THIS #1…      Suzanne was at the mall shopping last week and she heard a lady say, “There’s Levi’s mother.”  Turns out she recognized her from my blog.  She is Kathy, sister-in-law to my dear friend, Bonnie.  Her mother-in-law was here, too.  They were all doing some shopping for Easter.  I joined Suzanne and got to see them all.  And, the nicest surprise they came over to to see the Creekhouse the next day.  It was so nice to spend some time with them.  Even though Kathy and I had not met, we coresponded with each other through the blog and Facebook.

I love it when I get to meet someone that I’ve become friends with on the internet.  It really is a small world…and people are alike wherever you live.  Well, except some of you say ‘you guys’ and ‘soda’ or ‘pop’ and I say ‘y’all’ and ‘coke’.  But, otherwise…:=)

THAT #1…

Isn’t this a beautiful amyrillis?  I recieved it as a gift many years ago.  It has recieved no special care from me…at all.  When it quit blooming at first, I stuck it in a pot full of other plants and forgot about it.  Then it bloomed again the next year, so I left it alone.  That was maybe 15 years ago…and it still blooms every year.  I put it in an old pot and brought it with me when we moved to the Creekhouse…set it in the yard…and forgot about it.  And, it still bloomed every year.  But this year, it has 5 huge flowers on the stalk and buds for 3 more!  How can something so neglected bloom so beautifully?  I don’t even water it.  It sits there in its old dirty pot…in the cold…in the rain…in the heat…and waits till just the right time to delight us once again.  God does such amazing things in the plant world.  I am just happy to have this little miracle living in my yard.

THIS #2...

Just a look at my outdoor mantle.  Love this big old fireplace.  And, it is fun to have another mantle to decorate, too!

THAT #2…      When Levi was about 6 months old, I bought him an infant swing with the intentions of it hanging from a tree limb.  “Not gonna happen,” said Don.  (Because to get it up in any of our trees would require calling for additional people and ladders and ‘stuff’ to make it happen).  And, so my sad little swing has sat on the screened in porch all through the winter and the beginning of spring.  It looked so sad sitting out there…so unattached and all.  I had also been asking for a lawn swing for myself ever since Levi was born, so I could take him outside and swing him in the fresh air.  That didn’t happen either.  But last week, unbeknownest to me, Don went swing shopping.  And he bought a frame for Levi’s swing and one more.  He also bought a wonderful lawn swing with an arbor built over it.  Yesterday, we took Levi out and let him try his swing for the first time.  He cackled right out loud and laughed and smiled.  He loved it!

When swinging was finished we headed back to the house…by way of the pool.  I said ‘yes’ to splashing his feet.

…which moved to the hands…

And, ended with wet, wet clothes!  But wet clothes will dry, as will wet boys.  But, come on!  Is there anything better than splashing your feet in cool water on a warm day?  Oh how wonderful to be grandparents and have the time to allow such frivolity  and encourage new experiences!  My, My! we do have fun together!

THIS #3…          I MUST share this picture with you, my friends.  Another friend posted this on FB this morning and it just warmed my heart.  The picture it paints in my mind is full of comfort and peace.  A mother’s love is so dear.  But, the picture it represents to me is of the Father’s love.  He covers me...that is a most comforting thing.  No matter where and no matter what…He covers me.  (And, He does some of His best work through mothers, doesn’t He?)

His word says it best:

“He will cover you with his feathers.  He will shelter you with his wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”     Psalm 91:4

THAT #3…     We are headed south to Destin this weekend for a conference Don needs to attend.  Hey, any excuse to go there will do!  Lots of great shopping and restaurants…and of course the gorgeous beach!  Sure hope the sun shines bright for us!  Have a blessed week-end!  Oh!  And should you have the opportunity….SPLASH A LITTLE !

Oh, my! My angel baby just swept out the door with his Mother.  And, all I can do is sit here…right here on this bar stool.  I can’t move or get up or laugh or cry or anything.  I’m going to write a post because I only have to move my fingers.  I’m not sure if you, my faithful friends, will ever read this or not….not sure if I’ll post it.    But, it is sure gonna make me feel better to write it down.

As is usual, nothing is ever simple and easy around here.  It is complicated by oh, so many factors.  So, I must tell you the back story and fill in some detail before the real story begins.

