Project: Sneak Peek

There is a whole lotta orange going on!

I'm loving how it is all turning out.

All for now.

1049

1049: That is the number of blog posts I have written and published since I began blogging.

And this is the first time I really can't think of a thing to say.

I haven't seen anything particularly worthy of a picture lately.
All my projects are at a mid point; too soon to share about them.
Nothing really profound is happening in the news.

(Hmmm....what oh what can such a lull in blogging material mean?)

I did have a conversation with my BGF Gail last night. She lives in Denver; we catch up with each other about once a week on the phone.

We compared notes on our lives at the moment. Both of us know a lot of people with lots of physically difficult situations going on. We know people who are being challenged with economic situations.

But the two of us? Right now? Not much is going on.
That's a switch. We hardly know what to make of it.

We agreed to just enjoy the moment. Life has a way of dishing up new "interesting" situations without any help on our part. A tad bit of boredom?

We'll take it!

Just how mundane is life right now?

Her son in medical school called to tell her his exciting news: He just figured out that he could hang two shirts on one hanger, and two jackets on another hanger and that would mean that he only needed two hangers instead of four.

Needless to say this information nearly struck her speechless. He is very busy with his studies, in his second year of medical school, training to be an orthopedic surgeon and he doesn't call home very often.

And this was his amazing bit of news that warranted a phone call?

She recovered from her shock and managed to ask why he suddenly wanted to have only two hangers instead of four anyway.

Oh..that was simple. He was packing to fly from Colorado to New Jersey for his first surgical conference.

The travel plans and conference were news to her. She of course is proud and pleased that he is going to such an event.

But being one of the best mothers that I know, she managed to be happy with him about the fact that he will be able to go and take only two hangers instead of four in his suitcase.

It is good to know he is still such a down to earth kind of guy who continues to find joy in simple pleasures.

We agreed: Being happy about simple things, and even mundane things is a enviable way to live.

So I'm sharing the simple thing that made a future doctor and his mother happy with you on this, my 1049th blog post, so perhaps it will make you happy too.

My baby...he's thirty.

Thirty years ago on March 7th.

Fourteen years ago.

And today.

He's thirty.

My son is a man that I am proud of.

He says he still feels like a kid though.

(I hope he always does...)

He and his bride chose to celebrate the milestone by taking a ski weekend in Jackson Hole.

We got to take care of their two kids, Meowsie, age 10, and Cheeto, who is 9 months old while they were gone.

A simple task it was, just a matter of pouring some kibble in a bowl and petting them for a few minutes.
We consider this a training period in our lives, and hope someday we will be trusted with grandkids that don't have triangular shaped ears and fluffy tails.

On the actual birthday day, Jeff and Rachel drove back to SLC and came to to our place for a dinner.

Their youngest, Cheeto, came with them.
Cheeto wasn't expected, but is always quite welcomed.

(Tiggie peered around the corner at Cheeto, then headed downstairs to try to forget what he had just seen. We have no idea what Hart did. At least both of them behaved themselves around their young nephew.)

Bernie planned, shopped for and prepared the birthday meal.

Oh so good!

Dessert was a meringue with a cream sauce and fresh fruits.

A perfect finish after a fish/brochette/garlic/tomato based meal.

Cheeto entertained us by chasing a cat toy while we caught up on life: What is going on at church, work, house hunting for them, domestic experiences, the economy.

How our cats wake us up in the morning.

How our cats are insane.

Our whole family talks constantly about our cats.
Tiggie and Cessa each have blogs, and Cheeto appears regularly on Facebook.
When we call each other, it is understood that mostly we will be discussing the latest thing our cats have done, and how cute their latest pictures were.

Cheeto in the jungle.

Cheeto on the hunt. I think his face looks like a little orange pansy.

And I think how his whiskers all point forward is cute, cute, cute.

Gramps and Rachel and Cheeto saying farewell after a fine evening.

Yes, all my children are now in their thirties.

How can that be when most days I still feel like I am only about thirty four years old myself?

And why don't they make that cute little graph thingie from Moms that are my age?

You know the ones I am talking about; that say Oscar is now 2 years, 4 months and 14 days old, with a cute little graphic of a tyke riding a train or a pony or some such, like this one: Maybe I could have one with a cute graphic of a blond haired boy skiing or riding a motorcycle, balancing a laptop and a mortgage, and underneath today it would say:

Today Jeffrey Bernard is 30 years old.

The next day it would say:

Jeffrey Bernard is 30 years and 1 day old.

I'd really like that for each of my kids.

Because you never ever get over how amazing it is to have a child.

It is an on going blessing.

Each day, each month, each year, and each decade.

(And even now, at age 30, he is still saying things that makes me laugh.

Ever heard of 13 bean soup, or maybe 14 bean soup, or something like that?

I used to make that kind of soup all the time.

Tonight Jeff told me he never could stand my 43 kinds of bean soup recipe. I laughed. And am writing it down here to remember it.)