Today is my friend Anne's birthday! To celebrate, we had a mini-reunion at dinner last night. It was WONDERFUL! Although I don't see them nearly often enough, I do get to catch up with Cynthia, Amy and Anne (on the right side of the booth) from time to time. But for this occasion, two other friends joined us: Kanette and Dana! We were all UT students in the University Avenue Church's campus ministry around the same time, and it had been AGES since we'd all been together.
(Can you see the size of that chicken fried steak on my plate? Iron Cactus calls it their chicken fried strip steak, and I wouldn't have ordered it, but Amy made me. Well, she recommended it, anyway! It had me at "jalapeno cream gravy.")Anne, our actress, seemed to like her red carpet birthday card:
We ALL liked the mousse the restaurant provided for our dessert:
And Anne loved her new iPod!
The best part of our dinner, though, was the conversation, which often led to much laughter! We talked through appetizers, we talked through our dinner, we talked through dessert, we talked long after that. Then we moved to the parking lot where--yep!--we talked some more.
It's crazy to think it's been more than 15 years since we were in college together. Some of our memories are so fresh in our minds. (Others? Not so much! We decided those hazy recollections are the events that we can re-invent more to our liking!)
OK, girls. We really can't wait another 15 years to get together. Last night was too much fun! (And y'all still need to help me figure out who that guy is--you know, the one with the pecs.)
After our dinner I spent the night at Anne's place. Max was a gracious host (as was Anne!).
As delightful as the weekend was, the trip home was NOT. The drive usually takes me three hours, but today? Almost five. This is just what you DON'T want to see when you're ready to be home: speedometer at 0, rain on the windshield, nothing but tail lights on the interstate and frontage road.
(This was between Temple and Troy. It took me 50 minutes to move three miles. Aargh.)
But you know, it was absolutely worth it! For a chance to get together with these friends whom I love so dearly, I'd do it all again this second!
Today was the big day! After a celebratory trip to Las Vegas for the Classic Gaming Expo a week ago and some partying with Ryan over the weekend, Brett finally turned 40 today!
And of course, there was CAKE!
We're down to the last few precious days of summer break! We still have a few items on our "to do" list before school starts, but today we kept it simple: Mickey D's and Half Price Books!
Congratulations, Ryan! Your patience really paid off!
(What? You mean I'm sharing my party with this old guy?)
Ryan was overwhelmed with all of his presents!
Since we're also celebrating Brett's 40th birthday, he got to open some cards, too.
Michael Griffin, Bo Scaife, Ahmard Hall and The Greatest Evah (Vince Young)
For more VBS pictures, check out our Heritage VBS blog. It's amazing how much work has gone into this week! What a blessing it has been to our kids!
It was one of those bedtime conversations. I was tucking Katie into bed months ago, and we talked about her room's white walls. Wouldn't a COLOR be so much nicer? We decided to try and paint over Christmas break. OK, that didn't work out. Well, how 'bout spring break? No? Summer, then!
Of course, Brett had to get the tack strips up for us.
Katie pitched in when it was time to mop the floor.
(Can you tell this flooring is from 1970?)
Then it was my turn to paint--with Katie's help, of course. Then we installed vinyl tile to match the living room and hallway.
Welcome home, Katie!
Then he enjoyed TWO Sausage McGriddles from McDonalds for breakfast. (The boy can eat!) After a fairly leisurely morning, we all went to the Harkins Cine-Capri to see The Simpsons Movie.
We enjoyed the flick! The Simpsons' couch in the lobby was pretty cool, too.
We followed the movie with Little Caesar's pizza before heading to the first night of VBS. (Poor kids: They had to go early with Mom!) Afterwards we went to IHOP with some of our fellow VBS-ers. Thanks to nightmarish traffic on I-35W (another day, another hour lost on I-35), we were still in the van headed home at 11:19 p.m. when Ryan officially turned 11.
(Can you see the size of that chicken fried steak on my plate? Iron Cactus calls it their chicken fried strip steak, and I wouldn't have ordered it, but Amy made me. Well, she recommended it, anyway! It had me at "jalapeno cream gravy.")
The best part of our dinner, though, was the conversation, which often led to much laughter! We talked through appetizers, we talked through our dinner, we talked through dessert, we talked long after that. Then we moved to the parking lot where--yep!--we talked some more.
OK, girls. We really can't wait another 15 years to get together. Last night was too much fun! (And y'all still need to help me figure out who that guy is--you know, the one with the pecs.)
(This was between Temple and Troy. It took me 50 minutes to move three miles. Aargh.)
FREE to good homes: 1 gorgeous gray female, 2 handsome black males, 1 adorable black/white male
We have more pictures and stories to share, as well as an explanation for the lack of posting lately. (It has something to do with lime sorbet and brown shag carpet...)
