Mother's 80th Birthday

Yesterday was my Mother's 80th birthday. So after dinner, I drove the 2 hours to spend the night and morning after with her. My brothers and sisters and I got together and chipped in to buy her a new loveseat. Doesn't she look like a queen sitting in it? Who would guess she was 80?!My mother likes to go for a walk every morning so I went with her today. We walked 1 mile, then 1 mile back. It was a beautiful crisply cool morning - invigorating. On the way we walked past the farm where I grew up and had to take a picture of the milk house. It was unique. I don't know that I've ever seen a stone milk house, but we had one.
When I was a kid, the barn was white and the barn yard was not paved. There was also not another house that we could see from our house. Now there are houses all up and down the road - being built up just like everywhere else.

After our walk and breakfast, we played speed scrabble all morning. I have to be honest and tell you that she beat me soundly (because if I don't 'fess up, she will tell everyone). I was doing better with each game, but I lost so badly in the first couple rounds, that I was unable to catch up by the time we had to leave. (Maybe if we had played all afternoon, too, I could have won - but we'll never know now.)

For lunch the two of us drove to Panera Bread near Reading and met my sister, Toot. We had a good time eating and visiting, then got one of the servers to take our picture. I know it will be hard to believe that Toot is my sister. Does she look like me or what! In fact, there have been times when our own children have been confused. Toot told me that when her kids were a lot younger, one of them was looking at the Christmas picture I sent them, and this one son asked Toot why she was in the picture with the Wallin girls!
After lunch, Mother and Toot went back to Mother's house and on to a cousin reunion. I drove home. Traffic was mildly congested on the Schuylkill Expressway, but I finally got home.

Andy was working on the front porch again today. He had a load of crushed stone, sand and gravel delivered yesterday, so he spent the day filling in between the blocks. He'll need to get a little bit more before laying the slab. It's coming along nicely.