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Friday, January 21, 2011

Another Year Older

Our kind neighbors, Donna and Ron followed us to the Jeep dealership so we could have them put in a new water pump. Gary had a Doctors appointment at 2, so they promised to get her done by then. We left there and did a little shopping at Walmart (of course). Donna was doing a spaghetti casserole for dinner and then we were going to watch a couple funny shows on TV – The Middle and Modern Family. We got them hooked on them the evening the President gave a speech about the shooting in Arizona. The programming was really screwed up that night, but they laughed at what was aired, so now it will be a weekly thing for them, too. We talked a little after dinner and then Gary started yawning, so we headed home around 10:30.

Yesterday I began receiving my ‘birthday calls’ around 10 am. It is our family’s tradition to call the birthday person and sing Happy Birthday over the phone. Mandy sent me a text. She had been to the Dentist for two fillings and couldn’t move her jaw much. Michelle called and all five of her kids sang to me, and then Tristan called from Miami and sang. He will be running a marathon next weekend in Miami Beach which we will be there for seeing him at the starting line at 6:15 am. Not crazy about the start time, but I don’t think I can do anything about it. We’ll drive down the night before, of course, and have to set the alarm. Yuck.

Finally the Jeep was ready, the courtesy van arrived and we all hopped in for the twenty mile drive to Jeep. A few tears escaped Gary’s eyes when he paid the bill, but only I noticed. Well, we all squeezed in and off to Golden Corral for dinner. We sampled all the food and then Donna surprised me with a tiny chocolate cheesecake sampler. There were two pieces each of: turtle, triple chocolate, chocolate chip and a white chocolate. We stuffed ourselves with that, then decided we needed to walk.

Where else could we walk and have fun but Downtown Disney? The lights, the music and the people were invigorating. We found a great parking spot especially since it was about 70 degrees and the place was really hopping. Arriving at the outdoor stage, we got caught up in the Dance Party going on. A single guy was leading about 100 people dancing everything from the Chicken to the Wave. Well, what a perfect solution to doing some calorie burning. Donna and I joined in while the boys watched everyone. There were little tiny kids to 90 year olds having a ball. That guy kept us dancing for 3 hours! There was a contest near the end involving 6 couples – a couple little girls, two little boys, a little girl about 6 and her uncle, a mom and daughter, two other older boys and a man and woman. We had to vote by our applause and cheers. Everyone was close, but it came to a tie between the two little girls and the uncle and his niece.

Everyone kept on dancing, but we decided to take a boat ride. The full moon reflected on the water as we cruised in the lagoon from one end of the strip to the other. Gary sniffed the aroma wafting out of the cigar shop along the way (but gratefully kept walking), and we watched another band performance for a minute. We squeezed back into the Jeep and headed home.

What a great birthday. Thank you all for your birthday wishes. I’m grateful that you could all ‘share’ my special day with me!

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