Updated: Aug 22, 2021
What a whirlwind few weeks. But it sure was fun. Lot's of celebrations, tons of laughter and smiles.
Please visit my YouTube Channel, subscribe, hit the bell for notifications so you don't miss any new videos and give a thumbs up to the videos you like. Feel free to share and comment/ask questions. (Gluten Free Pasta Dishes)
Now tomorrow, we are having a big barbecue at my daughter's house. I made my Gluten Free Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gluten Free Banana Bread, and Naturally Gluten Free Chilled Three Bean Salad.
We were married on Memorial Day Weekend, May 29, 2011. (See At Last) We had discussed taking a cruise for our ten year anniversary. We wanted the "kids" to come with us, meaning my son and daughter-in-law and my daughter and her boyfriend. Well, you know what they say about the best-laid plans. A little thing like a global pandemic got in our way. Hmmmmm.
On our wedding night, we stayed at a local hotel and then planned to honeymoon out East in Montauk Point, part of the well-known Hamptons. We wanted to be close to home due to my nephew and Godson being very ill with a rare and aggressive form of liver cancer. (See Cooking For Cancer Patients and Their Families)
Early the next morning the fire alarms went off at the hotel we stayed at on our wedding night. I asked my husband if he thought it was a drill. It wasn't. Our hotel was really on fire!!!!! We had to evacuate immediately.
It was raining out. We got to our car and it was blocked by a huge fire truck. So, there we sat in the parking lot, trapped, waiting for the trucks and other emergency vehicles and police cars to move.
Video above taken in the town I used to live in as a small child.
The day before I married my first husband, Hurricane Gloria hit Long Island! We had a hurricane the day of my first birthday party too. I'm starting to wonder if someone put a hex on me.
So, back to our anniversary. Obviously, the cruise went out the window. It is now booked for March, 2022. We celebrate 11 years instead of ten.
My son was supposed to be married May 2020. That had to be postponed one year due to Covid also. He just married this past May. So it would appear the world has something against marriages in my family!!!!!!
We never celebrate our anniversary on the real day because it's always right around Memorial Day weekend and it's crazy here on Long Island. Traffic and crowds are a nightmare. Instead, hubby and I went out to eat (I brought my own food) and to listen to live music at a venue by the docks on the South Shore one night in early June.
That same day my daughter and her boyfriend took a helicopter ride over Manhattan. Lord have Mercy, just looking at the pictures makes me panic. I'm TERRIFIED of heights. The legs hanging from the helicopter kills me.
Dad giving mom a ring for her 16th birthday.
The day was also my parents' 59th anniversary. We had asked if they'd like to join us to see live music and have dinner, but they made their own plans and chose to go out to dinner indoors. (See Just Some Funny and Odd Stories) for some fun life stories through the years - 59 years is a LOOOONG time with lots of great stories.
My two grandpups
Back to my daughter. They returned home from their helicopter trip early evening. Hubby and I had gone to let her dogs out while they were gone that afternoon before we went to dinner. We stayed with them for a while, then headed home, dressed and went to the restaurant.
While at dinner, I called my daughter to ask if they wanted to meet us. She said no thank you, they were taking the dogs to the beach.
Hubby ordered the grilled chicken sandwich which he could only eat half of. The rest was packed to come home with us. I brought my own gluten free pasta dish. We enjoyed the music and beautiful evening air and scenery as we ate.
Around 8:30 p.m. we decided to take a ride down to the docks where hubby proposed 10 years earlier. We looked out over the Great South Bay as people around us fished, strolled the boardwalk, sat together in the gazebo or on benches. It was much warmer than the last time we were there and very enjoyable. (See Long Island - South Shore On The Coldest Day of the Year)
We sat quietly enjoying the sights and sounds when my cell went off. It was my daughter. She asked if we were coming home soon. She was coming to the house to wish Grandma and Grandpa a happy anniversary. I live in the same house in a separate apartment that was originally built for my grandparents. I said, yes, we were just getting ready to leave.
My daughter had been across the island on a North Shore beach watching the sunset with her little "family" of four. That's when her boyfriend pulled out the ring! He was too nervous to pull it out in the helicopter. Imagine dropping the ring into the Hudson River.
We pulled up in the driveway around 9 p.m. We always enter the house through the garage. We had just stepped into the garage when my daughter pulled up. She sprung the ring on me right then and there in the garage. She was too excited to wait until we got into the house. She wanted me to be the first to know.
We then went into my parents side of the house to show them.
Then we ran to my son's house to show him and his wife.
After that, all hell broke loose. She facetimed my niece and sister who came running over.
Then she called my other sister and asked her to come over under the guise we were going to have cake for my parents' anniversary. My sis came in her pajamas. My daughter sprung the ring on her.
Next, we called my other niece and asked if we could come over to see her newly remodeled kitchen. Yes, we all had a sudden urge at like 9:45 p.m. to see her new kitchen. My daughter showed her the ring.
Then she called my nephew who was out with a friend and he came running over to his sister's house.
Then life-long friends came over.
Before you know it, it was a party!
I am now in the throes of engagement party and wedding planning, not to mention bridal shower planning. It's keeping me quiet busy. I'll be cooking more in the winter. For now, summer is usually crazy busy to begin with, but it's even more busy now.
My daughter got engaged on my parents' 59th anniversary. Per my mom, that's good luck.
What a night. I'll never forget it. Off to plan a wedding. Wishing everyone a wonderful summer.
I'll post when I can but summers are busy.