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Birthday Celebration

Yesterday, we and our kids celebrated the birthday of my mother-in-law. We planned a meal along with my wife's sister and husband and son. My wife's brother, his wife and son elected not to participate for reasons that are a bit nebulous and unresolved.

I prepared two types of macaroni and cheese... traditional, and a second version which I call my Southwestern Spicy Macaroni and Cheese. My wife hand made two different caramel dishes. We also had hot dogs, hamburgers, taco salad, watermelon, cantaloupe, cake, and ice cream. It was a very pleasant way to spend Sunday afternoon.

When we returned home, I spent the next few hours cutting the lawn. Earlier in the day we cleaned the house stem to stern. My particular duties in cleaning were to vacuum the carpets on all three floors, work on the laundry, and to clean the cat boxes.

It felt good to have the work accomplished.

In the evening, I and my wife both felt sad thinking about my mother. These milestones... birthdays, holidays, and the like are days that are especially challenging to try to stay even keeled emotionally.

Before we went to bed, we watched two rather inane television shows... "Big Brother" on CBS and "The Next Food Network Star" on the Food Network. I am going to have a final pipe before bed.

PipeTobacco