Post Heading Home

Rewind: I left Nashville on November 11 and drove to Knoxville where I picked the teenager up at UT. We were in the thick of Tropical Storm Ida who decided to take the exact same route as us, in fact. Fun. And I was feeling like hell, to boot. My back was still killing me and nothing was helping.

At any rate, we drove for 12 hours, in the wind and rain and made it as far as Manassas in Virgina. It is only about 40 miles outside DC, but I was getting pretty darn tired about midnight so we pulled into the local Hampton Inn for the night. When we got up the next morning, we hit the Galleria at Tyson's Corner. I got the teenager a cap since it was a tad chillier than it was in TN. It was quite hilarious, like we were two country bumpkins in the big city. We were ooohing and awing over all the high-end stores and even the cars in the middle of the mall, the likes of Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini. Sign me up boys!

I was feeling so bad by this time, we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory in the mall and sat down and ate. Ooooof. I just felt bad. Even the onion rings didn't make me feel better. You know that's bad!

I had a salad and the teenager had a kobe beef burger. Yum.

After we finished, we got a call from my brother and we headed towards Baltimore. He was already cookin'! A glass or two (perhaps three) of sangria made me feel a little better and I jumped right on in too. I think we hit the beds kinda early because we knew we would be cooking all day on Friday, the 13th.

Birthday morning, Jim and his wife had a teachers' conference in the a.m. so they were gone by the time I got up. Their nanny was there, thank goodness, because by this time, I was hurting. I could literally feel my organs--not good. I asked her where the local walk-in clinic was and made my way there lickety split. I was feeling so bad, me--mz. photographer--didn't even take one photo. What great shots I could have got. Oh well. Anyway, I really didn't have to wait long and was in and out in probably three hours. Bladder infection. Oh my. I've never had one. And no, it did not hurt when I peed. lol The doc put me on heavy duty antibiotics and I was on my merry little way. The check in guy did wish me a happy birthday. Awwww. I made it back and Jim had already started cooking again. And these gorgeous flowers were waiting for me. I had never seen such a beautiful spray of roses before. All done up fancy.

And even prettier in a vase.

Some of them had a green tint to them with just a speck of red. They were gorgeous. Awwww.

I started my red beans and Jim continued his beef brisket and pork bbq.

We made many bottles of Mangria Monkey Punch (sangria) and stored it in the cold garage.

I had ordered large Calla lilies for the celebration and they arrived. Jim scrambled for a holder for them and came up with a gorgeous silver champagne bucket (I think). We put them in his great room. They were gorgeous.

Mom's red flora was placed in the center of the parlour. It was absolutely perfect.

A photo from her childhood

and one from this summer. Precious.

We got it all done for Saturday's celebration. Jim and I made pork bbq, beef brisket, mom's fried chicken (8 pounds of wings which went in a snap and everyone said it was JUST like hers! Yay, success!!!) red beans and rice, cornbread, and he had a friend make baked ziti, cole slaw, potato salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, etc. I think we had it all covered. In addition to Jim's sangria, we also made batches of mom's sweet tea. I can honestly say that no one went home hungry!

Oh my, we had quite a little reunion from junior high school! Mom worked in the kitchen and these sweet friends came out to help celebrate mom's life. It was so wonderful.

Me and my two brothers, Jim and John. Still a crude try at changing the background. Perhaps in the New Year, I should invest in a Photoshop class.

Here we are taking a breather after everyone left. It was a wonderful turnout for a wonderful lady. We couldn't have asked for anything better.

And then I asked my brother for a belated birthday gift--a chocolate malt. Which he did. It tasted just like I remember when we were little and he would make them for me.

It was an absolutely perfect ending to a perfect day.

xo ro