm dropping Clay off to let me know he was having bumper problems on his car....the kind that result from said bumper attaching itself to someone else's vehicle. Yes, he had a little accident on the way to work. Apparently he was going straight and didn't see (the guy didn't have his headlights on and it was still not completely light outside, but it was still Ron's fault) the other guy. Ron is fine and the car only clipped the tire (what is it about Ron and other car's tires!?!?) on the other car so as whole both cars aren't too bad off. The other guys car - 1, Ron's car - 0.

15 Years Ago Today.....

...I was wondering if Ron really would come pick me up and take me out on a date. He finally called late in the afternoon to let me know he'd pick me up in an hour or so. And he did. He picked me up in his new Saturn (one of the two reasons I agreed to go out with him), took me to Milliken for snacks and duck-feeding, and then to the Piedmont Interstate Fair where Phi Mu was having a "social" with the Pi Kapps (the other reason I agreed to go with him was that I happened to be broke and couldn't afford to go....he offered to pay, I went.)

He bought me a string bracelet (which I still have) and visited the crystal ball lady who told him that we'd never work out and I was wrong for him. (Not sure what else she told him, he's never really told me.) Just goes to show what she knew.....15 years, 2 kids, 1 Maggie-dog, a move to Columbia and a LOT of good times later, we're still together!

Happy 15th anniversary of our first date, Ron!! I should have known that night what I was getting into...hahahaha! But, I guess I was already too in love! :)

Day at the Doctor

We literally spent today at the doctor. Last night I started feeling even worse again, sore throat and coughing like crazy. So, I told Ron that I would take Ben to his soccer pictures and then go on to a doctor. Ron mentioned that his eye was bothering him.

Well, I did take Ben for pictures and then spent the next three hours at the "doc in a box" as we call them. The diagnosis: strep throat. Ron called while I was checking out and continued to complain about his eye. When I got home, I took one look and told him to get in the car. His eye was swollen shut, oozing and red, red, red.

Back to the "doc in the box". This time, after another couple of hours and blood work for Ron, the diagnosis: pink eye.

We got our meds and came home to watch (for me)/sleep-listen(for Ron) to football. What a great way to spend our Saturday :(

Stupid Is As Stupid Does --- But Stupid Sure Can Be Fun!

Okay, granting that I've been sick all week. We had tickets for the USC/Kentucky game for last night. School might not want me to infect 100 kids, but you can guarantee that for Gamecock football, I don't mind infecting 80,000 football fans. That said, last night was not one of my brightest moves, but I had a TERRIFIC time!

Ron got home about 5 and took a shower, changed clothes and we headed back downtown. After a half an hour of looking for parking we finally found a spot. As we hiked towards the staduim we saw a cool triple rainbow over the stadium and about five seconds later the bottom fell out of the clouds ---- torrential downpour. We grabbed a Monster Energy drink from the Monster Crew and then headed to Ron's vendor's tailgate. We huddled under their tent, Ron ate some chicken and we chatted with some folks.

We braved the monsoon to head to the other side of the stadium to get inside before "2001".

It was insane! People were all over the place going in every direction. And, then all of the old people were huddled around the tunnel entrance because they didn't want to get wet! We found our seats which were four rows from the field on the 50 yard line. We were right there, but because of where the seats were, we had to stand the entire game.

Ron and I had the best time!!! I was determined to not scream and yell because of my throat, but after missing the first major play (an interception and immediate touchdown) for a potty break, I gave up and am suffering with NO voice today (my kids loved that!).

We had the funniest people around us. On the other side of me were about 10 Kentucky fans. One of them wanted to be a smart alec and after a bad play yells out, "This ain't South Carolina State, boys!" Well that set off the Carolina fan two rows behind. He was in the guys face for the rest of the game. Then, the two guys behind us brought in their own mini bottles and mixed drinks the entire game. And, then for the entire game yelled, "Welcome to South Carolina. That's how we roll up in here!" I told Ron that I would be repeating that one in my head for days. The people in front were very calm, but the lady next to Ron....wooohoooo! She was so drunk she could barely stand and decided that she wanted to be Ron's bud. She kept talking to him and asking him questions. I giggled forever about it. We laughed and laughed about all the people.....they were as entertaining as the game.

