bday6 for miss chlo!

It's hard to believe that little blonde running around is six years old now!

Was that first birthday party truly five years ago?

No 'bout a doubt it, as her Grandpa Ronnie would have said.

That's her to the left of the yellow table, with her Mom in the red dress, her Grammy in the chair at the end of the table, and her Uncle Michael heading toward the sidewalk where her cousins, Alyssa and Leila, are playing with her sister, Miyah. 

In the foreground is Mousse, getting his head petted by one of Nieve's hijas.

With a slight shift in perspective, here's a continuation of the scene just a moment later.

Chloe is helping Nieves with the heavy wooden chair from my first niece's kitchen.

Michael had started the grill, but Coach Willie has taken over and is cooking the burgers and franks.

Moussie is in heaven, still getting head scratches and neck rubs from the little girl.

As for me, I'm just enjoying the view!

The tables are all covered with cloths, the air is full of good smells and the sound of kids playing, and now I can visit with Christina and Melinda!

This was taken about an hour later.

We've all eaten to our stomach's content of burgers, hotdogs, chips, and even chili - yum!

Now it's time smack a piñata... or two!

That's become the highlight of the birthday parties these days, as the kids each take turns whacking the hanging container until it spills its candy guts all over the ground!

Miss Chlo, as the birthday girl, got the first three smacks, then everyone else took their turn at giving the rainbow piñatas three whacks.

In fact, everyone had taken their swings twice before the candy was freed!

By the time they were done with the second one, another hour had elapsed and it was time for me to head back to Savannah.

Daylight was fading fast and I have Dane Days!

As I told Alyssa and Leila, the dog is their  age and, like them, he doesn't like being in the dark, either.

They completely understood that, as they have been sleeping with the TV on since before their time living with me!

I would have liked to have stayed for cake and ice cream - I even had Lactaid with me! - but that's okay.

I'll just be sure to have double helpings next time!

But what I missed most was watching Chloe open her gifts and seeing her face light up. 

"Hope you enjoy the gift and that it reminds you of our vacation in Florida."

I do hope she enjoys the Minnie Mouse puzzle!

It has 24 pieces, so that shouldn't be too complex.

Plus, it will help her with spatial orientation as well as problem solving.

All good skills for everyone to have!

Okay, time to give Dane his "ice cream" treat for being a good boy while I was gone!

What a wonderful day!

And tomorrow I'll have pizza for breakfast!

That's because today was the third Saturday of the month.

In Papa John-speak, that means FREEDAY!!!

So my choice tomorrow will be either the Spicy Italian or the Fiery Buffalo Chicken - I'm a winner no matter which I choose!

Hooray!

(smile!)

magically gone, 80 items, by a genie!

This is October, one of two months when I go through closets and drawers and shelves, moving items out of the house and out of my life.

One of my high school friends had sent out an appeal: she'd bought her first residence in over a decade and had nothing and was hoping for some help.

What good fortune that I saw her post!

I knew immediately of several items from the linen closet that would serve her well!

Genie said she'd like curtains, so I gave her four sets, none of which have seen use for over a decade.

I also gave her three curtain rods, all spring-loaded so no mess with installation.

Surprisingly, I still had the purple, cloth, shower curtain and the three mauve towels that Bonnie Terrell gave me more than a decade ago when she remodeled her bathroom.

That would help outfit Genie's new bathroom nicely!

Then, from the gift closet in the living room I pulled forth the package of unopened kitchen towels and cloth trivets.

That package on the left contains the cutting board and kitchen towel gifted to me by UHC for allowing Signify Health to come by again this year, all sealed up and never used.

 

I also gave her other items for her new kitchen.

These Tupperware containers were a wedding gift from my Uncle Jimmy, which means they're 32 years old.

They'll be great for holding four, sugar, and coffee, or whatever she wants to store there.

Not shown here are four plastic storage containers, in various sizes, for any leftovers.

These paper plates and napkins, still sealed, were bought for a party I never threw.

I'd happened to be in a party goods store with Christina when she was getting supplies for Miyah's first birthday.

So, for six years, the plates have reminded me of that impulse buy every time I opened the cabinet in the dining room.

Nice to know they were going to finally be put to use!

