My Birthday....

Yesterday, was my birthday. I spent it like most birthdays.....Christmas shopping. But before the shopping, I started my day with breakfast with Emily and Matt. 

Next, it was off to the Amish furniture store to pick up a cabinet that I ordered a couple of months ago.  Emily and Matt had shopping of their own to do, but before leaving me, Matt gave me directions to the popular shopping hub. And then, I was left on my own to shop in the great city of Greenville. I was headed to the shoe store when.....Oh Lordy B......I got trapped in traffic under the red light, no more than two blocks down the road. I had already encountered a woman pulling out in front of me, nearly causing a crash. I decided that instead of ramming her and causing a scene on my birthday, that I would let there be peace on earth or at least right there in Greenville, South Carolina. And then there's this thing..... I am a wimp when it comes to heavy traffic and crowds. So, I decided to get the heck outta there.

I was homeward bound, when I decided to go to Greenwood, instead. Less traffic, less crowds......one hour and my Christmas shopping was done. I had a late lunch and then stopped by Publix to pick up groceries for our Christmas dinner with Emily, Matt, Lidia and Sawyer, before leaving for Colorado.

Hmmm......before I knew it, the day was over and thank goodness I lived to wonder what next year's birthday will bring. 

Laurie

Flight of the Dove

We had a crazy busy Saturday at the lake. Don't worry, I'm going to keep it short. It all started early that morning with a 14-mile bike ride. The ride was called Flight of the Dove, benefiting Hospice of Lauren's County. And, in light of the name....they released doves to fly over us just before the ride began.

  Cliff, Lidia, Sawyer and I joined hundreds of people in Clinton to ride for this cause. 

Some rode 100 miles, some rode 60, some rode 30 and then there was us.

We rode the family fun ride of 14 miles. 

We rode on some pretty country roads with a few gently rolling hills.

 There were barns and cows. 

The cows were curious enough, until I jumped the ditch...haha!

When we stopped to take pictures of the cows, I had to jump a ditch to get close enough. 

I scared the bejeebies out of the cows and they took off running. HaHa! I almost started a stampede. But they only ran a few feet and then settled down enough to turn and look at me, trying to figure out who or what the heck I was.

L&S were starting to get tired. It was a good time for a snack. 

Lidia and Sawyer rode like champs. We made sure we had plenty of Gatorade and snacks for them. Sawyer, in particular, runs out of gas pretty quickly. So we stopped several times for them to get a drink and then about half way for a piece of a PB&J that I had packed for them. We didn't know it, but just down the road at the half-way point the ride organizers had snacks for us. So we stopped again.

Flags with yellow ribbons lined the avenue on our return route.

We left the rest stop and continued down back-country roads until we had made a huge circle around the outskirts of Clinton. We arrived back to the Presbyterian College Stadium, where the race began.

 

 I saw these Lantana on the grounds of the stadium in full bloom and looking glorious.

 Betsy Brock, these are for you.

The organizers of the ride had a delicious meal prepared for us at the end of the ride. But before we could sit down to eat, L&S had to have a massage.

 

Lidia wanted a foot massage. 

 

 But, Sawyer wanted a back massage. 

 The masseuse was as excited to give Sawyer a massage as he was to get it.

After all was said and done, we were so proud of Lidia and Sawyer for being able to make the whole 14 miles. They were awesome!

Sawyer was pretty tired after it was over.

In addition to the bike ride, I had planned a surprise birthday cookout for Cliff. I had the help of his mama and Emily or I wouldn't have been able to pull it off. They stayed back at the house and prepared the food and cake, while we rode bikes. They hid the food and cake pretty well, before we got back home. We had a couple of hours before guests were to arrive. Ms. Wanda, Emily and I spent that time tracking Cliff's sister on the Find My Friends app, while he took a short nap on the couch. His sister and her husband were the first to arrive shortly after he woke up and he was surprised to see them, but what he didn't know was that there were more guests to come. He asked at one point what were we planning and I just told him that we were going to grill chickens. Emily started grilling while Ms. Wanda and I started bringing out all the food. And as the other guests arrived, he was pleasantly surprised to see them, too. I was glad we were able to pull it off without him finding out. He said, "I was wondering why you had two pitchers of tea in the refrigerator". HaHa!

So, we had a great time with Lidia and Sawyer, riding for a good cause and then celebrating Cliff's 60th birthday and our 35th wedding anniversary. Yep, we got married on his birthday. He planned that just right!

