Birthday candles.

Don really had a great day – he had calls from friends and family, a friend stopped by with a box of goodies from his vegetable garden, Rick and Doug stopped by for a few minutes with a birthday card, lots of birthday greetings on Facebook and on IG and this blog. He decided that he wanted a birthday pie, so he made one in the afternoon. I made sugar-free chocolate chip cookies the night before – a test run. (We call them Scookies, as they have a consistency that is more like a scone…Don loves them.) We had dinner, then it was time for presents and a round of Happy Birthday with candles to blow out.

We also had a great chat with the other birthday boy, Little Z, who turned 10 years old. Don got a birthday kiss via FaceTime, as did Z.

All in all, a lovely day celebrating a great guy.

We’re tired today. All the energy that goes into celebrating all day long – it’s wonderful – but I’m wiped out the next day! And we have our first visit/service call in over a year on the docket this afternoon. Our alarm service is upgrading something or other and they have to come to the house to do it. We put it off for a long time, waiting until we were fully vaccinated.

The other day, I went to Target for the first time since before the pandemic. Another first since being vaccinated. I still wear a mask when I’m in a store. Many people were also wearing masks, but there were also many without masks. No confrontations, no people asking why you’re still wearing a mask. That seems to be a non-issue around here – at least, so far.

I haven’t painted in a few days and I hope to get back to it today. I also have a lot of weeding to do – all that rain resulted in an overgrown garden.

Here’s a question for you. Yesterday, I noticed this car in front of the house and the driver was clearly taking pictures. I got up and went on the porch to give him the ‘evil eye.’ He kept on taking them, from across the street and from the next door neighbor’s driveway. Don, hearing what was going on, came out and joined me. The driver eventually pulled in our driveway to let us know he was a real estate appraiser taking pictures for a local bank. I said they didn’t have permission to do that. He said if we had an issue, we should contact the bank. Don countered with a ‘No, you tell them we have an issue.’ It’s not illegal, of course, and the guy was perfectly nice, but what the heck? We have nothing to do with that bank. We have no accounts there. Our mortgage is not with them. Why would they be taking the pictures of our house? The only thing we could come up with is that the real estate frenzy that is everywhere right now, including here, with lots of people moving upstate and paying big bucks for houses, is resulting in offers to sell your house if you want to put it on the market. Maybe it has something to do with that? We bought our house too long ago for it to be a ‘comp.’  The guy wasn’t taking pictures of any other houses on our street (at least, not that I know of) just ours. Or maybe they want to get our business through an offer to refinance?

Any ideas?

Somewhat disconcerting, though Don (from a family that works in real estate) seemed to think it wasn’t a big deal.

Hmmm.

Thank you for all the birthday greetings for Don! He’s going to read them later today.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs this morning, I was greeted by my husband, who, as he heard me getting up, had surged to his feet with a big, big smile on his face.

“I made it!!!” he shouted.

Yes, you did, my love. Yes, you did.

He’s 70 years old today. Let me tell you, he just gets better and better.

I’ve written so much about him on this blog over the years. You know him well, as well as you can without actually meeting him in person. He is, quite simply, the best thing that ever happened to me.

But I don’t want to make this about me. I want to honor Don.

Don is: kind, good, compassionate, giving, honest, trustworthy, friendly, talented, hilariously funny, wise, intelligent, strong, loving, true blue to all of his friends, a helper, a guide, a sponsor, romantic, passionate (and not just about me,) tolerant, a fighter for social justice, a life-long learner, adventurous, a great cook, an even greater life partner.

He’s a survivor. He turned his life around at a relatively young age and has moved forward with grace and humility.

I thank the universe for him every day. I am humbled by my good fortune. He helps me be a better person. He supports me in everything I do. And I do the same for him.

Bless you, Don Sparks, for everything you are and everything yet to come. You are an extraordinary person and everyone who comes to know you is richer for the experience. You’ve taught me so much and I am grateful beyond measure.

If you’re at all interested, Don wrote a few songs the other day and he recorded them live. They’re simple. Back to his folk roots. Less than 3 minutes each. Here is the link. You can click on it and all four songs will play for you. His intention was to get back to basics – just his voice, guitar, and a harmonica.

Happy Birthday to the love of my life, Don Sparks. You are loved by so many.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.