Wednesday July 30th - Happy Birthday to me and Ethan Van Gaal!

Conditions at 6:00 am: a few clouds and 16'
Expected later: a sunny and very warm 26' that will feel more like 32'

What a great day for a birthday celebration! The Van Gaals have invited us for dinner this evening as it's Ethan's birthday today, and Will's is in a couple of weeks, and of course, it's mine as well. We should just put "To whom it may concern, Happy Birthday!" on the cake!

It's also Friday for me, so that's an extra bonus. I'll be up early tomorrow morning and heading off to Halifax. I don't pick James up at the airport until around 8:30 pm so I'll have the whole day to explore. My good friend Nancy is also there, visiting her sister, so I'm going to meet up with her sometime tomorrow as well, perhaps for lunch or dinner. Don't know yet. I was going to leave really early but I'd like to stop at Mass Town Market on the way so don't want to leave TOO early.

It was too funny yesterday when I got home from work. Lloyd had decided he's getting out of the chicken business. At one egg a day, they hardly  pay for themselves. So he went over to the place that processes them and picked up a cage to transport them in. He made a point of telling Oscar the other night that his days were numbered. Well, when he went to put the chickens into the crate Oscar flew up to the top of the pen, and off he went. Lloyd says he spent at least an hour looking for him and finally just had to leave with the others. He though that Oscar was long gone. When I got home and he's telling me this story, I'm thinking, somethings not right here. So I went outside, and sure enough, there was Oscar, standing in the doorway of the chicken house, crowing away (the deaf guy couldn't hear him). So, he did come back. I told Lloyd he shouldn't have told that rooster what was in the works. So now, we still have one to look after - for now.

I was chatting to Meghan (2) by facetime the other day. She had tried out for the competition dance team at her dance school. They are forming an A team and a B team. The A team will be going to competitions and the B team will be the back up. She was meeting with Miss Holly on Monday to find out if she made either of the teams and Patti and I both knew she would be devastated if she didn't make either of the teams (as only a 12 year old can be!). She was very pleased to tell me that she made the A team. This is going to mean a lot of extra work for her but that's a good thing. I'm glad she'll have that to focus on over the next couple of years. That should keep her out of the mall and off the streets with the wrong kind of kids, as she heads off to junior high in September - not that that's ever been a problem, but I think it's good for them to have something to focus on and keep busy.

She just returned from summer camp. I asked her what the best part of the experience was, what was her favourite thing, but she just said, 'Oh Grandma, don't make me choose'. Apparently there was lots and lots of great times during her week. I went to the camp's website and found lots of photos - over 650, of this session so there were a few with her in them. What a great experience and I can tell she had a great time.

Don't rock the boat!

Always the drama queen!

Now that's what you call team work!