4on/3off

I started working ten hour days this past week, which will give me Fridays off. I thought it would be tiring, but really it was not difficult at all. I have to get up about 25 minutes earlier (4:45 AM)in order to continue my mile and a half walk on the treadmill every morning, and I have to leave by 5:30 every evening since that's when they lock the place down, so really I am not working much longer hours than I did at Senior Home Care, without Fridays off. And having Friday off was GREAT...I slept a little later and painted the dining room, did the grocery shopping, made dinner, wow, it was like being retired for one day! And when we spend weekends in New Bern, I will be able to do the shopping and housework, and still enjoy our weekends away. It is ALL good.

We spent last weekend at the condo, the last of the summer, and it was pure relaxation this time. Spent both days at the pool, walking, bike riding. We did go into the city on Sat afternoon to get a coffee at Port City Java, shop a little, and eat dinner at Morgan's Tavern, our current favorite restaurant, where we both had lobster bisque, a wonderful filet, and key lime pie. Sigh. The only weird thing that served to slighly tarnish the weekend was the EXCHANGE of our brand new doormat for an older rattier model. As Peg said, "That's a little creepy." We were also confronted with huge number of MS bikers on our way into town, that's BICYCLISTS, not hogs, and we learned that Kelly, the young girl who kindly showed us the several units she and her husband Jeff have renovated and rented, is a TRIATHALON competitor who travels the world in pursuit of her sport. She recently returned from a competition in Belgium. Her husband Jeff is the new condo association president, and Kelly is just a small woman whom you would never have presumed to be athletic at first meeting. We also met a man who is in a barbershop group when we were scouting around for larger condos. New Bern is just full of interesting people...at least Fairfield is. And they were having the last chamber music concert of the season downtown across from the Episcopal church that dominates the landscape of the central city...a concert I would have liked to attend if we had known...High Point is drab by comparison..as we drove through the cavernous empty downtown on our trip back, and then by the tattoo parlors that edge Emerywood, I once again wondered why we ended up here, but fortunately the weather this week has been cool and crisp and fall-like, and we have done some sprucing up of our truly loved house and I am feeling better about the whole thing again. It is LOVELY here in the fall. And the coast and the mountains are just a short trip away. AND we ate lunch at Mayberry's today, a place like no other, an old fashioned soda fountain/diner/neighborhood haunt where we ate hotdogs and french fries, hot and crisp, famous bacon bean soup, and ice cream. There are things I love about High Point.

We are off to Florida AGAIN next weekend, for Lynn's wedding reception at Sterlings of Avondale. I am looking forward to seeing all my old friends from SHC, as well as seeing Kris and Brett again and staying at the beach.

Saw "Tropic Thunder" two weeks ago, the funniest movie we have seen in years. Gross but funny. Tom Cruise alone is worth the admission price. Matthew McConawatsit is fabulously vacuous in his pink polo shirt. The STARS are hysterical, although Jack Black could have been allowed to let loose a little more. There was even a parody of Steven Speilberg's penchant for making heroes of little boys, in the form of a less than sympathetic little dude as the leader of a big heroin distribution center.

There is the possibility that I may have satisfied Canada Passport with my most recent application and I may actually be going to Italy in October with the rest of the gang. I spoke with a rep on the phone who said it should be ready around October the tenth. I have hesitated to discuss the Italy trip in this forum for fear that I might not be going. Now I at least have a glimmer of hope that I will not be made to jump through more hoops. The Americans in this family had no trouble getting their passports. My frustration with the Canadian passport process for expatriates is still intact.. I still have only hope, not confidence, in the system.

That's it for Sat night in front of the TV watching college football..Go Wake!!

To Florida and Back

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We went to Florida over Labor Day weekend because it was a three day weekend, we hadn't seen Kris since Thanksgiving, and probably would have no other chance to see Karen and Buff this year. It was a whirlwind tour, to say the least. I had Friday off, but Dennis did not, so we left at 5 am on Sat. The dogs were at the vet's, and the cats were on their own. It was dark and drizzling and I gripped the steering wheel with both hands until we got through Charlotte and the sun came up. Poor night vision is just one of the joys of growing old. But the trip was short, it seemed, and we were in Jax Beach by 12:45. We drove through our old neighborhood and saw a lot of debris left by Fay, branches stacked in front of every yard, trees bent and broken by the wind. The streets seemed narrow and the houses a little messy, here and there unkempt, or maybe it was just the remains of the tropical storm that made the neighborhood seem less lustrous than my memories. We arrived at Kris and Brett's apt and had a happy reunion. The apt is small but open and attractive, with a new kitchen and clean white walls. And of course it is less than a block off the ocean, which is in view from the furnished front porch. We couldn't wait to walk on the beach, so we took a stroll after Brett left for work, and in a few short minutes we were completely drenched by a sudden storm. I had forgotten how fickle Florida weather is, and what real humidity is. Later that afternoon we met Brett's parents, Pat and Dave, for dinner at the Gene's Seafood, for old times sake, and like everything else I missed from my previous life in Florida, the place had changed, nolonger crowded, somewhat dingy and different, but the crabcakes were still huge and delicious. Dennis spent a long time inspecting and admiring Dave's recently acquired 1968 Porsche 912. Back at the apt we listened to reggae and talked and drank lots of mini margaritas and later enjoyed a pleasant night on the Eddie Bauer air mattress in the spare bedroom.

Early the next morning I arose first, made coffee, and went down to the beach to take in the sound and smell and lovely sight of the ocean. It was rough and gray all weekend, because of Hanna who spun offshore hundreds of miles away, but caused the ocean to swell and heave like a northeaster from the wrong direction. This same hurricane is expected to come onshore in North Carolina this weekend, finally, somewhat depleted but hopefuly still wet. After everyone dragged out of bed we walked, yes walked, to the Third Street Diner for a wonderful breakfast...I had a perfect feta and spinach omelette. Then we headed for Palatka and the Munnagerie. Karen had made her famous barbecued shrimp and her famous delicious Dottie's Delight for dessert. We ate early, still stuffed from breakfast, because Brett had to leave at 3:30 to get to work . We had a lot of fun playing with the new baby, Max the 4 month old German Shepherd, but it seemed strange with only four horses and no matched Belgians. And there was much disappointment for the guys that the Segue was broken. Still, we had a nice reunion and Karen's house seemed like home, as usual.

We drove back to Jax at dusk and bought a bag of Krystals which we took back to Kristen's and enjoyed before watching the best of Christopher Walken (more cowbell)on DVD and heading to bed. I was up first again in the morning and went down to the beach again. I could get used to that. I even began to look at beachfront real estate when we got back to NC. Dennis and I left around ten and the drive home seemed so much longer. We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Lexington for dinner where I had complete comfort food, chicken and dumplings, fried apples, corn, biscuits. What the heck happened to my diet, heh. The kitties were glad to see us, and we went back to work Tuesday morning. Next trip will be back to New bern in a week or so...