April 18 Surprise Party and Graduation Celebration

I have some sneaky people in my family... my 4 wonderful children and my darling husband collaborated to surprise me with a birthday party to celebrate big number 70! Midnat friends were in attendance which made the event even more special.
I have no pictures, I was too busy laughing and crying at the remembrances and the outpouring of love from everyone.

Table decorations included plastic mugs resembling the ones we used when they were young. The set included 4 colors and each child had a specific color. On each table was a can of vegetables missing the label. When Alvin managed a supermarket, he brought home the unlabeled and unsalable cans so once a week to accompany the dollar stretching meatloaf, each child choose a can for a side dish. They all became quite adept at a shaking technique to determine the contents, hoping above hope against finding hominy.

Kevin had smoked brisket, pork butt, and sausage. Kasey prepared potato salad, mustard of course, and pinto beans. Becky brought gazpacho and Debbie provided the coleslaw.

The cake was beautiful, thankfully they didn't attempt 70 candles, just spelled out "Happy Birthday". The large number 70 was an edible printout covering the center of the cake.

We all had a magnificent time and I am truly blessed.

Saturday morning, April 19, there was no Midnat field trip scheduled so we took off alone to explore some of the county to see what changes this oil boom has caused. Our old place on CR 144 was sickening to see. 9 RV's and several oil field trucks cover the 3 acres and most of the trees are dead. I had looked on Google Earth a few months earlier and was heartbroken then. My swimming pool was fallen down, but all the RV's were not there. The "star blind" tower is still there, too.  The entire neighborhood has turned into a slum. I had hoped the people that bought it might not be like the neighbors.


We took a meandering route from CR 160 to FM 1379.

Gun Club to Blue Barns - red unpaved roads

What were dusty, birdy backroads are paved truck routes completely devoid of wildlife.

On one still unpaved section, a wily coyote started through the barbed wire fence onto the roadway, but upon glimpsing us, turned tailed and hurried across the pasture out of site. The plentitude of cotton-tailed rabbits is a clue to the coyote's healthy well-fed appearance.  Surprising were the bunches of wildflowers in the barrow ditches, thriving despite the obvious drought conditions. Chocolate Daisy, Engelmann's Daisy, Honey Daisy, Penstemon, Tansy Aster, Tahoka Daisy, Bladderpod, I'm sure I leaving out some, but you get the picture. I didn't, camera at home.

We overtook Rose Marie on CR 1110 and tagged along to explore some of the city properties on Blue Barns Road. One pond that had always been a reliable water source was not much more than a mud puddle. One Killdeer was the only occupant. The pasture land did yield Clay-colored, White-crowned, and Lark Sparrow. The Bullock's Oriole, Western Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatchers, and Swainson's Hawk have all arrived back from their winter vacations in South America. The only Meadowlark were Western.

Johnson Draw on FM 1379 produced American Avocet and Peeps, Baird's and Least Sandpiper. Almost invisible Snowy Plover dotted the sandy areas surrounding the pond, more appearing with patient searching.

Calling an end due to increasing heat, we met Shirley at McAlister's Deli for a long lunch. We had to rest up before attending the big graduation soiree scheduled for tonight.

 Debbie had really planned everything well, from the red carpet with lighted marquee

 To the candy bar, with all the purple trimmings.

The kids loved the DJ with Karaoke and the photo booth. Dancing, singing and just being silly seems to be what they like the most. After all, these are theater kids.


Food was popular, too, especially cake.

Savannah Smile,  a signature "mocktail"  was also a popular activity. Kept me busy serving them as the kids waited for a caricature drawing.

 Even grandparents were caricature subjects.











The party lasted until midnight, but at 10:30 the old folks turned into pumpkins and made a hasty retreat. Well. sort of hasty, as the streets were flooded after a nice half inch rain.  Only Midland, TX, uses the most traveled streets in town for storm drainage. Go figure.

Thanks goodness, Easter church services don't start until 10:30. Gives the older generation a chance to sleep in. All this night life begins to take a toll.