Lucy's First Birthday

LBeau and I traveled to Harrison, Arkansas, this past weekend to celebrate Lucy's first birthday with Lucy, Ben and Claire and Claire's family.  Lucy turned one on Friday, but we saved the party for Saturday, which was also Claire's brother Adam's 19th birthday.

Claire spent Saturday morning making birthday cakes—a pistachio cake for the adults, a banana "smash" cake for Lucy and a brownie cake for Adam.

Claire's sister Caroline helped Claire choose photos from each month of Lucy's first year.  These were mounted and hung on the dining room chandelier.

After lunch it was time to celebrate.  Lucy briefly donned the Party Princess hat.

But Adam absolutely refused to wear it.

Lucy got lots of cute clothes, including these cool new shoes.

But the most fun was eating the "smash" cake…

…and sitting in her brand new chair.

You're Not Getting Any Younger

I've had lots of reminders lately that time is marching on.  The first came back in January when I visited the orthopedic surgeon to have my sutures removed.  When I asked Greg, the physician's assistant, about the repair of the meniscus tear that they had found, he remarked, "Oh at your age we don't repair them; we just clean them up."

I looked at my friend Glenda and said, "Well I guess I'm just too old to fix."

Shortly after that, I began to correspond via email with a cousin in Virginia who is updating the Belin family tree.  He needed some help filling in the gaps.  My maternal grandmother, Mary Belle Belin Reynolds, grew up in Warren, Arkansas, and is shown below with her siblings.

When I started working on information for my part of the family, I realized that since his last update we've added 15 members of a new generation to the line.  This is Ty.  Born in January, he's number 14.  Later in January Marion, named for my mother, arrived, and number 16 is already on the way.

As if that was not enough hint that I'm not as young as I used to be, my friend Danny began posting pictures on Facebook of our hometown, Camden, Arkansas.   This photo of the Tastee-Freez prompted a lengthy discussion of our Friday and Saturday night routine—circle the Tastee-Freez and the Duck Inn, and head back to Teen Town for more dancing to those 1960's 45's.

Meanwhile, Roy, our class president, circulated one of those email quizzes to see how much we remembered.  You know, questions like "What builds strong bodies 12 ways?"  I got a perfect score.

That prompted Jack to post some pictures from a 1958 Christmas dance.  We were 12 years old and in seventh grade, that awkward age where most of the girls are taller than the boys.  I was not one of them—awkward, yes (my mother had blessed me with an awful home perm), but taller, no.

Joy and Jack (dancing), and Nancy (seated with the corsage) were our hosts.  The dance was held at the Supervisor's Club, which was also the venue for our 45th class reunion several years ago.

So yes, I'm getting older, but it surely is fun to look back and remember the good times.  I'm already looking forward to more good times to come.

Valentine Cuties!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  In honor of this day that honors love, I thought I'd share this family photo of my brother Tommy and my cousins Mary Lynn and Ruth Ann.

This picture was made sometime in the mid 1950's by Ben Bracken, who was the photographer (the only professional photographer, in fact) in Camden, Arkansas.  As I recall, it was for some kind of feature article that was published in the Camden News.

I've spent a lot of time lately looking at old photos from my hometown, thanks to my friend Danny.  More on that later as I try to get inspired to start blogging more frequently again.

Meanwhile, hope you get flowers or a heart-shaped box of chocolate candy or at least a card from your sweetie.

Exceedingly Blessed

Just after Thanksgiving an MRI revealed a mass behind my right knee.  This was not news that I was prepared to hear when I finally scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon at the urging of my friends.  A torn meniscus perhaps, or maybe just arthritis, but not a tumor.

The good news—Dr. Sorrell was 99.99% certain it was benign.  The bad news—to get to it, he would need to make a jagged 6 inch incision behind my knee.  Recovery would take about six weeks.  So how soon did I need to schedule surgery?  After all, I had things to do and places to go.

Destin for New Years…

…and New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.

So I scheduled surgery for Thursday, January 13 (at least it wasn’t Friday the 13th).

When Dr. Sorrell came to see me in pre-op, he said that he had been studying my MRI and thought it was worth trying an arthroscopic procedure before opening up the back of my leg.  If it didn’t work, they would flip me over and proceed as originally planned.  I agreed.

