Greatly enjoyed lunch with Marge yesterday. We went to Dockside and I had some of the best salmon (with salad) I ever tasted. We talked and talked, finally left, drove down the street to the bay to say hello to Pat, then drove the 20 miles to Chatsworth, talking and talking all the way.
Marge said Drama Club meeting on Wednesday went all right, although several members were absent. After rehearsal, she initiated a discussion as to whether the group will continue after the show in May. She said the consensus was that it should go on as long as the directors stay. Well, I was one of the 4 directors and I resigned; Dennis has some health issues and it's possible he'll have to give it up; Amy is very busy with family and volunteer work; and Marge herself is not in perfect health. Also, there have been some member dropouts for various reasons and no additions for the past year or so.
The biggest problem is the difficulty in acquiring appropriate material. Marge bought some "senior (readers) theatre" books and we culled what we could from them, but many are too long and/or just not very funny. All four of us wrote material, too--much of which, in my not-so-humble-opinion, was better than the paid stuff. We also stole brazenly from the Internet, magazines, and wherever else. Still, it's hard to come up with enough to fill an hour show every year. Naturally, I loved discussing all this, knowing it's no longer my problem.
The cleaners came in the morning and the place looks great. Other than those highlights, 'twas an ordinary day. I made baked chicken for dinner, finally using up the meat I had in the freezer, which I'll now replenish. Bought hamburger and will have "slumphie stew" tonight.

Susan and I walked as usual, then I drove over to get my oil changed at Mastercraft. That's a great place that I recommend to everybody. (Yes, it's worth traveling here from Virginia, Massachusetts, and California.) They have such a comfortable waiting room (two easy chairs, the day's Asbury Park Press, a big, spotless bathroom, and complementary beverages, including great coffee to which you can add--get this--hazelnut flavoring!) that it's a pleasure to go there. What a contrast to the places I used to go with grease covering every flat surface and the only things to read tattered Motoring World mags two years old of date.
Leslie came over to drop off a tube of moisturizer (she's a Mary Kay distributor) and stayed for a nice visit. She and Dennis are going to Boston for the weekend today, meeting son and DIL, Joe and Pia.
Later, Susan stopped in with her adorable 1-year-old granddaughter, Sophia, who's visiting with her mommy from Connecticut. What a sweet baby and how I enjoyed having a little one here. I gave her my painted wooden eggs from Poland to play with, again pleased with myself for culling out my Easter decorations.
Got ready for the cleaners by washing all nine bathroom/area rugs, as usual. (Alison always laughs that I clean for the cleaners.)
Didn't feel like cooking, so ordered out from Brothers' Italian. Pat got the veal parm, and I just had the spaghetti side that came with his, along with two garlic knots I couldn't resist.
Lunch with Marge today. Can't wait to hear the latest about the Drama Club (but I still know I made the right decision by withdrawing).

The social scene is heating up, I'm happy to say. I meet Marge for lunch tomorrow and we go to Bill and Regina's for early dinner on Sunday. My Wellspouse friend, Vivian, is on Spring Break (she works at Ocean Community College) and asked if I could meet for dinner on Monday--sure can! The party at the D.'s is next Saturday, and we go to Alison's for Easter the day after. I'm thinking about inviting Susan and Walter, plus Judy and Roman for dinner one of these days, too. S. and W. have had us (or me) over often and we go to all the K.'s parties. Not sure if I can get that in before Easter, though.
Drove the 30 miles to Alison's--it was a gorgeous sunny day--to drop off on the porch the Easter things I had finally separated out. Later, picked up a few things at Wal-Mart, then Shop-Rite (does it seem I spend an inordinate amount of time in supermarkets? I do!). The rest of the day, just puttered around--but happily, as I wasn't at all bored.
For dinner, I slaughtered a hog, skinned the meat, rendered the fat (what does that mean?), dug a pit, and roasted it for five days, then served up a delectable meal.
Okay, I opened a package of Tyson's pork and gravy and put it in the microwave. Hey, that's one more to add to my "joys" list--I don't have to slaughter my own hogs!

