monday night supper club!!!

I came up with that moniker tonight, and all there really liked it, especially Elissa, so I think it'll stick!

We were at The 5 Spot in Sandfly, which was Sandy's choice.

Silly me, I had gone to The 5 Spot on Habersham, absolutely sure that's where we would meet.

I'd even garnered a table in the back corner, right beside a window!

That would make sure we could all talk and also have a view!

It wasn't until I texted Marcia and Elissa that I realized I was at the wrong location of that local chain.

Drats.

By that time, they were all at the correct locale.

Drats.

But get this: they said they'd gladly wait for me to join them.

Yes, even though that meant we'd not be eating until at least 7, when we should have all been there at 6.

I am so blessed to be part of this group of friends!

Joel was even there tonight, which was nice.

He was last with us for Marcia's choice, at Cava on Mall Boulevard.

 

We all dined on something different!

They had just ordered when I arrived, so I opted for two appetizers.

The Brussels Sprouts gave me my veggies, and the b. Matthew's Black-Eyed Peas Patties provided the protein.

That was just perfect, and my order came out right when theirs did!

Hooray!

I also ended up with Joel's coleslaw; it came with his Fish & Chips, but he doesn't care for cabbage.

Marcia had a salad and the Black-Eyed Peas Patties, sans parmesan.

Elissa had a salmon salad, of course, and Sandy had what she had been missing from the other restaurants: a double Smash Burger!

I have no doubt that was the reason for her choice of this place!

We were at the table in the front window, so we got to wave bye to all the other diners as they finished up and left.

In other words: we closed the place down!

Hahahaha!

It's been a long time since I've been part of something like that.

I loved it!

I made sure to thank all of them at least twice for waiting for me.

We all had hugs goodbye, too.

I'm so looking forward to Elissa's choice next week for our MNSC...

and this time, I'll be sure to read all of the message for the location!

(smile!)

hello darkness...

I was caught completely unaware that Halloween would be my last evening with more light.

Completely.

I had thought the "fall back" to standard time was next weekend.

I didn't realize that shift came so early this year.

It wasn't until I was setting my alarm that I noticed the time on my phone was not the same as the time on my stove.

Drats.

Perhaps I would have gone out and done something had I known.

Now, it's too late, and the onset of dusk will coincide with the 5 PM increase in traffic as folks travel home from work.

The sunlight wakened me earlier than usual, as the sun does not adhere to the restrictions imposed by humans in the USA.

My body roused, thinking it must be time to waken, but it was wrong.

It was still early enough that I watched a bit of "Toon In With Me", catching the last two cartoons before the show ended at 8 AM.

Then I watched the last half of "The Long Kiss Goodnight", recorded yesterday to avoid the obnoxious political 'mercials.

By its end, I was sleepy enough to return to bed.

Now, I'm revived and ready to go watch "Wildwood" with Carolyn at 2:15.

Neither of us have seen it, but we've both wanted to see this animated tale of magic and family and curses, making it kinda sorta like that first MFG movie.

At least the time is early enough that neither of us will be driving home in the dark after it's over.

halloween treats, via ether

This has been a very busy week, and the physical therapy session I had on Monday was not conducive to making me more mobile.

Still, I didn't let the pain and discomfort stop me!

Now, though, I have a lull in the action, a time to recharge.

 

That reminds me of a meme that Mary Prokop posted a while ago. 

One says to the other, "Holy crap! You're an INTROVERT?? But you're always so friendly and talkative and nice to everyone!"

The other says, "Despite popular belief, a lot of introverts can be pretty social. The big difference is that it drains our 'social battery' and we have o recharge after a while."

The one says, "Cool I get it! So what happens when your social battery runs out of..." - then, as the other goes POOF, adds "Oh."

As a sociable unsociable, I totally understand...

but that's because I know I am not alone...

and I know where to go to find people I know who know me...

and I also know when I need to stay home, to recharge, as I've done since coming home from the party yesterday.

Here's a meme posted by Bob Bueller, one of my Navy buddies. 

"A belly button is basically a scar from when you got into a knife fight with a guy in a mask after being evicted from your first place." 