Last, last Christmas (2010), Adam gave me a gift.  It was 3 ’20×24′ picture frames.  The pictures to go into those frames would arrive in a few days.  He said they were very special pictures that he took and they would be especially meaningful to me.  So, I put those frames in the hallway and left them there so I could hang the pics as soon as they arrived.  I waited patiently.  And around April of last year (2011) I finally put them in the hall closet.  Because I had heard a twenty or so times that they would be here the next day. After awhile, I catch on and figure things out.  Didn’t know anything I needed to frame that size, so, I put them away and forgot about them.  Until a few weeks before Christmas, Adam and I were talking and gifts were brought up and I said something to the effect, “I’m sure hoping I get those 3 ’20×24′ inch pictures I heard about last year.  I already have some frames for them and everything.”  Fast forward to a week before Christmas.  Adam comes to my house and says, “Here’s your Christmas present, Mom.”  And, it was those 3 pictures.  They really are special…of a redbird in flight…coming to a branch and leaving. Redbirds have a special meaning to our family in reference to my Mom.   Beautiful!  So, he put them into the frames and again they leaned against the wall.  Looking lovely, but leaning.

I asked Don to help me hang them.  Said he would.  Didn’t happen.  Knew it wouldn’t.  Remember, he thinks putting a nail in the wall is akin to taking a sledgehammer and knocking down a door.  It does the same amount of damage.  He would rather have N O T H I N G on the walls than have the house decorated and nice looking.  So, I didn’t really expect him to help.  But, the important thing is that I gave him a chance to help.

Then, I asked Adam to please bring his laser level and shoot me a line across the wall, so I could hang the pictures.  After the sixth or seventh time, he brought it by.  I mean, he comes to my house every morning to bring Sweet Levi.   AND, I gave that laser level to him for Christmas…not intentionally, but in a round about way.  See, when I asked Don to help me hang those pictures for the third or fourth time, I asked him if he had a laser level and he said, “I’m not sure but I know Ian has one,  I’ll get him to bring it when he comes home for Christmas and then we can do it.”    So, while I was out shopping for the rest of my gifts, I ran into a big display in Target of…you guessed it!…laser levels.  I got the medium priced one.  Because I don’t like the cheapest anything and I knew we would not use it enough to get the money’s worth out of the expensive one.  Imagine my surprise when, on Christmas afternoon, when we were all opening gifts, and Don opened his laser level, he said, “Well, Tonja.  How many laser levels do you think I need?  You have already given me two!”  Adam piped up quickly and said, “Well, give it to me…I don’t have one.”  So Don tossed it to Adam and therefore I think it counts that I gave Adam a laser level for Christmas.  And, I bet I never buy another one as long as I live!

Ok, so, instead of just shooting me a level line across the wall, and leaving it at that, Adam, kindly, decided to hang the pictures himself.  In the spare 30 minutes he had when he dropped Levi off one morning.  Wasn’t that nice?  Well, he kinda got one of them spaced wrong, but that was OK.  He said he would fix it.  And, fix it he did.  Which, unfortunately, left a nice big hole in  the wall caused by the super-duper size Monkey Hooks which Don says is the only way to hang anything ‘in this house’.

It had to be super duper size because the frames were heavy what with the frame and the glass all being in the ’20×24′ size and all.  Adam, my oldest son, is very smart.  And, he has known his father for 36 and 1/2 years.  And, he knew that hole in the wall was not going to cut it with his Dad.  I told him not to worry, I would take the blame, and he could go on about his life without that boulder hanging over his head.  And, I thought that would be that.  I knew I could fix it and it would never be noticed.  But, Adam came back a few hours later to fix it.  And, I don’t know what all he did, or what all he put in the hole and on the hole and around the hole, but when it was all finished, the filled in-patched-primed and re-painted ‘hole’ was an off colored 6×6 inch square.  I did not even want to know how it happened.  Really, I did not  want to know.  Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.  And, what you don’t know…you can’t tell.

