While it's hard to believe that Cabbage Patch* is 36 years old, I told her middle age doesn't start until 40. It'll be here soon enough. Like me, she tends to round up. I've thought of myself as 60 for the last 3 years and she's already feeling like 40. She has 3 year old twins. She probably feels like 60.
They moved into their new house on Friday. Most of their furniture had been there since Tuesday but since the girls were still at their old school, they camped out at the old house for the week. Friday was their first night in the new house. Turns out, Mom and Dad had forgotten to set up their account with the local energy company so while they did have light, they had no heat. So they all slept together in Mom and Dad's big bed. The girls will move into their own room when the heat's on. Saturday, Katie spent the day staging her old house. It'll go on the market this week. Sunday, she, Adam and the girls were coming over here so we could celebrate her birthday. I made lasagna and cookies. We like cookies more than cake.
In the morning, Jay and I went to Mass over the river and Zack and Sara were there. So we all went to brunch afterwards, which was great. Jay and I split a walleye benedict, which is exactly what it sounds like and was fantastic. We invited them to the birthday party. AS we headed home, I got a text from Katie, saying she'd invited Josie and would I invite Grandma Punkin, too? I did invite my Mom but she declined on account of we don't have a bathroom that she can use yet. Sure, we've got one in the basement and another up in my office but stairs are tough on her and she doesn't want to deal with them, which I totally understand. Megan and Ty were in South Dakota for the pheasant opener, so they weren't part of the birthday party but everyone else came. We squeezed in around the dining room table and dinner was delicious. We all had a very good time and the best came right at the end of the evening when we got texts telling us that our niece Martha had just become engaged to a guy her whole family just loves! I met the young man at the party after the JGHMemorial tournament. We didn't talk for long but he seemed extremely smart and well adjusted. And yes, by that, I mean we agreed on everything.
So, next year, we're gonna have some weddings! That'll be a nice change of pace. We haven't had a wedding on that side of the family in 6 years.
On Monday, Josie's boyfriend, Nick, closed on his house! It's not far from us; practically the next neighborhood. I've already told Josie I'd be happy to help her paint the interior of his house. Big things are happening all over the place.
Another niece had her second baby last week! Now L&K have a little boy as well as their adorable little girl. Jay dropped by to give them a baby gift he'd gotten for them but I haven't met the little guy yet. It's so strange to think that there are now a couple of new members of the family that, thanks to fear of this virus, I haven't met yet. They may all be walking before I get a change to meet them.
Thanks to Mom's cleverness in contracting Covid right at the beginning of all this, my side of the family has gotten together in huge crowds like a normal year. Most of the gatherings have been outside, so there's that but at least we've seen each other. A lot. I mean, a lot.
Now that the weather is changing, that may change. Those few of us who still haven't got the antibodies can't be blamed for not wanting to tempt fate, although the rest of us are the safest people in the world for them to hang out with. For those of you out there whining "some people say you can catch it again!", I'll pray for you. Living in fear like that can't be fun.
We had a blizzard on Tuesday.
Yeah, a blizzard. A white out. Snow fell all day, visibility was about 20 feet on the road and it looked like this:
Now it's 2 days later and at least half the snow is gone. But it was kind of shocking how quickly we went from shorts and flip flops to digging out our snow boots. Yesterday, I cut down the nine bark I planted out back. I never did pull out the begonias. We'll see what happens. Exciting, right?
The tile has all been laid in the bathroom, so Jay and I went and got a pedestal sink. Now all that's left is for the fixtures to be installed and the linen closet to be built. I think there's actually a good chance it'll be done by Spring.
But I don't want to get my hopes up.
*when she was 8 months old, we moved to Havre MT and some boosters, who were destined to become very good friends of ours, noted that she was no bigger than their then 8 year old daughter's Cabbage Patch kid. Katie was 'Cabbage Patch' to them for the rest of her life. Even though she's at least as big as an American Girl doll, now.