spreading the love, thanks to aarp gifts

What else can I call those gift certificates from AARP?

These were either won while playing a slot machine game, a la Vegas, or they were obtained by earning Reward points watching videos or such.

They didn't cost me a penny.

But today, I took a 10-buck certificate and three 5-buck certificates to Barnes & Noble and used them to buy three future gifts for others.

 

I have my brother Smitty to thank for the inspiration to make that use of the gift cards.

I had thought to use them to buy a new game, perhaps, but then I saw this. 

Smitty has been quite taken with gnomes for the last decade, and this practically screamed his name!

The sale price, down from $25, was a good reason to buy it for him, too, so that's what I did.

Then I saw this lovely and thought of Chloe.

I've never even heard of the Kawaii Fun artistic toys, but there were quite a few items at the store.

This Super-Cute Kawaii Fun Activity Case sounded like just the thing for bday8 of that great-niece!

Her big sister usually gets all the new art stuff, so I want Chloe to have her own case full of goodies.

I also liked that it was on sale for half the original cost.

Onward I went to search for more discounted treasures!

That's when I found this.

it's a rainbow-themed blank book with a velvety soft outer jacket.

I remembered how Leila had liked the blank book I gave Miyah, so I think she will love this one!

It was originally marked at $18.99, but was 75% off - what an incredible deal!

All totaled, the three future gifts for loved ones cost me $1.20 at the register.

Shopping smarter is what I try to do.

After all, I just finished my 8th year of being retired.

Thanks, AARP, for helping me stretch my money.

bday9 party for miyah!!!

Here she is, the littlest girl no longer, being regaled with song by the wait staff at La Parrilla of Pooler!!!

Who are all those people around her at the table?

Those would all be members of Anthony's family: his mom, a sister, three brothers, and their spouses, fiancees, and children.

Seriously, there must have been at least 20 of them there!

The first niece and her family all had to sit at another table.

From the wall, that's Leila, Uncle Michael, the birthday girl, her Grammy, and her Mama, my dear Christina.

On the other side of this table was Miyah's Aunt Chelsea (holding AnnaLeigh), Uncle Dillon, her sister Chloe, and her other cousin, Alyssa.

Off to the right of Chelsea was Pop-pop (i.e., Matt).

There was just no way to get him into the frame - I tried!

I actually sat on Matt's right, at the end of this table, across from where Anthony would have sat (but he didn't make it in time).

Here's the nine-year-old birthday girl opening the gift bag from me!

Unicorn-emblazoned blank book for poems and songs and drawings!

Plastic ruler with Medieval artwork including a beautiful Unicorn!

Even a Unicorn change purse!!!

She loves Unicorns!!!

Ah, yes, a girl after my own heart!!!

I'm so glad I ventured out to Pooler for this party!

If not, I would not have known the seemingly-endless construction on I-16 had, at last, come to a close.

There's even a dedicated lane for entry from I-516, instead of that horrid left-hand merge that's been there for years.

Plus, there are new, sweeping, exit lanes for I-95 in both directions, making the transition easy and safe.

I just may make more trips to Pooler now... during the day, that is.

Thanks for having this 3-hour party at 1:30 PM!

Daylight all the way there and back!

Safe travel conditions for all party goers!

(smile!)

happy bday 11 to the twins!

Yes, time has flown by since they were living at my house!

The year was 2019 and they turned five years old just before the move.

Now, it's six years later and they're in their last year of elementary school.

In the fall, they'll be going to a new school, starting middle school.

Wow!

Here's one difference between my knowledge of them and my knowledge of Christina's girls: I have known Alyssa and Leila since their births.

I first met them in the hospital in 2014, within a day of their entry into the world.

After all, they are the first twins my family has ever had!

I wish I knew more about them.

I haven't spent much time with them since their move to Guyton and then to Hinesville.

Perhaps that will change one day, though I'd like to have some one-on-one time with each one separate from the other.

 

For their birthdays, I admit to giving them presents based on instinct rather than any in-depth knowledge of their likes and preferences.

I know they like fun socks, like I do, so socks are the primary gifts.

Alyssa favors pinks, while Leila does not, so I made sure the gift bags reflect that.