Well, he was bummed.  He  knew that this was going to cause his Dad such great distress that a big lecture would follow and he would be expected to listen to it, as would I , since I was an accomplice But, Don has not mentioned it at all.  Don’t know if he hasn’t seen it or just decided that saying anything would not help or what.  ( I have managed to keep the lights off when he was going to and coming from work,though.)  But, when Don went out of town on Sunday, Adam was after me to fix it. PLEASE.  This morning, he took sandpaper and sanded the 6×6 discolored patch and I was left to ‘fix it’ and keep Levi.  So, I did the best I could.  There was no hole there…whatever he put in, stayed in.  I painted it and then repainted it…but it doesn’t look good.  And, it’s not going to look good…until the whole wall is painted again.  And, that’s the way it is.******  After I painted the first coat…I left the can of paint and the stir stick on the cabinet in the laundry room.******

Now my sweet Levi is growing and getting bigger and stronger and happier every day.  And, faster, and into things, and biting anything he can get his hands on.  Bless his sweet heart.  (Now, the next part is a little risky to talk about…but I will try to do it as delicately as possible.)  Stay with me, friends…this will all make sense in a few more paragraphs.

Levi was not ready to go to sleep, though I had tried to convince him he was.  His Mom had to take him with her several places after she picked him up and I wanted him to be well rested for her.  After he convinced me that a nap was just not going to happen, I put him in his bed to play for a while.  He played and rolled and  stood up and fell and stood up and fell and stood up and fell.  He’s standing alone, but not walking yet.  I walked over close to the crib…and it hit me.  The smell.  The smell that strikes fear in every mother’s heart.  No matter how long it has been since you had children in your care.  No matter how long it has been since you had a little one right inside your house standing up in his crib.  It was one of those smells that lets you know you need a clothespin for your nose and rubber gloves and a big garbage bag and about a box of wipes.  It was one of those smells that lets you know you had better get a plastic dropcloth and cover all surrounding furniture.  It was definitely going to be a tough task, but it had to be done.  And, the sooner the better.

I got a big towel, and laid it across the bed.  I got the wipes and opened up the garbage bag on the floor so I could just drop the offending material into it.  A mask I had worn last week while I had bronchitis was nearby and I grabbed it.  Last, I grabbed my apron, because I had plans to go to the grocery store after Suzanne picked him up.  I was ready.  I got the boy out of the crib and commenced to remove his shoes.  To think he would lie still for that was wrong, wrong, wrong.  Twisting his body, with all his might, he flipped back like a fish when I didn’t twist with him.  Shoes safe…now on to blue jeans.  Theis was going very close to the danger zone.  I managed to remove the jeans and I saw that the socks and shirt were going to have to be removed as well.  Contents of the lovely little P*mpers, was already moving out.  I did a quick strip job…on him…not me.  But, wished further into the project that I had included myself.  Removing the P*amper, I soon discovered this was not going to be a task that mere wipes would handle.  This was a sink job.  Holding two squirming feet in one hand and trying to hold the boy so that only his shoulders touched the towel was a big mistake.  That little imp did a lightning fast twist and slipped from my grasp.  He followed it up quickly with another roll over and just that quickly, he was off the towel.  Not wanting to be graphic here, but what was ON the boy and ON the towel was also ON the bed.  And, what was still all over the boy, was now all over me, as I carried him to the sink.  (How clever of me to think of putting a sink in my studio back when we began drawing up plans for this house…just saying.)  I had to remove my apron, as it was ‘soiled’, so all the splashed water and soap got all over my clothes and my face and my hair.  Even without his approval,  he got bathed and rinsed and diapered.  Putting him on the floor, I changed the sheets, removed the blankets and the toys that could be washed.  I disinfected the crib as best I could, and deposited the ‘little mess machine’ inside.  Then I removed the quilt on the bed, and picked up my apron.  The pile of dirty laundry was growing.  Taking the pile to the laundry room, I discovered that the arm of my shirt AND my good jeans were damaged goods also.  ******I laid the clothes on the cabinet while I loaded the washer******  Yes, Yes, I did.  So, the clothes and quilts and sheets that were soiled….also now had paint on them.  And, the paint is oil based.  It does not wash out.  It does not scrub out.  It does not even wash off your hands.  This day can not get any worse.

NEXT DAY…

When Adam brought Levi this morning, he went to look at the paint disaster we were trying to fix.  “MOM!  It looks worse now than before you repainted.”  And, he was right.  Something was wrong and we were both missing it.  Maybe you have already figured out what we did.  Adam said, “Well I don’t care what color is written on the can, this is not the right paint!”  And, I agreed.  I told him where to go look in the garage to find the paint so he could see if there was another can.  He found another and opened it up.   “This is right!  The color is the same!”  So, I secured Levi and went to see and sure enough it was totally covered and you could hardly see any hint of where we had made such a mess.  I glanced down at the paint can and I immediately knew what we did.  We were using the oil based paint that had been used for trim and we needed the Latex eggshell finish paint for the walls.  Adam still was not quite satisfied that it was as good as it could be.  So this afternoon, he brought over a small roller and rolled one more coat of paint on, and it all totally blended in and looked perfect.  Case closed.  Finally, the ‘great picture-paint disaster of 2012’ was over.

