a birthday dinner from george

Wait, let me rephrase that, will ya?

It certainly wasn't my birthday, after all.

That was months ago. 

This was George's birthday!

He's one of the regulars at the Midtown Sports Grill and he's a really nice fellow.

He always tells us goodbye as he leaves for the evening and wishes us luck.

Tonight, though, he invited us to partake of the largesse on the two large tables toward the bar.

He was sharing the birthday joy with all!

I was only too glad to take him up on that free dinner!

I spent $814.32 earlier for the shift cable, and I was hungry.

I made sure to sing 'Happy Birthday' to George before I dug in!

That was all a nice change of pace.

But that was not the only one!

We had yet another new jock for the Music Bingo and his name was Robert.

Lemme tell ya, that change was alright by me, too!

The prizes for the games varied, with the first winner getting a free beer.

The second winner - yours truly! - had my choice of a free cocktail or a free appetizer.

I took the food coupon!!!

As it's a coupon, I'll be able to use it next week, so that will be great!

Hard to believe I won it on a bunch of country songs I don't even know.

I was the only winner of our foursome.

Elissa, Sandy, and Joel didn't get a single bingo this time around.

That's okay, their turn is likely coming in the near future!

So glad I was able to be with these friends tonight!

Such a great way to celebrate having my Saturn back in my driveway! 

to misquote austin powers...

... I got my baby back, baby back!!!

 Oh, yeah!!

Michelle at Rincon Transmission called about an hour after Smitty came by.

He'd brought me leftovers from the low country boil they had for Tyler and Theo.

I'm so happy my sis-in-law doesn't like leftovers!!!

Anyway, I called my brother to see if he was still fairly close... he was!

So he came for me and took me to retrieve my pretty little Saturn.

Oh, I do so miss her little fish-face when she's gone!!!

And what was the first thing I did?

I went to a movie, having checked the schedules while waiting for Smitty.

And what did I find?

The Universe had set me up to see "The Addams Family" after all!!!

That completed the last of the Fall Family Five-Film Festival at NCG Cinema.

I has thought I was going to miss 'Casper', but it was held over for its 30th Anniversary, so I was able to see it with family last Friday.

That's when this movie started its 3-day run, meaning it should have been gone after yesterday... but there it was, screening at 4 PM today!

Hallelujah!!!

i thank You, God!

And now, I'm off to Music Bingo, having been summoned by Elissa, who was even going to come for me if I needed a ride still.

So glad to have my baby back!

SCT at GOB and JEA

As I told both Sherry G and Sherry M, I have been out this week almost as much as I normally am, but with one difference: I have been with friends and family on many more occasions than usual.

That's been quite the blessing!

Imagine that: blessings from a broken shifter cable.

(smile!)

Sherry Giddens was at my house to take me to church, literally!

(I just love that song and had to sneak it in here!) 

Today, I found out she's been showing up a little earlier than when she generally arrives, thinking that I wanted to be there by 11 AM.

What a nice laugh we had when we realized we both customarily miss the opening chimes!

(smile!)

Today was the second God On Broadway sermon, this one using the musical, "The Civil War", last appearing on GOB in 2012.

I noticed the choir here at Asbury Memorial was lacking its tenors and basses.

Just skirts and bonnets over there!

That echoed the lack of men around during warfare, setting the tone.

 

Here's another sight that ran home the theme of death and loss: a young soldier asking his mates to "Tell My Father" one last message.

Wait a minute... I know that young man singing so passionately!

That's Trey Wilner of the Savannah Children's Theatre!!!

I last had the pleasure of his presence at the "Zombie Prom" this summer.

After the show, I tried to find him so I could congratulate him on being so perfect in that role, but he left without me seeing him.

I do hope this means he has not yet graduated and will be in more local shows.

(smile!)

After hanging out in Holliday Hall a bit, dropping off my canned goods for the food drive, Sherry took me home and headed off.

Oops, I was to have asked for a ride to the Savannah JEA!

The SavChTh was having their final performance of "The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane" at 2 PM and I was to meet Sherry Moore there.

My blonde roots struck again!

