Birthday dinner redux.

When I arrived home after our scrapbook retreat, I found roses, candy, cards and a cake on our kitchen table! My family really spoiled me this year, that's for sure. I also found a jar of homemade hot sauce that Dede and Terry left on our front porch. Suh-WEET!

Once I had a chance to freshen up a bit, we picked up my mom and headed to Razzoo's for dinner. Mike and Kelly met us there, and we all feasted on the spicy Cajun goodness.

After dinner it was time for cake!

Family portrait

Silly family portrait!

Vince was even there with us! (OK, so he was in the Pro Bowl. But the TV was right over our table, so that counts.)

2 special dinners + 1 scrapbooking retreat + tons of Facebook greetings = 1 fantastic birthday!

Thanks to everybody who helped make birthday #42 extra special!

A scrappy birthday.

What a weekend! It was a blessing to spend time with some awesome women at a scrapbooking B&B in East Texas. We survived high water, poor cell reception and the insanely cold walk from the house to the hot tub. Worth it? Oh, yeah. I'm not really a scrapbooker, but I love it when I can tag along for a relaxing weekend of movies, massages, good food, lots of laughs and great fellowship. Three of us even managed a quick trip to Canton for a little shopping.

Even though I'm a pseudo-scrapper, these pros really inspire me with their creativity:







This month has had its share of low points, but it's also been chock-full of highlights. From spending time in California with long-time friends to hanging out with my girls at bunco, book club and now at this retreat, I know this has been an exceptional January! I thank God for these friends AND for my husband and in-laws who took care of the home front so I could indulge in these great escapes.

Happy birthday to me!

Nana and Papa had us over for dinner to celebrate my birthday. After two weeks of intermittent can't-get-out-of-bed sickness, I was ready to celebrate!

Nana doesn't even have to ask what I'd like for dinner. I LOVE her taco soup!





It was delicious as always, and it was a nice treat to start my birthday celebration a little early.

Not-so-little ball of fur.

ChaCha has such a hard life. She thinks she a "people," so sometimes she'll sit like this on the couch:On this night, though, she fell asleep that way!

Of course, we ARE the Crazy Cat People, so we had to document her nap!

Not long after that, ChaCha fell asleep on a most unusual surface:
That experiment didn't last long:

Today's title reference: Big Bang Theory!

Happy birthday, Memaw!

When Memaw turned 66 on Jan. 9, I had just returned home from California (and was sick!). Brett and Ryan took some her some cards, but other than that, we didn't get to celebrate her birthday on the "true day." We finally got our belated celebration in on Jan. 16 after the kids' basketball games.

We took her to Posados, and everybody knows what that means:

FREE ICE CREAM!

They're playin' basketball...

Time to switch gears from football to basketball! Both kids are back to playing in a city league this year. It's Junior NBA, so all the teams are the Mavericks. That means we can always say, "Go, MAVS!"

I missed the first weekend of games because I was on my home from California. Saturday, Jan. 16, was my first chance to see the kids play.





We LOVE having our family close! R&K always have a big cheering section because Nana, Papa, Aunt Kelly and Memaw (and Uncle Mike when he's in town) come to the games.






I was glad to be feeling better from my killer stomach bug to be able to attend Katie's game on Jan. 23:








Katie and I skedaddled to a birthday party after her game, so we didn't get to watch Ryan play that weekend. From all accounts, he did great—even though his loudest fan wasn't there!

By the way, the title comes from this song (even though when I hear it in my head—EVERY SINGLE TIME the kids take the court—I'm hearing the '80s version):

California recap: Saturday morning—Homeward bound.

Now where was I? Oh, that's right—still in California! I intended to finish these recaps a week ago, but then a stomach bug (on the heels of the flu) did me in.

Anyway...
On Saturday morning we headed to LAX by way of Randy's Donuts. Dede's cousin had recommended it, so we made a stop.

Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty crappy that morning. I had coughed all day Friday, but I just thought that was because I'd yelled so much at the game Thursday night. But then Saturday morning, I woke up all congested and achy. Uh oh.

By the time we got to the airport, I had chills and zero energy. I bought some Sudafed at an airport shop, and that gave me a little relief. I was glad to sleep some on the plane, too. Still, I knew I was a goner, and we just couldn't get home quickly enough.

I was sad to say goodbye to Los Angeles, but it was great to get home! After three nights away, I needed to hug my family! It was especially nice to get to bed. As soon as I finished some of my responsibilities for Sunday's worship service, I was out.

By Monday I still wasn't better, so I had to call in sick. At my doctor later that morning, I found out that I had the flu and couldn't go back to work until Thursday. Great.

In spite of the rotten ending and the disappointing game, I had a blast in California. I'd never trade the chance to cheer for my Horns, win or lose, and it was GOLD to spend precious time with friends I get to see all-too-rarely.