September Events - Day 1 (Birthday Girl)

Someone turned 4 in September and today I'm sharing a few photos from her birthday celebration.  These first 2 were taken the morning of her birthday.  The rest are from her birthday party later that day.

Some of the many (Under the Sea) decorations that her mom and sister set up for the party.

Waiting to open presents and opening them.  There were lots more but I figured these 2 would be enough to share.

The cupcakes, blowing out the candle and enjoying the cupcake.
 

Grandma and Grandpa playing along with some of the props that were available for everyone to wear and have fun with.

It was 94 out that afternoon so I didn't get many pictures of the kids playing on the playground equipment.  They had fun, we did too but boy was it HOT.  Maybe next year she can have an indoor party.

Book Review - The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts

Today I'll be reviewing the book,  The Merry Matchmaker by, Sheila Roberts.  I received an unedited copy of the book in advance for my review of this book.

Below is the information given about the book when I requested it.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma, this joyful Christmas romp tells the story of a woman who can’t stop trying to help everyone around her find their happily-ever-after—even when her help leads to disaster.

Frankie Lane knows what’s best for just about everyone but herself. Her divorced sister, Stef, who is too young to give up on love; her shy employee, Elinor; and her daughter, Natalie, who works in Frankie’s shop, Holiday Happiness, and really needs to start her own business selling the delectable chocolates she makes at home; even her best friend, Viola, who is trying to renovate her old Victorian. Frankie knows she could help all of them, if they’d just let her—and if all of her help didn’t end in utter disaster. 

Then there’s Mitch Howard, the owner of the local hardware store. They’ve been friends ever since Frankie opened her store, nine years earlier. He got her through the nightmare when she lost her husband in a freak accident, and he’s her favorite shoulder to cry on. He’s been divorced for years, and it’s such a waste of man! Mitch is the fittest, finest man Frankie knows. He’s easygoing, wise and kindhearted. Mitch needs someone. And she’s determined to help him find that someone—whether he likes it or not.

Here are my thoughts on the book:  The first thing that caught my attention was the fact that this book was set at Christmas time and was a romance story. Two of my favorite things. I thought it sounded like a really fun read.  

It took me a few chapters to start getting involved in the story but once I did I found it to be a very enjoyable book.  I loved the various characters in the story.  They were interesting people and the author made them sound believable.  Frankie, the main character was always trying to match up people or help them out with one thing or another even if they weren't aware of it.  This often caused some hilarious or disastrous results.

A lot of time these romance/rom-com type books seem very stereotypical of Hallmark type stories/movies.  - With this one it had elements of that in it but also was more involved with the different characters so you go to know them as people rather than just a "bit player" in the story.  I wanted to keep reading to find out how things would end up for everyone.

I'm not going to give away how it ended but I will say that it was indeed a fun read that had just the right touches of romance without being overly sappy.

I would recommend this book to those who like clean romance stories and a entertaining cast of characters.  I'd give this a 4 star rating.  The only thing that I'd mark it down on was perhaps that the book was a tad slow to start off and then towards the end of the story things picked up at a fast pace almost as if the author needed to get to the end of the story in a hurry.  That's just how I felt about the story.

Thanks for stopping by to read my review.

Lost and Found - A Tale of the missing coffee mug

 Please Read entire story:

Many years ago back in 1998 (the year my dad passed away) I received a coffee mug from a "Secret Pal" from the women's group at the church I belonged to at the time.  - I loved said cup,  It was black with a red heart rimmed in gold.  A very (artsy) type heart.

One day the cup went missing and I searched and searched for it.  I thought I might have taken it to the Bowling alley and left it but they said no such cup had been found.  I thought maybe my Granddaughter had used it and it was somewhere buried in all the stuff in her old bedroom. - She use to take coffee cups up to her room which is why I thought she had taken it. - It became a long standing "joke" that whenever she was looking for something in her room I'd ask her if she found my coffee mug.  This went on for about the last 8-10 years and she would get very annoyed with me when I'd ask her about finding my cup.

Mike had even said that he thought he had seen the mug somewhere but just couldn't remember where it was. He thought maybe it might have been one that had gotten mold in it up in her room and been thrown away.  She thought it had gotten broken and thrown out.

Sometime last month I was looking for something on E-bay and saw a photo of my mug for sale.  I made a bid and and got the cup.  Then I decided to play a trick on Jupiter by putting the cup in a box in her old room and calling her over to say that I had found my cup at long last (I know, pretty mean) and she fell for it until I started laughing.

Then I had to tell her that it really wasn't my long lost mug that I had just found one just like it and bought it. She had a good laugh about my prank on her.

Flash forward to today...I was out in hubby's office trying to help him find the dog shampoo and happened to look over on his desk.

Do you know where this is leading....

