Tony's Birthday Really Rocked! or Rock Of Ages!

Today has been a fun day. This morning our dear friend Rick, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper," Reichenbach called right after I had walked four miles with Leslie, because he wanted to wish T. a Happy Birthday, but Tone had not yet returned from the Old Timer, so he and I had a fun visit instead.

We talked about how excited Tony and I were about our upcoming road trip, in September, to Terlingua with Sandy and Jon and then we talked about loving Big Bend and our friends out there and the serious drought, that he too was experiencing down in Port Aransas. And before adios-ing each other he said, "Well, tell Mr. T. I hope that he has a great birthday today," then he paused for a moment and then he started laughing, which made me start to laugh, and then he continued, "No. Tell Tony that I hope he has another one! Bye."

When T. showed up he laughed at what Rick had said for me to tell him. "Fourth bought me a cup of coffee this morning for my birthday and...."

After breakfast Tony and I went outside to do our morning chores and right after we had finished them our friend Joe and his beautiful daughter Katherine came out and we had a fun visit with them before they walked Harley and Annie Oakley for us.

After lunch the dogs started barking outside so Tony went outside to see who was here and a few minutes later Ben, Will and Tone walked inside the trailer. After howdies Tony left the room to go check something out on his computer and that's when Will showed me a big rock. "I'm giving this to Tony for his birthday," Will laughingly whispered, as we all started laughing. "Do you have a Sharpie pen that I could borrow?"

After I handed him a Sharpie I took this picture of him inscribing the rock (his present) to Tony, as Ben and I continued to laugh about it.

When T. entered the big room Will said, trying to sound serious and trying hard not to laugh, "Tony, I have a birthday present to give to you. I have spent days looking for the perfect gift and I finally found it a little while ago." Then he handed his "written on stone" gift to T. so he could admire it. After he thanked Will everyone started laughing as I took this picture of Tony showing off his rock present.

Then Will asked me if I had any sealer spray that he could use to protect what he had written and thirty seconds later Will sprayed his gift outside on the front porch, "To preserve it for centuries to come."

When I read Will's words I burst out laughing. 

"Happy Birthday Tony 

This is one of

the only things

around younger

than

You

Love Will"

When we came back inside we joked about where T. should display or put "His Rock" gift and I suggested Outer Space, since it was the only doable suggestion amongst us. As we ate some of T.'s delicious "Heavenly Chocolate" birthday pie, a "Tootie Pie" sent to us from our friend Peggy Godfrey, the dogs started barking outside again, so T. went out the door, with Belle by his side, to see who was here.

Ten minutes later Tony came back inside the trailer, "That was a nice woman, Deborah's friend from Boston, who wanted to meet Blackie and Alfie, the dogs that Deborah adopted from us last week. After I told her that we had taken them to Hoegemeyers to get them groomed, before Eileen, Ellen and Lisa drive them up to Austin Monday morning and deliver them to a man, who Deborah hired, who is going to drive them non-stop up to Boston, in his SUV, where he will meet Deborah and deliver them to her and Susan...I showed her their empty pen and she took pictures of it. She seemed like a real nice lady." 

Then thirty minutes later, after I had teased Ben about a story he had told us about his trip out to Big Ben, when he was in his twenties, he and Will jumped into Ben's truck and they drove away laughing.

Around 3:30 the phone rang and it was Kinky, Ruth Buzzi and her husband Kent Perkins, calling from Kent's and Ruthie's farm in Ft. Worth and they wanted to talk to Tone. When I handed the phone to Tony, he started grinning from ear-to-ear, because after they had wished him a wonderful birthday—then the three of them sang the Happy Birthday song to him and T. was beside himself! After he had thanked them and said goodbye to them and had turned off the phone he said, "I can't believe they just called me and sang the Happy Birthday song to me. How cool is that, Nance?! Oh, they also said to tell you hello. They are such nice people."

I thought it was so cool that I immediately posted it on my Facebook page and then I posted it on Tony's Facebook page too, because I love Ruthie & Kent and Kinky as family.

Early this evening I put Tony's "Rock of Ages" on display, out in Outer Space, on top of the coffee table that I made a few years ago and it looks good resting there and it will be fun to watch people's reactions to it. I want to thank all of his friends and family for making T.'s birthday such a special one for him today. And just a little while ago Tony told me, "This has been my best birthday ever! Nance, I love the leather camera holster that you got me. I cannot wait for it to arrive and..."

And that is about it for tonight except that I want to say, "Happy Birthday T.! I love you so much and you're not older than that rock—no matter what anyone says!"

Y'all have a great evening, keep laughing and please keep praying for rain for us!"