I have a teen so blogs by teens interest me. I want to see if teens are any different than teens in the late 1970s when I was in that age group. The girls talk about boys and ‘forever love’ and ‘you are my only one’, etc. so they pretty much are the same. The boys are either geeky-they talk about computers and games or are matter of fact like my son’s blog-‘we went to Dover on Saturday….’ He doesn’t like that I look at it, but what does he have to hide? I am not judging him by his blog. It’s a public blog, so anyone, even his mom can look at it. I don’t know if you agree, but it’s not like I am analyzing every word of it either. It’s the girls I know who worry me. One is a college freshman and she seems lost and unhappy. She seems to be tasting the brew a lot and her words are a jumble. Another girl I know, well her spelling is atrocious and she talks of not wanting to be her mother who I know. Sean mentioned a guy we know so I was looking at his blog and his was like Sean’s only ‘geekier’. I was checking out his prom photos as Sean liked the same girl at one time and she picked this guy though Sean is cuter, but she probably had less in common with him. I don’t like reading the ‘f’ words in blogs. The kids think they have to use it for some reason. To me it’s a lack of vocabulary and I’ve told Sean this.

I wanted to add how special my online friends have been to me in remembering my birthday. My friend in Ireland not only sent me a lovely mini-rose bush (see my photo) but also a pretty cross stitch kit plus a little mirror and pillbox with cross stitched designs. I love getting anything handmade. My friend Angela sent me a ‘kitchen angel’ made out of dish towels, a pot holder and some measuring spoons and a little fairy with a flower petal dress. Karin sent me a little pin cushion chair and Belgium chocolates. Terri sent me a trio of black candle holders with hanging clear beads and crystals, a keepsake box, a little resin basket and a t-shirt from Alabama. My brother sent me handmade wooden flowers from where he works on the weekend ( a gallery in Fort Lauderdale). My friend Barb is sending me a gift from Colorado. I feel truly blessed to be remembered by them all. My entertainment center is covered with cards.
So back to the weekend. On Saturday we took a late afternoon trip to Dover, Delaware which is about 52 miles away from here. We just couldn’t get our act together. This strip of the Dupont highway has tons of shopping and restaurants, but I mainly wanted to go to the Atlantic Book Warehouse. It’s one of my favorite stores and I get to go there once or twice a year. It’s almost one stop shopping. I also buy things for resale on eBay. Mom enjoyed it too. I get my love for books honestly. After about one hour or so in the book warehouse, we went to The Olive Garden. My mom had never been in one. We had to wait about 35 minutes. We had a really nice waiter who looked like a young Tom Hanks with a beard. Mom loved the bottomless bowl of salad. After dinner we hit a huge Dollar Tree store and I spent about $40 in there. The last stop was Michaels as I was looking for some extra things as gifts for my brother Don’s birthday on the 28th. The weather had turned rainy and Brian kept turning on the defroster and roasting Sean and me in the back seat. When we got home we finally had my birthday cake. I would say it was a much better birthday this year.

Is that an ear of corn in your pocket….or are you just glad to see me? This is from some other pre-Thanksgiving, because GW just ‘pardoned’ two turkeys this year so they won’t be ending up on some family’s dinner table. The look of his face is just….let’s say priceless!

My mom came out for my birthday and ended up staying 2 nights and sleeping on the new sofa. I was to meet her at the Outback Steakhouse on Friday, my birthday and the darn restaurant doesn’t serve lunch. Why didn’t I call first? We tried another place that ‘use’ to have excellent pizza in the same shopping center and they were gone too. We ended up with premade cold sandwiches from Starbucks of all places. I look at my mom and my heart breaks a bit more each time. She has aged a lot since she’s been sick last year. She is thin and her hair is wispy. Brian said he is truly amazed that she is driving at all this year because of the way she was last year. Back to after lunch. I am a hopeless collector of cross stitch stuff. There is a great shop across from Starbucks that I have been going to for years. I went in and bought myself some overdyed floss and charts that I don’t need. But I will probably use them sometime. We went back to the house and I opened my gifts from everyone. Brian gave me some nice soap and lotion, a cross stitch program for the computer and two amarylis bulbs. Sean gave me Bridget Jones Diary-lol-I had asked him a number of times to rent it for me. Yes, he has a chubby mama just like Bridget. Now my mom over did it. I asked for t-shirt style night shirts and maybe a crucifix for my collection and she got both. Then she got Christmasy items (why do people who have birthdays in Nov. get gingerbread houses and ornaments?). I opened an old cigar box that she found in the basement. She said it had had a rubber stamp in it with my name on it and some pencils. That was a long time ago as I didn’t remember it. Inside she had a lovely red necklace with round crystals that she and my grandmom had had forever and a blue rhinestone pin that belonged to my grandmom. I read the card and started to cry as it was so me. Maybe the tears were more for the box and the jewelry. I am tearing up now.
So we went down to ‘The Grille’ a local restaurant for dinner and I got steak Diane (of course) and it was really scrumptious and we all had too much to eat. So much the Carvel ice cream cake that sat in the freezer until the next night. I didn’t ask for it as I had showed Brian the two containers of Haagen Daas in the freezer. I swear that man doesn’t look or listen sometimes. More tomorrow….