I look over on his desk and see this...I'm thinking why is my coffee mug on his desk.  Then the light bulb comes on and I realize this is the exact cup that I have been trying to find for the last 5-6 years! The gold around the rim and bottom of the cup is gone because it got washed so much in the dishwasher.  Will hand wash the new one now to prevent that.

I don't know how many times I've been out in his office and never once noticed that the cup was on his desk.  Needless to say I felt pretty stupid.  Had to call my granddaughter over and show her.  Then I apologized to her for accusing her all these years of having my cup and losing it.

All's well that ends well I guess.  Both coffee mugs will remain now where they are.

The Good. The Random. The Fun - Sept. 9, 2024

 Well it's been awhile since I've joined in at Tamar's blog for:

The Good. The Random. The Fun. - Shame on me.  Anyway here goes:

The Good:

My nephew (Richie) got married on the 3rd.  Snapped this shot of him and his bride (Courtney) at the ceremony.  More photos of the wedding to follow in another post.

The Random:

Sometimes I take random photos of things that catch my eye.  This is a piece of tubing laying outside on the concrete by our back door.  Which do you prefer, Colored or Black and White?

The Fun:

Someone had a birthday on the 1st.  Her she is having some fun with her cupcakes and decorations.

and one more having some fun in a bouncy house at another event this week (Wheelin' Walla Walla Car Parade)

Be sure to stop by Tamar's blog and check out some of the other participants.

Summer Fun - Part 2 (Long Post)

 So today is all about the concert.

We finally were able to get in line at 5:00.  Thankfully we weren't to far back in the line so we didn't have to stand there a long time.  Had a chance to chat with people and wonder why so many were carrying folding chairs and blankets.  Finally found out those were people who purchased general admission tickets.  Whew!  There was no way I wanted to sit on the grass or in a lawn chair.

Once inside a nice attendant helped us find our seats.  Middle Section, Row 20 back from stage and seats 9 & 10.  Not bad!

A couple of "selfies" because well... just because!

Loved the covering over part of the Pavilion and how the clouds were in the sky.  It was sunny so I worried that it might be hard to see once the concert started.  No worries though because by the time it started the sun had moved and we could see the stage just fine.

Before the crowd started filling up.  You can see how close we were. 

   

In May they held the Expo 74 Celebration here (we didn't go) Saw this on the side of the building so took a shot of it.

This was on a wall behind us and I thought it was a neat saying.

Had to get a picture of the flag and yes, part of the Clock tower.

Loved the graphics on this drum and didn't realize at first that this was the name of the opening acts band.  

So here they are on stage.  Then a guy next to us informs us that 2 of the Band members are John Fogertys sons.  The guy in front in the black on the left of the photo is Shane Fogerty and the one in the Green shirt is, Tyler Fogerty (he was a kick to watch).

  

   They played for about an hour give or take before the next act.

Next up was George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

I'm terrible at taking videos so the ones here will not be complete songs but at least you'll hear part of the songs.

Sadly my video skills were not able to get Bad to the Bone, instead I got about 17 seconds of the song and a video of the seats and concrete under my feet!

It was fun finally being able to see them since we had previously purchased tickets back in 2021 but the concert was cancelled a week before hand due to a band member having Covid. (That sucked).

They probably played about 90 minutes and it was really fun to listen to.  I especially enjoyed the saxophone player.

Finally time for John Fogerty! - Hard to believe he's 79 years old.

Behind the band was a movie screen and various scenes would be played to match the songs being sung.  This was from, Bad Moon Rising.

Here is the little video I got of the song.  Again I apologize for my lack of video skills.

                    This one was from the song,  Green River.

This song was the tribute song he wrote for his wife Julie,  Joy of My Life. -  His sons, Shane and Tyler played with him during the concert so they had quite an evening of playing both with their own band and then with their dad.

The guitar he is playing here was one he customized himself and played at Woodstock.  Eventually he ended up giving it away and then as a surprise on Christmas his wife had purchased it back for him.  You can read the story about that guitar HERE

This song was, It came out of the Sky.  The video had aliens and spaceships and was super fun to watch.  Music was great!

Some of the lights from the upper portion of the pavilion canopy.

This is from the song, Centerfield.  This song was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Finally I leave you with another short video:

Looking Out My Back Door...

We did not stay in Spokane so after the concert was over around 10:30 we left Spokane and drove home.  We got in around 1:15 am.  The concert was amazing and I loved every minute of it.  

The weirdest thing that happened...a couple sitting behind us had been drinking beer most of the night ($15 a can) and I over hear the guy say,  "I wonder if the lady in front of me would mind if I pee on her because I have to urinate!"  -  I turned around and asked him if he was talking about me or the other lady that was in front of him.  He was rather embarrassed and said,  "You heard that?" - "Yep, I replied, I've got really good hearing!"

The worst thing that happened...I ended up coming down with a cold and spent the next 2-3 days in bed because the cold medication I take makes you quite sleepy.  It was worth it though.