WE MET JANUARY AT THE SUPERIOR GRILLE: It was noted among us that our day-to-day lives have been really busy this winter! Where do I begin? I'll start by telling you it was cold outside that night! In spite of the weather we sat outside in the restaurant's indoor/outdoor patio and found ourselves very warm and cozy.
They put us at a table RIGHT next to their huge outside fireplace. It was very charming and relaxing to enjoy sitting on a patio in the middle of winter next to a very warm fireplace. I love the irony in that.
Our food was delicious.
We got to catch up on each other's Christmas and New Year's fun. TC and I hung around close to home over those holidays and had lots of family events happening. It was TC's youngest grandson's first Christmas! She had such cute pics of him and his brother enjoying the season.
I got to share what a wonderful time we had at Christmas with seeing all four of our grown children and
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| My family minus a son, not sure where he was hiding! |
I shared with Bucket and TC how much excitement was taking place at our house watching our married daughter and son-in-law entertain the idea of parenthood, as their first child is on the way. She finally LOOKS pregnant and she is beaming and healthy and glowing. It has been amazing watching her walk into motherhood.
I shared how my sister-in-law and brother-in-law from out of state came for a day bringing their three teens with them. We had a wonderful visit that was long overdue. The kids are quickly becoming adults on us.
Bucket finally got a word in. She had been to the beach - of course! She gets to enjoy the beach every holiday almost as they have a house there that they can go to whenever they chose. She and her family had a nice relaxing Christmas spending time with their children and friends both at home and at the beach. Bucket is the only friend I have that decorates a palm tree for Christmas. (Now I should consider that a subject for my Christmas Season IN SEASON blog for sure.)
Bucket is the world traveler in our midst. She was busy planning little excursions with her husband and several of her friends for the coming year. I can't wait to see how they all turn out. It is nice to get to travel through the eyes of a friend sometimes. I find myself pretty tied down with family and work these days and it is fun listening to her care-free excursions.
I did mention to the girls that my parents had moved from my childhood home on the farm to a smaller townhouse in a rural city setting. It was the best thing for them now that they are older and farms are very hard to keep up, but I'm going to miss the place a lot and have such vivid memories of all the wonderful family things we did there. I love the new place they chose, and have told the girls all about it and how we are pretty much spending all our weekends for awhile helping them to get settled there. My Mom has just turned it into a mini-version of the house they had at the farm.
Wow, I didn't realize how much visiting we did have in January until I looked back. A lot happened and we had much catching up to do. I left out a lot of it! Don't think I share everything in this blog! LOL.
IN FEBRUARY - WE MET AT THE VILLAGE TAVERN :
Actually, I got to see the girls twice in February! Before we met at the Village Tavern, they came to a Baby Party held at our house for our daughter. I was so glad to see my two BFF's walk into my home that day. They really put a smile on my face and it was fun introducing them to all of our other friends who showed up for the party.
Our soon coming grand-daughter is going to be set with everything a little one could ever dream of having. Gifts were not requested, but people kept popping in the door with more wonderful gifts. My daughter and her husband had great fun opening everything.
My other two daughter's helped to throw the party and they brought a pretty banner and more food to add to all the food I had cooked up. My son showed up to give my daughter's husband moral support, as he was afraid he would be totally outnumbered by females at this party. Wasn't so. My husband was there and my Dad and our good friend Dr. Bob. The male community was represented by some of America's finest! I just wish my son had not signed the guest book "Uncle Tron." What does that mean? Oh well, boys will be boys. I always suspect my son first in pranks for many good reasons that I will not go into here!
We saw lots of people who have been so special to us over the years, but we don't get to see in our day to day lives a lot. It was great fun! I asked everyone to write a bit of advice on being a parent and am putting that all together in a scrapbook for my daughter to give to her after the baby arrives. We had such sweet responses to this, and I told the girls what fun I am having putting it all together now.