What a great feeling to wake up hearing one nurse tell another that I had had an arthroscopic procedure.  The difference in recovery will be huge!!  Instead of the mark of Zorro on the back of my leg, I have three holes in the center of my knee and one on the side.

My friends have been wonderful.  Glenda sat with LBeau during surgery, took my prescriptions to be filled and stayed until supper time.  She came back the next day to keep me company while LBeau went to work and helped me remove the dressing on Saturday.  She’s also become my designated driver.  Yesterday we visited one of my job sites, and today she’s taking me for my first physical therapy appointment.

We’ve had delicious meals every night, furnished by my Bible study friends and my P.E.O. sisters.  When they see me walking around (I’ve been weight bearing since the first day), they probably wonder why I need such service, but believe me, it would be difficult getting to the grocery store and being on my feet long enough to prepare dinner.

So I am exceedingly blessed.  And one more thing.  You can’t begin to know how much it means to tell someone you’re praying for them, until it’s you they’re praying for.  Thanks everyone!!

Surprise!!

For our 40th anniversary dinner, the kids were in charge.  Needing an outing, they announced they were taking us out to eat.  Fine with us.  They were paying.

We needed a kid friendly venue, and the majority voted for Chuy’s at the Summit.  Mistake.  Big mistake.  The Summit was a zoo on the Monday after Christmas, and it was a two-hour wait at Chuy’s.  No can do with three children age three and under.

Regrouping we headed back east on 280, aiming for Pablo’s at Lee Branch.  Fortunately, since everyone in the entire Birmingham metro area was at the Summit, navigating 280 at 6 p.m. was a breeze.  Pablo’s had our table ready in less than five minutes, and we had a pleasant dinner.  We even found another customer willing to snap a group photo.

But little did LBeau and I know that the fun was just getting started.  We had taken three cars to accommodate the eight adults and three children in car seats.  By the time LBeau, Mema and I got home, the others were already there and getting the kids in bed.  Or so we thought.

Surprise!!

Under the direction of Katie, the kids had spent weeks plotting a surprise anniversary party.  Glenda was in charge of the festive decorations on the island, the boys provided beer, and Connie brought wine as well as a delicious spread that Walker called chocolate stuff on crackers (he asked for it for breakfast this morning).

Janice made a delicious appetizer, and Claire spent the afternoon baking a cake at a friend’s house, which she later decorated on the bed in her room upstairs.  It was a complete surprise, and I was blown away.  Afterward all of our friends gathered for a group photo.

Connie and Terry, KBeau and LBeau, Susie and Wayne, Walt and Glenda, Janice and Don

When Claire instructed us to act goofy, Connie whispered, “Make out.”  So we did.

There are lots of years and lots of happy marriages in that picture.  Thanks everyone.

 

How Time Flies…

…when you’re having fun.

Forty years ago today, LBeau and I were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Camden, Arkansas.

Little did we know that 40 years later we would be spending Christmas with our three sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren.

Happy Anniversary, LBeau.  It’s been all fun.

The Village Is Growing

I just thought I was finished.  Lucy's Chocolate Shop arrived in the mail the other day and has joined the other lighted houses in my tiny Christmas village.  As you may have read in THIS POST, I only buy pieces that "speak" to me.  This piece definitely spoke to me, since Lucy is the name of my 10-month-old granddaughter.

The Chocolate Shop fits in perfectly with Walker's Department Store, Claire's Card Shop, Newport School, the Camden General Store and the Beaumont Inn.

Here's a view from another angle.

I thought the Chocolate Shop would be the only addition to my village this year, but shortly after I uploaded my previous post I received an email from my friend Becky.  It contained a link to a website with the instructions to check it out.  And there I found what no self-respecting Arkansas Razorback fan could possibly be without—The Hog Penny Pub.  Of course, I just had to have it.

So the next time you're in the area, stop by Lucy's Chocolate Shop for a free sample, and then head over to the Hog Penny Pub for a Hog Burger and beer.  It's conveniently located next door to the Beaumont Inn.

You might also want to visit Laurie, who's sharing more of her wonderful Christmas collections.  It's a sight to behold.