Happy Memorial Day.

First off, let me say greetings to a certain geezer who turns 63 today. I tell ya, he makes it look good, slapped up on the porch with a beer and a good ceeegar.



Happy Birthday brother! Enjoy it. I hope you and Judy have a great day, and another great year.

Also, let me say thanks to Mushy there, Bruno, Sarge, Old Soldier, Pat, Myron, and all the other vets for their service. Let's not forget what this holiday is about!

Now, for the weekend report. Denise and I went over to Temple Friday evening and took Mom out to eat. We took her to the Cotton Patch, which is a nice country style restaurant at Temple mall. We decided to start with the fried mushrooms, which were wonderful. Then all three of us chose the Patty Melt and fries. They make a wonderful Patty Melt, with grilled onions, cheese and a hamburger patty on toasted Rye bread. After that we strolled around the Mall for a bit, and then took Mom back to her place. She broke out the Chateau Monet and we enjoyed a little after dinner tipple.

After that we headed back to Harker Hights, outside Killeen, and got tickets at the new multiplex to see the latest Terminator movie. It was really cool. We both enjoyed it a lot. We got there too late to get tickets to the 9:10 movie, which was sold out. So we sat and waited for the next showing at 10PM. By the time we got to our seats I'd already killed off the small bag of popcorn, but I was saving the diet Coke for something special. When the lights went down I emptied a small plastic bottle of Bacardi and used the straw to stir it around. This has become our routine, ever since Chuck told us about it a while back. It's a brilliant, civilized way to enjoy an evening out... sippin' a Rum and Coke while you enjoy a flick on the big screen.

Saturday morning, after we'd taken our time getting up and started, we got up and got a little yard work done. We pulled some weeds out of the front garden, pruned a few bushes and replanted a Hosta that'd been languishing in a pot for about a year. Then we showered and headed to HEB for supplies, and finally drove West towards San Saba.

My buddy Ellis had a camp-out and booze-up planned for the Memorial Day weekend at his families place along the San Saba river. We had plans to show up and have some fun on Saturday afternoon. Thing is, the weather started looking rougher as we drove West. We'd drive through stretches of 190 that were soaked, but the sun was shining. Then the rain started, and it got worse as we got closer and closer to town.



When we got to town we hooked up with Ellis and his gang and followed them out West of town, to the spot on the river. On getting there, we found the rain had washed out much of the fun. The revelers were all huddled under big umbrellas or tents, enjoying the rain and intermittent lightning. After waiting there in our cars for a while to see if the weather would clear, we decided to head over to his house in town and move the party there.

When we got there we sat around and got better acquainted. Denise had never met Ellis before, and I'd never met his new girlfriend Christy. His childhood friend Tommy was there too, regaling us with stories about life in the small town of San Saba. It was a great time.



By the time Ellis got the cooker going out on the back porch, his kids had gotten a good mud fight going outside.



What started with mud pies eventually turned into a mud bath.



It was hilarious to watch. I was reminded of similar scene, some 35 or 40 years earlier, when my friends and I were covered head to tow in mud from the creek that flowed behind our house in Kansas City. I said something about how one of these days, these girls will have to pay big money for a mud bath.



Having gotten the camera to get pictures of the kids, I couldn't resist getting a shot of Denise and Christy. It was great, the way everyone had a great time, even with the rain. Christy made some wonderful Guacamole, and Denise whipped up some veggie dip, so by the time Ellis got back from runnin' his kids one place or another, we were almost stuffed on chips and goodies.



Ellis had gotten the grill started before he left, so the fire was just right by the time he got back and put the chicken on. He grilled some Chicken breasts there on the porch and Christy baked some taters in the oven. It all turned out great. between the pre-dinner snacks and the good meal, we were stuffed by the time we left at about 9pm. We said our goodbyes and headed home, tellin' them that they all needed to come to our place here in Killeen pretty soon and do it all again.

We woke up Sunday to find that the rain from San Saba had made it's way to our place in the middle of the night. So we slept in and enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend war movie fest on TV. Denise made breakfast in the middle of Operation Crossbow and then we had a nap in the middle of Where Eagles Dare. She'd put a roast in the crock pot in the morning, so we enjoyed that for dinner Sunday night.

By then the sun had come out, so we got busy, getting out in the yard. By the time the sun was setting, the two of us were sitting on the swing on the back porch, enjoying an adult beverage and thinking about how nice it will be to sleep in on Monday.

Today, oh, I'll probably go visit dad... Take a few tools out there to work on some of the weeds that will have grown since the last visit. Maybe we'll go see Mom again. I don't know. We'll see. You guys have a wonderful holiday and we'll talk again in mid week. Cheers!