20 years old

My baby bird is 20 years old today! I no longer have a teen. It honestly feels strange to think about it. We celebrated last night at my house. Tonight she is having a Mad Hatter party at her house....everyone has to dress up, wear a hat and drink out of a Tea cup! I can't wait to see photos!!
She wanted a homemade meal of course. She asked for Stuffed Shells and a carrot cake for dessert. I made the cake and John made the frosting & decorated the cake!! (he frosted better than I could!)
Nick came to celebrate.
Meg and her girlfriend, Hillary came too.
Grandma....she hasn't missed 1 birthday yet!
Daddy bought Tori some "emergency" mousse as a gift. He was on the phone with her the other day when she ran out.
Sisters or as they call each other...."thister"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VICTORIA!!!

The First

It was 1988....John & I moved into Apt. #19 A on Youree drive in Shreveport, Louisiana. We were 17 & 19. We had a 1 month old baby girl.

The only furniture we owned was what John had as a kid......a water bed, dresser, and a desk. Of course we had a crib for Meg. Everything we had in the house was given to us.

We had no living room furniture. We did have a 19 inch television that we put in the fireplace.....why John did that I do not know.....but it was in there. We sat on the floor to watch TV.

We went to a unfinished furniture store one day to look for an entertainment center. It was a family owned business. We really liked this particular one and decided to purchase it. We filled out the paper work to purchase it on credit but were denied. Unfortunately, being young we had no credit yet....and we didn't have the cash to buy it out right.

The owner (I wish I knew his name) I guess felt bad for us. I will never forget what he did for us. He told us that he can tell we are trying to make a home for our daughter, that he can see that we were in love with each other, and how bad we wanted that entertainment center........he Co-signed so we could get the credit and purchase the cabinet!!! A stranger did that for us! The cabinet cost $600. We went in his store together on the 15th of every month, for six months, with $100. We made sure that we paid it off as soon as possible. We were and still are very grateful to that man!
Years later we purchased a bigger entertainment center that the girls now have. So my mom took our 1st one and used it in her home. Well, in August she had my brother in law build her a new center.....so we got our 1st piece of furniture back.

It is in Meg's bedroom for now. It still looks pretty. One day it will get passed on to Tori. I promised it to her when she gets married.

Here I is

I had a chance to check my e-mail during my 1st lunch bunch at work yesterday. I rarely even check e-mails these days. I saw where Heather commented on my rock post. It put a smile on my face!!!

Here is the comment:

Betty, where are you? We are missing you. It's been a week since this post... Come out, come out, wherever you are!

So to explain my absence....

Having my symptoms under control for the past 6 years....my Asthma has returned. I had 4 attacks in 2 weeks. I am on oral steroids to treat the inflammation of my bronchial tubes. The last one I was home alone and really thought I was gonna die! I keep my rescue inhaler close by now!

So I know what triggered the asthma....I got a miserable head cold!! I was so afraid I was getting the swine flu because there have been several cases at my school already. No piggy....just your usual head cold when the weather starts turning.

So after working 6:30 am - 4:45 pm everyday, I would come home...cook John dinner...clean up kitchen...then make me a cup of Theraflu. I "doctored" it up with 2 tablespoons of Tequila Gold and by 8:00 I was sound asleep and wouldn't cough until about 3 am.

Then I had to do it all over again the next day!

I am feeling SO much better today. I still have a slight cough but nothing like last week. I hope to get the asthma under control again.