just me and my boys

Ya gotta sing it, a'ite? Otherwise, you're not going to get the reference.
This has definitely been a day of birthday for me!
I had been looking forward to the ghost stories with Bonnie Blue Tours for a couple of weeks. Bonnie had graciously invited the NK! group for a free tour, in exchange for promised reviews on various sites (though any tips would be most graciously accepted). Then, she had decided to open the invitation to a group of folks on facebook, too. Sah-weet!
This evening, I headed downtown early, with an agenda for activities on the westside, south of Oglethorpe. I snagged a parking spot in one of my favorite places, then decided to see who else might be down for a meal before the walking tour. The NK! webmistress and the baseball girl were!!! We all met at a Japanese restaurant for a very leisurely meal in their front window, sharing the champagne, tempura, and sushi with passersby. Well, maybe not exactly - but they were free to watch us having a good time! I could have had bubbly, but opted not to, as the evening was warm and ethanol can sometimes make me hotter than I want to be.
We met the rest of the group in Johnson Square, with time to spare. Our guide had been stricken with laryngitis, but had gamely brought her fellow along to serve as a megaphone, if needed. As it turned out, she did VERY well with her storytelling, not requiring his aid after all. Bravo!!!
There were fifteen or so folks there for the ghost walk, a goodly number - not so many that anyone felt on the fringe instead of in the midst. Bonnie told us the enchanting story of the Pulaski Hotel and little Gracie Watson, regaled us with the antics of the frisky James Habersham, Jr. at the Olde Pink House, shared the sad tale of the child-like giant, Rene, and his playground. There was also talk of a kitty cat ghost and the voices of laughing, happy children! She finished in Wright Square, having led us on a rectangular path through five of the squares, with the tale of the hanged woman. Most excellent! Even though I was familiar with three of the tales already, she made them feel fresh and had a different spin and a positive air. Hardly surprising, as I know her to have a lively sense of humor as well as membership in MENSA, Philo Cafe, and Drinking Liberally!
I finished my evening dancing! Barefoot Booyah had a gig at fairly new place on Broughton. Again, as I know I've mentioned before, I'm a bit partial to these two fellows, as one is a nephew-in-law, but I am deservedly proud of them and their music! They mix some of their originals in with classics by Dylan, the Stones, and Van Morrison. You should give them a listen some time! Maybe I'll even see you there the next time I'm out dancing to their tunes!

i can't drive... 55!!!

