My hubby decided to treat me to a day doing whatever I wanted with an inclusion of some camera shopping. Hmmmm...I could go for that!!
My first wish was to sleep as long as my 61 year old body would sleep in the morning. Well, it decided 7:30am was as late as it wanted to stay in bed. Rats!!! I was thinking more like 9am. But this mortal part of me was ready to be awake and so out of bed I climbed, quietly dressed and headed to the basement.
My sewing/craft/computer room is in the basement...and the treadmill is in the basement as well. I spent my quiet time before Claude woke up doing the daily jigsaw puzzle on the AT&T website, doing the daily Mahjong game on another website, checking eMails & Facebook and doing my daily crossword puzzle and three rounds of Mahjong's Dimensions. Okay, I'm a compulsive puzzle maker.
Computer stuff done, I headed to my trusty treadmill for 30 minutes of walking and reading my Book of Mormon. I love this 30 minutes of time each day I get it done. It is invigorating and I love getting some reading time in each day.
I do Papa's laundry and it came to me this week with his pajama bottoms needing some mending. So I tackled that tiny chore before heading upstairs.
By now Claude was up and starting his morning.
I got my shower. Then we loaded the car with Papa's laundry and tomatoes for Andie to try another canning recipe and off we headed.
We stopped in Georgetown and gave Papa his laundry. Then we drove to Frankfort. On the way to Frankfort I started the first of several eMail to my dear friend, Laura. I would spend my birthday sharing a 'Blow by Blow' description of the day. It's truly nice to have a friend who can enjoy my silliness and send back clever retorts to the things I do. Keeps a certain balance in ones life. Laura is mentally quick and cracks me up often with her wit.
Frankfort was our lunch stop for the day. Andie sent us a link to a show she saw on the Food Channels Diners, Drive-in's and Dives (http://www.rickswhitelightdiner.com/). It looked like our kind of place to try out.
We got Rick's spill about all the food being fresh, no chemicals and as much from Kentucky as he can get. He shared with us that none of it comes from China, etc., etc., etc. We were given menus. Claude and I each chose the muffaletta sandwich.
A bit of history is in order regarding this sandwich. When we lived in Louisiana and were dating and then married, one of our favorite treats was to go to Fertita's and get muffaletta sandwiches. Then we would drive like a bat out of hades to get to the A&W root beer stand for the drink portion of our meal. Once, after we moved from Louisiana to California and my parents flew me home for a visit with Nissa (who wasn't even a year old yet), the last thing I did on my way to the airport to return home to California was purchase a muffaletta sandwich for Claude, stow it in my luggage and carry it back for him to enjoy. That's how much we love a good muffaletta sandwich. Everybody makes them a little different. Rick makes his on homemade french rolls and does an excellent job of creating a great muffaletta.
Next time I go to Rick's I'm thinking of trying the alligator Po-Boy...Hmmmm...
Rick is a true character. And a delightful one at that. He was a sailor and uses sailor expletives. He has definite opinions about the world and shares them freely with everyone that enters. He is very outgoing. A father was in the diner with his three kids having breakfast. He must have been a regular because as he left he encouraged his older son to make a snide remark to Rick. As the family left, Rick picked up his baseball bat and headed out the door after the kid. Great fun for that kid and Rick.
The walls, ceiling and windows are full of all kinds of stuff. There is not much seating. Only three tables with 4 chairs each and about 6 seats at the counter. There is also not much parking. Fortunately we were there before the lunch rush on a Saturday and found a lot nearby with lots of spaces. On a week day, that would not be the case and you might have to hike a bit to get there.
One of the things I noticed is that Rick uses nice linen napkins. It just seemed out-of-place in this, shall we say, rustic environment. I'm sure it is in keeping with his philosophy about life and he is living more green by not using paper napkins.
I highly recommend this unique spot for a meal. It is pricey but so worth the time and effort. We'll definitely go back together again and Claude may stop in on one of his trips to meetings in Frankfort.
Our second stop in Frankfort was Buffalo Trace Distillery. I had one more Groupon for the gift shop and needed to use it to purchase another case of Dr. McGillycuddy's root beer.
Now we pointed the red Buick toward LaGrange. I called Andie and told her we were on our way. Then I eMailed Laura with our Frankfort adventures.
Our first stop in LaGrange was at Dairy Queen. We were arriving after lunch and we were going to bring Dilly Bars for dessert. Cherry and chocolate Dilly bars purchased we were off to find the Marx home.
