Day Thirty Five

Random Restaurant Shots

Last week Neil and I ate lunch at McDonald's on South Jefferson and a man came in with this big German Shepherd. The dog had on a vest that said Service Dog. They must be regulars there because everyone behind the counter knew them. The man got his lunch and sat down in the booth right next to ours. When he went to get his coffee, I took a picture of his dog. You just don't see a German Shepherd in McDonald's every day.

The kids were out of school Monday for a snow day. I promised Elijah a vanilla milk shake at Arby's after lunch. He wanted to go inside to drink the shake so that's what we did. Shelby got a chocolate shake, and they were so thick, we had to eat them with the straws. Plus they were on the dollar menu. Not too shabby.

This afternoon before daughter Kelly and son in law Kerry headed back to Murfreesboro, we stopped at the Cafe Dolce on the square in our little town. I didn't want coffee so I ended up with hot cocoa (that's what it said on the menu which has such small print you can't read it), but it was this dark chocolate that was thick and creamy and totally delicious and so rich I couldn't drink it all. Kelly and Kerry wanted to sample it--that's what the tiny coffee cup was for. When the guy set the little cup on the counter, I thought it was my hot cocoa. Duh

While we drank our coffee/chai/hot cocoa, a man stopped outside and tied his two dogs to the pole and came inside for something to drink. The wind was really cold today and we felt kind of sorry for the dogs out there. The yellow dog was shivering, but they waited patiently while their master had his coffee inside the warm cafe. Maybe I should have shared my hot cocoa with them.

Day Thirty Four

You Say It's Your Birthday

This is my mom the day (maybe the day after) she gave birth to me on February 3, 1953, in Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. She looks happy and she got roses. And she got me.
The picture came from this photo booklet the developers used to put them in back in the day. I love what she wrote on it. You think she knew there would be other daughters to follow? She was right. Thanks for having me, Mom! Thanks for giving me such wonderful brothers and sisters. I love you!

Day Thirty Three

Me And My Shadow

Does this mean six more weeks of Winter? Since I'm not Punxsutawney Phil, this probably doesn't count. Happy Groundhog Day, one and all!

Day Thirty Two

SNOW DAY!

Today is the first snow day I can remember in a long time where we've actually had snow. Shelby and Elijah stayed with me today and we went outside after lunch and played in the snow. The temperature was really mild so it was nice to be outside even in the crunchy snow. Elijah had fun drop kicking chunks of ice.

The trampoline is bulging under the weight of the ice and snow. Good thing it was made to stretch.

You have to make a snow angel when you're playing in the snow. Shelby spent a lot of time just sitting and laying in it.

And of course Elijah did, too. He laid down on the hill hoping to body slide. I was just hoping he wouldn't slip and slide down into Maple Avenue.

They both got a kick out of throwing big chunks of icy snow from the hill onto the street. Shelby and I had to warn Elijah not to throw the chunks at cars passing by. He got to the point where he'd say, "Car!" and they'd wait until it passed before they threw their chunks.

Before Shelby headed back inside, she sat down for a bite of snow. I reminded her that cats run around in the yard. She decided not to eat any. After almost two hours outside, I had to insist that Elijah go inside. He was soaking wet. And what was the first thing they wanted to do when they got inside? Eat Popsicles!

Day Thirty One

Neil broke this "Winter sandwich" off the car this afternoon--a solid layer of ice in between two layers of snow. This stuff is making for treacherous road conditions in our hilly little town. The temperature got near forty degrees and the snow and ice started to melt some. We did venture out and about this afternoon before the next hard freeze sets in tonight. No school Monday!