The Toman Family's Tidbits: Birthday Weekend

So as most of you know, last Saturday was my birthday and to help celebrate I was given one of the best gifts of all--a long weekend visit from my parents. Mom and Dad arrived on Thursday after their long, 10-hour drive. That evening we visited, dined over a meal of homemade Chicken Spaghetti (Thanks, Mom!) and Garlic Bread, went for a short walk after dinner and basically just enjoyed each others' company.

On Friday, we decided to head over to Bellingrath Gardens and Home here in the Mobile area. For those that aren't familiar with this property, Bellingrath contains 65 acres of various gardens, a 10,500 square foot mansion, a lake, a conservatory, an observatory, a chapel and much more. Bellingrath was actually built by Mr. Walter Bellingrath, President of Mobile's Coca Cola Bottling Plant back in the 1930's. As you can imagine, touring the gardens themselves is an all afternoon event....especially when you have a two-year old in-tow that wants to to stop and smell every flower along the path. Luckily, we were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather last weekend--70s during the day and 50s at night. That evening we dined at home on steaks, baked potatoes and salad...yum!

On Saturday, Bruce, Dad and Brinley piddled around the house while Mom and I had a little 'girl time' and visited a few shops in town. That evening, Bruce and Dad cooked Fish, Shrimp and Oysters in the deep fryer on the back pation while Mom and I put together a coleslaw. For dessert, in honor of my birthday, we had cheesecake.

On Sunday, since Mom and I ran out of time for shopping the previous day because of needing to get back to the house to cook, we headed back out in search of a sewing machine. On their first day here, Mom asked me to think about what I wanted for my birthday and I knew I wanted a sewing machine and for her to show me how to get started with it. After taking a quick look at Target's selection, we drove further in town to JoAnn's and found a lovely Singer that should get me started. After spending a bit of time picking out the machine, scissors, thread, bobbins, etc. we came home and threw together a quick dinner of cheese enchiladas, tamales, and spanish rice. After dinner I was eager to pull my sewing machine out of the box and get as much time in with mom showing me the ropes. (On a side note, I've been forgetting to mention this to my mom as I've talked to her this week, but on Monday I mended two pairs of Bruce's dress slacks that needed new hems. For a beginner, I think I did a pretty darn good job.)

Mom and Dad left as the sun was coming up early Monday morning. The day that they leave is always a bit difficult. Seeing certain things seem to sting as they catch my eye--the coffee maker sitting on the counter, used towels hanging in the guest bath, empty coffee mugs sitting in the kitchen sink, a toy left accidentally left behind by their dog, Maggie. After so many visits over the past few years that I've lived out of Texas, I'm used to seeing these things and sort of expect to find them. One thing that I didn't expect was Brinley's reaction to their departure. When she woke up and ate her breakfast, I don't think she really noticed or hit her that Nana and Papa were gone. It wasn't until I let her down from her booster seat after breakfast that she saw the empty air mattress and said "Nana and Papa?" I told her that Nana and Papa had left early in the morning while she was sleeping before the sun had even finished coming up, and that they had to get back to Texas so that they could go back to work the next day. She looked in the corner of the room where Maggies's bed had been almost as a way to verify that they were gone and then went on with her day playing.