Hahahaha - it's all about perspective!!!

 

Then there's the "Star Trek" meme from Sherry Giddens, now in Tampa.

Picard is telling Ryker, "As you know, Gandhi walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath."

After a pause, Picard continued, "This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis."

Hahahaha! Thank you, Mary Poppins!

 

Then there's this one, posted by Jay Sinclair, that is so funny!

A guy says, "So, I got invited to my first gender reveal party. Totally misunderstood the concept. My bad."

Such a deliciously raunchy nod to flasher humor!

 

This meme posted by my brother Ronnie's friend, Donna Faye Johnson, is a good one on aging. 

As a woman is looking through a photo album, she says, "Honestly, I don't care how I look in photos anymore... As long as I look good on ultrasounds, CT scans, and MRIs."

You and me both!

That brings me to one I like from Andy Pena in Pooler.

A Japanese monk once said: 

"If you miss the bus, maybe you avoided the accident. 

If you got rejected, maybe you were saved from the wrong place. 

If they left, maybe they made room for who is coming. 

The universe protects you in ways that look like bad luck at first.

Trust the detour."

Amen to that!

I do admit, though, that part of the reason I like that goes back to an Indian movie I saw years ago.

I just love how rabbit holes lead to memories!

Those are definitely treats!

marsh monster mash!

Today was the day of the Candler Senior Center's Halloween party!

I made sure to sign up for it last month, because the Marsh Auditorium seats 80 and those events fill up super fast! 

 

What greeted me as I arrived into the room?

A jack o'lantern made from a disco ball pumpkin!!!

See that pale green running along its lower jaw, as well as to the left above its upper lip?

That's my sweater!

Nice for it to make an appearance again!

There was also a disco ball ghost, but it wasn't nearly as alluring as this guy!

 

Elizabeth, the woman who runs the Senior Center, also greeted me, of course.

That's her in the red dress, ready to give out a free lunch for the best guess on number of candy corns in a jar.

I'd guessed 432...

but the correct number was 478 and someone else had the closer value. 

No problem, as I'd just finished my luncheon that came with my party ticket!

The lunch ladies were clad in Halloween attire as they served up a Chinese feast: sesame green beans, stir-fy rice, and orange chicken - yum!!!

 

After everyone had a chance to enjoy the meal, the fun started!

Count Dracula and a Ghostbuster read trivia questions relating to Halloween tales and myths.

I won the goodie bag for one of the questions in that first round!

The Ghostbuster had barely started, with "What strong-smelling vegetable used as a spice..." when I shot my hand into the air!!!

She finished with "...used to ward off vampires?", then Count Dracula called on me, as my hand was up long before anyone else's.

"Garlic!", I triumphantly said!!!

My prize bag was brought directly to me by Little Red Riding Fox!

And what had I won?

A haint-blue koozie, a popcorn ball, a bag of pretzels shaped like bats and jack o'lanterns, some peppermints, and a telescoping back scratcher.

I know I'll make good use of that last item!

There were more trivia contests, but I abstained from participating with any more answers.

I'd already won, right?

And I was 1 of 79 others at the party.

My table mates thought it grand that I gave others a chance!

We had two rounds of "Name That Halloween Tune", then a round of "Name That Movie Villain", and two rounds of "Name That Scary Movie".

That made for a nice bunch of prizes for attendees at the 8 tables!

Then it was time for dancing!!!

Three guesses what the first song was... "Thriller"!!!

"Monster Mash" was actually second, even though the party had been named in honor of that tune.

Go figure!

"One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater" and "Spooky" came next, but the one that drew the most attention at my table was Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious". One of the younger women - she's 55 - even got up and danced.

That Corpse Bride did some very nice dancing, too, throwing in some writhing and squirming - bwah haha!

This was my first time coming to one of the Senior Center's parties, but I'll most def try for more!

(smile!)

round 2 of mfg!

What a wonderful evening tonight at AMC Classic Savannah 11 for the second Movies For Grownups of AARP-GA!
Managers Chris and Tom were there when I arrived and got us setup with the table and chair in the lobby, as well as a chair by Screening Room 1, for any late check-ins that might come along.