Sunday was laid back....everyone kind of did their own thing. Cliff took L&S across the lake for their ritual lake picnic, while I dozed on the dock. After their picnic, we kayaked to Grape City (a patch of grapevines on the bank of the lake) to pick grapes. And just like that the weekend was over.

But before I close, you know I always have something blooming.....so here you go. 

Laurie

My Tuesday

(source)

This was me after my 60-mile bike weekend!

 (source)

 And this was me after yoga class with Nicki, this morning.

 

 Today, is my sister's birthday!

To celebrate, I had her over for lunch.

And, just because I always send my sister feet pictures for her birthday......

HaHa!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Sista!!

LaLa loves you!

Laurie

P.S. She's thirty-eight, shhhh! And she hates other people's feet. LOL!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Lidia

Our sweet girl, Lidia.

Today, Lidia, turned 11 years old. Where did the time go? Does this mean she is now a tween? I can hardly stand it. I wish the kids could stay 3 years old forever. Well, maybe not. But I'm sure not ready for her to grow up so fast.

Since we were going to be at the lake for the weekend, we planned to make it a birthday weekend. On the way, I stopped by Connie's Bakery in Kingstree to pick up strawberry cupcakes. Oh my goodness, Connie is the best baker, ever! She is also making Emily's wedding cake, strawberry with buttercream frosting and strawberry cupcakes with the same butter cream frosting. So, Lidia's birthday gave us a good chance to try them.

Yum, don't they look scrumptious? "L" equals Love...Lidia!

Saturday, after dinner, we had cupcakes. And yes, they were scrumptious!

Sunday, Cliff and I had a fun surprise for her. A destination birthday of sorts. We took Lidia and Sawyer to Moonshine Mountain in Hendersonville, NC to snow tube for her birthday. We were concerned because of the unusually warm temps that there would be no snow or that it would be very slushy. I called ahead and they said, the conditions were perfect. They still had 15 feet of snow.

This was the only snow around, but it was just enough. The kids had a ball. The temps were in the upper 60's and the snow was a little slow, but I didn't mind that. I was thinking safety.

Here they come...their first trip down Moonshine Mountain, tandem style.

On the left,  you can see that they have a pulley system to pull the riders, in their tubes, to the top.

Lidia in her tube being pulled to the top....

and, Sawyer in his.

You could also walk up, if you chose to...which they did. Once, and that was enough.

Ha! It took awhile.

Lidia slid down alone, only once.

And, here comes Sawyer, alone...only once. This is unusual for them. 

Lidia and Sawyer do everything together.

They are very close.

And, wouldn't you know it....Cliff found President Obama.

He had a thing or two to talk to the President about. Ha!

 

We had a great day and it was so nice to be able to do something special for Lidia's birthday. She loved it and that's all that matters.

 

To Lidia:

Papi and I love you with all our hearts. You are a precious angel. You have grown into a special young lady....You are kind, compassionate, sweet with gentle ways, you are smart and quick witted, you are an awesome big sister, you swim like a fish, and you are going to make an awesome Tae Kwon Do Master one day. Keep your eyes on Jesus. He will take you far. We hope all your dreams come true and that you had the greatest of birthdays. Now, please stop growing up!

 

Love,

LaLa and Papi

Way Back When.....

....I was still a bun in my mama's oven...... Well, that sounded corny, but I'm leaving it in because my posts are for posterity's sake, remember. HaHa!

Anyway, today is my birthday! And I plan to do just what the heck I want to, which includes going to the grocery store, baking, making beds, laundry...'cause....a woman's work is never done. But I'm seriously enjoying all the Birthday Wishes I'm receiving on Facebook. I don't need presents....nah....but those two words just make my day!

Again, way back when I was still a bun in my mama's oven, this world was a different place. I thought it might be fun to Google the highlights of the year 1959. Yeah, I dated myself. I don't care that you know how old I am. I'm hip like that.

