My college friend, Allyson, died on Friday night. I’ve mentioned her before as the 38-year-old married mother of three (ages 8-12) who fought and beat cancer, only for it to come back a second time seven years ago. She was the one blogging about her the end of her life. Her funeral will be this Tuesday. A couple months ago the Dallas Morning Newshad an article about a foundation named in her honor. Her church recorded and posted a video of her Christian testimony here. In lieu of flowers or condolences, her family asks donations be made to her foundation. In one of her last posts she mentioned that she’s actually the lucky one as she’s dying and will no longer be in pain, but it also pains her to know how much her children, husband, and parents will miss her – she certainly had a grasp on things. May peace and grace be with her family and friends.
One of my eldest friends has been suffering from dementia, and he doesn’t have any family other than a niece from Atlanta. It’s gotten worst that many are fearing for his well-being. This past weekend they visited to take him to Atlanta for “a visit”. Yup, under the guise of a trip he’s actually moving to Atlanta permanently.
Let’s see if I pick things up and not make this Monday any more benumb than it has to be.
WifeGeeding and I were debating who had the better burger, Maple and Motor or Haystack. I claimed the former and she claimed the latter, so we ate at Maple and Motor on Friday and Haystack on Saturday to compare. We both aren’t moving from our claim, but I will succumb that Haystack provides the better overall meal with their fries and their speciality frozen drink, the haymaker.
After our trip to Maple and Motor, we thought we’d take the kids to Klyde Warren Park since we were so close, and we had a blast. The park was shadowed, the weather was perfect for July – not hot not humid and there was a nice breeze, and it wasn’t crowded at all. If I was single, I think it’s the perfect date place. Not only are their food trucks and restaurants around, but there was a free salsa dancing class taught on the performance stage. I’m actually impressed with the picture at the top of this post, which I took with my camera phone. Here’s the photoset if you are interested, but I’m partial to this one and this one.
I caught a whole lot of the three part six hours series The ’90s: The Last Great Decade on the National Geographic channel. Keeping in mind I was went through years 15-25 of my life in that decade, here are some random thoughts:
I’m thankful that cellphones with cameras were not available during that Macarena phase, I’m embarrassing enough as it is to my kids now.
I have a lot of vivid memories where I was and what I was doing during the OJ chase, but for the life of me, I have no idea where I was or what I was doing when the verdict was read.
The policeman that talked to OJ during the chase and the pilot that dropped the first bomb on Baghdad during Desert Storm were both interviewed. I’m impressed they were able to find and talk to both those guys.
I wasn’t aware there basically was a failed assassination attempt on Clinton’s life when he was in the Philippines by Osama bin Laden. Basically, the security detail overheard there was a ‘wedding cake under the bridge’ which made them change route. Later they found explosives under the bridge. Here’s a two-minute video about it.
Anna Nicole Smith wore her wedding dress to her husband’s funeral. How can I forget that wheels off detail?
As they started to talk about the Branch Davidian compound, the narrator (Rob Lowe) said before that event Waco was only known for its suspension bridge and Dr Pepper. It was then I had to restrain WifeGeeding from attacking the television because Baylor wasn’t mentioned.
I forgot how funny it was seeing Dr Evil and Scott on Jerry Springer. What happens at the two minute mark had my stomach aching from laughter the first time I saw that. I think I need to rewatch that movie soon..
Birthday parties at McDonalds use to be a big thing when I was a kid, I wonder if anyone does that anymore. I had a college professor that would order birthday cakes from McDonalds because she thought they were the best.
On last night’s ‘Food Network Star’, Giada De Laurentiis looked like she was wearing the Sharon Stone ‘Basic Instinct’ dress.
Giada De Laurentiis is sooooo hot
Peace be with your friends family. I read her blog and was amazed at her strength, love, and knowledge she showed in her young life.