A few days after the Baby Party Three Girls Out On The Town got to have our regular monthly visit at The Village Tavern. TC surprised us and brought her son and his family. That was a nice surprise because we had not seen them in awhile and it gave us all time to catch up with each other, plus it was sort of a birthday celebration for TC and Bucket, since their birthdays are in February. Of course, at our age - we do tend to ignore these dates more and more. We didn't let them do that this year. So it was good to have TC's family join in our little birthday party. The boys have both grown so much! TC's son and daughter-in-law are doing a great job as parents. It was fun hearing about the ball park adventures and the upcoming trip to Disney that they have planned.
Bucket had been on yet another trip with her husband. They had visited the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and seen the Tennessee Aquarium. It was nice to re-visit those places through their eyes and adventures. They had also been back to the beach for a few days. They say they are not going to retire there, but they seem to go at least once a month.
I was full of chatter about what a fun time we had with one of our daughters and her boyfriend at The Bill Cosby Show. This time we met our daughter's boyfriend's son who is now five years old. He is a single Dad and a great father. We enjoyed getting to know this energetic little five year old very much. He won our hearts for sure. One of our sweet daughters gladly took over the babysitting while we all went to the Cosby Show. I have never laughed so much in all of my life!
We all loved the food and the service at The Village Tavern.
As we made our way to the car after a wonderful time TC pulled packages out of her car and handed them to us. It was her birthday celebration, but she was giving out gifts. That is just like TC. It was the latest Rachael Hauck book, "Princess Ever After." You could have heard the squeals of delight for miles! We have been waiting for this one for a long time. It is the last of a three part series that we have all enjoyed the first two novels from thanks to TC.
IN MARCH WE MET AT THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY: It had been years since any of us had been inside this restaurant. I quickly realized as the night wore on that this was one restaurant in town that had kept and maintained its high standards over the years. The menu was amazing - it was a BOOK, not a menu. They certainly have more to chose from than cheesecake. It is ALL good, wonderful, well prepared food and the service was excellent. Their mixed drinks were very good. Bucket ordered a Well Mannered Dirty Martini and I had a Pineapple Mojito, TC was driving - so she did not indulge with us.
Of course the first conversation evolved around the Rachel Hauck book "Princess Ever After." Bucket was the only one who had actually completed it and she was smiling about the story. TC and I have been bogged down in the drudge of tax season and have been saving it for when we have more free time without interruption. Bucket proudly announced that she probably has more bookwork to do than either of us, and she had finished hers AND read the book. Some people just have to be constantly showing off!
She wasn't funny. I have learned if I pick one of these novels up I can't put it back down until I'm finished, so I decided my job at work might be important - that I needed to wait for an open window where I could absorb the story completely. This being the case; we did not let Bucket tell us one thing about the novel. She just kept smiling smugly - so we know chances are we are going to enjoy the book very much.
Bucket had been planning two new adventures for April - a trip to New Orleans with a good friend and a Zac Brown Band concert with her daughter. She told us all about their plans, and I have a feeling they are going to have a blast!
TC was laughing about something that happened at her work. Really wasn't funny when it was going on - but totally hilarious when she told the story later. I wish I could share - but it would involve talking about people I don't know. Anyway - she made us laugh with a funny story about an "I Love Lucy" type situation in their line of business.
I had nothing on my mind but the fact that it is only DAYS until my new granddaughter arrives. Anticipation and excitement are killing me.
I did share about a really fun weekend in March when two of my dear old friends came for an overnight visit. One friend was from Tennessee, and one friend was from Georgia. I had not seen the friend from Georgia for over thirty years - we had lost each other and found each other again and both of us had searched the globe to do so forever. All three of us had been very close friends when we were single girls living in the same apartment complex. The one from Tennessee is going to be a grandmother (a boy) about the same time that I am going to be a grandmother (a girl)! So we all had a lot of things to say - and we said them until 3 a.m. one morning.....It was so nice to catch up with great old friends like that. We are going to do it again soon. TC and Bucket loved hearing about my other old friends - beyond our high school days.
So, Three Girls On the Town have been very busy! We are meeting a Carrabba's again next month - so it may be a few months before you hear from us again, but don't worry - you will. Keep checking.
Here's to the blessing of good long friendships and happy times!