Friday, August 28, 2009

The Picture of the Great-Nieces

On the Kendal-Hayden blog, the second picture featured in the August 24 posting has Maggie holding Kendal, and Dan JR. holding Emily. The third picture has Laura holding Amy Marie, Marnie holding Hayden, Maggie still holding Kendal, and Mandy holding Emily. This all took place at Paul and Mandy's Wedding Barbecue on August 8 at their home in Barberton. (By the way, for those outside Northeast Ohio who have read the aforementioned blog, Cleveland is just a generic catchall to cover our area. Akron works better in this case. If you want to see the clearer picture, read my blog.)

An edited version of the previous paragraph will appear as a comment on the Kendal-Hayden blog. It's a nice picture, but a picture of just the great nieces would have worked just fine. Three of them can walk, and one will eventually walk, if things go according to plan. At least, there is evidence that I have four great-nieces. You will have to wait to see if the family expands. Things could get interesting if that happens.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Happy Birthday, Amy!

Today is Amy's birthday. I hope that she and Dave enjoyed her first birthday as a married couple. I am happy to report that I will see them at Emily's Baptism, scheduled for September 5. Details will follow.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Today is my brother Joe's birthday. Let us hope that he enjoyed a nice joyous birthday. Sears will benefit from our (Bob and Bill) generosity.

Tomorrow's post will be similar.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Mandy and Paul's Party

Before we begin the party story, I will post two titles that I should have used for this post.

1. The Bridal Registry Is Still Missing, So We Wrote Checks Instead.

2. Kendal, Amy Marie, Hayden, and Emily: Together at Last

Last night, we had a celebration to celebrate the marriage of Paul and Mandy. It was a barbecue at their house. They eloped in a civil ceremony on December 18. (I just learned that date yesterday.) The food was enjoyable. It was your "traditional" barbecue fare. I missed a lot of it, but what I had was enjoyable. We'll skip the cast of characters because there are too many unknowns. My birthday party in October is the probable next time you'll see a list.

However, I will mention that all my great nieces were in one place for the first time ever (See Title 2.). Unfortunately, I came to the party after they all arrived. Also, I observed them separately so I can't give any stories of interaction. There was a mention of a picture, but it wouldn't be from their parents' cameras since they forgot theirs. (Maggie forgot hers, too, and we don't have a functioning camera at this time.) By the way, my conversation with Marnie confirms the first time status of this event as she had never seen Amy Marie, let alone Emily in person until yesterday. I hope that my readers appreciate the significance of this event!

It rained during the early afternoon. We were caught in a heavy downpour as Bob and I were on our way to St. Columbkille's Church in Parma by bus, but the rain ended by the time that we made the party. (Actually, Mike Schabel drove us to his house to wait for Maggie to come home from a wedding shower for a former co-worker's son.) At least we had a large garage that prevented a total damper that would have rained on our parade. (Excuse all the puns!) It was a fun event, although it was a little crowded. If we didn't have the garage, occupancy limits may have been "violated". Also, there is now a bathroom in the garage now that was recently constructed. Since the garage is not connected to the house, I can call it a fancy outhouse. (Think Port-a-Potty for most of our generation.) I must stop with all these water references

The next major event without a full cast of characters on this blog will be Emily's Baptism on September 5. Details will follow. Of course, if anything interesting happens, I'll report it.

Squeaky

I should have reported this sooner, but our longest lasting cat, Squeaky died on July 25. Due to liver problems, nourishment became a struggle when force feeding became a necessity the day before. Maggie, Mike (Schabel), Bob, and I tried to feed her, but success was limited. She let out a wailing sound that evening, but I thought that it was a sign that she wanted to be left alone. I checked again, but I received no response.

On the next day, Bob and I buried Squeaky near her predecessor, (Informally known as Little Sister) who died when her head was trapped by the side of our rocking recliner when I was sitting in the chair on April 21, 1997. Squeaky joined the family the next day. Our goal was to provide some joy to my mother who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer months earlier. Mom was able to enjoy Squeaky until July 21, 1998 when she lost her battle.

By the way, Little Sister's sibling, Tigger is still with Marnie. Her husband and kids inherited him as time progressed. Sobe the Cat (Mike Schmidt's cat who joined the family on my 30th birthday in 2000) and Cheeto the Dog complete the pet roster. I haven't see the pets in years or at all. As long as they're healthy, that's all that matters.

My next report will be more joyous.