And, IF Don sees any damage, and IF he is bold enough to say something to me about it…I’ll just remind him that I asked HIM to do it first.

It takes little for me to become addicted to something.  Ask my good friends chocolate and diet dr. pepper.  I think that along with ADD, I’m blessed with that addictive type personality.  It is tremendous thanks to God who has kept me from being tempted by the things that would cause me harm.  However, shoes and purses have caused quite a bit of harm to my checkbook through the years.  But, lots of that has passed on away as I look more for comfort than cute nowadays.  And, as of late, to be totally honest with you, food has moved in on the scene and I would like to get it off!   Anyway…

These days my attentions have turned to a thing called PINTEREST.

It’s a great way to organize and categorize the things you like.  You can have as many little bulletin boards as you want and then you can pin whatever you like on them.  Maybe it’s recipes or funny jokes or cute shoes or jewelry or table settings…whatever.  I started out with about 5 boards and now I have way more.  Maybe you are collecting pictures for a room you wish to redo…this is the place to do it.  Or perhaps you are picking out toys for a grandchild.  This is a wonderful place to keep them all visible in one place.

My last post was all about my lunch date that didn’t happen.  Along with the reasons why. And, so a week has past and I decided to try again to leave the house and get some errands done AND go grocery shopping.  Believe me, those 2 corndogs AND the Girl Scout Cookies are long gone!  Adam needed me to keep Levi for a few hours so he could set up for a shoot tonight,  So, I got ready before and Sweet Levi and Don were my lunch dates and then Adam came back to gettake Levi home.

My sore throat and coughing has only progressed since last week.  And until yesterday, I still thought it was just allergies.  But I began to get worse last evening and through the night.  By this morning, I knew I was much sicker.  I called the Dr. as soon as I got up and was told to come in this afternoon.

But, here it all goes haywire.  I got into my car, and noticed that the radio would not come on.  At least where I was turning it on. So, I tried several other knobs…no luck there, either.  I’m just guessing here, but I think when the battery died, it totally wiped the phone lady’s and the radio man’s brains free of the info Alex and I had stored.  I do not know that for a fact…I’m just thinking that  is the only explanation this feeble mass of brain cells can formulate.

So, no radio…just a note that says ‘PUT IN CODE’.  Great.  Where do you put the code…since I see no keypad or numbers to use.  And.  What is the code?  Did we have a code?  Did someone tell us a code?  Did we make up a code?  Why would you have to have a code to listen to a radio on a car, anyway?  And, if I had a code, where oh where is it now?  Can I make up a new one?  Do I have to talk to Honda Pilot International Car Code Division of American Honda Cars in America, Lower Alabama Division?  Is there even a HPICCDAHCALAD?  And, if there is, how do I find it?  Am I doomed to make all the music in my vehicle from now on?  No Sirius Satelitte Radio, no FM, no AM, no ‘put in a new CD, no ‘stored CD’?

I’m in distress here, friends.  And, to top it all off the telephone thingy didn’t work, either.  My phone rang and the phone lady didn’t make a peep.  Things are just not good in  Tonjaville today.  Someone has hit the mute button on my voice and someone else has hit the ‘screw it up royally’ button in my car.

I went to the doctor and have acute bronchitis, and allergic rhinitis and asthma issues and am once again bordering on pneumonia.  Which is to say, I’ve got the ‘CRUD’ and I’ve got it bad.

So, today, Saturday now, I will stay in bed all day following my doctor’s instructions.  We have a big celebration tomorrow at church…a 65 year anniversary with former pastors and music and youth ministers attending and participating.  Two services starting at 8:30….then huge dinner on the ground at noon.  Doc says ‘no way‘.  I say ‘we’ll see, I surely do not want to miss this.’  So, please, friends, prayers that I will feel wel enough to attend on Sunday.

It’s 4:40 AM here in the Deep South, rainy and cool.  I just had a bowl of cherrios and blueberries, took the meds from the doctor, and am heading back under the covers to emerge whenever this body-o-mine tells me to wake up.