Woohoo! Sammy Hagar can't drive me now!
hahaha!
Today has been a very nice start to my new year. The peace Guy accompanied me to the Jepson for a new art exhibit I had been waiting to see. I had attended the talk by the artist, Sarah Frost, on April 25, prior to going to the chemistry nerd trivia.
I had time to briefly explore her exhibit, "Arsenal", prior to her lecture on that Thursday a month earlier. I had read of it in the Winter issue of the quarterly magazine I receive as a member of the museum and had eagerly anticipated seeing what she would do with the space the Jepson had allotted for her work. My brief encounter with the white paper weaponry displayed in the small area had left me with one thought: I want to see this with the peace Guy.
So, when he had asked what I wanted to do on my birthday, I told him: see that particular exhibit with him and have lunch at RolyPoly. I also told him what I had done last year for my birthday; he had given me a look that I am still not sure I want to understand. (At least he understood not to say "poor dear" or such as that. It was my birthday and my choice of how to celebrate it. I wanted to do so alone and that is exactly what I did. Well, mostly. I had deliberately asked for one of my "trip to Italy" travelmates to be my waiter for dinner; he was marvelous, as I had known he would be, keeping an eye on me and making light, fun conversation along the way, leaving me feeling perfectly spoiled by the time my meal was done. Thanks, Nate!)
Being the loving person he is, the peace Guy agreed that we would do what I wanted to do, but he would buy my lunch. Good! Perfect! Fine with me!
(smile!)
And it was a very good day! We had gone to the Jepson and both slowly walked along both sides of the towering triangular display of starkly white weapons, hung at varying heights on nylon strings. Knowing the guns of all types were made of paper was not consoling, especially as I had told him these were working models, capable of firing paper munitions. Nor was the thought of these weapons having sprung from the minds of young boys of any consolation. Thank God the display was in a fairly small room or it would have been too overpowering.
Afterward, we went in search of shiny objects, as it were. Shiny objects with elaborate markings would be a good counterpoint to the the exhibit we had just left. "Silver from the Rizza Collection" was perfect! Old, solid, heavy - definitely what we needed! He told me stories about similar pieces in his family and we took our time admiring the many emobssed and engraved serving pieces and servingware.
By the time we were done, it was time to get some lunch! Off to the cool sandwich shop where I had dined last year on Thanksgiving Turkey! This time, I chose the Greek Turkey and he had the Thai Hot Tuna... but we ended up eating half of the other's wrap, so we had the best of both worlds. Yum!
Then I drove him to work, as his car was still in the shop. I returned home and thanked each of my fb birthday well-wishers. I know, I probably could have done a status update for a blanket "thank you" to all. But, that is not me. I wanted to make sure each of them received a personal thank you from me for taking the time to acknowledge my special day.
Then I headed downtown! I had been invited to trivia at a place I had not yet been for gaming. I had mistakenly thought the place served food; nope, they used to, but no one liked it. So, they had a policy that if you wanted to eat there, you were welcome to bring your own dinner. Not having any with me, I went in search of some.
I settled in at a Scottish restaurant just down the street from the trivia site. Nice! I wouldn't have far to backtrack after my meal! Even better: I had not yet dined at Molly MacPherson's, so this would be a new experience!
I had the special of the evening, a variation on fish and chips. The blackened tilapia was quite nicely grilled and quite attractive against the steamed green of the broccoli. New potatoes, boiled and parsleyed, and a doughy biscuit were fine staples to round out the meal. Very good! Truth to tell, though, the bagpipe music was getting to be grating by the time I finished my meal, so I probably won't return. Maybe I just needed some beer-muffs?
(smile!)
Then back to the Irish (foodless) pub for trivia with folks from Liquor Posse! This was a different game than I had played elsewhere with them, but I liked the variation. Rather than have each team present separate answer slips for each question, each team would submit a single answer sheet containing all of their responses to the queries. The TJ (trivia jock, a'ite?) would then grade the responses and then let each team know their standings. This game, too, had only three rounds, rather than four. But the thing I really liked was this: the last question of each round was a music question! He would play a song snippet, then you would have to tell him who sang it and what the title was. I had arrived about half-way through the second round; when he got to the last question and played his little piece of it, I knew immediately what it was! Def Leppard's "Too Late for Love"! Woohoo!
And the beauty was this: no one else in our group - which was about eight or nine people - even had a clue. They wrote it down because I was so convincing, even going so far as to sing some of the song for them.
And I was right! Woohoo!!!
Then, for the music question in the third round, I knew immediately that one, too! Diana Ross this time, singing about being "Upside Down"! I tell you, that was a big dance tune back in the day!
The group again took my word for it and submitted their playsheet. I had to leave to pick up the peach Guy from work, but I heard the next day that I "really know my music!" and they had won that round. Yeah!!!
Nice birthday!

and there was even a cake!

I certainly had not expected that a birthday cake would be included with dinner!
I had gone to Bill's house for dinner, to make my apologies yet again for Sunday. You see, he and I were to have gone to the ball game together, using the box seat tickets of the baseball girls duo. Then, I had an opportunity to see my stepmom and her two grandsons that same day, so I took it! Next thing you know, I had turned it into a family affair, using some of my season tickets, inviting my eldest brother and his clan as well as my first niece and her bunch. The more, the merrier, right?
But Bill and his dog got left out, when all was said and done. My phone had died prior to the game even starting. Not good. I could use other phones to contact my family members, as their numbers are prior to my cell phone days. But I did not know his number. Not good. I did look for him several times, and even left his ticket with the box office. Not quite good enough.
So I had arranged a dinner with him, being careful to not say anything about my birthday. He suggested dinner at his place, so I could have a little time with his therapy dog. Cool beans!
I brought two bottles of my lovely stash from the monks of San Sebastian. After all, I had been in the wrong and I wanted to try to make things right again. Knowing him to be a fan of vineyard products, proffering two bottles of my favorite lovelinesses should at least be a good start! I brought the Castillo Red, a rich and dry wine that still spoke of muscadines, and, of course, the grapefruit-tinged Blanc du Bois. Truly, I regard that wine as treasure!
I was greeted with a hug and a tail wag, so all was good. Then we chatted for a bit on the porch, sipping a glass of the red, admiring its color and taste. Good! Chillin' with a friend and vino!
We dined on a Mediterranean-style grilled chicken salad, easy on the feta. (I had lactase!) And, of course, Castillo Red - very nice! We eventually even opened up the second bottle, to enjoy with the birthday cake and, later, while relaxing in the back yard, post-meal. And we admired the lovely artwork he had hung in the dining room, the lovely piece of himself he was gifting to me.

You see, he had told me in October, at his annual Feast of Saint Francis of Assissi, that the multi-media piece was mine. I had openly admired it, telling him that I had wanted it for years, but knew I could not afford it. And he told me it was mine. He had a policy with himself: if someone truly loved one of his pieces, then he would gift them with it, knowing the child of his creative muse would have a good home. I knew nothing of that policy or I doubt I would have spoken of my love for "Ocean, Tumultuous". That is my name for the piece, not his.
And he gave it to me. Just like that. At that very moment last fall. He said he would put a mount on it, as it was still easel-bound, but he would get a mount on it so I could hang it in my house. I had tried to tell him that he was being too generous, that he could sell it instead. But he had insisted that it could never belong to another since he knew I loved it so.
And now, he had the Ocean ready to come home with me.
Today.
This very evening.
In time for my birthday.
Incredible.
It now occupies the place of honor in my living room, greeting myself and every guest of my home with each opening of the front door.