Then there are the plastic sups from Willie's downtown.

I still like them, but haven't used them in a decade or more.

The colorful washcloths - I still have a set just like them.

The cleaning supplies are for a dishwasher I never had.

Not shown are ten packages of plastic utensils, with napkins, so she won't have to feel rushed to get real forks, spoons, and knives.

I even gave her some dressier serving pieces!

The ice bucket had been a gift from my high school Spanish teacher, Mrs. Gary, for my first wedding... in 1978.

That means it's 46 years old!!!

It's in amazing shape, with no yellowing of any of the white parts.

The ice tongs and corkscrew are bejeweled and were a Christmas gift from my ex stepsister-in-law about fifteen years ago.

Very pretty they are... but never used.

 

I gave her my old door lock, too, for her front door.

She was very glad to get that!

As single women living alone, we know the value of safety.

Only by changing the lock can a person be sure that no one will just let themselves in with their spare key from the previous owner.

Very important!

As well as those times, I also gave her fifteen coat hangers, a hammer, several screwdrivers, two corningware bowls with lids for the microwave, and several packages of tea.

I am so grateful to her for taking these to a new home, and I'm so glad it's to be her home.

What a relief for us both!

flashback: 30 August 2009

Thank you, fb time keepers, for this breath of summers past!

That penultimate day of August, fifteen years ago, was a Sunday.

A Sunday!!!

Yet, Mister Willie Smith was at Grayson Stadium.

Such a rare occurrence for him!

Had he come to watch the Big Glove Boxing exhibition?

There it was, along the third base line, as a between-innings treat for the fans.

I remember him and Arthur Crum having a chuckle at those shenanigans!

I sure do miss those two men.

I sure do miss watching Gnate The Gnat interact with the kids.

I sure do miss watching those boys of summer on that green grass and red clay.

By the way, the Savannah Sand Gnats beat the Rome Braves that day, 2 to 0.

What a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon!

sickies to the rescue in kissimmee

All went well on the road from Hinesville, except for a bit of rain.

However, it's July in the Southeast, so some rain is to be expected, n'est-ce pas?

We'd even made a pitstop at Buckee's, south of Jacksonville, to gas up us and the vehicle.

The little blondes liked that -

they got their picture taken with the mascot!

Smiles all around!

Then back onto the road again, as Willie Nelson would say!

(smile!)

The good thing is that we made good time, even after we hit the bottlenecks on I-4, and even though the rain got harder.

My first niece's goal was to arrive at Orbit One by 4 PM, and we only missed that time by about thirty minutes.

Very good!

(smile!)

Then it all went straight to hell.

I went inside to check us in, with my veteran ID in hand, just as the Armed Forces Vacation Club had recommended.

Brittany B. checked the reservation number... and told me it had been cancelled.

What the fresh hell???

Brittany B. informed me that it had been cancelled by RCI, "at member's request", to which I had responded that I had not made the reservation through RCI, I made it with AFV.

That's when I called the phone number for AFV, only to be told that no one was there to take my call, as it was Sunday, so to leave a message and they would call back.

Brittany B. gave me the phone number for RCI, and all they could tell me was that the reservation had been cancelled at 4:20 PM - just minutes before our arrival - and that no one was there to straighten it out because it was Sunday.

Seriously?

Note to self: never, never, never, have a Sunday check-in again.

Brittany B. also gave me the phone number for Orbit One reservations, to see if they could help salvage this bad beginning to our vacation.

Their remedy, after my being on the phone with them for almost an hour, was to have me reserve a 2-bedroom for the night - in other words, to use the resort as a hotel - and to wait for things to get straightened out in the morning.

That cost me $171.80, for the one night, but they had assured me that the money would be refunded once the error with my AFV reservation was resolved.

What the fresh hell???

Note to self: never, never, never, have a Sunday check-in again.

I followed that up with a call to Jose at RCI, with us on the phone for almost 30 minutes.

Brittany B. sent him a screen shot of the cancelled reservation - made by someone named Perrine at RCI - so that gave him a starting point to find the error.

By that time, it was after 8 PM.

I'd had Christina and Miyah and Chloe in the lobby of Orbit One with me during this ordeal, with me getting out my computer and pulling up my AFV account to show Brittany B. that I had not cancelled my reservation, as they still showed it active.

