blessed

Dearest Mama,
What a wonderful day I've had! Not that it's been anything spectacular, but it's been filled with small blessings.
This morning I spent working around the house. One day last week, I looked around and realized with a start that I did NOT want to come home to this clutter! So I took some time this morning to sort through the piles of paperwork in the dining room, in the living room, in the office. My, my, my! I don't know why I feel compelled to hang on to old bills for electricity, gas, cable. Lord knows, if they don't receive my payment, they will surely let me know. So, to the shredder with them! Then sort and file, sort and file, repeat.
I took a time-out to talk with my Pooler friends, the ones I usually meet for breakfast. Bu the children were off the chain this morning, so the parents had decided to divide and conquer, with the mom keeping the daughter home while the dad and son took a breather. I went ahead and ate my own breakfast, then back to the paperwork.
I received a call around lunch time form my stepmom. She had called to thank me for the Mother's Day card and the 2003 photo of her and Daddy. I had emailed the picture to her earlier this week and she had been so enthusiastic about it that I decided she should have it. You know, after seeing Grandpa in the hospital, how sad it is to have a recurrent mental picture of a loved one dying. I keep happy pictures of you around for that very reason: to scare away those of you sick and so very weak. It works most of the time.
After that call, I decided it was time for a break, so I took myself to a movie. I used one of my Regal discount coupons, to keep the cost down, and guess what? The manager entered some code that let me have the movie for FREE! What a nice little perk! So I went ahead and treated myself to the kid's popcorn & coke special. The movie, "The Losers", was action-packed and reminiscent in style of the graphic novel of origin. I have discovered that I REALLY like those types of movies! I think you might have liked it, too, since you had enjoyed the "Mission: Impossible" movies.
So, as I was waiting for the movie to begin, I saw a commercial for the Outback Steakhouse on the screen. "After the movie," it said, "bring your ticket stub to the Outback and get a free appetizer with your meal." Hey! That sounds like a deal too good to pass up! Take the stub of my free ticket and parlay it into free eats!
Hey, why not? I had already planned to take myself to dinner, though I was thinking Bonefish Grill. Why? Quite simply, they were treating me to a free appetizer in honor of my upcoming birthday. I also had a balance remaining on one of my gift cards I had purchased when they had the special discount at the end of the year; I wanted to go ahead and use up the card before starting another. So, you see, I had dinner plans already...and the two restaurants are in the same family, so my gift card was ALSO good at the Outback! Sah-weet!
So, I had a great dinner after a most enjoyable movie, then came home and my bird called and I shared my goings-on with him. Then I was sorting out a junk drawer and came upon an unlabeled cd.. which were the voices of YOUR mom and dad and Uncle, all long departed. I listened to the whole thing, even the songs Grandpa sang off-key at the end. I'm going to try to post them on youtube and then share them with all the family.
What a blessed day!
with much love always,
T