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We’re Not Done Yet! on this Fantastic Friday

We’re Not Done Yet! on this Fantastic Friday

This Fantastic Friday post tells the story of a favorite memory of a day when my family showed their love in an unexpected way.A favorite post about one of the best days ever for this Fantastic Friday. Hope you enjoy the memory as much as I enjoyed that lovely day!

Yesterday morning, I was tapping away at my computer when the doorbell rang. Surprised, I headed for the kitchen and spied the Hy-Vee floral delivery truck. “That’s weird,” I thought. “Who would send flowers to me?”

The friendly Hy-Vee delivery man waited at the door. “Does Jolene Philo live here?” he asked.

“That’s me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Special day for you, is it?”

I thought a minute – no birthday, no anniversary, no windfall on Wall Street – before it hit me. “Well, my first book is being released today.”

“Congratulations!” He held up a finger. “I’ll be back in a minute.” And he was, carrying a huge balloon bouquet up our rather long sidewalk.

I went partway to meet him. “Thank you so much.”

Then, as  I grabbed the bouquet and turned toward the house, he held up a finger. “We’re not done yet,” he said.

Surprised, I hurried into the house, set down the bouquet and ran outside in time to meet him halfway down the sidewalk and grab the second bouquet. “Thank you so much.”

He held up a finger. “We’re not done yet,” he said and headed for the truck.

By the time we were done yet, the two of us had met our exercise quota for the day, and he’d delivered five very large balloon bouquets from Mom, my sister’s family, my brother’s family, and my Le Mars relatives. The kitchen was full to bursting, and having seen the Pixar movie Up not to long ago, I was a little bit worried. (How come my son didn’t have “house uprooted by helium balloons” on his worry list Sunday night?)

But I was more flabbergasted than worried. See, I don’t come from a gifty family. Now, we’re darn good at birthday cakes, because birthday cakes are dessert and our family is exceptionally gifted at consuming desserts. And over the years, we’ve gotten better at saying “I love you,” sending birthday cards, and the occasional hug.  On the other hand, no one will ever engrave “Our beloved celebrated special events with hoopla and flair” on our tombstones.

So I stood in the kitchen for a long time staring at the balloons and wondering what on earth possessed them to spend money so frivolously and where on earth I will put the bouquets this weekend when the rellies – Mom, sister, nephew, brother’s family, uncle and aunt, cousins and their families and my kids – arrive for our Labor Day Reunion weekend.

And then, gone giddy with the scent of latex, Mylar, and slowly leaking helium, I lost my head and did a little happy dance. What else can a girl do when her family says, “We love you?”

Three Thoughts for Thursday

Three Thoughts for Thursday

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Thanks for your patience while the Gravel Road tech guys figured out why this website was down for a few days. These thoughts came to mind while I ate bon-bons and they worked furiously to figure out why the ominous “Exceeds Bandwidth” message barred people from the site.

  1. At first, the web guy thought the cause was the electronic version of talking too much. (ie: daily posts and pix) If that had been the cause, my poor sibs, who endured my childhood audio rambles, wouldn’t have been surprised.
  2. The cause actually turned out to be the picture on a post from May. A combination of too many pixels and lots of visits to that particular post did the dastardly deed.
  3. Tech guys are worth their weight in gold. Thanks to Ray and Joshua for getting to the root of the problem. Too bad there aren’t any bon-bons left to share while we celebrate.

If you have suggestions on how to celebrate instead, leave a comment.