birthday cake from the universe!!!

It's a real beauty, too, that's for sure.

As Marcia said, I've been dreaming of this dessert for quite some time.

It's called Milky Way Cake and it is some kind of scrumptious!

Far too rich to have on a regular basis, but it certainly was perfect tonight as I continued the celebration of bday68.

This outing for Music Bingo with Sandy and the J Crew was also a perfect ending to my birthday weekend!

Elissa was absent, but Marcia had two daughters (Amanda and Donna) and her 11-yo granddaughter (BatSheva), so that was perfect, too!

Russ was dropping music that I loved all evening, starting off with "Dad Rock Mix #1", like "Learn To Fly" by the Foo Fighters, which would have given me a bingo in that first game.

That was followed by "Bar Favourites Mix #7", which would have yielded me one of two bingos if "Heart Of Glass" by Blondie or "Like A Prayer" by Madonna had either one hit the air. 

He ended the night with "90's Party Anthems #1", giving us "Macarena" and "Ice Ice Baby" and "I Like To Move It" - lots to sing and move to!

Very nice!!!

What a wonderful way to start this month of my 68th year!

 

I had a wonderful ending to the month of May, too.

Last night, my youngest brother took me out for dinner!

Tony and Laura and I went out to Tubby's Tankhouse, as they know I love seafood - and they were right!

I ordered the Tuna Tacos and they were fabulous!

They should have called them "Ahi Tuna Tacos", as the sashimi-grade fish was perfectly prepared and beautiful.

Oh, yes! 

Even in the rain, dinner out with family is a good idea! 

 

Fortunately, the rain had held off for the S&K Friday Fiesta.

Smitty and Mary surprised me with dinner not at our usual haunt but at a seafood place: Driftaway Cafe in Sandfly.

Even with Tony and Laura absent for the Bloomingdale concert, we still had enough for the party table out back!

That's because Addison was there, with her new boyfriend, plus Becca, Robin, and all three of the regular Kamerons.

I changed up my menu, choosing the Jerk Salmon Spring Salad, as it's been a while since I went Caribbean... and I have a cruise coming up at the end of July with Christina and her family... so I had that taste in my mouth and on my mind!

Most excellent choice! 

What a fabulous way to spend the weekend!

Happy birthday to me!

(smile!) 

those bananas are such clowns!

"Well, as you know, going to a Banana Ball game is akin to having a bit of the circus with your baseball game. That's been true since long before Jesse Cole made his own rules and changed up from being in the collegiate league with his team."

I was actually trying to lead up to finding that the CW had graced me with a game for my birthday this year! While looking for my British mystery shows on PBS, I found out that the Savannah Bananas were playing a live game at 3:30 PM today! They're up against the Indianapolis Clowns, at Kauffman Stadium. That's in Kansas City, Missouri, and the place holds almost 38,000 people. Wow!!!

"Holy leapin' lizards!!! And there are six teams now? Does Jesse own all of them? Are they based in Savannah like the Bananas and the Party Animals?"

I honestly do not know. I think the Coconuts are out of Florida. The Tailgaters are in Texas. My guess is the Clowns are based in Indiana, but I don't know that as a fact. All I can say for sure about them is they are named for one of the Negro League teams. Here's the funny thing about that: those Clowns were up to shenanigans in the 40's and 50's, before Jesse Cole was even born! At one time, that original team was referred to as the "Harlem Globetrotters of baseball".

 "So Jesse just codified the shenanigans, he didn't invent the incorporation of the circus into the baseball games."

Correct, though I do wonder if he might have gotten the idea from reading books about the Clowns of the Negro League. That could have been the start of Banana Ball! These Clowns, though, are affiliated with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum there in Kansas City, Missouri. The museum even had its president at the game!

"Good for them! That has to be good for history buffs, as well as folks who need a bit of enlightenment."

I agree!

"I recognize that kid! That's 'Stilts' Albritton, right? I'm glad to see that he's still playing with the Bananas."

