My photo
No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Assembling some thoughts

I just came back from starting a load of laundry, tossing in a pair of white pants that I wore to church yesterday. When I got home after having lunch with Judy C. and Michael at Sam's St. Johns Seafood, across from Moosehaven, I changed clothes immediately to get ready for the pool. Every second counts on these summer afternoons since the storms move in and out so quickly. I was going to put my white pants back on the hanger for wearing to The Club on Wednesday night (no denim rule) and what did I see? A big blotch of red on the back of my pants! Oh my goodness! That would give anyone a start but particularly an older female who is well passed that happening. It turned out to be ketchup. Now how did THAT happen? It seems that I had my purse sitting on the floor at my feet in the restaurant and then put my purse on the driver's seat as I went through the political paperwork I had picked up Thursday night to share with Michael. Evidently the ketchup was on the bottom of my purse, and then on my car seat and then on my pants! Yikes! My sister gave me a decorative hook to use for hanging my purse off the table's edge but I never think to use it. I should from now on!
*
My friend, Maggie O., recently appeared in a play in a cameo role at "Players by the Sea" at the Beaches. She played the comedic relief as a maid and was nominated for an award for her efforts. The ceremony, The Pelicans, was held this weekend and Ellen was there to applaud for Maggie, who won in her catagory. Congratulations to Maggie O. for being a came-o! She is a retired drama teacher from Ed White High School and might even have 'worked' with some of her former students in this production!
*
As I was doing the laundry, it occurred to me that I should get some more soap one of these days so I have plenty when Kerry is here. I had to chuckle to myself, remembering those couple of summers that Alayna spent here in Florida, how Kerry was worried about her getting the proper foods. One time she asked Alayna, "Are you eating something other than French fries?" In that same conversation I heard Alayna tell her mom, "All the fruit Kim has here is either wood or plastic....", so when she was off the phone, we got in the car and went to the store for fruit. I gave her a plastic basket and told her to pick out whatever she wanted to eat, in order to be in compliance with her mom's requirements. Alayna does like fruit, in fact, we bought fruit when she was here at Christmas this past year, too. I ended up eating the last two of the apples but gave the extra oranges to Lori and David for their drive home.
*
Kerry is even a more picky eater than I am, with even odder choices than mine. Over the years when we lived in Manitowoc yet, Kerry lived with us. She would buy fish, chubs I believe (no relation) and would eat them, complete with eyes! It would freak me out to open the fridge and have something looking back at me. But when I would make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, I had make a few for her without chocolate chips! She could eat smoked chubs with eyeballs but not chocolate chips!! She likes really spicy food and I do not. She watches blood 'n guts TV programs and I do not. No worries, though, we will work it out! I am going to take her to the fish camps where she can dine on strange fish and I can have fried dill pickles! Kerry also likes to cook but then we miss the social opportunities by eating in, unless I would invite folks to come here. Since I am having a dinner when Lynn and Linda arrive, I likely won't have one when Kerry is here. I want to show her the town!
*
Last week I attempted to watch the VHS movie loaned to me by Randy's wife, Carol, called "Tea with Mussolini" which is filmed primarily in Florence, Italy. She knew I would like to see the familiar sights and such, so I put the movie into my player, which is part of the TV. It kept popping right back out again, sounded like rewinding going on, and out it popped. Finally I got up to see what was happening and pulled the tape out of the player. Ooops!, the tape was caught inside and was now dangling from the case. Not good! It's worse that I borrowed it from someone else and now have to replace an obsolete recording of this movie. Thanks to Amazon.com, mission accomplished! Woo hoo! I have tried putting one of my own videos in for play back and all the machine did was whine, so my guess is, I no longer have a VHS player in my bedroom. The only working one, then, is in the guest room, so if I want to watch the movie, will have to lie on the daybed to do so. That's fine, but not as pleasant, I guess.
*
Regarding the movie, "Eat, Pray, Love", let me answer the question most often asked, "How was it?" I know I can be a pain in the butt about stuff like this but let me say, the Eastern religion stuff was over-the-top for me. Others likely have no problem with it. This movie is based on a true story and if this was her journey, great! Liz, played by Julia Roberts, was a writer in search of herself, and supposedly God. At one point she actually did get down on her knees and attempted to pray to Him, awkwardly. No wonder her life was such a mess, she did not have a good leader! Anyway, in the movie, a 'voice' tells her to go back to bed. She does so, telling her hubby she does not want to be married any more. He ends up broken-hearted and she basically goes on a walk-about for a year, to achieve balance in her life. Of course, starting in Rome is a terrific way to go, as she begins a "carbohydrate conflagration", enjoying the great food, meeting people, learning the language as well as learning to 'let go' and have fun!
*
From Italy she was off to India and then Bali, living in a ashram and scrubbing floors to learn humbleness and such, chanting and meditating, and meeting other non-Indians who are there for the same reason as she. One man, a Texan, was particularly gruff with her, telling her the way it was, and coaching her to forgive herself and forget it, that type of thing. In Bali she meets a few wonderful folks, including a divorced mom with a young daughter for whom Liz raises money so they can have their own home. Liz also meets, by accident, a man who becomes her lover. I liked him myself, as he was openly affectionate with his twenty-something son, crying as he sent his son off to college. Makes points with me! (Here is a secret---in the next book, she is married to Philippe...shhhh!) Oh, I guess it is not a secret, her website shows the follow-up book already. Anyway, the scenery and such is fantastic, especially Italy, but I am prejudiced. Go ahead and see it, and just bear with the chanting and mantras...
*
Well, I guess I had better get moving around here and take care of a few thing neglected over the busy past couple of days. Of course, being away tends to keep things a bit tidier but my dishwasher needs to be run because it smells sour from sitting in this heat with dirty dishes. When the washer or dryer are going, and the dishwasher running, I feel extremely productive! Or, I could get my swimsuit on and go for a dip....It's not raining yet, but it likely will. I have the entire day off so can do whatever I wish. Like always!