We were there in the lobby for over two hours, then the security guard had escorted us to our condo for the night.

Where was the manager of Obit One?

At home, as the resort doesn't have a manager there on Sunday.

What the fresh hell???

Note to self: never, never, never, have a Sunday check-in again.

Now we were all starving and I had been crying.

The original plan had been to dine after we checked in around 5 PM, and then pop into a grocery store, but now dinner was all any of us had the energy for.

How about Sickie's Garage?

We had noticed it through the rain, and it was just around the corner from Orbit One.

It looked fun and local and was brightly lit.

So that's where we went.

That was definitely a good place to go and the best thing to do.

What an incredible menu!

They even had tater tots...

(smile!).

Right place, right time.

Not even a call from Orbit One about our condo keys finally being ready could dispel our relief at being in this bright and cheery place.

I ordered the Sickies Nachos.

I'd never heard of anything like it: 

waffle fries mixed with buffalo chicken, then smothered in nacho cheese, and topped with sour cream and banana peppers - amazing!

I managed to put a huge dent in it, then took the rest to the condo.

That would serve well as breakfast, to sustain me through a morning round of phone calls with RCI and AFV.

For tonight, we had a place to sleep.

i thank You, God.

from frederic chopin to mac davis, and more!

As advertised, Linda Combs' Revue was "A Little Bit of Classical, A Little Bit of Country"!

Of course, we at Asbury Memorial Church had known all month about this fundraiser for an elevator!

The reminder last week at the musical - with the guest singers from New York City! - was good to put it top of mind for my friends, though they had other irons in their fires.

That's okay, I made sure I paid my $15 for a ticket!

As it turned out, I was meant to be there.

Yep, right place, right time!

 

Mama would have loved the first half of the concert.

Frederic Chopin's "Nocturne, Opus 9 #1" led it off, with excellent piano work by Warren Heilman.

Though the comedic sketch, "Schroeder's/Sonatas #8", with "Lucy" pestering the boy pianist with talk of love and such, was definitely my cup of tea!

Lauren Page changed things up by performing the only dance number, bringing to life Nigel Hess' sad song of "A Broken Heart", appropriately wearing red.

Surprisingly, there was even a tune from John Denver, "Perhaps Love", sung as a duet.

All in all, an excellent way to start the program!

Too bad Pat Prokop wasn't able to emcee.

The retired meteorologist was home in bed, under the weather... hahaha!

Nice little joke from the last-minute stand-in!

(smile!)

The second half reminded me of "Hee Haw" and would have been Daddy's favorite, for sure!

Music by Randy Owens ("Mountain Music"), Willie Nelson ("Crazy", the song Patsy Cline made famous), Jimmy Webb ("Wichita Lineman", known as Glen Campbell sang it) - all songs I'd heard growing up.

My absolute favorite?

"It's Hard To Be Humble", written by Mac Davis and performed to great glee tonight by 'Clint Eastwood', 'John Wayne', and 'Walter Brennan'!!!

Just kidding!

That trio of imposters was Nick Deffley, Tim Steinhauser, and Steve Reed.

Great comedy bit, y'all!

Nice comedic turn for "It Was Almost Like A Song", too, as Ryan McCurdy sang it to Kate Jacobson.

(smile!)

Then, at night's end, the winners of the Silent Auction were announced... 

and I was on that list!

I'd actually bid on three items - the one in this photo, a golf sweater that featured Wile E. Coyote, and two colorful dishes (blue glass swan, copper fish mold) - just to be sociable, right?

When I checked at the intermission reception, I had lost two of the three bids.

I was sure that someone would snag this deal...

and I was right!

I was the one who got it!

For only $25, too!!!

That should come in handy for those days when it's too cold to venture off to the Purple Planet.

Wow... and I wasn't going to bid on anything!

(smile!)

two full minutes of screen time!!!

 

 

It's even better than I thought!

When I viewed the game video again, I discovered that our little quintet did even better than I'd thought with getting famous.

How so?

Well, we inadvertently photobombed Jesse Cole when he was giving kudos to the second Savannah team, the Party Animals, who had their last night of a home stand with us watching from the cheap seats.