You know I may be aging and having trouble…nigh on to mayhem, with technological things.  But, one thing this girl still knows how to do is pull the cover over my head and find a sweet dream to climb aboard and ride the course.  ‘Nitey-Nite’ or ‘Morny-Morn’.

Shhh-hhhhh-hhh-hh………..

You know how it is, don’t you?  You start to tell a story and you have to think back to the very beginning.  We bloggers want to be accurate and tell all the facts…ALL the facts…so that you will have a clear understanding of what it is exactly that we want to convey in the post in question.  So, that’s what I did…thinking waaaaay back to the very beginning of this story.

I did a post back in November about my trip to Birmingham for Pop’s eye surgery.  [He’s just returned from the last check-up and all is great.  He’s even cleared to drive…in the daytime.]  Anyway, Joy, Adam and I all went…with Adam doing the driving…in my car.  It is a new car and I still hadn’t learned all the things to do to get it to do what it is supposed to do.  (It is now the middle of January and I still do not know much more about it…but, I will.)  I was really excited about this car because it had Bluetooth and I could use my phone while I was driving…if I really needed to.  Alex and I had set it up so I just had to say who I wanted to call.  And, all was well.  Never mind that I didn’t know there was a lever you had to press to turn on the phone before you could say the name.  I was just riding around town yelling out “Joy, Call Joy, …………. Joy, JOY…… CALL JOY!”  And, no one came on to talk to me and say “dialing Joy.”  I felt quite stupid.  I feel quite stupid again just telling you about it.  But, it’s an important part of the story.

Adam decided that since he was doing all the driving for the three days, it would be a wonderful idea to change the Bluetooth thing to answer HIS phone and talk to him.  We did not discuss this prior to his changing things around.  It probably happened when Joy and I were doing a little shopping before the surgery and Adam and Pop were sitting in the car waiting for us because “it will only take us five minutes.”  I’m not sure.  But, I was a little surprised when the phone rang and it was for HIM.  I let it go because I didn’t know what he did and I didn’t know what to do to undo what he did.  Plus, he said it was easy to do and he would fix it back when we got home.  And, he did. Well, he thought he did.

But, when I would be driving around and my phone would ring and I would say, “Hello!”… it would keep ringing.  I would say “HELLO!  HELLO!” and no one ever spoke,  yet my phone would keep ringing.  And, when I got home, my phone would show me that Joy had called.  I would call her back and tell her that “I tried to answer, but you wouldn’t say anything”…and then she asked me if I pressed the lever on the steering wheel that had the little telephone on it.  She said the little picture was on there so it would be easy to see that it was the lever to push to operate the telephone.  And I said, “No…nobody told me I had to push a lever to talk.”  And, I’m not sure, but I think she probably thought I was stupid, too, cause that’s how sisters can be and besides she’s had her new Volvo that she could talk on longer than I’ve had my Pilot.   I bet she had to take lessons or something at the Jr. College.

I explained it all to Alex, who set everything up the first time, and he said he would fix it.  I have waited for weeks and one evening about a week ago, he FINALLY he agreed to walk 6 steps to my car and take Adam’s phone business out of the phone lady’s brain and put mine in.  Then I had to tell the lady all the names again and say them real loud, and we got it all set.  I now know there is a lever to push to answer and one to hang up and something else to do if I want to say “JOY” and have the phone lady do the hard work.  I was so excited that it was all finally fixed and I was ready to hop in my car and go the first time I had need to.  All was right with the world once again.

Suzanne picked up that amazing grandson of mine early on Wednesday, so I decided to go to the grocery store.  When I say the cupboard is bare…I mean the cupboard is BARE!.  Got in the car and turned the key…nothing happened.  NOTHING!  Not a sound!  Not even a whimper.  Oh, well, maybe I just wasn’t supposed to go to the grocery store today.  Corn Dogs for supper!  I told Don about it and he asked, “what did you leave on in the car?”  I told him I had not even been in the car in two weeks.  He said I must have because the car would not just go dead for no reason.  And, I am a forgetful girl.  So, I thought and thought about when I used the car last.  And, I remembered.  I remembered that Alex and I had sat in the car to fix my phone and it got dark while we were sitting there and I could not see those ##### levers and one of us turned a light on so I could see.  Alex said “It wasn’t me!” and so I suppose that it could have, possibly, maybe have been me.  But, I’m not sure.

