Memorial Day 2021

It was a classic Memorial Day weekend!  All the family came over to our place this time, all dressed up in their red, white and blue.  I got to try out my grill for the first time this year.  In fact, since the heart incident, this is the first time I've eaten a hamburger and a hot dog, and though they aren't lethal, they certainly aren't good for me.  But they still tasted wonderful, because there's something special about items you cook on your own grill for these summer occasions.  

Earlier in the day we were doing all our preparations.  We were listening to old records and setting up decorations outside on the back deck.  I got my walking in on the treadmill, and found the perfect decoration for it - the Captain America shield fits perfectly on the front there.  

Now I'm envisioning adding "S.H.I.E.L.D." stickers on the side of the treadmill, and so on.  I set up the computer as always, because I like to go do POV walks on the treadmill.  Today's destination was Washington DC, going from the Vietnam Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial along the Reflecting Pool to the World War II Memorial.  'Merica!

We even made patriotic cookies today!

That's always fun, sitting down to decorate the cookie shapes that Mom sends our way.  She got some cookie cutters in the shapes of flags, stars, and the continental United States.  Sorry Alaska and Hawaii!

Last week there was a sale on a corn hole game, something that we always wanted, so I swung by to pick that up.  Today we got to take it for a test run with the family, and it was just perfect.  We had that set up under the back deck.  Ye-Ye and Maddie and Hannah were giving it a try, and then much later, Maddie and I were having an all-left handed version of the game, because why not?  She's very proud to say that she won that three game playoff.  It even went into extra innings!

The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend.  Whereas last week in the middle parts, the temperature was in the lower nineties, the temperature dropped ten degrees or more, and in fact has been pretty cool in the morning and evenings.  The skies were partly cloudy, and everyone sat comfortably outside on the back deck as we had a magnificent feast with potato salad, macaroni salad, homemade coleslaw, chips, deviled eggs, hot dogs, hamburgers, and all the toppings you need for a great burger.  Mom made her banana pudding for afterwards, plus some cupcakes that she decorated to go with the patriotic theme.  

We celebrated a few birthdays too.  A month ago, Ye-Ye and David had birthdays, along with Mom.  I was having my issues back then, plus everyone was just simply busy.  Memorial Day offered us a day off so we could be together.  And even though some even worked on Memorial Day, they got off just in time to come over late this afternoon and just be together for a nice little party.  Ye-Ye got a mini-chainsaw for cutting branches and so on, and we got David a gift card to the movies.  Mom made these garden ornaments that came out very nice, these glass mushrooms that I'll have to take a picture of when I'm over at Ye-Ye's house - he really liked them, and was surprised he didn't think of the idea first.  She took glass bowls f different sizes and patterns and put them on top of glass vases of different shapes and patterns, gluing them together and creating a glass mushroom.  Pretty neat!

All good things must come to an end, and so we said goodbye to everyone, completely glad to have everyone over again.  We were exhausted, so there's no much left to say after the full day, although we did wrap up season two of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." tonight, getting to see Mr. Hyde once more.  This was a classic season finale, and we'll never forget having to wait the entire summer to figure out what happened to Jemma Simmons.  I forgot how much fun this series was.

We read tonight, and we prayed, and wow, we were tired.  Mom was having difficulties though.  Sometimes it hits her in the night, or sometimes immediately after eating.  Tonight it was not long after eating, and it was more painful than usual.  She took some medication for that, but it still kept her up later.  We'll get to sleep in tomorrow, and we'll let her sleep in as long as she wants.