The Savannah Party Animals were created in 2020 as opponents for the Savannah Bananas for the newly-created BananaBall games.

Even though the first BananaBall games were played in 2019, it wasn't until the BananaBall World Tours began that the need for another team who knew the rules became vital.

Enter the Party Animals - which, as happenstance goes, was one of the five possible names for the collegiate level team which was started in 2016.

There are now two other Savannah teams that play BananaBall, one of which - the Visitors - played in this home stand against the guys in pink and black.

The other team is called the Firefighters, but I don't know much about them.

Both of these new teams formed last year, to allow more games of BananaBall to be played in more venues for more fans, with sold-out crowds being the norm.

Wow, right?

Anyway, as I was saying, our front-row aluminum bleacher seats set us up in exactly the right spot to not only watch as Jesse got pranked by two of the Party Animals, but for at least one of our five to be in every frame from 1:39:00 to 1:41:00 of the video.

Never have I ever had that happen before, not even when sitting with Mister Willie!

Wait, yes I did, but that was for my birthday in 2019... what a blast that was!!!

Still, that was not with Christina Ann and her girls.

That's what made this so very special!

And they were in the game video at multiple times, too!!!

 

The first was at 1:04:00, when our section was background for the hair-whipping contest.

The next was at 1:13:50 for six full seconds of our section on screen.

 

For the sing-along with "Hey, Baby" at 1:15:48, there we were!

Me, my first niece, and her friend, standing tall and singing along!

Nice, right?

Our first big bout of screen time came during the Bananas Foster promo, with us serving as unintentional background for the spokeswoman from 1:18:55 to 1:19:15, then again from 1:19:33 to 1:19:50 - wow!

That was a whopping 37 seconds!

 

Plus, later on, when Pink's "Raise Your Glass" was played - it's apparently the theme song for the Party Animals - Christina and Kayleigh were both not only onscreen, but seemingly highlighted for the five-second segment from 2:02:02 to 2:02:07 - woohoo!

My party of five is even in the highlight reel after the game.

Wow...

what a grand time we had!

Thanks, Party Animals, for documenting that for us!!!

Right place, right time!

(smile!)

christmas with the king, night 1

At long last, it was here!

Remember, I've had my three-day pass for this Christmas With The King festival since July -

that's a long time for me to wait for this birthday65 gift!

i thank You, God, that I bought the pass then, before the incident with the behemoth and the other struggle with Travelers about insurance.

Otherwise, I doubt I would have treated myself to this holiday vacation, birthday or no.

Again, i thank You, God!

 

The tickets were general admission, in a theatre that probably holds less than a hundred.

No worries, though - I snagged a front row seat!!!

In fact, my chair was directly opposite the tech station.

That means I had frequent access to Taylor Rodriguez!!!

I well remembered him from that trip to Las Vegas in 2018 -

what a fabulous birthday trip that had been!!!

I doubt if he remembered me from five years ago, but I certainly recalled him as the young Elvis Presley.

Tonight, he was serving as emcee and sound guy as well as ETA.

This was Tribute Festivals' second year with this show, having only two Elvis Tribute Artists part of it in 2023.

That put a lot of pressure on the two singers!

So, this time, they had a third fellow in the mix.

That's him on the right, Jordan Poole, just 22 years old, being interviewed by Taylor.

The show tonight was titled "Reflections On The King" and this segment was designed to give us some insight into why this young ETA had chosen this path.

I expected him to say his mom loved Elvis.

What a surprise to find out that it was his dad who was the big Elvis fan, it was his dad that shared the Elvis movies and music with him.

How very cool!

About thirty minutes later, Taylor asked the same question of Austin Irby.

Want to guess what his reply had been?

His dad was a big Elvis fan and they would watch the movies together and that's when Austin decided he wanted to be like Elvis.

As it turned out, that was Taylor's story, too!

Their fathers, not their mothers, had been the impetus behind them becoming ETAs. 

That was such a wonder to me!

But then I thought about a friend of mine.

This had reminded me of how much Mister Willie had loved Elvis, of him singing Elvis' songs to me during slow moments at Grayson Stadium.

"Forever Young And Beautiful" had been one of those songs, as well as "Don't Be Cruel".