In 1959:

1)   Alaska was admitted as the 49th U.S. state and Hawaii as the 50th.
2)   Ben-Hur was the movie of the year.
3)   Exodus by Leon Uris was the number one best seller.
4)   Two monkeys, Able and Miss Baker are the first living beings to successfully return to Earth from space aboard the flight Juniper AM-18.
5)   CBS made The Wizard of Oz an annual tradition.
6)   Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by the Platters topped the charts.
7)   In the 50's The Korean War took place and the Vietnam War began.
8)   Bonanza was very popular on T.V.
9)   Dwight D. Eisenhower was President.
10) In 1959, a cure-all vaccine for diphtheria, polio, and whooping cough was released.
11) I share my birth year with Simon Cowell, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Magic Johnson.
12) Mary Ann Mobley from MS was Miss America.
13) Frank Lloyd Wright died that year.
14) Cliff was 4 years old.
15) Daddy was in the Army, stationed in Ft. Ord, California. He had only been there 3 weeks when I was born and it was 6 weeks later before he met me for the first time.
16) I was born at 2:18 a.m., weighed 8 lb. 9 oz., it was cold and rainy. Mama said, "You've gained a few pounds, since then". HaHa! .
17) Mama was living in Spartanburg with Granny and PaPa, since Daddy was away. Spartanburg is listed as my birth city, but I was actually born in a little community called Cowpens in Dr. Crow's clinic. How about that!

 



My oh my, how times have changed. Progress continues and is needed, but sometimes I wish I could go back and experience what it was like to be a teenager and/or an adult during the 50's. I bet I would be wearing poodle skirts and watching American Bandstand with Dick Clark, listening to Chuck Berry or Elvis and doing the twist in my black and white saddle oxfords at the local sock hop. Or, I would be doing my shopping, baking and cleaning in heels and pearls.

Hang Loose,

Laurie

Ironman Louisville: Part 2 - My 8 miles and the Fourth Street Live Incident

Cliff swam under this bridge. The finish line was just beyond it.

I had to get an 8-mile run done on Ironman Sunday as part of my half-marathon training...so I decided to head out before sun up to get ahead of the heat and humidity. I planned it so that I would complete my run at the very spot that Cliff would come out of the water...the swim finish. The plan worked pretty good too. I finished with 15 minutes to spare.  My run that day was awesome. I also had the same ZipFizz energy drink as Cliff, but my experience was much different. For me, it did what it claimed to do. I had lots of energy and felt so good after my run I felt like I could have ran the half-marathon that day. Not only did I run 8 miles, but I spent a good portion of the day walking the streets of Louisville going from the swim and bike transition areas back to the hotel, to lunch, back to the hotel, back to the bike finish, to the medic tent, back to the hotel, to dinner and back to the bike transition to retrieve Cliff's stuff.

 

The next day was low key, mostly a rest day for Cliff. For me, it was a cross training day. I rode a stationary bike in the gym for 11 miles. Cliff was feeling better so we decided to get out and see some of the sights. I wanted to drive the bike route because I already knew from last year how pretty it was. So, we did. And it was just as pretty as I remember.

 

A couple of the sights along the bike route......

 

 

 

Other things to mention are that we celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary and his 58th birthday (which is on the same day), while in Louisville. We had our anniversary dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Cliff was carbing up.

Ri Ra's Irish Pub - Fourth Street Live

Oh wait, listen to this. Monday night, we were having dinner outside at Ri Ra's Irish Pub in the Fourth Street Live section when a man whom we figured was homeless approached Cliff and asked him if he would buy him a burger. Cliff told him yes and asked the waiter to let the man order something to eat. The waiter brought the man a menu, but the man waved him off and just told the waiter what he wanted to order. Okay, a red flag went up for me. He apparently knew the menu, which means he's probably done this before. About that time, the man went inside the restaurant. I was kind of concerned and told Cliff that maybe he should tell the waiter not to let the man order any alcohol.  But before he could, the waiter brought us the check. We looked and the homeless man didn't order a burger......NOPE, he ordered a $22 steak. Now I don't mind helping people, but clearly, that man took advantage of us. Lord knows it's a shame that you have to be so suspicious of people these days. It's just a shame!

I guess you just take the bad with the good. And there was plenty of good! Kentucky is one of the prettiest states I've visited. It is green and lush and has rolling hills that you can see for miles. Every person we met, was pleasant and kind. And even though we were approached a few times by the homeless wanting money or food, we did not fear them for they were kind as well.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's conclusion of Ironman Louisville,

 

Laurie 

My Mama

Mama in 1958



I know, you probably are wondering what sort of funny post am I going to write about my mama. Well, believe it or not, there are plenty. But, I will save those for another day.....because today, February 28th,  is her birthday.

Mama was born February 28, 1941. I can always remember that because that was the year Pearl Harbor was bombed. To think....that was a whole life-time ago. So much has happened in her past 72 years.

Mama was raised by parents who worked in the Cotton Mills of SC. How's that for a look into the past? She was one of two girls and spent a lot of time with her grandparents because of her parents working. She learned a lot from her grandmother and she shares tidbits and quotes with us all the time that she gleamed from her grandmother. The one she quotes the most is, "Where there's a will, there's a way". I love hearing about things of her past. Maybe that's why nostalgia and I get along so well.