The Mini's didn't know we were coming. That, my friends, is truly one of lifes greatest pleasures. Ringing the doorbell and looking through the glass by the door to watch the kids come and answer it. Hayden squeeled, "It's Ma & Pa." Bailey came running. There was jumping and hugging and laughter. It was just what this aging body needed.
We gave Andie her tomatoes. She took a canning class in June and is trying her skills at different recipes that appeal to her. She ended up making tomato sauce out of these tomatoes and some peach BBQ sauce.
Andie has been reading Harry Potter books to Hayden. After they finish reading a book they get to watch the movie of that book. I have never read a Harry Potter book, never planned on even doing that. But kids and grandmonsters have a way of sharing their lives that opens one up to possibilities one would not have taken had they not had kids and grandmonsters. We are going to watch the Mini's over Michael's birthday weekend. One of the things we wanted to do was watch the first Harry Potter movie with Hayden. He is very excited to share this with us. However, according to Hayden, he can't watch a movie until he and Andie finish reading the book. Soooo...that means Ma can't watch the movie with Hayden until I finish reading the first book. I came home with Harry Potter, the Sorcerer's Stone. I'm happy to report I have finished reading it and totally enjoyed this book. I called Hayden to report my completion of my reading assignment. He was one very happy grandmonster. Now I can watch the movie and he will give me the next book to read.
We got some instructions from Michael about camera shopping and some suggested locations to go. Michael even had a staples coupon we could use if we found one there. Good-byes were said and hugs were given and received and we were off to check out camera options.
Off we went to find Best Buy. This was a good place to begin our camera research. They have people who actually know about the product you are purchasing. A nice salesman came up and asked if he could help. I told him what I have had and liked with each of the last two digital cameras I've owned. I told him what I would like to have on the new camera as well. He quickly processed all that and told me he had the perfect option. Around the counter we went and I set eyes on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H70. This camera uses a special rechargeable battery. I wanted to see if he had one that used AA batteries. He did but I didn't like it as well. After thanking him for his help and assuring him I was trying to learn and needed to process information before purchasing, we left Best Buy.
Around the corner was a Staples. This was the poorest selection of cameras we found.
Across town to the Office Depot. Found the Sony for the same price. They had extra disks but no batteries. They also had the camera in stock.
Across the street to Walmart. They had the Sony, no batteries, and disks on sale.
Next door was another Staples so we tried again. Again, the poorest selection of cameras we found.
Back to Walmart to see if their sale of disks was for all Walmarts or just a local sale. The salesman looked me straight in the eye and said, "I think they are on sale in all the stores." I confidently looked him back in the eye and said, "So you are telling me you don't really know if it is on sale in all Walmart stores." He looked back at me and sort of grinned while saying, "Yeah, that's right." Then he grabbed his scanner and checked and was able to tell me with confidence they were on sale at all Walmart stores. Geez...
Back across the street we went to Office Depot. Same little salesman was right there working on a computer. He showed me the disks and determined he did have the camera in stock. Then he went back to his computer playing. I realized these disks were much more expensive and not at all like the ones we saw in Walmart. We were being ignored by our salesman so I found myself clearing my throat to get his attention. Then I said, "I believe I'm ready to make a purchase and it would be nice to have some attention." We checked and found this camera can use either kind of storage disk. Office Depot carried the same kind as Walmart and it was at the same sales price as Walmart. We purchased the camera and three of the disks. I really wanted an extra battery for when we travel and are gone all day. We would have to find that elsewhere.
We left the Louisville area and headed back to Frankfort. I sent another eMail update to Laura and started to read Harry Potter.
Walmart in Frankfort did not have any batteries for my new camera. I was beginning to be a bit concerned. I was told at Best Buy that the camera just came out in March of this year. Maybe it was just new enough that was the problem. There was an Office Depot across the street. They had the extra battery. Yeah.
Dinner was eaten at A&W before heading back to Sadieville. One last eMail was sent to Laura.
When I got home I received a call from Nissa and Katelyn who were enjoying a mom and daughter evening. Then I got a call from Jake. Then I got a call from Junie, my sister. Then I checked my voice message on my cell phone and had a wonderful singing of Happy Birthday by the Mini's on my phone and an apology from Andie. There was no need for the apology, they celebrated my birthday with me the weekend before. Andie was amazed she didn't even think of it while we were at their home AND she gave her dad a chocolate cake with no icing. It is a funny little thing I want to remember.
I had a splendid birthday. I totally enjoyed every part of my day. I was able to talk with each of my kids. So now I'm officially 61 and feeling every year of it. But I'm happy and going to enjoy this decade.
Happy belated birthday! -Ashlyn
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