This is a long, long, long one, which I should probably cut, but I just don't want to. I apologize in advance to my legions of readers.
Busy day, but pretty satisfying. I vacuumed the living room and bedroom, then put the bathroom rugs and tub mat in the washer. Dusted and mopped the hard floors, swept the patio, and made an attempt to train the ivy geraniums to cling to some trellis-like frames I have. I may have to buy others and I know I want to get paving stones.
Since Lennie asked me to run the T.O.P.S. meeting today, I spent several hours on planning. Besides a segment where I want members to discuss weight-related questions, I made up a little fun thing: I found and printed out before and after pictures of weight losers, cut them apart, and made up little rhymes about each. I'm going to distribute them, but each member will get a picture of an "after" that doesn't match the "before." I'll then recite little rhymes I made up, so they have to be exchanged. Here's a sample:
And the matching rhyme is:
Butterflies are nice to wear
On your tum or in your hair
And even better than a beanie
Is a sexy black bikini.
Okay, it ain't Yeats, but I was in a hurry and I did six of them. Unfortunately, I got an email from Bobbi to say she had a fall and hurt her back, so she won't be here.
Besides that artistic endeavor (ha!), I found and duplicated some pictures of Frank as a baby and little boy, along with some of the rest of the family. (See note below.) After that and having been glued to the laptop for so many hours, I decided I'd bus to town--but the best laid plans...
As I came out of the front gate, I saw in front of me, my neighbor, Benny C. He was, as usual, dressed in full African regalia and had his flowing (certainly a wig) black locks down his back. I was immediately concerned because he was alone. I had never seen him without a caregiver before. I asked him where he was going and he said "the Chinese restaurant." He then walked into the street without looking and he was several feet from the crosswalk. There was a fair amount of traffic and I held up my hand to ask them to stop which, luckily, they all did. Benny then walked into the parking lot, always a busy one, until I suggested we go on the sidewalk in front of Von's. We did and I tried to email his brother, James, whom I know--not sure if it went through. When we got to the restaurant, it was clear Benny was known to them; he was greeted and seated right away (it was about 3:00, so sparsely occupied). Out of Benny's ear shot, I asked if he had ever come in alone before. She said he's usually with someone else, but occasionally, he does, so I left. Later, I emailed James again because I wasn't sure my cheapie phone had sent the first one. He reassured me that sometimes, Benny goes to the restaurant alone, but thanked me for getting in touch. He also said he's been concerned because Benny's been getting moody lately. Yes, that's one of the phases, as I well know.
Went into Von's and got coffee, olive oil, and a few other things, paid, then realized I didn't have my cart and they were too heavy to carry. Asked Maria, who seems to be the manager, if I could leave them and go home for the cart. Sure and that's what I did.
I then had another interesting experience: As I passed the apartment closest to the side gate, I saw a woman sitting in a lawn chair on the front walkway. She said something like she liked my cart and we fell into conversation. It seems she was visiting from Canada and it's her son who actually lives there. He has a two-bedroom and when she told me what he pays, I almost collapsed: FOUR GRAND! How could that possibly be? And now that I think of it, I don't believe it; either I misheard or the son's a fibber. Her grandson is going to Ventura College (I told her my friend, who teaches there, was coming over for lunch today) and we chatted. She asked about my children and when I told her where my sons live, she said how much she liked Singapore. What, she's been there? Yes, many times, as her late husband had a business in the Far East (he seems he owned a company that makes eyeglass parts). She also likes Bangkok, where he had a place; I told her my brother, who's 96, moved there last year. We exchanged ages and I couldn't believe she's 80; she looks about sixty, maybe. Unfortunately, she'll only be here for a few more days, but I gave her my card and asked her to get in touch when she gets back.
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