We stayed until the very end and didn't have any traffic issues at all --- except we got caught at a 15 minute train. All in all, we had the best evening and can't wait for the next game! It is well worth the fact that I can't talk above a whisper today.

My Boys Are Home

Technically they've been home since Sunday, but I'm just now getting around to posting and they came home really gross so I waited to take the picture on Monday night.

Clay and Ron were both gone all last weekend to Camp Barstow for Order of the Arrow Ordeal Weekend. Ron was tapped out over the summer (you might have read the post about this back in July) and he had to do a service project, spend the night roughing it, eat scant food, couldn't talk and participate in secret ceremonies that I can't know about. Clay got his "brotherhood" back in May so he was there as an OA member and participated in some of the rituals apparently.

All in all, they seemed to have a good weekend with one little (yes, it is physically little, but comfortably and financiall BIG) snafu....Mr. "always follows the directions" (that would be Ron) did what he was told and didn't take a flashlight for his "night". Well, if you know Ron, you know that he has to have his contacts to see. Without them, he's basically blind and because the problem is kerataconous, glasses don't help....it has to be contacts. He did get special permission to take his contact supplies, but had to take them out in the dark. After years of wearing them, Ron is really adept at doing this so it shouldn't be a problem (shouldn't being the key word there). What he didn't count on was the fact that in the dark he wouldn't be able to see in the dark to make sure the contact was in the container. His left one landed on the edge of the container and the lid broke it in half. So, he spent all day Saturday and Sunday with one eye.

Luckily for our bank account, he happened to have a spare left contact that he saved when he ordered his new pair and he's using it right now.

More Than One Way to Kill A Wasp

Most normal people swat wasps

with a paper or shoe, not my husband! He decided to "shoot" it off the window with an empty b-b gun. Needless to say, he got it....but didn't kill it. This morning, Ben and I were still trying to kill it with a shoe!

Ron Gets Tapped

Last night we travelled to Camp Bob Hardin for the family night/OA tap-out ceremony for the old troop. Ron was excited to be "tapped" into OA (Order of the Arrow), an organization within scouting.

Clay was tapped last summer, completed his ordeal last August and his brotherhood this past May. He and Ron will travel back to Bob Hardin in August for Ron's ordeal.

Congratulations, Ron!

Ron's 40th Birthday Celebration.....FINALLY!

The weekend of Ron's birthday was Disciple Now and everyone was busy with it, so we had planned to celebrate last Friday and then Ben and I both ended up with the flu. We rescheduled for last night and, thankfully, everyone was well and able to party!

We had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant with several other couples and their kids. All in all we had 7 adults and 6 kids! It was loud, busy and lots of FUN! After dinner we had cake to enjoy and then Jason and Julie invited us to come over for games at their house. Our family went, as did our friend, Michelle and her kids (her husband, unfortunately, missed all of the excitement because of work). We had a great time playing "Taboo".

We are thrilled to be blessed with great friends to share our lives with!

Getting ready for cake

Ron got help blowing out his candles from Logan and Brittany.

Matthew, Julie (holding Michelle's son, Daniel), Michelle and Jason (not sure about his face there!)

Ron and Matthew

Philip enjoyed eating cake with Clay...as you can see from the leftover icing on his cheeks!

Happy 40th Birthday......Old Man!!!

Happy birthday to my FAVORITE HUSBAND!!! I can't believe I've known him since his 20s and he's now 40! (That just means I'm getting closer and closer to it, too!)

And, he's such a good sport.....he's spending his 40th birthday helping with Disciple Now for the youth at church. We're going with them to Winter Jam....a concert with about 5 bands.

Ron, I hope your day is WONDERFUL and I look forward to your next 40 years!! I love you!