Good times!

These were good times as well!

No one sang those two songs, but they did plenty of others, either solo or together, accompanied by the "band" on Taylor's laptop!

James Taylor's "Steamroller" ran over the stage and we all got to sing along with Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", though I have to admit to a special place in my heart for "A Little Less Conversation"!

They also covered some of Elvis' most well-known: "The Wonder Of You", "You Gave Me A Mountain", "He Touched Me".

The trio even finished up with "Viva Las Vegas"!!!

I took that to be especially for me, of course.

(smile!)

But what I really liked were the songs that I didn't know.

Each of them did one of those, and all three were sad songs about the girl that got away.

So very nice!

Plus, there was my knock-knock joke.

There was a technical glitch and Taylor said, "Does anyone know a joke?"

So of course I piped up... and poor Jordan got caught in the middle.

"Knock knock," I asked him.

"Who's there?" he responded correctly.

"Banana," I said, followed by his "Banana who?"

I then immediately said "Knock knock" and flustered him.

He got even more flustered when I again said, "Banana" in response to his "Who's there?"

It took a couple of tries before Taylor stepped in.

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Banana." 

"Banana who?"

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Orange."

"Orange who?"

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana again?"

Hahahaha!!! Hahaha!!!

That was great fun!

 

After the show, all who wanted to got to have photos taken with the boys.

I made sure to talk with each one, too!

I told Austin how impressed I had been with him ever since the 2013 Georgia Elvis Festival and his leg movements in those black and white shoes!

He smiled that I remembered his shoes.

(smile!)

I spoke with Taylor about how much I had enjoyed him at the Las Vegas Elvis Festival in 2018 when he was just 20.

He'll be 26 in another two weeks.

(smile!)

And I joked around with Jordan, kidding him about not knowing that elementary school joke.

Maybe kids in Sylvester, GA, don't tell those?

Maybe!

(smile!)

What a wonderful evening I had with them!

No wonder I have such a big smile on my face, with Austin held by my right arm, Taylor by my left arm, and Jordan right there with us!

I'll have sweet dreams tonight at the Sleep Inn!

(smile!)

sure looks like a straight to me!

Not a bad hand to have for a Tina Tuesday, nope, not bad at all!

 

This was the odometer reading today:

 

2 3 1 5 0 4

 

Hmm... maybe I should have played those six numbers in a lottery draw?

 

Actually, there really isn't such a game to make use of them, so I'll simply marvel at the coincidence of having that mileage appear!

 

(smile!)

 

That was after a day spent in a groove, started in the sunroom.

I'd cleaned out my magazine basket and have been catching up on some back issues.

Like, seriously back issues, going back into the first year of the pandemic.

That was the issue with Bruce Springsteen talking about life and how the first thing he was going to do when life became real again was go to his favorite place for an ice cream.

I remember feeling that same way, longing for a breath of normalcy, during that fall of 2020.

How do I know when he had longed for a summertime cone?

The AARP Magazine was dated then.

Today, I had moved on the next "lost" issue, this time with 81-year-old Tina Turner encouraging people to find happiness in music, in the present moment, in nature.

Well, she was 81 for that moment of time, which was January 2021.

Just a coincidence that these words should be waiting for this tumultuous time for me?

My gratitude for little miracles continues unabated.

 

Another blessing came my way soon after.

I'd gone to the front yard, working for nearly an hour on adding to the debris at the curb.

Then I came in, to take a shower and get ready for my appointment with my nutritionist.

At that moment, the phone rang.

I would need to reschedule, as Ms. Carley was ill.

So, I did... and the next time I see her is a month away.

What a nice reprieve!

That also freed me up to catch "What Happens Later" for my A*List.

It's the new one with Meg Ryan looking more like Loretta Swit than herself, but still playing a doofus, a scatterbrained blonde with a capital "B".

That's not to say I didn't like the movie; I very much did.

It's all about two people who had loved each other once upon a time, when the dew was on the rose and they were college kids.

Now, it's 25 years since they last spoke, and they find themselves in the same snowed-in airport, trying to make a connection, falling into familiar patterns.

Very interesting, very real, and would make for an excellent JavaFlicks discussion.

Alas, that ship has sailed.