Got to Philly and back without a problem. I had been worried about this for weeks because I'm nervous going up there. (Talk about lists; I have a long list of things to worry about--very convenient, as I can just pick and choose.) Pat's hearing aid has to be sent away to be repaired and he may need a stronger one, but for now, the present one's okay.
Earlier, I attended the Friends of the Little Egg Harbor Library meeting. I'm not sure how interested I really am in this. They seem pretty backward-looking, acting alarmed when I suggested using e-mail to inform people of gatherings, even though they had bemoaned drawing so few attendees. The way they let people know what's going on is to post information on a piece of paper over the copy machine (!). I think they have a newsletter, but the president said she "hasn't been keeping up with it." They do have $4000 in the treasury, and are trying to entice a mystery writer from NYC to speak at an upcoming meeting.
Alison called last night and invited us for Easter--great! Hope J., J., J., and little Whosit will be there.
Okay, my list of joys--not at all comprehensive, of course:
Sunsets over the trees behind my house: They may not be as spectacular as Arizona's, but they're beautiful--all gold, rose, and purple.
Our home itself. It's been four years since we moved here, but amazingly often, I'm aware of how much I love it and how lucky I am.
Being able to drive: I didn't get my license until I was 45 and I still get a thrill out of it--I mean I often consciously think "I can drive!" (For a wonderful treatise on this, see Agatha Christie's autobiography.)
Being with my children, grands, and great-grands: This may be a cliche, but I don't care, I never see enough of them.
My glass of wine at night. I look forward to this with a rummy's fervour.
Right now, spring, with the flowers coming up and the trees budding. This always seems like a friggin' miracle to me! When we lived in Ewing, Pat and I used to walk around outside the house during the first spring days and survey our plantings. Then the thought always came to me--melodramatic, but hell, that's my persona--"We survived another winter."
Poetry.
Good books--OR books I enjoy, "good" or not.
Having Pat able to still go to the bay everyday.
Touring old houses.
Travel. I had a small window in my life when I could go places--after the Taking Care of Kids, Scarce Money, College and Career considerations eased up and before the caregiver situation. I loved it all, especially California and Asia, and hope to do it again.
I just took a sip of another joy: my coffee in the morning.
Getting out of the shower and into a freshly-made bed.

Yay-y-y! I dealt with more junk from the garage yesterday! Actually went through and sorted three large containers, packed the rejects, and took to the thrift store, then rearranged what was left. That left me with six empty plastic containers and--notice how my sneaky mind works?--I thought I should keep them in case I ever need them to pack away other things. No, no, no, Rosemary! The whole idea is to resolve not to "pack things away" where they take up space and moulder like John Brown's body for 85 years. Okay, the next time I'm going to donate the containers, too.
Dropped off the scholarship check ($500) at the high school (Pinelands Regional); I'm chair of the committee for the Women's Club, so am glad to have finished that assignment. I'm always afraid I'm going to forget to do something like that, or that I'll hand it in too late, or something--indicative of my basic insecurity, I guess.
Had a nice chat with Betty, the constant lunch-goer of the left coast. This must be genetic--we both love to meet people for lunch. That reminds me that Barb H. is back and we must arrange to take Susan out for her birthday; not today, though, as I have to take Pat to Philly for the audiologist appointment.
Note: In case readers don't recheck the comments: see yesterday's from Robyn for the end of the flamingo story--it's priceless!

Ho, ho, guess the "gift registry" thing hit a nerve! Well, I'm not going to argue about it--I won't convince you and you won't convince me--so what the hey. (I do love the pink flamingos story, Robyn. Hope the recipients proudly displayed them on their lawn.)
Pat's brother, Bill, called to invite us for dinner on Sunday (at 3 in the afternoon), a nice surprise. Said he's cooking ham and refused to let us bring anything. We're looking forward to seeing Bill, of course; he's a wonderful guy. He and Pat are the only surviving Molloy sibs--there had been seven. I love seeing his wife, Regina, too. We are on absolutely opposite ends of the opinion spectrum about almost everything, but we're happy to avoid certain subjects or just laugh at our differences.
Other than that, yesterday was a slow day with grocery shopping and stuff. Had chicken potpie for dinner and it was good.
I neglected to fill everybody in on my Saturday adventures. I went to Reynolds in Manahawkin and got little No-Name Great-Grandbaby an adorable newborn outfit (he's not due until July). On the way home,
stopped at Habitat for Humanity thrift store and met up with Frank D., who was looking for a table. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but came across a silverplated meat fork for a dollar and bought that.
I can't imagine why people would turn up their noses at thrift stores. We have 3 nice ones within 10 miles and I often buy there, especially things like glassware (we break a lot), tee shirts for exercising, and pre-read magazines. I also donate to them. When we moved here, we bought new furniture and donated two loveseats to H. for H. I was pleased to see them on display for a modest price, then to notice they were gone the next time I stopped in. I hope some nice young couple--or some thrifty old couple--are enjoying them.
Not only does it save money to buy at thrift stores, it's also good for the environment (cuts down on the amount of "stuff" around), and you can get unusual items you don't see at the mall. A few years ago, I bought a beautiful, hand-embroidered tablecloth for my dining room table for $20. You can't get things like that at Macy's.
Ellen called last night, as she does every Sunday, and we had a nice chat, discussing the difficulties of teaching math to third-graders, among a wide range of other topics.
Well, yesterday, I was in an introspective mood, which resulted in the "Everybody has a secret life" mantra. Pat, Pat, of course you have a secret life. It doesn't mean you've robbed a bank, or smothered your next-door neighbor, or wear men's boxers--just that there's a quiet, careful, watchful, once-removed Pat inside you who carries on an inner life nobody but you will ever know.
Good lord, am I the only one?