Charles just called.
Four hours before he was scheduled to leave for the airport, he was told plans have changed, so he doesn't leave until Thursday. Toodles!
Okay, I made up the "Toodles!" but the other part's on the level. Can you imagine? His seabag's packed and he's about to grab it and head out the door to put his car in the deployment lot and so on, only to be informed he's leaving on Thursday instead. 
It's hard to believe my great-nephew, Cole, is a year old already. Was it
truly a year ago that Hazel and Clara & Co. came to Fort Worth, and I sped
away from visiting with them to the hospital in Arlington to await Cole's
appearance? Wow! Time most assuredly flies when one is having fun.
Today was the Official First Natal Anniversary Celebration at Cole's gran's
house, i.e. my sister, Jeanne's place. Here's the birthday boy, himself! Isn't
he precious?
What a plethora of poppets! ;^)
It was a lovely day with a nice breeze, causing several of us to gather on the back porch; that's my brother and his wife on the left, with Dad talking with Meredith and Margaret while Elaine's doing something or other, and Kirstin in the doorway:
Jeanne provided hats, blowthingies, and....
Weird teeth. I think this picture has "graduating senior slide show" plastered all over it, don't you?
The young'uns took advantage of the weather to play hide-and-seek; here's Meredith counting as Jill and Cole hasten to find a hiding place:
Dang! Caught! That's Benjamin peeking around the corner of the fence.
Tell you what, Jill has the most gorgeous hair of nearly anyone I know. Doting husband, beautiful son, great job, AND gorgeous hair? Life just ain't fair.
One last hide-and-seek photo, this time with Bethie being "it"; there wasn't really a wide selection of hiding places, unfortunately, but Meredith and Benjamin worked with what was available:
Finally it was time to open the gifts! Mercy Maud, the kid cleaned up. Wow. It was like a feeding frenzy, as Jill kindly allowed the other children to "help" open the presents. Grab! Rip! Tear!
Bethie decided Cole needed a little something...
Jeanne and Cole:
What would a party be without cake, right? Here are Justin and Jill presenting Cole with his very own, private cake:
Nothing like an audience to watch a guy chow down:
Sometimes it appears Dmitry wonders what sort of family he got adopted into:
Here's one last shot of Cole, deep in birthday party heaven:
Yesterday I set up CallNotes, the phone company provided voice mail service, which meant I needed to try to find the instruction manual for the telephone.
No joy. Know I saw it a few months ago, but can I find it now I need it? Heavens to Betsy, no.
Utilizing the keen intellect that characterizes my every move, I went online to the Panasonic website, located our phone model and lo! and behold, there was the instruction maual in PDF form. Success! Got the phone and CallNotes all coordinated.
Instruction manuals online....I do love the internet. 
On another topic, Xanga has audio capability now, so I'd thought to upload the 43 second recording of my granddaughter, Bethie, being introduced as the MacDonald's Junior Broadcaster for one of the Ranger games last July, only when I try to do so there's one of those obnoxious pop-up boxes, demanding I fill in all fields: Title, Caption, and Tags.
Except there IS no "tags" option:
Tried it using both IE7 and the most current Firefox, and on two different computers, but no joy. Isn't that a kick in the head? Went to the Xanga audio help page, which naturally urged me to visit the Audio FAQ page before bothering them with my doubtless picayune problem (alright, that's not precisely the way they said it, but I can read between the lines). There was exactly one question on the FAQ page, concerning what types of file formats can be uploaded, so I went ahead and sent them a message about this, including a link to the above screenshot.
I also love screenshots. 
I'm typing this while on hold with TXU.
What do they mean, I'm waiting for one of their "Customer Care Advocates"?
Give me a break. Whoever answers the phone will be working for and paid by TXU, meaning it'll be TXU's interests that will be promoted, not mine. And that's fine! It's as it should be. But for crying out loud, TXU shouldn't try to make it sound as if their employee is truly an advocate for the customer.
The mystery is over! 
And I'd never have guessed that's what the airplane portended: a combination convenience store/deli/one-chair hair salon.
From the Star-Telegram:
Mind you, the single-engine two-seater is not airworthy, especially
after city code officers made James cut off the top of the cockpit and
trim the vertical part of the tail.
Then there are those things on the back that look like turbine engines but actually are small trash cans.
But James, 66, an accomplished hairstylist who knows little about
airplanes, never wanted to fly the turquoise-and-red-trimmed aircraft.
He just wanted to hoist it on top of a 20-foot steel pole as part of
a remodeling effort to turn an old gas station on Montgomery Street
near the Cultural District into a convenience store, deli and one-chair
hair salon.
Etc. 
Yesterday evening the phone rang and according to the Caller ID it was Kirstin's house. Upon answering there came an enthuastic , high pitched squeal such as only a six year girl can attain: "Grrr-RAAN! You wanna hear sumpthin' exciting?" Bethie breathlessly asked.
I assured her I'm always ready to hear something exciting, so what's up?
[insert pause for dramatic effect]
"I don't have all my teeth!" came the exultant cry.
Yup, it's Tooth Fairy Time at Kirstin's house. The first grandchild's lost a tooth, and here's visual proof, courtesy of Bethie's father:
My, my. To be six again!
After a molar broke off close to the gumline last February I don't have all my teeth either, but somehow it doesn't have the same appeal. 
Wonder what teeth are going for these days? 
Do y'all recall late last spring or maybe it was early summer when parts of an airplane suddenly showed up at a defunct gas station? I mean, "suddenly" as in it wasn't there when I drove to SuperTarget but was when I returned? Then it sat for awhile before vanishing, only to reappear?
Okay, y'all mightn't know about that last, for I'm not sure it was mentioned here. Anyway, it did and it did.
Over the past week or two there's been a couple of people seen working on it, and this morning as I headed to - where else? - SuperTarget, voila!...
Huh. I wonder what that's gonna wind up being? 
Willie, dear, were you ever planning upon growing up?
You're 73 years old. If you had any plans in that direction you'd best get a move on. Clock's ticking.
From CNN.com: Willie Nelson cited for pot, mushrooms
With him in the bus were four other men, ranging in age from 50 to 75, plus 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana and 1/5 pound of what were called psychedelic mushrooms back in the late 60's.
It's really quite sad how some people never mature. Peter Pan's an amusing story, but actual cases of arrested development aren't entertaining in the least; they're just pathetic.
A year or so (maybe more? amazing how fast time passes) I wrote about my astonishment regarding the existance of "pet spas" or "pet resorts" or "doggy day care." American pets are certainly living the life of Reilly, aren't they?
But wait! There's more! Those pets aren't as young as they used to be, so here comes yet another pet aid:
When I was growing up, the most common rule in homes with dogs was "Get OFF THE SOFA!" There were gadgets created for just that purpose....to keep Bowser from hopping up on the couch as if he owned the joint, getting dog fur all over it.
Clearly Bowser won the war, for now we have doggy steps, to help facilitate Bowser getting onto the sofa if he can't manage the feat for himself.
From "I'm not telling you again, mutt....get down off that chair!" to "Here, snookums, Mummy bought you your vewy own set of steps so you can get on your favorite chair....here, have a doggy snack while you're up there" in the space of 30 or 40 years. Amazing.
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