We also used the small table and two chairs near our table for writing Cheer Crew cards while we waited for our audience to arrive.

We even had one or two of them to participate with that!
Lillian Sykes was the only other volunteer from AARP-GA for this event, but she was fabulous, so we two got the job done, and done with smiles!
Managers Chris and Trey were there during the MSG event, which began promptly without a hitch at 7 PM - bravo!
We had one registrant who needed special accommodations, and she was given the hearing-assist headphones by AMC and she and her party sat in the handicapped-accessible row, all together.
After the movie, I made sure to thank all who came out for the MFG event and they thanked us for bringing such a good movie.
There was even some laughter during the movie - yeah!
The registrant with the hearing-assist headphones asked Lillian and I to return them for her, so we did...
and the young woman at the counter found the registrant's eyeglasses tangled up in the cords!
Lillian was able to rush out and find that the party had not yet driven off, so Anita H. was given her eyeglasses.
Most excellent!

That finished up my AMC A*List, too, with three movies I'd seen earlier.

Well, kinda sorta.

My dance card shows that I watched "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother" twice, but I only saw it the one time.

I threw on that second 'reservation' for it yesterday as a way of voting for AMC to bring more like that one. (smile!)

And I really did see this new version of "Sense And Sensibility" on Tuesday, so I would be able to let the other volunteers at tonight's event go in to see it at 7 PM, so they wouldn't miss any of it.

Here's the odd part about that movie: I felt like I was watching the physicist up there on the screen!

Same facial structure, same hair type, same body build... spooky!

Every time the 'Colonel' was on screen, I found myself poring over his face, trying to make sense of the resemblance.

The actor, Herbert Nordrum, is not one I've noticed before.

And, looking at his bio photo on IMDB, sans facial hair, the similarity to my bfe fades into the background.

However, with the mustache and beard, he could be the brother of the man I spent time with yesterday.

Watching the movie again with the MFG audience, I again had the sensation that I was seeing the bfe every time the 'Colonel' appeared.

It was kinda sorta like I saw the bfe three days in a row!

I'll have to keep a watch on that actor and see if that holds next time.

Meanwhile, I'm thrilled at how well tonight's AARP-GA event went!

Looking forward to the one in December!!!

dinner and a movie with the bfe!

"Wait a minute! This is Wednesday Night Supper time! Right?"

 

Yes, it is, and he was only too glad to pick me up and take me to Asbury Memorial for that meal! That's because it was to be pot roast, and he doesn't have beef very often, but he loves it.  

 

"Oh, that looks delicious!"

 

It was! I'm glad I was able to buy his dinner for a change. I'd already paid for mine two weeks ago, so the $8 was easy. He ate every bit of his meal, too! I mean, I ate all of mine, too, but for him that's a sure sign he enjoyed it. He liked being in Holliday Hall, too, even asking about the painting of Miss Virginia. I told him about her not liking how old she was in it, so he told me about one of the women in his Sunday group not liking her current-age photos, either. We sat with Pam and Walt, so that was nice!

 

"What's with the Dias De Los Muertos meme?"

 

Perry Foster had posted that, so I was discussing that with the physicist. Neither of us had been familiar that there were so many days associated with that event.

 

"So, you showed him the meme on your phone?"

 

Oh, no! The place mats tonight were printed for Dia De Los Muertos, which we tend to observe for Ruthie Deffley. So, I brought up that the Mexican holiday actually is for more than one day. Pretty interesting!

 

"Good to learn something new, and to share it with others, isn't it? And what was the movie that Jeff Secrest had agreed to see?"

 

Hey, it was his idea! It's the new one with Olivia Colman, a bit of funny, raunchy, comedy which she does so well! I was interested, too, in "Wicker", which promised a different kind of robot for amorous action. Alexander Skarsgard was fabulous as the man with a heart and mind inside all that basketware!

 

"Oh, I remember that he's quite fond of that actress!"

 

Yes, she's just a year younger than he is. Alexander is another two years younger, having been born in 1976. And Peter Dinklage, now 57 years old, was just fabulous as the master weaver trying to give the people what they want, only to find that the people didn't really know what they were asking for. I mean, really, who would want a perpetual baby that would never grow beyond infancy? Seriously?!