But I did have a good talk about it, and its similar feel to "Passengers" - with both consisting of just a man and a woman onscreen together the whole time - with the young woman at AMC, then again with Barbara this evening.

Mi amiga had rearranged her tutoring schedule to meet me for "The Marsh King's Daughter", over here at the NCG on Victory.

That was another movie with a deja vu vibe going for it, bringing "Where The Crawdads Sing" to mind for me (though it was not written by the same author).

So, two movies, on Tina Tuesday, that each bore a strong psychic resemblance to two others.

Very nice.

In between the two, I was taking care of business.

I voted in the mayoral race today, being sure to cast in the direction of the best mayor ever.

Van Johnson isn't interested in doing what is popular; he does what is logical and sound and safe for the community as a whole.

I'm so glad that others realize that and have re-elected him.

But there were several nice things about going to vote, things which showed me I was in the the right place at the right time.

First, I found a bright penny as I stepped out of my car to head into the polling place.

Next, Mister Willie's niece, Jackie, was the one who checked my ID and gave me my voting card, and I was able to tell her how much Willie had loved her.

Such a blessing to have been able to talk with her!

i thank You, God!

(smile!) 

Plus, I received a mini Milky Way after my voting was done!

Sure, sure, it was probably leftover Halloween candy... but it was The Universe, right?

Then, as I was about to turn off the car in my driveway, I saw the special mileage reading.

Right place, right time.

(smile!)

all saints sunday, with another dose of dia de los muertos

I was up an hour earlier than I needed to be.

I'm synced with the sun, and all the pruning around my house has left my bedroom windows unblocked from full sunrise.

No matter that American society has deemed fit that the clocks should manually fall back...

my body knows what time it really is.

(Sigh.)

As I told Sherry at the Big Coffee Hour, I used to dread this particular Sunday.

The names of those gone from this sweet Earth in the year since the last All Saints Day are voiced during the service, and the heartache would rise anew with those breaths.

This time, Rev. Billy had changed things up.

Rather than have everyone who had lost loved ones say those names, he would read the list of Asbury Memorial members who had died... and those would be the only names aloud.

Nope.

That didn't do it for me.

After he read those sixteen names...

which included three that had been dear to me:

his Mama, Joan Hester Byrd...

Virginia Holliday...

Mary Pulwarty...

I breathed five others into the air...

Willie Smith...

Bobbi Griffin...

Christa Eallonardo...

Todd Hizer...

Eugene Wolfbauer.

I know Mother Pat's consort died two years ago, but this year is when I knew that loss.

That's the important thing: I found out he was no longer among my living.

My saying their names aloud was a balm for my patchwork heart.

Having Holy Communion was an additional balm, somehow, as if The Universe had fashioned love into those missing eight pieces.

There's a nice thought, isn't it?

Then, after church, we all dined in Holliday Hall, feasting and comforting and healing.

I stayed on, even after that.

 

A speaker had been arranged to talk to us of age about Medicare.

I've already decided what I'm doing with that this year, but I wanted to hear her out.

Melissa McBride-Stille is an insurance broker, and, apparently, those Asburians becoming eligible for Medicare felt the need for a voice from the darkness.

I only wish I could have spoken to her earlier this year, when I was slogging through that federal box of worms and trying to make a decision.

Actually, last year, during this open enrollment period, when I was going to seminars of the subject and trying to make sense of it - yeah, then would have been nice.

I don't really know why Linda Combs and Helen Downing were there.

They both have more than a decade of being with Medicare, but I know how beneficial it is to have a real, live, person in front of you instead of a stranger's voice on the phone.

That's why after dealing with the time delay of two remote games - voicemail tag and email tag - with Molly Aldridge about Travelers, I had gone to the physical, brick-and-glass, office in town for GEICO and spoken to Randy and Heather.

At least they were able to find an address for Travelers.

 

As for me, I very nearly got locked in the courtyard garden after the talk.

I park on Henry on busy Sundays, so as to not clutter up the parking lot.

My game plan had been to attend the Medicare discussion, then head out for the the 2 PM Curator's Talk about the Richmond Barthé exhibit.

Nope, that didn't happen.

I mean, my going to that didn't happen.

