we were planning on a day at the races yesterday…dollar day, to boot…and mikey and his family were coming on out around the 5th race, then coming home with me for a meal.  so why not, i thought to myself, have a little surprise waiting for him when he arrived from ellis?  i called my 3-person on-call guestlist (donna, lauren, and ali) and they were happy to come over and set things up, then jump out yelling “surprise” when we arrived.  i made up a meat and cheese tray, added some bbq grippos and tostitos, 2 dozen cupcakes, beer and water and oila! we were ready…….

except it stormed all morning and most of the afternoon…the crowd at ellis park was unbelievable—more than i’ve ever seen, complete with crazy parking and no place to sit or stand in the rain, delays….crazycrazy.  it would have been a great surprise, but i had to cancel…michael seemed grateful that i’d had the idea and maybe a little grateful that it didn’t pan out…

happy birthday #30 to you, dear michael.  your mama and daddy love you.