Birthday Dinner

One of my friends from college, who now lives in Charles.ton, came into town to celebrate her birthday. She had let me know a few weeks in advance that she would be here and that she would like for me to join her and several others for dinner to celebrate her 40th birthday.

So, last night, in the middle of the Ala.bama/Ten.nessee football game, I went to meet her for dinner. Fortunately for me, she wanted to see the game too, so we ended up eating in the bar of a restaurant in Cahaba Heights called Satterfield's. It turned out to be only four of us for dinner, but that was fine. The food was VERY good and the wine was even better. Ashlea and I figured out that we haven't seen each other in probably 13 years and, to me, she still looks the same as she did in college.

It was great to see her and catch up. We laughed about people we remembered and things we did and saw while we were in college. We talked about what we've been up to since we last saw each other and rekindled our friendship. I hope that we are able to get together again before another 13 years have passed! Maybe I'll even head up to Charles.ton for a visit!

Happy Birthday, Ashlea!

Loyalty

This is our wonderful 4 1/2 year old chocolate lab, Lola.

She is the daughter of Ken's previous yellow lab, Sebastion, who was a phenomenal dog. When the litter was born, Ken and I discussed it and I told him a couple things about having a dog added to our household: (1) We would not have a yellow lab--following in Sebastion's footsteps would be difficult for any dog to live up to and (2) I was not going to be outnumbered in my own house, so we would have to have a girl puppy.

When we went to see the puppies, there were three chocolate girls, two yellow boys and two black boys, so, of course, we were going to have one of the chocolate girls. Lola was the darkest of the chocolates--so dark, she was almost black--and she was also the runt of the litter. I immediately honed in on her as the one for us. Now, please keep in mind that I picked this dog out.

Fast-forward to today. Lola goes to work with Ken EVERY day and pretty much thinks that if he leaves the house, she's supposed to go too. This morning, Ken was doing some patch work in the shopping center and, because he didn't want Lola getting into the materials he was going to be working with, he left her at home with me.

This is what she did while he was gone:

I was calling her name and trying to get her to look at me, but she was having nothing to do with me.

She has her nose poked through the blinds so she can see when Ken is pulling into the driveway.

She sat on her place at the window like that for over two hours, waiting on him to return. Now THAT'S a loyal dog!

The Phone Call

Yesterday, about 8:00 A.M., my home phone rang. It was my sister, who promptly said, "Somebody wants to tell you something." Shortly after handing the phone off, I heard, "Aunt B, I want you to come play with me." Come to find out that Carter had told Sue that he wanted me to come over and play and for her to leave. How in the world could I say no to that!

I had a few errands to run and Sue wanted to take Carter and Callen to be sized for shoes, so I told her that I'd call her to be sure they were home before I came by.

What a good looking bunch!

I ended up getting over to their house about 11:00 and, as I walked in the door, I heard, "Where is Aunt B?" When Carter saw me, he ran over and I scooped him up. He had been outside playing golf, so we headed out to the backyard.

Sunny wanted NOTHING to do with me! As soon as she saw me, she got a death grip on Sue and puckered up to cry. Sue reassured her that she was not leaving, but Callen was having NONE of it. She would hardly look in my direction, let alone allow me to hold her!

Callen isn't really sure she wants me anywhere near her.

We watched the C-man hit the golf ball for awhile. He was hitting it off a tee and, periodically, he would ask me to "make the tee bigger" for him. (Translation: Make it stick up higher so the ball is way up off the grass.) Of course, I obliged.

Carter was too cute while he was playing. He'd set the ball up on the tee and then squat down to look at it.

Assessing the situation

Connecting with the ball

His hand/eye coordination is fantastic! He was making that ball fly all over the backyard! I really think he has a good shot at being a great golfer.

Not to be outdone, Sunny had some new tricks of her own!

Drinking out of my water glass

Standing up and walking

I also got to help with lunch. Carter requested "chicken nuggets" with peaches and Callen got BBQ, peaches and peas.

Carter getting ready to gobble up his lunch

Callen and her peaches

(Doesn't that look just say "Woman, would you please let me eat in peace without all the flashes?")

I had such a great time visiting with the C-man, Sunny, and Sue! I am so glad they called! And I'm even "gladder" that they are back in Birmingham so I can see them much more often!