I had not realized that the front gate at Asbury would already be locked.

So, after carefully closing the door behind me, I found myself trapped.

I could not exit the courtyard onto the street because of the locked gate, nor could I return to the sanctuary, as that door locked behind me, and then, to my chagrin, I found the door to from the courtyard to the hall was also already locked.

Repeated banging on my part, growing a bit more desperate as minutes ticked by, finally caught the attention of Ray Ellis.

Hallelujah!

I was so flustered that I got in the car and drove home...

which is where I am now.

I've missed all three of the events for this artist at the Jepson.

At least I got to enjoy the art when Kristin was in town with her son.

Strange how the pieces fall into place sometimes.

I'm glad I had that time in October with those beautiful bronzes.

my favorite wns for a chilly night

That's because of two factors: the food was Mexican and the theme was Dia De Los Muertos.

Wednesday had been overcast and cold all day long, having dipped into the thirties overnight.

I sent myself out to see "After Death", which will likely be my only A*List this week. Mostly I went because I knew Rev. Billy had hoped to take in the documentary and I could discuss it with him.

Afterward, though, I stopped by the GEICO office to sign a paper for my car insurance... and then had Randy try to find an address for Travelers for me.

He did me one better by getting Heather involved, as she is their homeowners liaison, so I walked out of there with the address for my rebuttal of the Nonrenewal notice.

It made me run late, though, for WNS.

By the time I arrived, Ruthie was getting her facial tattoo on and I hardly got seated with my food before she began her talk about the holiday from her homeland.

By that time, I'd been shocked three times by static electricity, due to the chill in the air.

Ack!!!

But by the time I left, I'd had good conversation with Cynthia about her dear Tristan, who would be 26 now, and my dear Willie and Christa and Bobbi.

I'd had good conversation with Susan about her dear Ron, for whom she brought Frito pie fixings.

I'd had good conversation with her 'handler', Kathleen, who kept complimenting me on the flower in my hair.

And when I got home, I had good conversation with Smitty, who referred me to Angi.com for a roofer.

Tomorrow will be warmer... and the stress over the house insurance will soon be done... and life will move on.

i thank You, God.

halloween 2023

Here's one from Perry Foster's fb.

 

"Halloween [is] a day we get it right.

Strangers come to us,

beautiful, ugly, odd, or scary,

and we accept them all without question, compliment them, 

treat them kindly, and give them good things.

 Why don't we live like that? 

- Steve Garnass-Holmes "

 

I like it so much that I've had it as my fb cover photo ever since 11 October.

 

Then there's this guy!

I do so love Jack Skellington!

He's a scientist, ya know.

Hard to believe he's THIRTY YEARS OLD... right?

 

AMC had him back for his Big 3-o birthday party, so that's where I was on Tuesday, October 24.

I watched it on TV on Sunday, but...

he needed the A*List treatment...

and so did I.

This guy is no Jack, though.

He isn't even an ETA, much as he'd like to think he was Elvis.

Nope!

 

That's Kermit's nephew, Scooter.

He was all dressed up for the Halloween party that Gonzo missed.

And just why was that goofy creature not there?

He was at "Muppets Haunted Mansion" with King Prawn!

I watched that on the 26th, for Willie's birthday.

He would have been 86.

That was on Disney+, gifted from Comcast.

 

This was on Peacock, that reward from Comcast.

Last Monday, I'd watched "Death Becomes Her" on that 'channel', rather than wait for it on AARP MFG tonight.

 

Then, the next night...

and the morning of the 25th...

I spent with Bill Murray and "Zombieland"!

This scene, with him and Woody Harrelson acting as ghostbusters, while others are watching the movie in an adjacent room, is a favorite scene!!!

 

Too bad 'Columbus' mistook that professional makeup job for real zombie and shot him.

Oops!

And just what did I do on this Tina Tuesday Halloween?

I went to a crazy, zany, flick at the Victory!

Well, sure, it's called the NCG Cinema, but I'm old Savannah.

(smile!)

This one slipped right up on me, too.

Hard to believe, right, since it's Broadway-esque...

but it did!

I tried to get Boo and Sandy to join me for "Dicks: The Musical - The Sing-A-Long", but, no dice.

Just as well!

