easter, 2020

Last week Dan and I joked around about having Easter at the lake.

"How would they bunny find us?" he asked.

I answered, "They have ways."

Anyway, we did it, and it was a lovely weekend, honestly.

She was there, and she was an incredibly good sport.  Being the ONLY KID at the cabin is not her favorite, but she played with these nephews and niece and was one hundred percent sweet as could be.

Julia braided her hair, so in the morning she was there with treasures from her Easter basket and soft, fuzzy, slept-on braids, so sweet.

Ah, yes.  The piñata, can't forget that.

There was a rousing game of one card poker on Friday night, lots of drama. They're good. They case out those cards, weigh their risks.

Oh, and this happened Easter morning--bit into a Dot candy and pulled that tooth right out.

We colored eggs, tried out the new machine I saw John and Dannell had too, one of these spinner and marker machines. It was cool, very fun.

And that was the end of a very fine Easter.  We worked on a little more art down at the shore, some photo paper that is intriguing, will try that again, take pictures next time of the process and the results.

Anyway, we hope everyone had a quiet, pleasant Easter as ours was, and hope we can all be together and party next year.

So much love, Val

happy birthday, jay

April first could only ever be about YOU.   There you are back when we used to be able to get together and have a party.

Twenty nine years, buddy.  That's a long time.

I hope this year will be full of great things.

Happy Birthday, Jay

We love you like crazy, Mom and Dad and Everybody

from the past

It's her, my oldest friend besides my sister.   We text often, anything happens--anything funny, anything weird, anything on our minds.

Well, this text came a few weeks ago.  Barbel is my old barbie doll from when we were kids.
 

Oh, the light bulb mishap, of course. The shade had come off the lamp and somehow the hot lightbulb bumped Barbel on the back of the head and melted her hair.  Then while we were looking at her head going, "Oh no! Oh, dear!" the lamp was against the padded plastic headboard of my bed and melted a hole in that.  Yeah, we were quite the squirrels, honestly. 

So there's that--friends for fifty-five years now, maid of honor in each other's weddings, our babies slapping each other in the basement over a Little Tykes car, all the years that have flowed by one after another, and so glad for another person on earth who remembers our barbies.  

She had an old-timey Ken (not the suave Malibu Ken that came later) but one with a crew cut and serious face, and his arms constantly fell off, and she reminded me how we'd dress him and then shove his arms up the sleeves to keep him going.   Yes, indeed.  

She and Pam and I also used to gather up all the bath products and lotions and sprays and make up and anything we could find, put it in a suitcase, and play Avon Lady, "Ding dong! Avon Lady!"

(We didn't have Internet.)

I love you. 

Thanks for being mine,  Val

who is my twin?

Pam told me she thought she saw me in a photo on the local newspaper's website, in a picture of the crowd at the State Fair.  The date is August 24, 2017.

I do not believe I was at the fair that year.  That definitely looks like me-- the hair, the little squinty expression, the tilt of the chin.  But I don't recognize those clothes, pretty much never tie sweaters around my waist and don't remember that purse either.

Jay looked at it too and said the arms looked too toned to be mine.   Not disagreeing.

I don't know!  There's nobody else in the photo I recognize, and Lord knows I go almost nowhere alone, definitely not to the fair, and that was a busy month.  We definitely went in 2015, but 2017?  Don't think we did.

Anyway, a fun little mystery.  (Who is this lady who looks that similar??)

Good night.

Love, Val
 

officially spring

That happened this week.

Also St. Patrick's Day and the leprechauns.  For the first time ever the candy was left in a bowl on the cupboard, not thrown around, and this was the note. 
 

It's been rain off and on all day, which is sweet and lovely compared to snow.

Don't have to shovel it, and way less slippery.

So glad it's springtime again.

Love, Val