Thank you, Bill.

see, i do listen to you

A dancing crab! That's just one of the many gifts the bfe showered upon me tonight during dinner at one of our favorite spots. He said, "The wind-up waving crab makes me smile. You need an entity to put your hopes and dreams into - let Col. Crab help you out!"
The little crab was not the first gift brought out of the blue, though. (Bag, that is. You'll get it soon.) There was a theme linking the presents and I needed to figure it out, he said as he began pulling out presents. First, for my creative side, came a kit to build my very own crazy foam frog. But, as he said, the frog "needs a friend" so he also gave me a foam kit for a lovely crab with pipe cleaner legs and googly eyes. Very sweet! After all, don't we all need friends to share life's adventures?
Next, a package of shark tattoos, for my "bad-ass" side. Yo! Or maybe that should be yo-ho-ho? Hahaha!

After the scary sharks came the silly dancing crab. Then, something he had bought for the ensemble, but was unfamiliar with. The sailboat consisted of two metal die-cuts with a magnet in the middle. Termed a "screen saver", the purpose is to keep birds from crashing into plate glass windows and doors. Still, it tied in with the theme, even if he termed it "??!?".
Knowing my fondness for animated films for kids, he had searched out "Saving Nemo," not realizing he had the name wrong. When he (understandably) couldn't find it, he bought the next film with a title he knew I would like: "The Reef". Wonder of wonders, I haven't seen this one before! Yea! He added a trio of plastic sea creatures to play with before, during, or after the movie. Nice!

When he saw this metal fish, he said it spoke to him and was "the inspiration for all this." He knew glass would not do, as I am a klutz and break fragile objects. He is also very familiar with my collection of colorful wooden fish, some rather whimsical, others more true to nature. So, he had seen this unbreakable piece of ocean-inspired art and thought of me.
See, he does listen to me. What a very nice way to show it, too!
Maybe I can help him with his biology lessons so he doesn't mistake frogs for aquatic life. (smile)

Later, he even treated me to the improv comedy show at Muse Arts Warehouse and we enjoyed the show together, writing lines on dialogue slips, yelling out words to be worked into story lines, cheering and applauding! Fun, fun, fun!!!

thrice blessed!

I have just returned from yet another outing with my first niece! Incredible!!!
This makes the third consecutive day of spending time with her!
THAT is pretty magical, truly. Sometimes, we go weeks without seeing each other, even though she lives but seven houses down from me. But she is married, with children, and with jobs, so she doesn't have much time available for herself.
She is a young woman with responsibilities to others.
And I totally get that.
So I enjoy my time with her that much more, knowing she has others also calling for her lovely self to come brighten their lives.
I totally get that, too, as I am one of the ones desirous of her company.
But I do try to be patient.
And that patience has been rewarded amply!
On Saturday, she and I drove over to Bluffton, just the two of us! She had never been to Cheeburger Cheeburger, which is a shame as she is such a fan of hamburgers, so, on this day when we had just enough time between her engagements, we bopped on over across the bridge. Nice move! We both totally enjoyed ourselves, her with her laden cheeseburger and me with my portobello dream. Oh, and fried pickles, too! Then we had to race back home so she could get back to her regularly scheduled (i.e., overbooked) life.
Yesterday, Sunday, I was able to spend time with her again. Then again, you already know that!
Today, she and I went to an early showing of the Blue Sky movie, "Epic". Yeah!!! I totally enjoyed the battle of good versus evil, as did she. What a nice way to pass a few hours in the heat of a May day!
Definitely a birthday treat for me!

family, friends, tequila!