My mama is one of the sweetest, funniest, most patient, most organized and most beautiful persons I know. She is a God-fearing prayer warrior who when approached with a concern or problem guides you straight to the Father for help and guidance. She never forgets a birthday. She sends birthday cards and Christmas cards to multitudes of people. I've said it before, the greeting card companies love my mama. We really should by stock.

Mama always finds the good in people and believes in helping anyone in need, in anyway possible even if it means that she goes without. She loves movies, loves to read and loves to go out to eat. Among her favorite restaurants are Taco Bell and Myabi's. LOL! But tonight, it's going to be The River Room.

Mama and daddy were married in 1958 and daddy, shortly after, entered the Army. It was the Army that took her away from her hometown of Spartanburg. And it must have given her a sense of freedom and independence because she has yet to want to go back and make Spartanburg her home. We settled in this beautiful low country of ours. She would go back to her childhood home for a visit, but was always so happy to get back to our home in the low country.

Mama was blessed with six children, 8 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. I am her oldest and have seen it all. The ups and downs of her life. And I am constantly amazed at her outlook on life. The tenacity of her Independence is mesmerizing.

Like her mother, she is no stranger to cotton either. Most of my teenage years, she spent working in a sewing plant helping to construct t-shirts. In time, those jobs that she was so accustomed to was shipped over seas to China. She eventually, left the sewing plants for home. She is one that can not sit still. She needs to be doing something all the time. And sitting at home got old really fast. Needing to have extra income and something to fill her days, she began babysitting in her home. Now, some 20 years later and she has racked up quite a portfolio of children that she has helped raise. Her little children love her!! Some call her what our kids call her....Granny Pat. Some can't say that and call her P-Pat or Pat-Pat. But whatever they call her, it doesn't matter. She is filled to the rim with love.

Mama spoiled my little brother. That's what true southern women do. But she taught us girls many things....sewing, cooking, organizing and how to treat and take care of others are just a few. Most of these things have made me the person I am today. I only hope that I can shape my girl's lives the way she has shaped mine. She has been an encourager and motivator. I went back to college late in life. And one of my proudest moments ever was the day she sat in the audience of my college graduation. She was my biggest fan!

Daddy went home to be with the Lord in 2008 and as mama is older now, but still in very good health, I can't help but think about the future at times. And I quickly, very quickly remove the thoughts from my mind because I.Can.Not.Ever. fathom a future without my mama in it.

Thank you, Mama, for everything you have ever done for me and my family. You have been a huge building block and corner stone in my life. I thank the good Lord for choosing you to be my mama!

Mama at her 70th birthday party.

Happy Birthday, Mama! I love you!

Laurie

It's my Birthday!!

 

Bad job of focusing, but you can see the mileage at the top.

 **********

Amount of miles run: 5.2

Amount of time I wanted to stop and walk: 5 (to coin a phrase from a new running friend....log-legs)

Amount of times I did: 0 (hallelujah)

Things I noticed along the side of the road: a wrench, a dead frog, a dime and a brick

**********

Yes, today is my birthday and it has been an awesome day. It started with a call from mama singing Happy Birthday via a stuffed toy bear. LOL! Here's how the rest of the day unfolded...................

Breakfast: Comfort food. Grits and Eggs.

Spent the day with: Cliff. He took the day off work to spend it with me. Sweet!

Ran: 5.2 miles in Lakewood.


Remember this? I posted it a few weeks ago. Beautiful place to run.

This was the same place today, Dec. 18th. It turned ugly. I really had to watch my step.



Or...I could step on one of these.

Or...one of these. Take it from me, one of these little suckers will throw you to the ground in a heartbeat.

And, it could will make you look like this.

Lunch: Quesadilla Explosion Salad at Chili's w/Cliff.

Call from: Whitney, wishing her Ma a happy birthday.

Throughout the day: Received special birthday wishes....calls, cards and comments from Facebook friends and family.

Lazy afternoon ended in finally packing up to go home. Arrived home to find Emily, Lidia and Sawyer waiting with birthday cake and presents.

And then a nice ending of a great day was one last call from Cammie....singing in an oh-so-sultry and raspy voice...Happy Birthday!

I sure don't feel a day older, just a little wiser and for sure a little more cared for. All the birthday wishes have been so special. Thank you all for remembering!

Laurie