Greg and Jorge come to town

My friends Greg and Jorge came to visit for a short, far too short, weekend. Although we live in the same state, we don't see each other as much as I would like. I love it when they visit, although we can sometimes fight like family. It's also good for me to have visitors because it forces me to do housework. I had worked during the week trying to get the place acceptable for visitors, including setting off a flea bomb and washing almost every quilt, blanket and comforter I own. I got up early, 4:30 am, on Friday to do a couple hours of cleaning and straightening before going to work. They were supposed to arrive around noon on Friday.

The weekend started off in pure Jorge fashion. He called me at 7:15 am that Friday morning and told me he was "right around the corner..." He paused and I gasped. I had to go to work, I thought. What the hell were they doing here so early? Then he continued "...from our house." Then he cackled and asked, "Did I scare ya?"

They arrived at noon bearing gifts. Six white cubes made from 3/4 inch plywood. My new entertainment center. They put them together in different configurations and we decided on a particular layout. It turned out very good. Things I got my way on: leaving the couch away from walls. Things I did not get my way on/gave in to: moving the Harpers, both Charlie and Edie, keeping the bakers rack, having a rack installed in the linen closet.

We went to the beach twice and got in the Gulf. The oil hasn't hit our beaches...yet? The water was very nice and the sun was hot. We ordered Thai food and I went to pick it up. That gave Greg and Jorge time to do some things around the house without my telling them not to. I was happy to get my way on the biggest issue though, keeping the couch away from a wall. Victory! We were all tired, sore and a little sunburned. I think we went to bed by 11 pm.

Saturday we went to run errands. First breakfast at Maggie Mae's, which Cara had highly recommended to me. I had blueberry pancakes and bacon. Both were very good, especially that bacon. Greg had a BLT with a fried egg on it. It looked very good. The food was quite tasty but the service was a bit lacking, I thought.

Greg asked to go to the antiques mall right down the road, so we stopped there first. Greg and Jorge bought a set of dessert utensils made of brass and wood from Thailand and a lithograph. Then it was off to Home Depot for white trim, sliders, nubbies for the coffee table glass, white paint, rollers and other things we would need to complete the entertainment center. Then Target shopping for some household stuff I needed. We went home to put finishing touches on the entertainment center, moved some pictures and furniture around, and Jorge installed a rack on my linen closet to help organize it. I was indifferent to the idea at first, but it did really help and Jorge did a great job with it.























Late Saturday afternoon, we went to the beach again. Realizing it was getting late, we rushed back, showered and went to Guppy's for dinner. Had some great salmon and a good special cocktail, made of draft beer, orange vodka, and lemonade. Quite refreshing! We were so full after that they could have rolled me home. We stopped at the Sunoco station by my house to get ice, chips, salsa, and candy.

Sunday morning we all slept a little later than normal. After some coffee and Biography channel, we walked over to Sandy's, a little restaurant right down the street that I have not been to before. We had breakfast. I liked the food just fine, but once again the service was not so great. Jorge's poached eggs were way overcooked (more like hard boiled) and he was very disappointed.

Greg and Jorge left around 1:30 in the afternoon and apparently made speedy time back to Miami. It was so nice seeing them again. I miss them!

Falling Down Again at Publix

I fell down at the Publix the other day. A while ago I wrote about falling down inside the Publix with my fabulous but very slippery shoes. I wrote about how no one came to my rescue and almost no one even expressed concern. This time it was in the Publix parking lot, wearing Croc wedges, and plenty of people cared.

I was loading groceries into my trunk. I don't really know exactly what happened. I tripped over my feet or got them tangled in the shopping cart or something. Next thing I know, I was very, very aware of the fact that I was tipping backward. I was not able to stop it and there was nothing to grab onto and, really, it was too late to contemplate a decent response plan. I fell backward, landed on my ass, and rolled backward. My elbows hit the ground and I rolled backward a little further. My head, thank goodness, did not hit the asphalt. As I fell, all I could think was "Jeez, this is going to be embarrassing..."

Completely uninjured and only slightly sore on my bottom, I got up after 2 or 3 seconds had passed. I continued to pack bags into my trunk. The first condolence call came while I was still loading up the groceries. A Publix employee, a man about 40, who was gathering carts in the lot, casually called over, "Are you OK?" I replied that I was fine and thanked him for his concern. Frankly he did not look concerned. He was quite listless in his tone and his eyes looked weary. Perhaps he asked out of a sense of duty? He made no motion to come over and help me or, at the very least, take my cart.

I then turned around to see a champagne-colored SUV pulling up behind me. The passenger side window was rolled down. The woman in the driver's seat leaned toward the window and said, "Oh my, are you okay? I saw you fall down. Did you hit your head?" I smiled and replied, "Oh no, didn't hit my head, just landed on my behind, which fortunately for me is the most padded part of my body, so I am fine, thanks." I chuckled. She said that it was good I was not injured. She did not laugh at my booty comment though. Hmm, tough room...

A mother with a young child walking by asked me if was okay. I reply that I was, but thanked her for asking. With all the groceries put away in the trunk and some in the back seat, I took the cart over to the little cart corral and pushed it in. I was walking back to my car, when an older woman approached me from across the lot. She was waving her hand to get my attention. She said to me, "I saw you fall down and I wondered if you had hurt yourself."

I told her that I was fine and tried out the big butt comment again to see if I could get a laugh or at least a smile. I got neither. She said, "Well, I had been sitting in my car, talking on the phone, and I saw you fall down and I thought Oh My. And I wanted to come over and make sure you were okay, but I was on the phone and couldn't get off, because I was talking to my sister and we are in the middle of this family emergency of sorts, so I couldn't get off the phone right away. But I just wanted to make sure you were OK."

I told her I was jut fine. She stared at me for a second. Then she said "Ok, have a good day," and she turned and left. Gosh, people are nice!

Signs that I am getting old

1. I am addicted to Law & Order reruns.

2. I have to put on glasses to see some things and take those glasses off to see other things.

3. My ear lobes are becoming ginormous.

4. Some one at work the other day asked me about the movie Casablanca, in a way that implied I had been alive when it came out.

5. My butt is so wide and so flat, it would make a great TV tray. (for those who don't know what a TV tray is, that's something only old people like me remember...)

If you are wondering about the kitten picture, it is not related to this blog entry at all.
I just think it is pointlessly cute.
Putting pictures of kittens on your blog for no reason - sign number 6 you are growing old!