Yep, that's him! When Jesse started interviewing players for Banana Ball, he'd asked the guy what special talent he might bring to the game. Pitching and batting and running on stilts was Dakota's reply! And guess what the Clowns have? A player in an elephant suit!!! I saw him walking around, but didn't see him in action on the field. By the way, that photo was taken at the top of the 7th inning. The time was 5:28 PM.

"That meant it only had two minutes left of play, right? Isn't one of the rules about the game lasting no more than 2 hours?"

That's correct, but I misspoke earlier. The pregame nonsense is what began at 3:30. The game itself started at 4 PM. So they still had about thirty minutes to wrap things up. At the time that 'Stilts' had his turn at bat, the score had the Bananas in the lead, 3 to 1.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense! Did they win?"

I have no idea. Tony and Laura came by to take me out to dinner and I missed the last two innings. I guess I could look up the score, but I haven't yet. I'm actually hoping that the Clowns won, as they did last night. I don't know why, but it seems the Bananas, as a team, are not quite as good, with a few exceptions, as the spin-off teams are.

"But you still like watching them play?"

I like watching them on TV, that's for sure. Going to the games in person is an exercise in chaos, as there is so much going on in the stands that it's hard to follow the baseball action. For the televised games, the cameras are focused on the diamond, so every play can be seen. I love that. I don't even mind the chatter from the press box, as it can be helpful when an inning is moving a little too fast. I plan to tune in next weekend to the CW for more of these baseball games. The Bananas will be up against the Coconuts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Maybe I'll even have a watch party here at my house!

"That would be great! It's been forever since you've had folks over for a party!!!"

Hey, I said 'maybe', okay? But I am wanting to do something like that. I'll have to whip this dining room table into shape first, but that won't take long. It's more of a clutter than anything else. Yes, watching the game with others sounds like a good idea. Now, let's see if I can turn it into a plan! But not right this minute. ABC has "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" as it's Sunday Disney movie and I haven't seen that in years!

"Cartoon, romance, film noir... that one has it all! Enjoy!" 

gander international airport

I don't remember ever hearing about that place in Canada.

Perhaps if I had been watching the news, I might have, but I doubt it.

The events in New York City that forever altered its skyline on September 11, 2001, were so devastating that every media outlet was bursting at the seams to keep the world saturated by them.

That meant no TV, no radio, and no headlines in print for me.

It was a dark, dark time...

though with one solitary bright spot as far as I was concerned.

At least Mama had died and didn't have to be consumed by that tragedy and its horrible aftermath.

Such deep, dark, sadness in the world.

All of those feelings came welling up this afternoon.

I was at a musical, a story that I thought was about a plane and its passengers that had been stranded in Canada at the start of the pandemic.

Maybe I had simply wanted to believe that.

That's why I had bought my ticket several weeks ago, planning for my birthday celebration to include the SCAD play, this musical, and "Frozen".

Three theatrical productions for my bday68!!!

 

A new friend was to have joined me, but instead I ended up in the very same row as the Asbury theatre peeps!

i thank You, God.

I don't know how I could have sat through the entire show if I hadn't had their love and strength beside me at the Tybee Post Theater.

 

I was just fine with that first song in "Come From Away".

Upbeat and hopeful, "Welcome To The Rock" brought images of Okinawa to me and had me smiling!

Then came the scene with the mayor in the coffee shop, on a day like any other day, when the town's reporter burst in and had everyone look at the dire news on the television from the country across the border.

She didn't even have to say what was going on... we all knew.

That's when I realized I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

The musical had barely begun.

The second song, "38 Planes", broadcast the shock of that new reality as planes from thirty-eight countries came in at that airport in Gander.

Operation Yellow Ribbon had forecast the arrival of 18 planes, but more and more flew in as they could not go to the more populous cities in Canada, like Halifax and Toronto.

Suddenly, the town of 10,000 residents had almost 7,000 visitors, many who didn't speak English, many with special dietary needs due to their religions, most with no idea what had necessitated the diversion of their planes.

