A day to celebrate!

Today is the day of my birth 51 years ago.  I was born on my Grandparent's 25 wedding anniversary.  I am a Friday's child.  I am the second child of four in my family.  I am the second grandchild and first granddaughter on my father's side.  I am the 22nd grandchild on my mother's side (if I counted correctly).  I was born in Omaha, Nebraska after the 10pm News.  It was Mother's Day weekend.

I was 6 months old

My day began with a wonderful massage.  Being able to relax and allow the world to stop for 1 hour is a great way to begin a day.  It was peaceful and quiet.  Manny and I went to Rocco's Clothing and to the Mall to buy my shoes at The Walking Company.  I am getting ready for our trip to Switzerland on a river cruise in July.  Back to my day...It was perfect.

I was able to relax for a couple of hours before Manny Max and I drove into Boston for a wonderful dinner at Smith and Wollensky's Steak Restaurant.  It was amazing food.  I had a glass of Riesling wine.  I ordered a 22oz rib eye bone-in.  We had sides of onion rings, mashed potatoes and cream corn with Manchego cheese.  The steak was perfectly grilled and the taste was amazing.

Ribeye steak

2 pound piece of chocolate cake

3 side dishes

Since my birthday lands near or on Mother's Day as a child my family would be at my Grandparent's farm.  It was a great time.  All my cousins would be at the farm.  We would have the best time playing.  The days were warm since it was spring in Columbus, Nebraska.  My cousin, Debbie, and I would be together all the time.  I am one month older than her.  We would lay on the living room floor at our grandparent's home and share a coloring book.  I remember we would always autograph and date the pages we colored.  Our Grandma had a box of buttons.  There were 100s of buttons in the box.  The older cousins would sort and play games with the buttons.  It was a simpler life. 

Before supper it was time to help with the farm chores.  We were city children, so we watched most of the time.  We would go with our grandparents or aunts to guide the cows into the barn for milking.  While my grandparents and aunts would be milking the cows, we would be playing in the hay loft.  There were times we would find chicken eggs and kittens in the hay loft.  We would watch the cows being milked from above. It was so much fun.  We would be jumping from one bail of hay to another.  It was great.

 

The one chore I loved was gathering chicken eggs.  My Grandma would tell us to wear a hat in the chicken coop.  We would always bring a stick with us.  The roosters were mean.  They would try to attack at times.  My Grandma or aunts would let me reach into the nests to gather the eggs.  The eggs had to be gently placed into the pail.  There was straw at the bottom of the pail.  If I was not careful, the eggs would break.  There are different types of chickens with specific jobs.  The laying hens of course laid the eggs.  There were clucks which sat on the eggs to hatch them.  The clucks had to be removed from the nest before reaching into the nest.  I loved gathering the eggs.

After supper I would help my Grandpa wipe each egg.  They had to be placed in the egg cartons with the points down.  The eggs were sold to an egg dealer.  It drives me crazy today when I buy a carton of eggs when the eggs are not placed in the carton properly.  

There were times my parents, brothers and sister would go to the drive-in to watch a Disney movie.  This was so exciting.  My mom would make popcorn and buy potato chips to eat while watching the movie in the back of the station wagon.  The 4 of us would be in our pajamas.  The drive-in theater was so much fun.  Before the movie began my Dad would take us to the playground near the screen and let us play until became dark.  Between the 2 movies as Tim (my older brother) and I were allowed to go to the Snack stand as we got older.  I rarely stayed up for both movies.  There were at least 2 movies if not 3.

Manny and Erika went to their first drive-in movie with me.  It was a Disney movie.  I believe it was Hercules.  Once Max came, we went to a few other drive-in theaters.  There are so few drive-ins left now.  It was a great way to watch 2 movies

Everyone should take a moment and realize the day you entered into this world was the most important day.  You are special.  God has given you a purpose on this Earth.  

Celebrate your day!