Elena 
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- This week, Izzy celebrated her 22nd birthday. Like most adults, she had to work on her actual birthday. Noah also works the second shift so it seemed that a dinner celebration would also not work well for our entire family. So we pushed back the celebrations by one day and had a birthday lunch! She wanted tacos so we prepared the meat and all of the fixings. She also wanted a chocolate cake. Miss C. helped me with that the day before.
Then the day of her celebration, on her only day off this week, two of her brothers, her dad, and Miss C. joined us for a long taco lunch! It was a lot of fun, it commemorated the special lady she has become, and it was a nice break from the work week.
2. June is the month for weddings, but it is also the month of wedding anniversaries! Last weekend, Mr. Pete and I traveled north to celebrate his brother Joe’s 50th wedding anniversary with his wife Carol. We had a lovely time visiting and catching up with everyone and celebrating with the lovebirds. I was grateful to be able to get this picture of Joe and Carol with the rest of the LaVictoire siblings – truly a special portrait for years to come!
3. So if you’re keeping track, this month we had a First Communion party, a 22nd birthday lunch, and a 50th anniversary celebration out of state! But we weren’t done yet!
We also celebrated Rosie’s Sweet 16 party. We didn’t celebrate on her actual birthday either because we were so busy trying to get ready for the first communion party. On her actual birthday, Izzy, Rosie and I went to the mall to get Rosie’s ears pierced. I bought her a lovely set of diamond starter earrings that go with everything! After that, we went out to eat at Applebees, and then that evening, for the first time in well over a year, we went to the movies! It certainly was a memorable and fun-filled day.
But it wasn’t a sweet 16 party.
Right after the first communion party, Mr. Pete set to work getting out backyard in tip top condition. We pulled weeds, power washed the brick and set up a lot more lights!! Then finally, Rosie had her group of 15 special friends over to eat sloppy joes, potato salad and carrot cake, play volley ball and hang out in our magical backyard. It was a night she’ll never forget!
Rosie’s 16th birthday
4. While our hosting duties are done for a while, there is a big one looming ahead of us. Sam our second son will be getting married in September. As parents of the groom, it is our responsibility to host the rehearsal dinner and we take this responsibility very seriously. But as the wedding is going to be out of town in a city we are not very familiar with, setting up a venue for a small dinner is a little more challenging.
My lovely daughter-in-law, compiled a list of restaurants for us, all the way from her home in North Carolina. Today with list in hand, we traveled to the wedding city to check them out. First we found the church, which is simply lovely and will be a wonderful place for the wedding. From there we started looking at restaurants.
The first place we stopped in was a family restaurant. We knew the food would be good because the place was absolutely packed! We got in and had lunch, which was delicious. Unfortunately, they believe they will be so busy on Friday nights in September because of the football games, along with their regular diners, that they weren’t willing to reserve a room for us and the dinner. That was disappointing.
We found another place on the list that looked intriguing. It was right on Lake Erie with a lovely view of the lake. They also had beautiful blue lights in the ceiling that added to the contemporary nautical vibe. As great as that place looked, their room for such an event was too small for the number of people we will have coming. This was strike two.
Just for the heck of it, we started walking along the water way and about a block later we found a charming Irish Pub with a great menu. They have room for us and are willing to be very flexible with the menu. This won’t be a high brow, fancy event, but for comfort food and a little relaxation before the big day, it will be perfect. So that event is booked, and I feel very relieved.
5. My closest maternal uncle died when I was 22 years old. He was only 55 and his death was sudden and unexpected. One of his favorite uncles and his wife, Uncle Sam and Aunt Lucy, sent a beautiful basket of false flowers that I still have in my office. Of course, the kind of silk flowers we have today didn’t exist then, but the flowers in this bouquet have held up well over the years.
This spring, two of my older cousins have experience the loss of a spouse. It came to my mind that instead of sending live flowers, I would like to send a basket of flowers like the one I received all those years ago. I tried to order such a basket online but they were very expensive and would take forever to ship. Instead, with Izzy’s help, I bought my own baskets and flowers and made my own arrangement. I mentioned to each cousin that I was paying forward what Uncle Sam and Aunt Lucy had done for my family. From their response, I think that gesture and that memory was greatly appreciated.
6. Miss C. is starting cross country practice. Last week she ran her first mile without stopping at a 12 minute/mile pace. Grandpa and I take her to practice on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. Or I should say, one of us takes Rosie, and the other one of us takes Miss C. This fall we’ll be attending two cross country meets per week – we may be older, but we seem to be getting busier nonetheless.
7. There is a lot of pressure on the citizens of Ohio to get one of the COVID-19 shots. I am not against the vaccine for people who want them. But I am concerned that people who already have had COVID and did well, might not need the vaccine. This study from the Cleveland Clinic recently supports that view.
Individuals who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection are unlikely to benefit from COVID-19 vaccination, and vaccines can be safely prioritized to those who have not been infected before.
So I am going to continue to wait on this for now. I had COVID in November. I had a very itchy back, felt lethargic and had a fever for a few days. Other than some phantom smells (smelling cookies and red wine where there isn’t any!) I have fully recovered.