And those residents in Gander and nearby small towns took in the strangers who had come from away...

and gave them showers and fresh clothing to wear after hours on the planes on the tarmac...

and found places for them to sleep in the churches and school gym and in their own homes... 

and gathered food to feed them, even repurposing the hockey rink as a giant freezer...

and they provided phones and computers and ways for them to contact their loved ones...

doing it all with grace and hope and courtesy.

 

Even though there were other times during the show when tears came again, I left there with a renewed appreciation of the humanity in the world.

After the show, I wanted to thank each and every one of the actors for lending their talents and their voices to this story.

I made sure to go on fb and thank the Savannah Community Theatre for bringing this production to us, as well as Tybee Post Theater for providing a space for this performance.

Thank you, Tom, Heidi, Emily, Lainie, and Linda, for sharing this time and your hugs on this Saturday afternoon.

Now, time to go and feed Dane and give him some extra loving.

Touch is very important. 

happy birthday from Smitty!!!

There he is, making my front yard look shipshape again!

It's been more than two months since it was last trimmed.

I'd mentioned to my brother, Smitty, that I needed some help with it... and he showed up about 11 AM, weed whacker in hand, to take care of it for me!

"Happy birthday, sister!"

He not only trimmed up the front, but he got the back yard looking better, too.

What a wonderful bday68 gift from him!

(smile!)

Hopefully, that will keep it straight for the next few weeks.

The Universe is trying to counter the drought we've had, to restore a bit of humidity to the air for my birthday.

I do appreciate it, but that's several days in a row to try to make up for several months.

The weather song may change, though, as it tends to do.

But I don't mind if the days are rainy.

I like the rain.

(smile!)

letting my voice be heard: part 3

Alrighty then!

Today was the first monthly meeting of the new and improved AARP Georgia group, with Gabrielle in charge.

She started us off with an icebreaker: what was our favorite song, and why?

I gave her "Octopus' Garden", as it always made me think of walking down the street with my childhood BFF!

Then I added "Drift Away", as others had mentioned it, too.

Something we had in common! 

Afterward, she gave us a 15-minute training video to watch.

Titled "Strategic Relationship Building", it was all about determining what community bonds we already had in place for our future community awareness events.

The lecturer referred to building a Win-Win-Win strategy that would benefit the key person at an event, our group at the event, and the community members who came out to the event.

I like that "bigger picture" approach!

 

After the video lecture, we had breakout groups to discuss topics raised.

"Where do people congregate?"

"Where are important landmarks?"

"Where do we have a presence, or where do we need a presence?"

 

My group was a bit different from the others, as it had the blanched almond.

All of us - me, Wanda, Brenda, and Lillian - brought up the senior centers located throughout Savannah and Pooler.

I was the only one who suggested libraries and churches.

I even talked about Sisters In Faith, there at Asbury, who have a monthly speaker visit our luncheons.

I thought for sure they would jump on that as an event opportunity!

However, that didn't happen.

The MLK Civil Rights Museum, the Weeping Area, the NAACP center, those were mentioned by the others.

What I'm sure Gabrielle Richardson and John Strong gathered was that we had some work to do to make this group more diversified.

Let's hope we can be successful, for the good of the community at large, and not just a portion of it.

another 5 for the may a*list

Yes, I'm going to go ahead and call it: no last minute movie Thursday.

With my actual birthday fast approaching, I simply have too much going on to try to fit in a movie or two.

Last week, I managed to see two movies, and the same is true for this week as it turns out.

Busy, vibrant woman, even with a hitch still in my giddy up!!!

Oh, have I told you Dr. Whipple's explanation for that?

The protrusion of the inguinal hernia into my left upper thigh distorted the muscles there for seven months until I had the surgery to repair it.

The repair put those abdominal contents safely into the Teflon mesh bag, so that was the good thing.

However, that left an empty space in those distorted thigh muscles.

The body doesn't like empty spaces, so that got filled with fluid...

which still put pressure on the thigh muscles of my right leg...

which has continued as that liquid is slowly redistributed out of that hole...

as my thigh muscles return to their former, proper, shape.

