98 Birthday Wishes

It has been awhile since I've posted. Thank you very much to those of you who reached out to me to check on Muddear. I appreciate your concern and kindness.

There is so much to tell, but I won't spill the beans all in one sitting. First things first...

Muddear celebrated another birthday on October 30, 2009. Believe it or not, she is officially 98 years old! What an amazing life she has lived. As always, we took Muddear out to dinner to celebrate. The only thing she likes better than going out to dinner is shopping, but it was not a shopping kind of day.

Our restaurant of choice was a repeat of last year - TGI Fridays. This year, Muddear ordered the Jack Daniels Ribs and Shrimp meal. I'm sure you are not surprised - Muddear LOVES ribs and we make sure every birthday she gets an order. Anyone who has ordered any of the ribs meals from TGI Friday's knows that the plate is huge and overflowing with food. Muddear almost had an asthma attack when her plate arrived. After calming her down with numerous reassurances that anything left uneaten could be taken home, dinner proceeded without a hitch.

The "cutest" event of the night... When the servers came out singing the Happy Birthday song, poor Muddear didn't realize they were singing to her! She just kept looking around as though she were thinking... "what are they saying? And why are they standing there?" At then end of the song, Muddear accepted her dessert and asked, "Is this for me?"

Overall, we had a great evening out. I have noticed recently, that Muddear prefers shorter outings and dinner was the perfect duration. Dinner, dessert, presents and then we were out the door.

Happy Birthday Muddear!

Birthday Celebration!

It's official! I am a slacker of the greatest proportion. Muddear's birthday was October 30. While driving home, I chanted, "Don't forget the camera... Don't forget the camera... Don't forget the camera...". Guess what? I forgot the camera. I should have called home and told my husband to grab it for me. But Nooooo, that's too much like right. We took a few cell phone pictures that turned out horribly, so this post is without pictures. Bummer!

To re-cap, we went to TGI Friday for dinner. Mike, Muddear, the kids and I. Muddear loves ribs and according to my husband, the rib connoisseur, Friday's has good ribs. You should have seen Muddear eat! I ordered not half a slab, but a whole slab thinking she could take any leftovers home for dinner the next day. To my surprise, Muddear ate almost all of the ribs, some of her mashed potatoes, and dessert. She was totally adorable, all smiles and talkative. It was obvious, Muddear loves birthday celebrations.

When Muddear wasn't paying attention, we told our waiters that today was her birthday. After the dinner plates had been cleared away, the whole Friday's gang came out singing and clapping the birthday song. She was ecstatic! Honestly, so was I to see her so happy. Muddear knew it was her birthday and she was proud to be 97! Up until that point she had not experienced any anxiety or shortness of breath. That is until she was given a huge chocolate sundae. We each wanted our own dessert thus declined to share her sundae, which gave Muddear a bit of anxiety. She always worries that we will be upset with her if we go out to dinner and she doesn't finish everything on her plate - I think she worries about wasting money. We quickly moved her past this episode without medication and enjoyed our dessert.

Overall, it was a great night out. Many waitresses stopped by our table before we left to wish Flossie a Happy Birthday. Each was amazed that she was turning 97 years old. Honestly... so am I.