Celebrating 81 Years of SudyRip! Birthday Happy, 2025, and I Made It in Time to Bake a Birthday on a Sunny, Blue-Sky Day.

Nice ride yesterday. Listened to Viola Davis's memoir, figured out more of the fancy travel gadgets in the new car, and enjoyed lighter than usual traffic, except for when I got to Cicero and the Walmart/Target traffic began. It is simply insane. Dumb. Irrational. Wild.

Today brings on the rain and winds, so I'm glad I'm already here. Looks like the joy of CNY weather for the next week, too. 

Karal is in her glory. In fact, when I packed the car starting at 9 a.m. she ran out and jumped in. She refused to get out, so sat in the car...in the driveway...for two hours before we actually left. She does love Clay time because she knows she'll get toast bits and almost half of what mom and dad eat for dinner (they can't help themselves). 

I received a chapter publication needing to be revised by Christmas (not much at all) and now the graduate school recommendations are coming in. It never ends.

Today, Mimi Sue is getting a haircut, I will be her chauffeur, and we'll celebrate her with cake (as she deserves to be celebrated)(and it won't be as crappy as Nikki and Adamo's first day in their new house with the sewage back-up).

I did my Final Four NCAA Volleyball games and remain impressed with Texas A&M...this run they're having is truly outstanding. They are hitting all the right notes at the right time. 

I snapped this photo from my father's man cave, which he hasn't inhabited in quite a long time. Always fun to adventure into that dungeon to see the way things used to be. It is as cold as it always was....same orange rug and musty smell....but so many years of total cigarette smoke and beer cans. Times change...and they do so quickly. This is why we must cherish the moments and days while we have them.