Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! You warmed my heart, but then you always do. Don had to go into the city for an audition, so I hung around the cottage with Scout and did something that makes me very happy: I worked on the dollhouse.

I cut, I painted, I trotted back and forth from the dollhouse to the kitchen island. Scout didn’t quite know where to ‘settle.’ That order from Miniatures that I received the other day had several pieces of trim that I planned on using to trim out the windows in the bathroom and the office/craft room. But then I had an Aha! moment. I knew I had to do some trimming of the bits of wallpaper that extended beyond the walls, especially around the doorways. I was never happy with the way they looked. I was ready to pull out the exact knife (which I will do, eventually.)

Ummmm, Claudia? You might want to consider trimming out the doorways, just as you did the windows. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?  I grabbed the trim I had on hand to do this:

Much better! There’s more on the kitchen side of the doorway and in the bedroom. I also added a lot of molding around the baseboards and ceilings. Still more to do on that front.

I cannot tell you how much I love creating this little dollhouse world. It makes me so happy!

Today I have to place an order to replenish my stock!

Don came home around 2:30 and we went out to dinner around 6-ish. We decided to go local and by local I mean just down the road. Incredibly, I’d never been in this restaurant in the 8 years we’ve lived here, even though it is local hangout. Lovely waitress…hold on a moment, is ‘serving person’ the correct way to say it nowadays? Anyway, it was Keri’s first day on the job, so we made sure to give the manager a thumbs up on her work. We had angel hair pasta with olive oil and tomatoes and onions and garlic, along with a salad and garlic bread. Keri surprised us with a mini pumpkin pie in honor of my birthday that was out-of-this-world-delicious!

Back at the ranch, I opened my presents. I like to open a wrapped present so I put the brakes on the idea of snow boots, which I would have had to select and try on, leaving the element of surprise completely out of the picture. Not that I was entirely surprised by my gifts, as I had specifically requested two of them.

The newest Lee Child, as I have been on the waiting list for it at my local library for a few months and I’m still number 163 in the queue. And Mary Oliver’s newest book of poems, all about dogs she has known and loved. Mary Oliver is my favorite poet. She makes my heart sing. She is wise. She is a nature and animal lover. She speaks to me.

Scout’s present for me was that little Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes sign.

Speaking of cupcakes, Don had four of them waiting for me. They were decorated with my name – in icing! I haven’t had any of them yet as I was too stuffed from dinner. But, they’re waiting for me. Yummy!

Lots of Birthday wishes on Facebook and on this blog, so my cup does indeed ‘runneth over.’

Finally, like many of you, I have been watching a lot of vintage footage from the day President Kennedy was assassinated. I remember exactly where I was. I had just turned 11 the day before. I was in art class at my school when we were ushered back to our classroom with the words “The President has just been shot.” We were sent home and by the time I reached my house, which was just two blocks from school, the world knew he had died. We sat in front of our television for the next three days. We saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald, as it happened. We cried and cried.

Such a terrible time, such a horrendous loss. I truly believe that everything changed from that moment. Nothing has ever been the same. Innocence was lost, hopes and dreams were crushed.

Fifty years.

Today, I’m honoring the memory of President Kennedy and of Officer Tippet, who was also gunned down by the despicable Oswald on that fateful day.

Have a good Friday.