I'm finding that doing squats seems to help the best.

Now, back to the movies, shall we? 

 

So, here's what is listed on my A*List dance card on the AMC website for the week of 15 through 21 May.

I've already mentioned seeing "The Sheep Detective" with friends for Sandy's birthday.

For Tina Tuesday last week, I took myself to see "Into The Grey", primarily because I just love Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal.

What a wonderful, fast-paced, crime caper it was, too!

Their principal mission is to protect 'Mother' (Eiza Gonzalez) as she attempts to convince a mob boss to repay the money he stole from an asset management firm. 

I had hoped to see that one again, but it only stayed one week.

Then there's that third movie - the one I bought an advance ticket for but didn't get to see because the hospital didn't release me in time.

 

That worked out okay, though, as it was the first one I saw this week.

I want to state upfront that I've never seen the TV series upon which that movie is based, as it airs on a streaming service I never bought.

Even so, I never felt lost for a minute while I watched "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu".

I don't know if it's a summation of the story in the series or if it's a unique, stand-alone offering, but I very much enjoyed it!

That said, I'll know in the future when it's safe to get up and go pee during this overly long movie.

There's at least a ten-minute sequence when the bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) is flat on his back in the forest, having been poisoned.

That means at least ten minutes of the muppet bouncing around looking cute and trying to make sure the comatose man is safe from others.

The emphasis is definitely on 'Grogu' looking cute.

Otherwise, it's a pretty nifty piece of Western-styled scifi.

Then there's Keke Palmer's latest, "I Love Boosters", which is a totally different type of science fiction!

I'd very much liked her last movie, "One Of Them Days", about two roommates who have to deal with fashion-collecting gangsters, but this one was nothing like that.

I should have noticed that Boots Riley was the writer, and that LaKeith Stanfield was also in it.

Then I would have expected the scifi shenanigans!

After all, those two were responsible for "Sorry To Bother You" several years ago, one that left an indelible mark on my memory.

Seen with the physicist, I'd loved it!!!

I liked this one, too, but the whole bit with the stealing of fashionable clothes, with Demi Moore as the designer, just didn't draw me in.

Will I watch it again if I see it on Peacock?

Most likely... I do like LaKeith.

He has such nice eyes!

(smile!)

letting my voice be heard: part 2

Another night, another group of people, this time American Legion members, for the most part.

Yes, it was yet another meeting for the Two First Posts planning committee, but this was well attended.

For Post 36, there was Doug Andrews, Joe Cetti, Billy Cope, and me.

For Post 500, there was John Parker, Larry Jackson, Eric Bolden, Brenda Pough, Sabrina Scales, and Eddie Patterson.

Plus, this time, we had Kat Hancock.

That was good, as the contract for her business to take control of the kitchen and bar had been revised and was the major topic tonight.

Doug had taken the initial contract Mike (Kojik) and Kat had started and rewritten it, along with some cosmetic changes from me.

With Kat tonight, we all of us went through the new version from Doug.

That ended up taking about 90 minutes, especially as Section 3.4 contained items that drew objections from Kat about revenue sharing.

Doug had me rewrite that on the spot!

Then, to further clear up the language about another objectionable clause, he asked me to rewrite it again!!!

I was thrilled to do so, too.

They all waited while I hand-wrote the changed version, then I read it aloud as Brenda recorded me doing so.

I offered to retype it on the contract later, and Doug was only too happy to pass off that duty to me.

Good!

I'm so glad to have found my voice in these meetings!

 

I'm also glad that tangible and visible progress has been made.

The new exterior doors required by the Fire Marshal have been installed, though the jambs are not quite completed.

That should happen in the next day or so.

 

The previous front doors will then be installed into the new wall on the ballroom, which is looking very good, thanks to Eric, our building manager.

He set up all the new LIfetime chairs for tonight's meeting.

They look very nice, don't they?

I think we'll be glad to have renters of this space now!

Hopefully, just one more meeting before we open for business...

and hopefully it will not last four hours, like this one did. 

(smile!)