Fortunately, my 'gift closet' was the source of all of it, from the gift bags to the little activity books!

My sock drawer yielded the dancing flute player socks, still brand new and in the wrapper - what a coup!

I know they will both really enjoy those!

Then there are the socks from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, with one pair splotchy blue tones and the other pair a lighter blue with an argyle design.

Altogether, they will each have four new pair of socks to mix and match as they love to do!

What else did I give them?

"Hereditary" items, as Miyah called them.

Those would be treasures I've had for decades, and have chosen to give my great-nieces now, rather than after my death.

For the twins, I had the perfect pair of treasures: creatures of lore, made of pewter and trimmed in gold!

I've given the Pegasus to Alyssa and the Unicorn to Leila.

I do hope they will enjoy their beauty for many years, just as I have!

Happy birthday, my dears!

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!

dragon of juneteenth

"Wait, let me guess! Okay, today is June 19th, so I take it that you're marking that date in US history from exactly 160 years ago. So far, so good?"

Most exactly!

"Alrighty then! And that other part of the title refers to the movie you saw today with Michael and the twins!"

Oh, so close, but nope! Yes, I was supposed to see "How To Train Your Dragon" in Big-D with them today, courtesy of the two free reward tickets from Comcast. Alas, that didn't happen. Sure, it still showed up on my A*List that I went to that dance, but I missed it. AMC even gave me Bonus Reward points for those tickets from the Fandango site.

"Well, that's a good thing, but I'm confused. Why didn't you go to the movie with them?"

My little Saturn wouldn't start. Not even a click when I turned the key. Not even a click when Kevin Sullivan - my neighbor - attached his jump box. Not even a click when I popped the clutch to start it while rolling down the driveway to the street. Nothing.

"Oh, honey, I am so sorry to hear that."

Yeah, me, too. I did have a nice chat with that young man from Minnesota who drove the tow truck. No charge to me, as AllState covered the fee from Field Maintenance Company. I had my girl towed to Firestone of Skidaway, of course. They weren't able to do the repair, but Patricia didn't charge me and Aaron disconnected the wires to the running lights. It wasn't that those lights were the culprit for draining the battery. Nope. The problem is with the multi-function switch. I've been referred to the electrical folks at Dixie Motors and The Car Doctor for the actual repair, if and when the part can actually be located. They told me, though, that it isn't just older cars that have parts that are hard to find these days.

"You didn't notice any problems with the car before this morning?"

Well, last night, when I returned from dinner, I couldn't get the headlights to turn off. You're gonna laugh about this. I had taken the key out of the ignition before I noticed that there was still light in front of the car. I even waited a moment to see if they would turn off! Hahaha! But they didn't. Even with the light switch off and the key out of the car. So I put the key back in and cranked the car... no problem. I turned on the lights and then turned them off with the switch, then turned off the car and removed the key. That seemed to have worked, so I just passed it off as 'one of those weird things'. You know? Intermittent problems were always the worst to solve when I was a CTM in the Navy. The guy at Firestone, though, assured me that this is not intermittent. It's here to stay and the multifunction switch needs to be replaced.

"I see. But let me get this right. You weren't charged anything today? Not for the tow or the hour-long diagnostic and labor at the car place?"

That's correct. Christina suggested it might have been because I recently had new tires put on her car. I really don't know.

"Oh, you've talked to her? Like, heard her voice?"

Yes, I called her to see how things were going between her and Michael. She told me on Monday that he was mad at her, but she didn't know why. Apparently, they worked things out - she was at his house this afternoon, making dinner together!

"That's wonderful! She had been so worried about him. He had texted her to say for her to 'leave him alone, no more dinners at his place, she had lied to him and he had almost gone to jail about it'."

Yes, very odd, and apparently all over now. In fact, she knew he and the girls were to see the dragon movie with me and he'd even invited her to come along! I do wish she had sent me a text that all was well with them. Oh, well, it is what it is.

"Yes, it is. Naught for you to do 'bout that. She has a lot of people to try to placate - him, Kaleigh, Heather, Chelsea, her mom, you, and now Anthony, too - and she's doing the best she can. So, let it go. Why don't you tell me about your trio of dances this week?"