In the meantime, my dear friend, Judy called and invited me to lunch with she and Kathy on Friday.  I wasn’t going to have Levi, so I said, “SURE!”  Cause they are two really good friends and I had not talked with either of them in several months.

My plans were beginning to gel.  First I would make a mad dash to TJM to pick up a gift, then meet them for lunch.  Then a quick (who am I kidding?) stop in Hobby Lobby and on to the grocery store.  With a final stop at the drive thru window at CVS because we can not drive past there without at least slowing down and tossing some money in the window lest they  think something was wrong with us!

So, Don brought a battery charger home and put it on the car yesterday and it charged all evening and all night.  I rested in the assurance that when I needed my car at 10 this morning, it would crank up willingly.  Alex was even going to call me on my phone to be sure it worked right when I left. I got my bath and dressed, and waited for Don to take the battery charger off the car, so I could go.  He did, and I waved bye.  And, nothing.  NOTHING! I tell you!  Not even a little try!  Well, isn’t that a fine how do you do?

Because, now it was 10:45 and I was to meet them for lunch at 11:30…and my plan was already off because I had to wait on someone to slowly shave and get his clothes on and then check his mail and recheck his briefcase to make sure he had everything he needed before he left because he is a thorough man!  He starts looking around the garage for who knows what…but all my stuff is in his way.  So, I begin to move furniture…in my nice white, freshly ironed button down shirt…in 32 degree weather!  I pulled 2 straight chairs and 2 rocking chairs and 1 wheelchair out into the driveway.  I then put two boxes up on top of the 3 short Christmas trees that were packed away by me and Patty.  NOW…nothing hindered anyone from getting anything into the middle stall of the garage.  Nothing at all and especially not 2 straight chairs, and 2 rocking chairs and one wheelchair and 2 boxes and just a few other minute things!!!

He couldn’t find what he was looking for, so he said for me to come on and he would take me.  I told him I did not want to go and sit at Olive Garden for 30 minutes and he kindly offered for me to go with him to eat breakfast and then he would take me.  I had been standing outside in 32 degree weather with no jacket and my house slippers on for 20 minutes and I was chilled to the bone.  My white shirt didn’t look so fresh and my hair was having a fine old time just blowing here and there, willy-nilly.  So, I told him I just wasn’t going…it was too late.  So, he said OK and left for work.  I came in the house and called the girls and told them and then got out the heating pad for my knees.  They were screaming at me….my knees, not my friends.  And, it was OK, because I really didn’t feel too well.  I began having a sore throat last night and I had been coughing this morning.

At 11:30, I  saw his truck come whizzing into the driveway.  He had gotten a set of jumper cables and managed to get his truck into the middle stall even though I had already moved the 2 straight chairs and the the 2 rocking chairs and the wheelchair back into the garage.He attached them to the car and called me to come out.  He told me to “crank ‘er up”.  And, I did.  And, she roared into action.  He had me sit there and gas it a little and then he gassed it alot and said, “Now keep these jumper cables with you so you’ll always have them.”  OK.  I could do that.  He said for me to “go on to lunch and if my car died again, find someone to jump me off.”  OK.  I was NOT going to do that today.  My knees were hurting  and my head had started pounding.  I did not tell him that.  Perhaps he read it on my face. But, he said he had to go back to work.  I came inside.  And, I’m sure what happened next was his attempt at kindness.  He came back in and said, “Here, take my truck.  I’ll just take your car and keep it charged up.  But, I’m really low on gas, you’ll have to stop and fill the tank!.” OK. Well…no, I was not going to do that today, either.

He left and I resumed my position on the bed.  And, I have been here all day.  My throat hurts and my head hurts and my nose is running and I’m running a fever and we have no groceries and I did not have a long, leisurely lunch with my friends.  I did not hear about their grandchildren, nor did they hear about mine.  We did not get to laugh and enjoy things that only girlfriends of long standing can.

But, it’s OK.  I’ll feel better.  We’ll do lunch again soon.  My car will be fully charged.  And, there’s 2 corndogs left in the freezer for he and Alex for supper.   I suppose I’ll just have to make do with that unopened box of Girl Scout cookies…the chocolate with peanut butter ones.  I’ll manage.  Besides, I didn’t even have any lunch!

Good ‘ole Maxine knows just how I feel…..