~~ODNEAL FAMILY BLOG~~Port of Readlyn, Iowa

I really didn't expect anything this year as turning 44 is just another year gone by.  But let me say that this was one of my favorite birthdays.  Bruce bought me new pans since our old ones (that he also bought me years ago!) were shot and an Ipod.  Kyle got me a griddle for the grill at the houseboat to cook breakfast on so I don't have to stink up the houseboat cooking bacon.  My SIL Sharon did a metal of a picture of me as a little girl with our dog Lady that I absolutely love.  And I got a deal on Scratch cupcakes online that I ordered and Bruce picked up for me.  Oh, and Ava brought me two presents.  A rock for my garden that says "Grandma's Garden" and a flower pinwheel thing that twirls in the wind.  I truly have a lovely family that all thought of me this year for some reason.  For me it is just another day but I truly appreciated all the texts and cards that I received.  Sometimes getting older doesn't seem so bad!  ...

 I stopped at my SIL Helen's today on my way home from "town" as we call it (getting groceries and stuff-yes we live sort of in the boonies), and she gave me crap because I have not posted for quite a long time for me.  Well.......we have kind of had track meets, spring cleaning going on, oh and a little thing called prom last weekend!  Which we helped with the after prom and had to stay up until 3:30 in the morning.  We are not used to that unless we have had way too much fun!!!!!  But it was a good time.  Here are pictures from another thing last week that made me busier than usual.  Ty had to make "something" for spanish class.  Of course he can't be the average kid that will make or bake something easy to videotape and document all in spanish.  No he picked Zimbabwe Stew.  It is a recipe that he also made years ago to take to school for another class.  And he loved it.  So for his taping he actually sported a couple of my ...

We didn't make any plans for Easter really because we had work that needed done around home and such before we start heading to the houseboat every weekend.  But I did make an Easter ham dinner Sunday night and was blessed with the presence of Miss Ava and her parents.  And she didn't get an Easter basket at Grandpa & Grandma's house, she got an Easter sand bucket!  And of course she really can't eat candy yet so it had a book of animals and a very soft turtle with silky feet.  And I can't wait for her to use that bucket on the sandbar this summer at the river.  Hopefully we can teach her really fast not to eat the sand!  In the picture of Ava and I she is doing her excited "oh" and I am also.  That is why my face looks distorted just FYI!  And then she is with Grandpa before she left, and we had to take a picture of her and her Momma on her first Easter.  And the picture in the walker......well, Priceless!  Have a good week!  

We opened the houseboat up and got it ready for the season last weekend.  Here is just a snapshot of how that first weekend goes.  Friends know you are there and just stop by with their coolers to visit and have a few beverages together.  So of course you have to stop working and enjoy the fact that you are back with your summer houseboating friends even if it is only for a few hours.  We did end up going out to eat with Kevin & Ann, and saw Tim & Kris and Kevin & Ann on Sunday when they stopped by also.  Just realized Louie is missing from this picture so he must be on his boat mixing a drink.  I doubt he is standing back by me.  Oh how much better the boat looked when we got done for the weekend!  It is always so nice to get everything cleaned and all the woodwork wiped down.  I ordered new blinds for the front windows today and we plan on replacing the carpet throughout this year, too.  Unless it costs a small fortune....

 So I have no excuse really for not posting except......we seem to have been crazy busy the last week or so and I have had no time to even upload pictures or come up with something to say.  Sorry.  This is a picture I snapped blindly of Ty as he was coming around the corner and approaching his hurdle in the 400 hurdles.  He had wiped out on his third hurdle, rolled, and got back up and kept going (of course he did!) and actually still won his heat.  He usually doesn't run the 400 hurdles and placed 5th overall so not too bad.  But his scrapes on his shoulder and back are horrible.  Thank goodness he didn't get hurt.  His football coach (who is an asst. track coach) would not have been happy had he hurt himself.  Oh yeah and this is from last night in Denver and I think that house in the background is cool.  Although when Bruce and I were walking to my car past it we could see everything inside and I'm not sure I would like that location....