It's not a trio, but a quartet now for my AMC A*List, remember? AMC can't seem to keep them in the proper order, though, so I must be twirling from one genre to another too quickly for them! First was "The Materialists", which looked like a romcom in the previews, but certainly was not. Pedro Pascal was just so misused in that "business of love" piece. Next was the one on Monday with Christina. 

"So, a drama, then a horror flick. Gotcha."

On Tuesday, after mowing part of the front yard, bagging the cuttings this time instead of leaving them for mulch, I needed to cool off, so to the cinema I went. 

"You must have your time line confused. You went to the theater in the morning."

Nope. That wasn't to the AMC, but to the NCG. I wasn't able to mow until the day had cooled down, so I had to wait until almost 8 PM to break out the Ryobi. That meant going to the 9:30 PM screening of "Karate Kid: Legends". Very nice movie it was! I always like Jackie Chan, but I always think he looks more than 4 years older than me. I guess 71 would look older on anyone who's been as rode hard as he's been! Ralph Macchio is looking older, too, which is to be expected. He's right between Smitty and Ronnie in age.

"Everyone gets older, that's what they do. Get older or die, those are the options. But, yeah, I know the mental images are forever one age."

Right, until you see them again in the present. That's life!

"So it is! So, for your quartet, you had drama, horror, sports theme, and fantasy scifi. Did I get that line-up straight?"

Yes, you did, and you three in a little pun, too! Thanks for that!

"Any time, dearie! I know how much you love those!" 

tricks played by my mind

One of the tricks my mind plays has to do with music.

No, I'm not referring to the songs I wake up with on occasion, songs I haven't heard for years that my mental jukebox has cued up to ease me into the day.

I rather like that trick!

There's another that's music-related, going back to my years of listening to albums in their entirety, knowing the words of each song by heart.

In fact, I know some of those songs still, and am quite certain I've heard them on the radio or on the TV!

However, the fact remains that many of those songs never had airplay outside of my mental jukebox.

The only way I get to hear them now is to sing them at karaoke or to get lucky and find they have a life on youTube or some other internet site. 

(smile!)

I'm not talking about the trick with gift cards, neither. 

That's the one where I kinda sorta 'believe' the person who gave the card to me is with me when I use it.

Then again, if I'm thinking of them being there at the restaurant with me, or even take a photo of the meal and text it to them, isn't that akin to having their presence right there?

How does that differ from thinking of a deceased loved one and feeling their presence in the air beside me?

Molecules are escaping from our bodies every minute -

couldn't the sensed presence be from molecules escaped from them that have traveled in the air and are being sensed by me, molecules with some trace tag of them?

Ah, I be but theorizing, yet again, with no proof that such things are not simply flights of fancy on my part!

(smile!)

None of those are the trick at hand, though.

While in Orlando this past week, I repeatedly told Miyah and Chloe about being there at the Volcano Pool with their cousins, Alyssa and Leila, when the twins were about their age.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no.

That never happened.

I had memories of past vacations all jumbled up.

In my defense, the two trips to Florida were a year apart, both pre-pandemic.

I was, indeed, with the twins in Orlando and we did, indeed, have lots of fun in the DRI resort's pools. 

However, that earlier vacation occurred in early October 2018, which means the two girls were not yet 4 years old. 

In addition, that vacation was at the Liki Tiki, a quieter place off the beaten path and much better for families with small children, as I'd discovered and noted on my 2015 Florida Adventure.

The last time I was at Cypress Pointe Resort was the following year, which makes it almost exactly six years ago.

Like this trip, that one had been to celebrate my birthday.

Unlike this one, that had been just me, partying solo.

So, how had I confused those trips with this one?

Patience, dearie, I'm getting to that.

For the twins' fifth birthday, I reserved a week for them at Cypress Pointe Resort.

I didn't go, as I was busy getting my house ready for them to move in with me.

However, Michael sent me photos of Alyssa and Leila having a wonderful time and, as I had been with them a scant year earlier at a similar DRI resort, I just naturally imagined myself right there.

Incredible how the mind works!

(smile!)

Now, I'm off to see Alan Rickman in 1999's "Dogma", out for its 25-year anniversary.

Yes, I had to pay AMC to see it, but it'll be worth it to see him in action again. 

(smile!)