 

"What a terrible choice! Who made that?"

 

One of the women who'd been widowed when her husband fell through a hole in the roof and died. He was trying to do like the Wicker man and be handy, but he was a klutz. So the woman had requested that the weaver make her a wicker baby. She really didn't think that through. The other townspeople figured she'd had sex with the Wicker man! Did they truly not understand how preposterous that was? He had no internal organs, so sperm was out of the question. Such dolts!

 

"Not quite science literate, were they? Wow."

 

Well, the fairy tale ended on a note that the Brothers Grimm would have approved. I certainly did, and so did the bfe! Nice that Comcast helped me treat him to that movie! They gave me a $10 reward toward the ticket, so I bought his on fandango with that perk. I bought mine at NCG tonight. With luck, I'll win two free tickets to a future show there!

 

"Oh, that would be nice! They tend to have some unusual films that AMC would never show."

 

Very true. And guess what? The two of us will have another movie outing next week! An Indian film will be at the Royal Cinema for only two days, Wednesday and Thursday, so he'll have to let me know which day. He told me his afternoons are fairly free this semester, as he's just teaching two classes. Maybe we'll be able to hit one of the earlier showings. That would be good, as it's more than three hours long.

 

"Hope that works out! I know he wants to see it. Maybe y'all could meet for a late lunch and early movie one of those days."

 

We'll see. (smile!) 

wtf has a new door at last!!!

Isn't it beautiful?

I would have been happy with any design, as long as it locked securely.

This is much nicer, and will allow customers inside Whiskey Tango Foxtrot to see into the corridor of 5511.

And why should that even matter?

That's because Two First Posts now has the seals of the five branches of the US military mounted there, to welcome all who come.

Those were purchased by the American Legion Post 36 - the one I belong to - years ago and they've been in storage since we left Thunderbolt.

How very nice to have them finally displayed!

They're on the wall between the two entry doors of the event ballroom.

Truly, we're starting to look quite official!

For tonight's meeting, we had me, Doug, Michael T., Joe Cetti, Brenda, Sabrina, Eric, John, and Eddie.

We had snacks, too, as well as a bunch of goodies to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which has been all of October.

I guess my mammogram was right on time!

(By the way, the results came back 'normal', so that was good!)

At Eddie's request, Brenda read the minutes from the last meeting here.

Then we got to new business!

Kat and Mike have their licenses and are opening on Thursday!!!

Yes, as in October 29!

I don't know their hours, or which days they will be open, but I'm excited!

Eddie suggested we mount the TFP electronic calendar in the window of the Game Room in 5509, facing the street, so folks will know what is scheduled.

That will be most helpful when TFP starts scheduling the Queen Of Hearts game play to start some money coming in.

It will also be helpful for letting the members of Post 500 know that many other events go on here, hence the importance of them contacting TFP when they want to have something other than the five monthly meetings they already have.

Yes, that's right, the bulk of the meeting was all about the shenanigans of their new Post Commander, Trey Singleton.

Sigh. 

He is actually calling for Brenda, Sabrina, and Eric to be dismissed from their positions in Post 500 (as Adjutant, Financial Officer, and Master At Arms, respectively).

Why did he ask for that at Post 500's general meeting last night?

Because he claims they are having a conflict of interest with their positions on the Board of Two First Posts (Secretary, Treasurer, and Building Maintenance Man, respectively) and are not looking out for the best interests of Post 500.

Seriously.

He was throwing all kinds of slander out there!

Eddie and John said Trey should be dismissed from his newly elected position due to "lack of confidence in Post Commander" and steps are being taken.

Here's the thing, though: Brenda is part of the Masonic Lodge and she told us that Trey is pulling the same power plays over there.

I raised the question of whether he had an Honorable Discharge, as it sounds like he has been a problem in every group he is part of.

That certainly got the group's attention.

As a man with lots of legal experience, Doug provided his advice on how to get the troublemaker demoted.

What a dark blotch he has been for the past few months.

Here's hoping November will see something positive concerning him.