Happy Birthday, Dan SR.

Today is my brother-in-law Dan SR.'s birthday. For my new audience, he is married to my sister Patty. Dan JR., Patrick, and Amy are their children. Amy Marie and Emily are their grandchildren, whose parents are Dan JR. and Laura.

I had the pleasure of speaking with him at Emily's baptism two weeks ago. I helped to clarify a story about Amy Marie and her toy mailbox. As she was enjoying her new mailbox at her birthday party on May 30, the mailman showed up in Dan JR. and Laura's backyard because he had mail that was too large for the mailbox. Of course, the mailman had to pose for a picture. My contribution to the story was that the present was opened in the house, not in the backyard.
She was still enjoying it by the time the group moved to the patio to enjoy the fresh air as the party was at its climax. Parties at Dan JR. and Laura's house are usually memorable.

I hope that Dan SR., Patty, Amy, and Dave (Amy's Husband) were able to celebrate this event in a joyful manner. Bob and I gave him a nice present of a Best Buy Gift Card. (Radio Shack is only under his wife's supervision, but we all know that he may sneak out when she is not looking. Yeah, right!) I am sure that our gift will be used responsibly.

Happy Birthday, Dan SR.

Mike and Marnie's Anniversary

Yesterday, Mike and Marnie celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. They celebrated it over the Labor Day Weekend. Details are on the Kendal-Hayden blog.

My next post will be about last Saturday Morning's events.

Shopping (The Sonic Story)

This morning Kathleen (She stayed overnight!), Bob, and I went shopping at Marc's (We bought cookies and salmon in a pouch.), Giant Eagle, (It was a failure because they were out of Wildwood Cola.) and Dollar General (They had Clover Valley Cola available at the same price as Wildwood Cola.) in the Broadview-Snow area of Parma (Assume that it's Ohio unless I say otherwise.). In between, Giant Eagle and Dollar General, we got food from Sonic in the Midtown parking lot. We ordered from a drive-thru style board, but it was in a space where you can park to wait for the food, brought by a carhop. We had hamburgers, fries, (Not Tater Tots, but Bob had a sample in his bag) and Cokes with no ice (Kathleen's was Diet!). We all had special orders that were successfully executed. The food was O.K., but coupons that we didn't have may have made it more of a value. By the way, Bob and Kathleen had cheese, but I did not. Since it was a hamburger, cheese cost fifty cents extra.

On the way home, Bob and I voted in the Cleveland Mayoral Primary at the Brooklyn Heights United Church of Christ (Actually in Cleveland, but only a few minutes away from Brooklyn Heights). After dropping us off at our house, Kathleen went home. Since the weather forecast (It was raining during this trip, so lunch was in the car. Also, Dollar General was in the direction near home.) was questionable, Kathleen planned to exchange the tickets for a game in either April or May (Not Opening Day, though). Tune into this blog for further details.

My Day and Night of Fun

Kathleen, Bob, and Maggie were attending the Cleveland Indians-Texas Rangers game tonight at Progressive Field. I came along to eat dinner with them. When we parked Maggie's car near the entrance into Tower City Center, we were surprised to learn that the doors were locked. After someone arrived to eventually unlock the doors, we walked down to the next set of doors. Although it appeared that the doors were locked, we were able to get in the building. However, when we reached the food court, nothing was open. The stores were all closed as well. When we walked by the second floor entrance of Hard Rock Cafe, it also appeared that they were closed, too. As we were going upstairs to find something nearby that was open, we discovered that Hard Rock Cafe was open. There was a waiting list with a beeper. Bob and Maggie had walked down the hall out of view when the beeper went off. We found our table and had a nice meal. The funny thing about the wait is that the lower level seating was available. Apparently, they open that section on weekends and/or special occasions.

As the others went to the stadium to wait out a rain delay that is now a postponement, I caught a bus to get me closer to home. The bus arrived at a reasonable time. The ride went smoothly until a group with a wheelchair and a stroller were waiting at the stop near the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They initially did not want this bus until the driver told them that the bus goes to the Parmatown Transit Center. The driver had to go down the street to allow the people to enter the bus. The gentleman with the stroller had to collapse it (A rare event!). The wheelchair person had difficulty settling into the wheelchair area. (Normally, this isn't too unreasonable, especially since wheelchairs are rarely secured on RTA these days.) We finally started moving. I got off and walked home in about fifteen minutes in the rain.

It wasn't my first long walk of the day. I had two twenty minute walks when Bob and I walked to and from Broadview and Pearl Roads from our house to catch a bus to Southpark Mall in Strongsville, OH. We ate lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries adjacent to the mall. We didn't buy anything at the mall, but I bought some lottery tickets at a Speedway gas station on the way home. It was a long and exciting day.

The next report will be Transit-related.

Emily May Have Been Chosen, but Amy Marie Was the Star.

Yesterday, Emily was baptized at Blessed Sacrament Church in Warren, OH. Unlike Amy Marie's Baptism, the Mass was traditional. Just like the aforementioned Baptism, however, this one occurred after the Mass. It was like the first half of a weekday Mass. Thankfully, there was no Cleveland Browns game on TV to miss. In addition, the Church's procedure was abridged as the Litany of Saints was omitted. Also, there was only one baptism yesterday. The baptism went smoothly although Amy Marie said "Hi" to everyone at the beginning of the service. There was also one funny moment after the Baptism when Amy Marie tried to go into the Baptismal font. I then noticed that the font resembled a jacuzzi. She's a genius, just like her great-uncle!

We then went back to Dan JR. and Laura's house in Howland Township, OH for some breaded chicken, meatballs with tomato sauce, rigatoni, salad, rolls, cake, and cookies. The food was delicious. We then visited with various guests. When we weren't visiting, Amy Marie danced and stomped all over the place. Thankfully, there weren't too many kids to compete for the spotlight. Dan SR. also played guitar and harmonica to entertain us. In addition, he sang "Puff the Magic Dragon." It was a night to remember. Emily's presents were not opened in our presence, but Bob and I presented Amy Marie with a coloring book on Ohio Highways which she appreciated. I can't wait for the next family party!

The next report will be about our adventures earlier in the day.