It was slap full of boy humor and they would have hated it!

I had a matinee for one and totally enjoyed myself!

What a treat after today's yard work!

(smile!)

mother nature back to watering the grass

I got home from the movies and Aldi's just before the bottom fell out.

I went around the house, opening windows, opening doors.

The rain had dropped the temperature better than 10 degrees F, maybe even as much as 15 degrees F.

I sat in the sunroom under the fan, breathing in the coolness...

and my thoughts ran to the newly mowed grass.

This is how it looked on Friday evening.

It had been less that two weeks since I last mowed.

Seriously.

But a week of daily rain had pumped it up.

Now the Y-grass was well over knee height.

Time to start up the Ryobi!

Barely thirty-five minutes later, I had to stop.

It was just after 7 PM and the battery was drained.

Just drained, totally empty, spent.

That's because I had the blade set at about 2 1/2 inches.

Yes, I did!

I was not willing to spend time every two weeks cutting the back yard, which I rarely use, so I was determined to kill off some of that thick growth.

As I'd only been able to mow for 35 minutes, I trimmed scrub oak and poison ivy for an hour, throwing the branches over the fence into the front yard.

Saturday night, after the sun was off the yard and the little evening breeze had started, back at it I went, with a full charge on the battery.

Thirty-five minutes later, the Ryobi stopped dead in its tracks, the battery having done all it could.

Another third of the back yard lay vanquished, hay from yesterday's mowing already dry from the heat.

Back on the charger went the battery!

More branches went over the wall and to the curb!

Sunday, after I returned from Hinesville, back I went into the yard, battery in hand, an hour of light in the sky.

And here is the result!

The back yard was completely cut!

I was even able to do the smaller half of the front yard before the Ryobi was ready to call it a day!

Hallelujah and hooray!!!

And just what had been the driving force, the motivator to get it done?

More rain was coming.

Monday, the 3rd, was our last day of no rain for the upcoming week.

My hope was the heat would persuade the remaining green stuff to stay in check.

After taking a shower to cool off, I had a nice, cool, dinner from cookout leftovers after making sure the battery would be charged for future mowings.

I had sliced up the bratwurst and mixed it in with the fruit salad that Christina made, letting it sit.

Then, I shucked two ears of corn - only 25 cents each! - and let them boil while I showered.

Such a great dinner!

And, I even had a bit of the Summer of Magic to entertain me!

"The Unnatural" was on Comet and streaking in my direction!

And just what was magical?

Truly, the transformation of an alien into a human could not have been anything but magic.

The alien's love of the game had eventually changed the very blood in his veins.

No longer would it be a toxic green substance that would burn anything it touched.

That non-carbon-based liquid had become the same iron-infused fluid that courses through our veins and arteries, fluid which turned red upon exposure to air.

I do so love that episode of  "The X-Files", and there it was, waiting for me, with its baseball games, and its love of the game, and the love between the 'black' ball payer and the white cop who protected him.

Right place, right time, on Monday.

i thank You, God.

Right place, right time, tonight, too.

Home before the storm, movies done, and another favorite Mulder-Scully episode soon.

I finished off my A*List trio this afternoon, with a second viewing, solo, of "Asteroid City".

(The bfe had expressed an interest, but time has run out, as the film leaves tomorrow.)

Saturday, I started it off, in the company of four little blondes and a martial artist as we watched "Kung Fu Panda" together!

And Monday, I went to "Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken", which was very much girl-power and also had a different spin about mermaids.

I don't think the four little blondes in my life would like it very much!

That's okay, it's meant for teens and tweens, and they aren't quite there yet.

Now, as I said, "The X-File" of interest is about to come on.

It's the one starring Willie Garson and a young - only 13 years old - Shia LaBoeuf, "The Goldberg Variation".

This Willie was the gay best friend of Carrie on "Sex And The City".

He was 57 years old when he died in 2021 of pancreatic cancer, the same disease that had taken my only grandpa from me in early 1982.

Willie was 35 years old in this episode, with him as an incredibly fortunate man who liked building complex machines to perform simple tasks... like making a basketball eventually go through a hoop.

In other words, machines that featured sleight of hand, so to speak.

Definitely a Summer of Magic show!

(smile!)