I called her in a panic, then texted, with regrets that I would miss the play.

Fortunately, I made it!

She explained the situation to the folks there...

and they held the start for 5 minutes until she returned with me in tow.

I am so blessed!

And I loved the tale of the china rabbit that had its name changed, and even its gender, as it passed from one hand to another.

Starting off in a girl's embrace, 'Edward Tulane' was lost overboard on a cruise and not found until a fisherman dragged him up with his net.

The rabbit then became 'Susanna' and stayed with the empty-nester mom until a jealous person tosses the rabbit into the dump.

That's where a hobo and his dog find 'Malone', as they call him, taking him along on their travels until a meanie tosses him off the train.

A boy then takes 'Clyde' up and gives him to his ill sister, but when she dies, another steals the rabbit and 'Jangles' becomes the dancer for the busker.

Years have passed at this point.

The 10-year-old girl who originally named him has grown up and become a mother, looking for a toy in a curio shop for her daughter... and finds him.

(smile!)

Such a delightful, heartwarming play, made even more so because this wandering troupe - and all there to see the play - had waited for me!

What a true enthusiasm of the woman as she embraced her long-lost companion!

And how wonderful that 'Edward Tulane' wound up in my arms for a hug! 

So blessed I am to have two friends named Sherry...

i thank You, God. 

(smile!)

fairy girls for a ghost movie!

The fairy girls were back again, for the third time in less than a week, and had a surprise for me: their Uncle Michael and their cousins!

How wonderful to see all of them again!

It's been a few months. 

And doesn't Michael look great?

I made sure to tell him how good he looked! 

His beard was nicely trimmed and tamed and he even had a brand-new flannel shirt for the cooler turn in the air.

He was the one who came to collect me, in fact.

Christina had taken Anthony to renew his drivers' license before it expires tomorrow.

That will be his 43rd birthday.

Thus, she'd sent Michael and his Jeep - as well as the twins and Chloe - to get me to the Fall Family Film Festival this afternoon.

That's Alyssa with the boot on her right foot - she's broken her toe.

She has so many accidents! 

As for the screening, this special movie was from last week's FFFF, but NCG Cinema had carried it over all week!

That's because 2025 was the 30th anniversary of "Casper", so it got special treatment.

Hooray for us... and for my first niece as this is one of her favorites!

And what do I have here?

Miyah and Chloe dancing in the hall!

Chloe had even had me dancing with her to the movie credits... and Miyah joined us once she saw us twirling!

Leila and Alyssa deigned to not dance.

Perhaps one day they will!!!

(smile!) 

Afterward, we all went over to Cici's for pizza galore and a nice long visit!

(smile!) 

Then Michael and the twins went home.

Christina and her bunch took me home, collected the bag of 24 socks, and headed home, too.

What a treat to have spent so much time with them during this absence of my Saturn!

i thank You, God!

tenth day of the tenth month temperatures

Mi corazon no se gusta el frio.

We're still in hurricane season, which means the edge of summer at this latitude, and yet the temperatures have slid into highs in the upper 60's.

At least Monday will be back into some normality, but not until then.

Ack.

I've gone through my sock drawer in search of foot apparel for my fairy girls.

My first niece tells me they've managed to lose most of the ones they had and have resorted to raids on hers.

Well, this load should keep their feet covered for a while.

That's a full dozen pairs of socks I've liberated from my sock drawer! 

Incredibly, I still have plenty of socks to keep my toes warm.

I'm glad I'll be able to share these with Miyah and Chloe today!

Yes, they'll be back in town again for the third time this week!!!

Spoiled rotten I'll be.

(smile!)

going greek...

Actually, I should have said, "gone Greek," as I'm home now.

When I saw her on Tuesday, Sherry talked me into going to the 74th Greek Festival with her this afternoon.

Sure, I had a choice, so I could have abstained.

However, as the musical sermon taught, for a friend, you take turns. 

Besides, there was a sweet upside for me, besides more time renewing this friendship from years ago when I first started going to Asbury Memorial.

 

There was baklava to be had!!!

Fortunately, we were there in the mid-afternoon of the very first day.

