Last Sunday, I went to a babies shower for a dear college friend who is having twins with her very nice hubby. I’m thrilled for them. The shower was a ton of fun and luckily, there was a monsoon which cooled things off and then passed so we could continue the party outside.

I completed the first of two blankets in time for the shower.


The day before, I had the joy of going to the beach with my family (sans mom because she had a foot/ankle issue). Galveston is sometimes a trashy beach, but since we’re in the middle of a crazy drought, I’m thrilled by any water. I even had a thought while we were there, that there was a lot of trash, but I still love the beach. And as a beachcomber, trash is sometimes good. Here is the crew before we left (lovely job taking the photo by my 13 year old nephew).

My little brother drove us to and from the beach, which I really appreciated because I got a lot done on the Mermaid Lagoon socks. We spent the first 45 minutes trying to put up the awning, but after we finally got it up, it fell on my SIL 20 mins. later while she was beach-napping. At that point, we agreed that my dad was getting an awning for Father’s Day…..Happy Father’s Day, Dad – You’re THE BEST! Thanks for teaching me to enjoy beachcombing and always having a great sense of humor! LOVE YOU!

She continues to be hilarious and really treat motivated. Best trick for getting her to pose like this for pics is making throw up noises……true story.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!


Last Sunday was Mother’s Day and I was able to surprise my mom Sunday evening at her home. She was expecting me Monday night since I had business in town Tuesday, but I took a vacation day and showed up unannounced.
I was really proud of my dad. He answered the phone very nearly every time I’d called that week and he never gets the phone…..and my mom was starting to get ticked that I wasn’t ever talking to her around mother’s day. :)
I arrived at 6:45pm while the sun was still bright. The gate was shut. Surely, someone would come along and I could follow them in….no such luck. So, I called the house and my mother answered:
Hello.
Me: unh (almost said is dad there?) Happy Mother’s Day! Is dad there?
Mom: Your father is in the car and we’re going to dinner, he’ll call you back from the car.
Me: No, I need to talk to him.
Mom: Isn’t the car soon enough?
Me: Not really. I need to talk to him.
Mom: He’ll call you back from the car.
Me: …sigh. fine. bye.
I can see their car and I’m almost 100% he’s not in the car at that point, but I can’t very well tell her he’s not in the car.

My dad meanwhile figured out what had happened because he knew the gate closed at 6pm not sundown as I had believed. He went out to the car to punch the gate button, but my mom followed him out thinking they were leaving for dinner. He couldn’t get the button to work from that far away, so they got in the car and were leaving when I called him. I heard my mom say, “is that Katie’s truck?” and my dad made some nondescript noise like “unhhn.” (this must be where I got it.) and then I hear, “is this a surprise?!?!” to which I yell through the phone, “SURPRISE!” If my dad wasn’t going deaf in his later years, he might be now. oops. My mom was very surprised and excited and glad to know why I kept chatting my dad up and not talking to her about Mother’s Day.

Monday, my mom and I went to Mercer Arboretum to enjoy the flowers and take some pics.


Then we headed to ihop.


After ihop, we went perfume shopping at Macy’s and then swung by her work so I could meet her coworkers. We visited some family friends and then it was time to meet my dad, brother and SIL for dinner at Pappasito’s. After dinner, mom/dad, SIL and I went back to their house to hang out for a bit and then I headed home with SIL.

My brother and his wife graciously agreed to let me stay with them so my mom didn’t have to wash sheets. Thank you!
It was a great trip and I was happy to surprise my mama! Love you, Mom!