My 60th Surprise Party

Last weekend, I got up on Saturday and was in the kitchen when Fred handed me a pink envelope which said that a mystery friend would pick me up in 30 minutes and I could not ask any questions. Well, I did but I didn't get any answers. I was to wear pajamas but could put on

makeup and fix my hair. A gift bag had houseshoes, a blindfold, the boa,

and some selections of a gown or pajamas. I went into shock because nothing like this has ever happened to me. At 9:00, two of my neighbors picked me up and off we went. As we drove through the neighborhood, there were black balloons tied on mailboxes and signs until we turned onto Hwy 36.
Leaving with my neighbors Louann and Jan.

As we drove along, I keep wondering---is it Jan's house, a day of beauty, Rosa's house,--each one was crossed off as we made more turns. Finally, I knew---we were going to my best friend's house----Stacey's!!! I recognized the cars outside---all my friends were there. The garage had a sign "Happy 60th, Love Fred". Then I knew that he was in on this. When we got inside, oh my gosh, the decorations were unbelievable. They had been planning this for weeks and never let anything slip around me!!!! That is pretty unbelievable!!! All the decorations were zebra and hot pink. We had breakfast casseroles, fruit and amaretto dip, pasta salad, and breads and muffins. So delicious!!! Then we played games (we were supposed to know some trivia from the 60's but didn't), while listening to 60's and 70's music. Then the cake----words can't describe how delicious!!!


Meredith, Me, and Stacey (we have so much fun together)



My cake and Sexy Sixtieth Picture----lots of great gifts, too! Thanks to all of you for making my 60th so much fun and for being my friends.

More of my 60th

Fred had this sign made for me--I still can't believe all the planning that went into this party!!!And as nosy as I am, why didn't I know?



Stacey's daughter, Meredith, is really a great decorator and party planner. This table could have been featured in a magazine. It was so BEAUTIFUL!! I love the picture that they did for this table---it was taken on my honeymoon and had the theme, sexy sixtieth in the corner in pink and the rest of the picture was black and white except for the flower in my hair which was pink also. I also love the black bra with the pink lace---they even got the right size so I can actually wear it!!!!


Fred had even gotten pictures from our picture albums (really old ones of me and NOT ones that I would have chosen) to be used in collages on the entry table along with an invitation and paper for each guest to write me a note.


The drink table---mimosas, sunrise champagne punch, tea, coffee. They had cups that said, "He hunts, I shop". The napkins "In a purse, I am a size 4"

Bird Watching

Port A is absolutely the best place for watching water birds which are my favorite. We see new ones each day. In the winter, they have so many more but the summer offers a great variety, too.



These gulls with the orange beak are Fred's favorite.




My favorite will always be the pelicans.

Dream Home Picture

Southern Living Dream Home

On Sunday, I toured the Dream Home that is located just two properties down from us at Cinnamon Shore, a new development right on the beach--well, right over the dune from the beach. It has a clubhouse with pool and a driveable beach access by boardwalk---that is for the beach carts which are actually golf carts. The dream home is backed up to the beach, 3 stories tall, 5 outdoor patios, guest house over the carport, 2 outdoor fireplaces, outside tile shower, 2 master suites, a bunkhouse on the 3rd level that sleeps 6, 5 1/2 baths, and sleeps 16. It has already sold for $1.8 million. Very nice for a visit but the high cost must be from the property that it is located on.







Living area--one of the new things was http://cortexa.com/ a new iPhone/iPod touch application that lets you access your home's operations from your phone and an iPod screen on the wall in each room. They had music playing on it and you could look at the screen and see the title and artist. The menu let you monitor security, lighting, climate, motorized shades, video camera surveillance, sprinklers, pool and spa functions, and email. Your home has it's own computer and you can monitor or shut off or turn on from your iPhone wherever you are. Mind boggling, isn't it?




One of the master suites




Bunk room on third floor

Enjoying the Beach

JANICE


JOHN


FRED


TEX doing what he does best!!!

Fishing for Red Snapper

Today, Fred and John went deep sea fishing on the Scat Cat. They caught some red snapper, a Ming, and some vermillion snapper. This is the catch for the whole boat of 30.



There was a limit of 2 red snapper and this was the last day of the season---how lucky for them. John had one of the four largest on the boat and was in the running for the jackpot--too bad he didn't win.

Fred's red snapper.


The tired fishermen return after 12 hours at sea.

Scenes from Port A

This week, we drove to Port Aransas to enjoy some fishing and beaching. John, my son, flew down to relax a few days and to fish with Fred. The beach was perfect yesterday. We had read that tar balls were coming in from an oil spill, but they seem to have all been cleaned up.




These Labs were enjoying the water in the beer tub and the attention of guests at Woody's Dockside.


Fisherman's Wharf where the guys catch their fishing boat.


John and Tex on the wharf

Menopause and Seafood

On Saturday, some of the Bunco Babes went to Richardson to see Menopause, the Musical. We never stopped laughing and oh how true, especially the part about those senior moments of forgetting what you are doing or saying. We had a delightful afternoon and then ended it at Pappadeaux, my favorite seafood restaurant. We had boiled shrimp and crab dip to start, and then an assortment of dishes for each.---Michelle had salmon while the rest of us had shrimp prepared in various way--coconut, fried, stuffed---Forrest Gump would have been proud. Stacey and Michelle asked to see the dessert tray before they even had the main course. What an elaborate display---some of us didn't have room but some did have creme brulee, key lime pie, and banana pudding!! See why this place is my favorite. What a selection and the food and service couldn't be better. And they didn't even pay me for this commercial.



Stacey, Michelle, Gwen, Janice, and Rosa



This is just my baked potato!!!



Gwen's Key Lime Pie

Stacey's Grandkids

My friend Stacey brought her daughter and grandkids over to swim last week. I use them to get grandkid fixes since I don't have any. Cade is 3 and Kenslea is 9 months old. We had a great swim and then ate chicken salad and cheese sandwiches with fruit and lots of cookies for Cade and Meredith.

Meredith with Cade




Meme with Cade and Kenslea