I went to the Ozarks to visit family. 1st day there 2 stones and the branch of a tree (on the ground) conspired against me -- I fell and wrenched my knee. My knee, lower leg, and foot swelled up, turned a nice shade of purple and hurt badly. So I drove back to Houston. 3 hours outside of Houston on Sunday, some plastic manifold under the front end decided to partially drag. County had no service functions as Sunday (blue laws). So there I am under the front of the car pulling it off. Returned home safely (oh, it was my left leg). Went to Dr. got pain pills, x-rays and a cortisone shot in the knee cap. All one can do is laugh -- I still enjoyed visiting with family.

Enjoy. Been to Busch Gardens "The Old Country" Last Century, though. About me this weekend? Well, on reasearch stage working on a "barebones" to "monster rig" project... Realized I got a pc laying around untouched... purchased 4 years ago. With 600-700. I can turn the space eater into a "Rig". The motherboard can take up to i7 so it will do. forget the "beats audio", ordering Creative Labs Sound Card, matter of new Power Supply, 32 Gig Ram, Maybe 2 3 TB hard drive. Video card present will do but will put new one just because. Can't remember how much I paid when I bought it... maybe $900 on sale? Plus added the video card. PC seldom used. When I bought it... my "Rig" had a Virus so after Virus removed... just sit there collecting dust. Has Win 8. I still prefer Win 7 to Win 10. The key will be the i7 chip set. If I have to replace the motherboard... "Barebones" it is then. Productive Sunday.

On the anniversaries of my parents' deaths, I usually do something they would have liked to do, in their honor. (They died on Dec 25th and Dec 26th on different years, my mom on my son's birthday.) I can relate about anniversary dates of the deaths of parents being an emotional day.

Yesterday was my birthday, and I spent it quietly at a hula festival up in the mountains. A pretty drive, no cell phone reception, beautiful music and hula dancing, with story telling connecting the past to the present, plus a sunset on the way home. The smell of the forest is always calming and the quiet is good for reflection on where I am in this stage of my life. I am now older than my dad was when he died, yet I've got 4.5 more years to go in order to surpass my mom's age at time of death.

I figure every day past their death age is a gift, and I try to enjoy every day wisely.

I didn't have to shoot anyone?

Sorry you had such loss attributed with this date. Hope your day was better then you anticipated.

The best outcome of my weekend was using my recently cleaned and oiled sewing machine to repair a cloth clothes pins hanger that had worn out.