September definitely got away from us. We were painstakingly trying to work on the rental house's roof before the bad weather arrived for the year. We cut it close, but we did get it done on time. I felt bad that we didn't celebrate Dad's birthday in September. I talked to him about it and he said that it was fine, we could do it at a later time when everyone wasn't as busy.
Mom was at a quilting retreat during her birthday weekend. She also said that we could celebrate it later on in October. I found a weekend to have both, Mom and Dad's birthday party that worked for everyone. I asked the both of them if pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, brownies and ice cream were fine and they said it was.
I contacted everyone to let them know that we were doing a birthday party for Mom and Dad and told them what we were having, when it was and what time. I had asked Liz if she and her girls would like to carve pumpkins and we set aside a day to do it but had to change it because the girl's grandmother, Susan created plans without telling Liz until the last minute. So, we had to reschedule it for the last Sunday around 4 before Halloween. I told her that would be fine, but my Sunday would be busy with birthdays. I had to juggle two different events.
I went shopping for the pork chops and the potatoes after work on Thursday since I was already out and about. I hit up the Costco and the Walmart and then went home. I got the house all cleaned up and made the brownies on Saturday and made sure everything was ready to go before I went to bed that night. I wanted Sunday to go as smoothly as possible.
That morning, Ben and I got up, did a few things to finish preparing for the birthday party and found out that Zac was sick and wasn't going to come and, of course, since Doug works the weekends away, he and Sonya weren't going to come either. So, we were going to have 10 of us instead of the usual 13. I hope someday Doug will get a different job, and he can join us with family gatherings again. Ben and I started peeling potatoes and getting the pork chops, green beans and gravy ready since everyone was supposed to be here around noon.
No one had arrived and it was pretty much noon. I texted everyone to let them know that the food was done. I had to wrap everything in tin foil to keep it warm because everyone was late! Everyone started to arrive and I gave them a bad time for being late. Their excuse was that it was so early for a party. I mostly did it so Erika could get Brian home at a decent time, and I had another event to go to that evening. September and October definitely got away from us this year.
Everyone grabbed plates and piled food on top. We all talked about random things - how the rental was going, work, retirement, projects, etc. It was quite the array of topics. Of course, Brian was a ham and wanted to touch and play with everything! I did collect a bunch of toys over the years just in case we had small children in our family to entertain. I was excited when I found an old school Fisher-Price cash register about a year ago. He thought that was the greatest thing in the world!
We cleaned up and I grabbed the brownies. Trish volunteered to bring vanilla ice cream. She helped me dish up to those who wanted dessert after we sang Happy Birthday to Mom and Dad. They opened gifts and cards and thanked everyone for thinking of them. Everyone helped clean up and headed home so they could get ready for the work week.
I got ready for my second event of the day. At 3, I texted Liz to let her know I was on my way. I brought the three little pumpkins with me, some carving tools and the Coke. Just before I got onto I-5, I ordered the pizza online. It told me that it would be ready in about a half hour. Perfect. Just enough time to get there, grab it and head to her house. She told me, "See ya in a bit."
I get to Pizza Hut in Centralia, and it was literally ready for me to grab the two pizzas and leave. Her house was just minutes away. I pull up, park and bring the food and drinks in first. I go back for the pumpkins and carving tools. I even remembered to bring a Halloween themed tablecloth. I think Liz appreciated what I was doing for her and the girls, but I can never tell. I believe the 4-year hiatus really did a number on the friendship. I didn't want to, but I really thought she didn't want me around anymore, so I left. It is what it is, I guess.
Anyway, we enjoyed the pizza and pop and conversation. One thing I didn't know about Liz was she didn't like to touch icky things, that included the inside of a pumpkin. She made an exception that day and turns out it wasn't really that bad. I also learned that the girls have never carved pumpkins before, but Liz had, when she was a kid. She showed them how to cut the top and scoop out the insides. They drew faces on their pumpkins instead of carving them. I carved the third pumpkin since Liz didn't want to do her own but help the girls with theirs.
Once we got all the guts out, Liz and I separated the seeds so she could clean them up and cook them in the air fryer for later. While we did that, we talked about a bunch of stuff. She told me that one of her aunt's in Mexico wasn't doing that well. Her mom has been going down there to help out and spend time with her. I told her about the progress with the rental, and we briefly touched on work. I let her bring it up because she had told me during the DJA that she didn't want to talk about work. I respected that request.
Her boys came in to give her a bad time and one of them wanted help on their homework. He wanted her to help him with his speech he had to give in a day or two - something about the argument on should college players get paid. That was up my alley. I had actually done a group project on that very subject while I was in college years ago. I shared my input. I didn't care if they used it or not.
I didn't want to overstay my welcome, since it was a work night and all, so I thanked her for having me over and she thanked me for the pumpkins, pizza and pop. I told her it would be fun to do this again next year and she said it would. We would have to find a good time to do it next year if they had the time. She walked me out and I told her I would talk to her tomorrow. She said the same. I headed home.
I let her know I got home and she told me, thanks for letting her know. I got cleaned up, did a few things and got ready for another work week. It was a busy day, but I sure had a lot of fun!
Next Adventure: Halloween - Brian's First Time Trick or Treating
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