A Great Find

Yesterday I went to garage sales with Vicki, her sister, and her niece around my neighborhood. There are always a ton of garage/yard sales around. We went to quite a few, but Vicki insists that it was a slow day.

I found a record player that was free. It is a big record player, and it was free. I couldn't resist. We had to get Sally's truck, and it was fairly heavy, but we were able to get it in the truck. Tony was a bit shocked to see this "treasure" that I found. I keep reminding him that it was free.

And it works. And it came with records. Bily Idol, Bee Jees, U2, The sound track to Saturday Night Fever, Niel Diamond, and some that I have never heard of. Right now it is in our living room. I don't know if we are going to keep it or not, but hey, it was free. :)

Sunburns

Tony and I are sunburned. We spent the day with Bethany at Millennium Park yesterday. Despite the sunscreen that we lathered on, we are very sore and red today. We bought an aloe spray today but it doesn't seem to be making any difference.

Bethany stayed with us from Friday until last night. We had a great time with her. We had water balloon fights. When the water balloons ran out, we just filled the cooler and had water fights. We walked to the ice cream store to get ice cream. We played battle ship. We went swimming at Millennium Park. We made brownies. It was fun.

She is such a creative child full of energy. I constantly found myself amazed at the solutions she had to problems. I am surprised by her kindness to others.

Right now, her mother is in a wheelchair, unable to efficiently take care of Bethany, and her father is an alcoholic with a new girlfriend. Bethany did not want to go home (to either home), and I didn't want to let her. But Adam and Ashly took her home last night.

And today is a sad day. The house is empty. I keep waiting to hear "Sissy!" from the other room. I know it was only a few days, and she will be back, but it was great to have her around.

Back to normal, I guess.

Surprise Strawberry

I am officially 21 as of last Thursday. After I got out of work on Wednesday, I came home and Tony was anxious to go somewhere, anywhere. So we went to get my haircut and then to Cracker Barrel.

We also stopped at Meijer and Tony went in alone. He came out with some pictures he had ordered and a birthday card.

When we got home there was a basket with fresh wonderful strawberries, Boonesfarm, Pucker, popcorn, candles, and a birthday card from my dad and Ellen. There was also a bag with a bunch of parts in it. Tony told me to figure out what they were for. Then I looked outside and saw a new patio set in our backyard. It was all from dad and Ellen.


What a night. And it wasn't even my birthday yet.

Thursday we went to see Knocked Up and hung out at the mall. We went out to dinner with some of our friends. We went to a place called El Burrito Loco. For dessert, i got free fried ice cream. That is a great surprise. I absolutely love fried ice cream. We then went to Marc and Shelby's, and hung out with a group of friends for while, drinking and talking.

Friday my mom was supposed to come over, but she ended up going to the hospital. Adam and Ashly were supposed to come over as well, but of course couldn't because they had to go visit mom.

I thought I had a great birthday, some let downs, but over all, satisfying.

Then today, we get home from church, and inside of our garage were two pairs of children's shoes. I assure you we have no children, and there is no reason for shoes in our garage. I asked Tony why they were there, and he didn't seem to care. He just told me to go inside.

Well, he had planned a surprise party. Dad and Ellen, Ben and Laura, Andrea and her kids, and Jennifer were all standing inside. That is a much better explanation for the shoes than I had come up with. And they brought even more strawberries. We have soo many now, I hope they don't go to waste.

I am trying to be grateful for the people who are there, and not let other people disappoint me. My mom should be sharing my birthday with me. But she hasn't been there before and I shouldn't expect otherwise. And that shouldn't take away from everyone else in my life.

I think all of the surprises are over.