Happy Birthday, America - and Tom. 

(Tom says he was around 10 years old
before he realized that the fireworks were not just for him!)
Of course they always celebrated big in his family:
July 4th was also his parents' anniversary (he was born on their 10th)
and his (only!) cousin's birthday.
On my side, it was my paternal grandmother Anna's birthday.

Usually we have a pool party in the backyard to celebrate the occasions,
but 'for some reason' not this year. 
So here are some pix from 2008, when he turned the Big 6-0.

The Birthday Boy

and the lap quilt I made for him.

Some of the guys: Gary, Mark, Jerry, John, Tom and Barry
relaxing in the shade

Lisa fed Pokey while Gracie and Jenna 'helped'.

And here Lisa returned the favor - she helped Gracie work on her back float:

Let the games begin!

Pool Volleyball before everyone else arrived;
Alex took on Uncle Jerry and Dad 

Jenna jumped the noodle held by her brother Patrick
while Alex judged her height.

Alex discussed ladderball strategy with Patrick.

Seemed there was always an annual "Drag Barry Into The Pool" competition.
Here it took 4 teens to complete the job:

Of course there were squirt gun fights... Jacob was ready!

and always there were diving/flip competitions.

That year there was also a hula hoop competition.
Here Jenna and Jacob watched Alex and Joel go for it.

At one point some of the kids went inside to play Dance, Dance, Revolution.
They sure got a lot of laughs when Patti and I tried it.

(Notice the moose on the back of my shirt?)

Here's the front, while I relaxed in the shade and watched some of the pool antics.

Chemo was crowded yesterday because of today's holiday and I had to wait about 15 minutes for a chair. (Some of Wednesday's people were there, and assume Thursday will be crowded for the same reason.)

Sat next to Madelyn, who had a very rough time with her radiation several months ago (I remember her bad burning and peeling skin, and she also lost her voice, but I hadn't realized she finally quit that portion of her treatment because it was so bad.)  She's worried for me about mine (in fact she got the shakes just remembering how bad hers was) which should be starting up later this month, but I told her I expect to do just fine because she she took my 'hit' for it.  That made her smile.

When Madelyn's daughter came to pick her up she mentioned that they'd gotten rain that morning, a heavy cloudburst that was short-lived. When I asked her where in The Valley she lived, it turns out she's only one mile from us - and had a really hard time believing we didn't get a drop (although it did stay overcast here most of the day.)  At first she thought maybe I slept through it since it was 'early' (7:00), but I'd been up since around 5:00, and assured her that even if it had just sprinkled here, I would have known.  Tom wasn't surprised - he remembers a lot of time (growing up in Texas) where it rained on one side of the street and not the other.

Benadryl packed a wallop yesterday - I slept a lot at chemo, and then climbed back into bed for more of same when we got home. I did get up for a delicious dinner of quesadillas made with some of the previous night's BBQed chicken, and yummy fruit (just one of the perks of summer, with berries and melons and other goodies readily available and affordable) but then headed right back to bed afterward.

Guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I woke up a little after midnight. But Lunesta did the trick, and I slept in until 7:00 this morning! One topic of discussion at chemo yesterday was insomnia, which we're all experiencing to some degree at certain times in our cycles.

Now I think I'll do a little yardwork (in preparation for Irrigation Saturday) while steroids are still in force and before it gets too hot.  Then I'll work on my quilt blocks.  May be too tired the next several days, so gotta hit it while I can.