One (More) Last Hurrah

On the spur of the moment I decided to invite some friends over for a soup and salad supper. And eleven (plus me) showed up!! Hurrah!! It was really a fun evening. I made butternut squash soup...

an autumn salad ...

and a cherry pie and some cookies. Amy brought a DELISH wild rice soup. Gotta get that recipe. Jean brought Caesar salad and beverages. Jim Li brought homemade applesauce and beer. We ate 'til we were full to overflowing. And laughed A LOT. Which I needed. It was a nice break for me.

Shirley wanted to take a pic of my CA "bags". EVERY time I use one of these I get a compliment. They are definitely attention getters.

What a fun evening. What great friends.

No workout today. My body is tired and needs a rest. My left hip is a bit sore and all this moving stuff isn't helping. So I gave myself a day off (and that isn't easy for me). I spent 12 hours going through "stuff". Wow. Did I uncover some relics. All my grade school report cards. A program from a 1983 Vikings game. Remember Matt Blair and Tommy Kramer?

And my second grade school photo.

And my college sorority photos. Can spot me?

And the girls of Vanaheim (I think this was senior year, but I lived here both Jr. and Sr. years). Can you spot me in this one?

Congratulations ... to the Strain family on the first of son number three this morning. First was William, then Wes and now ... I'm not sure!! Dan wouldn't tell me before the baby was born. But it might not be a "W" name, that much I did know. And congrats to Jeff and Trevor who finished 4th (8:56) and 5th (8:58) at Surph the Murph 50-miler. Yowza!! They're amazing!! Congrats to Laura who finished her master's thesis this past week. Good news all around. : )

Well, that's enough for today. I am absolutely bushed. And tired of making decisions ... what to keep? what to throw? what to try to sell? Enough.

Good night ...