Celebration

First some birthday shout-outs!
To Clay, my colleague of 7 seven years and a pal. He was the lucky fella who got to help wrap and pack my kitchen. Hope you had a bit of fun on your day.

To Shiela and Todd. Todd sacrificed having his wife with him on their anniversary so that she could come visit me instead. I hope you two had some kind of love-in anyway.

My cousin Scott and I celebrate birthdays just one day apart. So, for one day, we are the same age. That was loads of fun when we were growing up next door to each other. One year we had a fabulous Winnie the Pooh cake, at least that's one I remember. Happy B'day, cuz.

To my once near sister-in-law, Nancy, who celebrated her birthday on February 12. Aloha, Nancy, and hope you had a hula of a good time.

One of the big helpers in making my quilt and, I think, the first to have received an RFD wedding quilt, Ellen. A real sweetheart, Ellen is also the mom of three, a fantastic photographer and a saint for lovin' that one and only silly man, Darrin. (love ya, Darrin ;) Hope you had a great big b-day yesterday, girl!

And, finally, to my old friends and college roomie, Shannon, who still resides in that living antique, Savannah, GA. Hope you do something special on your day, gal.

My own type of mile marker
Today, the 21st of February, marks the sixth month since my stroke. I wasn't sure what I was going to do to commemorate the day but, like my stroke, it was taken care of for me. Today is Eindhoven's parade in celebration of Carnival.

Similar to Marde Gras in New Orleans, it is a day of utter silliness: peoples from below the rivers dressing up Halloween style, parades of the most ridiculous looking floats, horrible upbeat Dutch music which accompany floats down the streets and humans enjoying the freedom from the usual required seriousness of life in winter. Unlike the beauty seen in the Carnival of Venice, Dutch Carnival pulses with oom-pah and overflows with garishness. Fun for me to witness but not to partake in (except the costumes and some sausage eating, perhaps).

We'll be leaving from here soon to find somewhere along the parade route to sit and take in the sight. Then we'll probably just hang out in the center of town. I'm glad to have my scoot to take me there but we'll have to stay clear from the crowds as I don't want to run over any more crazy Carnivalers than necessary.

Have a fabulous weekend and I'll be in touch probably tomorrow. Nico took some photos of the apartment (which I promised to you some time ago). And, of course, we'll have some clips from today's outing. Later!