That meant plenty of open tables, with no lines, and with Greek music playing to keep us company for the two hours we were dining.

Very nice!

She had the combination plate, but I only went for my favorites: two skewers of chicken souvlaki and a corner slab of pastitsio.

Oh, yeah!

Yeah, it was a little pricey, at $17, but long overdue for my taste buds.

Plus, I had dessert with my slunch: Melomakarona, the orange-spice Christmas cookie.

As I told Sherry, it reminded me of the 'Russian Tea" that Mama used to make, with instant mocha coffee and Orange Tang and a bit of allspice.

Isn't it a marvel how a flavor can time travel over several decades?

The other five desserts in that six-pack ($18) were, going clockwise from the right side: 2 pieces of Baklava, 1 of Kataife (shredded phyllo, but like baklava), 1 of Flogeres (adding chocolate to the combination), and 1 of Kourabiedes (butter cookie with powdered sugar).

Most definitely a fine afternoon out, helping Sherry succeed at retirement.

By her own counts, she doesn't yet have the habit of throwing herself out of the house, but she's figuring it out! 

I'll have to make sure I help her keep doing that. 

(smile!)

fairy girls with birthdays to celebrate!

"I thought their birthdays were about six months apart..."

 

Technically, that's about right. Miyah's is at the end of March and Chloe's is at the start of October, so it's about six months and a few days.

 

"Then, what's up with the two birthday bags?"

 

The one on the left, with the princess on it, is for Miyah's bday8. The one on the right, featuring a unicorn, is for Chloe's bday7. Those bags waited on that booth bench at Seasons Of Japan until we were all done with dinner.

 

"Hahahaha! I bet that means they hardly ate anything, ready to find out what was in the gift bags from Great-Aunt Tina!"

Oh, you know it! I had Miyah open hers first, since she'd been waiting for months. She liked the yellow rubber bracelet, as did Chloe, who got one, too. But she was touched by the history of that set of colored pencils! Mama had given that to me in 1981 for my bday22, while I was in Okinawa, and I used them for the mythological creatures coloring book she sent. I know how much Miyah loves drawing and I wanted her to have them... and it delighted me that she "got" that chain of ownership concept. Wow!

 

"Very impressive!"

Most definitely. Then I prefaced the other two gifts with "a book with numbers for connecting to make a picture" - and she loves those books!!! - and "a book where you find images in the busy scenes" - and she loves those books, too!!! Hooray!!! How thrilling to find out that I had chosen well for her!!! Now, it was Chloe's turn!

 

"And how did that go?" 

Swimmingly!!! I kept a magical theme going for her bday7, starting with the Thirty-One brand of Candy-corn Unicorn Halloween tote bag. Christina loved that, too, especially since the tote scrunches up and fits inside the unicorn head. LOL!  See it there on the table? And Chloe is holding the Disney "Cars" activity book that came with its own set of coloring pens - good call on my part! I couldn't hardly give her sister artwork supplies without doing the same for her, now could I? I knew better than that! 

 

"That's right, you've drawn with them several times in the past!"

 

Yes, I do so enjoy that! And Chloe loved her blast-from-the-past present! I gave her my flipbook for Disney's "101 Dalmatians" and showed her how to make the puppies play and Pongo dance with Roger!  It's very nice, as its pages can be flipped from both directions to have two mini-movies. That's from my 1993 trip to Disney World. Chloe even wanted me and her to recreate the dance between the dog and its master - that was fun!

 

"She does have an outside-the-box way of thinking! I'm betting she's going to be very good in science classes once she gets old enough for those. She's fortunate to have the benefit of an older sister."

 

She is indeed. My, they both seem to be growing so fast. I noticed that on our girls' trip, too. How wonderful to be able to spend another day this week with them!

 

"And you have another visit before week's end..."

 

I do! Initially tonight, we were to have a movie, then dinner, but time ran out for that option. That's why they'll return on Friday for the movie! All good! And having dinner with these two little great-nieces to either side of me? Priceless! Having the opportunity to engage with them as they enjoyed these presents tonight? A total blessing. I do believe that is one of my favorite ever photos of them. I just may have to get that framed!