Tuesday, May 30, 2006
The Birthday Goes On!
Yesterday SEB, Anne, Cortney, and Richard had dinner with us. Les gave Jay a Cordless V-tech phone with an answering system . It was a very warm day and we went the Deli sandwich and salad route. Topped it off with spice cake and ice cream.
The last few days have been exciting. Things keep breaking. First the chute door for the ice maker wouldn’t shut. The air was getting in making ice form on the top of the chute. This had happened before and about $45. later it was fixed. This time, seeing it is still making ice I decided to cover the opening to the chute with tin foil. This worked well in keeping the warm air out but it did present a problem. We forgot to tell everyone what we had done so they would walk up press the control then tell us there was no ice. We would then explain they would have to reach in the freezer and get the ice. So they opened the door and cubes fell out on the floor and Brandy came running to get one .
Later that day I put some hot dogs in a baggy in the microwave, set the time, push the start, and pop then nothing. No clock, no power, and obviously cold hot dogs. Poor old thing just gave up.
Yesterday it was the window air conditioner. Les brought it up, put it in the kitchen widow, we plugged it in, and the fan would whine but not spin. Oh great we were glad that things like this come in threes.
Now today Jay’s sister Emily called and ask us to meet her for lunch for Jay’s birthday so we thought this was an ideal time to fix a couple of our problems. Now I can get the ice cubes by hand for a while longer. I could probably even get along without the air conditioner, but I can’t do without my microwave. One major reason is I reheat my coffee all day long in that thing so that is a must have. So after a delicious lunch at a Chinese buffet we went to Best Buy and got both the AC and the microwave. We blew half of both of our Christmas clubs but hey they are for gifts so we said they would be our gifts.
This afternoon I spotted a bunny on the deck picking over the end of the bird seed for something to eat.
So I eased out of the other door on the deck and tiptoed around to get a picture. I got pretty close before he decided that it was time to split.
I got one more shot as he stopped on the path after leaving the deck. I missed three bunnies romping in the yard yesterday so I really wanted to get these shots.
Still the birthday celebration continues with a visit from Cindy tomorrow.
Another Natal Day!
65 years ago a man was born. Not a full grown man at that time but as described in his baby book== baby’s hair was brown. His eyes dark blue. He was kept in the incubator because he arrived a month early. He weighed 4 lbs. and 4 ozs. So began the life of who we loving call Jay. His Mother’s note included that he first laughed out loud August 17th. He rolled over at six months, started crawling at 10 months, and took his first steps on August 4, 1942. He liked baths, spinach and butter, and frosting and pie when he was two. The vegetables with butter and the pie are still a favorite today.
The oldest with four younger sisters he tells of sleeping on the couch so his sisters had a bedroom. I sometimes find him on the couch now when the congestion, if he tries to lay down, gets the best of him . While in Arizona, where there was no kindergarten, he learned to read at six years old. This has been a life long passion also. He will laugh and say he has to read 50 thousand words a day to survive. In 1943 he suffered an injury that left his left eye permanently damaged. He has had bouts of blindness from the complications of diabetes but has learned to cope with the problems.
As a kid he used to catch baby mice in the attic and feed them to the cat. He also liked to watch ants when you took a magnifying glass and directed the sun on them. He would visit his friend Richard and they would read comic books for hours and never say a word. Then Jay would leave and go home.
In his 30s he had mutton chops and thick glasses. He looked a little scary but you had only to talk with him to get to know his true behavior. He married us (all four of of) in 1974. He has never met a stranger and will share ideas with anyone. Now if you ask him the time he will tell you how to build the clock. He wanted a dome to live in and studied them for years until he finally got one. He is a trivia nut and loves to cook and can. Jam is one of his specialities and everyone around gets samples when he cans.
On our 25th wedding anniversary he looked like a diplomat in his gray suit. We said he needed a red sash with a sunburst medal on it to complete the ensemble. Many changes have occurred in his life. In health and in goals accomplished some have been good and others not so good. But as you can see by the picture below he does get better looking every year.
We say with love Happy Birthday Jay and many , many more!