What a blue sky day for an afternoon of baseball!
The weather was quite nice, too: low 80's, with a bit of cool breeze to keep you from feeling too hot. It was family day at the ballpark, so all kids received a ticket for a free slice of pizza and soda. Nice! Of course, there were plenty of other treats to tempt the kids, but at least part of the wallet could take a break!
I had invited my stepmom and her two grandsons (my helf-nephews, if you're keeping track of such things) to accompany me to the game and was really looking forward to seeing them. Life has been incredibly hard for them lately, but we won't talk about that here. Suffice it to say that life was improving, she had contacted me to suggest we get together some Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon and I had seized, with both hands, the opportunity afforded me. A chance to visit with her AND my low country nephews AND share a Gnats' game with them? You betcha! And what a wonderful surprise that my younger half-brother could join us, too! As my stepmom said, we had Daddy's first-born (me) and youngest (Mike the mechanic) sharing time together - rather rare, I tell ya.
I had then invited other family members to join us for the outing. My middle little brother I had thought for sure would be there, but was not. My eldest little brother and his wife weren't able to make it, either, which was understandable, given the short notice and the fact that they have a teenaged son on their hands. And my middle bother's son had a barbeque to attend with his girlfriend at her folks' house (so that relationship seems to be moving along nicely for him!), so I'll have to visit with him some other time.
But my first niece came! She and my stepmom got to share pictures of kids and get a little caught up. They even talked about the burger joint in Bluffton that we all have now been to and swap favorite toppings! A little while later, her two foster kids were able to join us, then we all had three innings of free baseball! When the game did come to an end, the four kids all ran the bases, a special treat offered by the ball club on these Sunday game days. Cool beans! The kids thought it was fabulous to get to play on the same field as the Gnats and we got a kick out of watching their smiling faces rounding the bases. SUCH a fun day for all of us!
Then we all said our goodbyes, but first made plans for the 15th, a Saturday game followed by fireworks. Woohoo!
I returned home and was joined shortly by the peace Guy and the librarian. She and I took off for dinner at a new place, Blowin' Smoke Southern Cantina, as neither of us wanted to cook or clean dishes. Yeah! It was even a new-to-me dining experience! We only had to wait a short while, then snagged a table inside. Actually, I say "inside", and technically it was, but that's just because the walls had been rolled up to enjoy the breeze. Nice, right?
She had driven, so I decided to have a cocktail: the Signature Honey Jalapeno margarita. I know - sounds just crazy enough to be good, right? It was, too! And if my phone had not died on me right after reaching the ballpark, I would have been able to take a photo of it for this space (as well as all the missed shots of family at the game). No worries, I'm sure I'll be returning here in the near future. (And I have an upcoming game in two weeks for new family pics, so all is right with the world!)
I dined on the Caribbean Stewed Chicken Plate - GOOD choice! The shredded meat was jerked and topped with pineapple salsa - so very moist and tasty! The Roasted Corn Salad was palate-cleansing and simple, being mostly fresh corn with finely diced fresh tomato. The Black Beans were a bit bland, but I used them in my self-made tacos with the chicken and they worked quite nicely there!
I had a nice visit with the librarian and we were able to chat about things in her life. She is the same age as my first niece, so I usually enjoy her company. She mostly needed someone to give her an ear and a reality check; the tequila and I obliged.
Overall, a very nice day of un-birthday or pre-birthday or whatever it is I finally decide to call all of this.
Yep, life is GOOD.

red chimney in the Garden

Today's birthday celebration was a luncheon in a new place. No, wait, that's not quite true. The building itself is not any different than it was the last time I dined there, but the name and ownership had changed. Once, it was Muther's Old Timey Bar-b-que; now it is called The Red Chimney and has gone by that name, and these owners, for five years. Hard to believe that much time has passed!
I had the pork rib sandwich special of the day. I found out the sandwich was full of the meat taken off the ribs - no bones! It came with a drink (I had unsweet tea mixed with lemonade) and one side. I chose the green beans and added some fries. Then, just as I was closing out my order, the cherry winked at me. I swear, it did! And that's when I SAW the pineapple upside-down cake slices, mixed in with the lemon pound cake and some chocolate thing. Pineapple upside-down cake. So, I would not be dining alone after all!
I took my time with the lunch, tasting the four house barbeque sauces, chewing each bite thoroughly and savoring the flavors. The folks who ran the place didn't try to rush me, allowing me to dine on my own time. I didn't realize until I was leaving that the place was supposed to have closed at 2 PM. When I finally was sated, even going so far as to get a "to go" box for my slice of cake, the time was about a quarter of three. Oops! But the man who was clearly the owner was quite pleased that I was so obviously enjoying the meal that he had settled in on the porch with some friends to just wait for me to finish. Very nice!
The meal had been too much to allow room for dessert, so I waited for a while to enjoy the cake. A good move on my part! Topped with carmelized, crushed pineapple, and that lone, winking, maraschino cherry, the cake was rich and very satisfying to both my palate and my soul.
Glad you could join me, Sam.

I finished up the evening with the Sand Gnats, on as pretty a night as one could hope for! I was joined by two of my favorite men, the inimitable Mr. Willie and my middle brother, on a warm summer's night with a light, cooling breeze and a clear sky. Ah, very nice, indeed! And my boys of summer won the game, too! Such joy!
Such a balm to my soul to watch as the sky darkened to a deep blue and met the dark green waves of the trees below. The beauty of that sight always reminds me to breathe again, to calm my outlook, and to remind me that life is about these small moments spent with those I love.