Wowzers! What a weekend! I had the most wonderful time this weekend with all my friends and family. We started out on Thursday night when we picked Don & Sharon up at the airport (flying in from Texas). They didn't arrive until about 10:00 so we stopped off on the way home at The Brickyard in Davidson. We were so busy catching up with each other that we lost track of time and ended up at home and in bed about 2 a.m.!!
Friday, Sharon, my mom, and I went to the Tea House in Cornelius for a birthday lunch and did a little shopping and got a manicure and pedicure after that. When we arrived home around 6:00 pm, Sonny had picked up Margaret and Graham (from Texas) at the airport and had a big surprise waiting for me. My nephew, Jack (Frost - if you can believe that!!) had flown here from Texas with his girlfriend to surprise me for my birthday. I was really surprised (well, mostly - someone slipped up the night before and let the "cat out of the bag" but I wasn't 100% sure of what they had said.) Jack is the same age as my son and just a great kid. We've always been close and our families always took vacations together when the kids were younger. Since my son wasn't here for my birthday (that's another story!!), having Jack was the next best thing. I haven't seen him since his mother (my half-sister) died last Thanksgiving so it was very emotional for both of us. I had never met his girlfriend, Katrina, (easy to remember that name!) and she was very sweet and fit right in with everyone else.
My daughter, Ashley, had gotten stuck in Friday night traffic driving in from DC so we ended up meeting her in Mooresville and all 9 of us piled in our Durango (that was an interesting fit!!) and went to the Galway Hooker for dinner. Since we didn't have reservations, we had about an hour's wait, but it gave us all time to visit and catch up with each other. After a great meal - fish and chips - yum, we headed home where some of us tried to get to bed before midnight!!
Saturday, we had an early start with an 8:30 card class at Stamper's Alley. I kept telling my visitors that we would stop at a bagel shop to pick up breakfast on the way. But, no one wanted to stop - saying they weren't hungry. When we arrived at Stamper's Alley, I found out why!! Robin had prepared breakfast casserole and banana bread for me for my birthday and the best part .... Bellinis!! What a way to start the day!! So we really enjoyed our card making session although everyone didn't get all 6 of the cards done (we finished them on Sunday). After all of that, our next stop was Pomodoro's Italian Restaurant (sounds like all we did was eat and drink, doesn't it????) where the guys met us for lunch. As usual, our portions were way too much and I still have a lot of the leftovers in my fridge!!
Saturday night was my party. What fun we all had. I had college friends there, old friends, new friends, family ..... and we all had such a great time telling our stories and remembering other times we had been together. It had turned pretty cold and our plans were to have the party outside, so my sister brought her firepit and we all huddled around the fire to stay warm in our sweatshirts and jackets. Unfortunately, all the pictures I took did not turn out because it was so dark and the flames from the fire got in the way. Hopefully, someone else's pictures will be better than mine! That night, it was after 3:00 a.m. before I was in bed. (I'm really too old to keep these hours and it showed Sunday & Monday).
Sunday, Katrina got up and fixed sausage gravy and biscuits for all of us - except the ones who weren't feeling up to par enough to eat (actually, only my hubbie!) Yummmm!! It was just so nice to sit back all weekend and let others do the work. Anyone who knows me, knows that's just not my way!! In the afternoon, we drove back into Mooresville to Big Al's - our local STEELERS bar to watch the game. We had a mix of fans - Sonny, Ashley & I pulling for the Steelers and of course, all the Texans pulling for the Cowboys. (How about those losing Cowboys????) Jack was not a happy camper as you can see by this picture.
Sunday night found most of us lounging around the house and napping. We did end up getting out our slide projector and looked at some old slides of some of our vacations with Jack and my sister from back in the 80's!! And we played a trivia game that was a lot of fun (even if my team didn't win!!).
Monday, it was time for everyone to pack up and get to the airport - after Katrina fixed us another great breakfast!!. This time, we had to drive 2 cars so we could get everyone and their luggage to the airport. A great time was had by all and it is a weekend I will never forget. I was so honored to know that I have friends who think enough of me to come this far just to celebrate my milestone. It makes turning 60 not so bad!! The only thing that would have made it any better is if I could have had my son and his family here with me. Perhaps in another lifetime.
Sunday night found most of us lounging around the house and napping. We did end up getting out our slide projector and looked at some old slides of some of our vacations with Jack and my sister from back in the 80's!! And we played a trivia game that was a lot of fun (even if my team didn't win!!).