Days of Beauty

Took Mom to get a facial at Jenny's house. For those of you locals, Jenny is a friend of ours who gives the best facial ever - I highly recommend her services. I almost always fall asleep and wake up totally refreshed.

John and I dropped Mom off for her appointment and then went off to spend an hour while Jenny worked her magic on Mom. We returned to a quite refreshed looking Gertrude. She just glows after a facial.

Jeff came up toting a big zucchini I'd left in his car the day before - don't ask. We threw some burgers on the grill, potatos and onions too, and fresh broccoli. Another fun throw together evening at the Mansion East.

John treated his parents to a trip East so he went off to collect them at the airport before returning to his house in West By-God Va. He, his parents, Mom and I are heading down to Victoria's house for a few days. Vic is in South Carolina vacationing with her family but graciously gave us her house on the water down by Solomon's so we can spend a few days of recreation down at the Tiki Bar and catching those delicious crabs off her dock. Mom, as always, gets all the claws but not without a lot of grumbling from me. Jeff will be staying at the Mansion East with all 5 dogs - I believe we'll be having a better time than he will.

Blintzes!

Well, Monday found us surrounded by a messy kitchen as we made delicious blintzes. Friend Andi came over to help as it's really a 3 person operation - 2 people making the shells and one person filling with the cheese filling (no SUGAR to you non-Jews...) - Andi being the 'filler'. Mom can still sling a pan so she and I made the shells. We luckily found an excellent recipe as neither of us could remember the specifics but they came out exactly right. Andi left before the meatloaf was out of the oven but toted home a nice bottle of wine and a dozen blintzes for her effort (we made her leave the chocolates she brought!).

Invited Mitch over for dinner as we knew he, being a vegetarian who lives on his own, would love a homemade meal of rice with chinese brown sauce, stir fried veggies, and blintzes. Mom and I had a slice each of the delicious meatloaf.

Sat outside for a bit after dinner and watched the 7 dogs romp and play in the yard. Early evening at the Mansion as Mom and I were upstairs watching a DVD of the Temptations for a while before an early bedtime of 10. Not a bad time at all.

Summer brunch at Bobbi's Folks house

Took Mom to a delicious brunch at Bobbi's folks on Sunday. They've moved into a beautiful, 'senior-friendly' house up by Frederick. We bypassed the freeway and drove back country roads in the convertible. A gorgeous ride on unfamiliar roads was quite interesting. Development is certainly moving out that way - where once there were rolling fields filled with cows, housing developments now stand. A bit sad but there's no way to impede development 30 scant miles from Washington, D.C.

Mom was gorgeously clad in a blue outfit and she looked totally stunning. I'll post a picture once I get one from Bobbi. Lunch was fantastic and the conversations at the table was a lot of fun. Bobbi's folks are from West Virginia so her Mom has a southern touch to everything, well, except collard greens. I was a bit dismayed to see that she gets her collard fix from a can - in fact, the same can I do. Her green beans though? Never had anything like them. She cooks them for hours and hours on the stove yet they don't fall apart - it's a bit like magic. There's no set recipe but they're guaranteed to be delicious, each and every time. So, brunch mostly had a southern flair - ham, corn pudding (for those of your northerners who may have never had it, this stuff should be avoided at all costs as you might as well bypass your mouth and apply directly to the hips...). Ham, Bobbi's great pasta salad, a layered salad that was magnificent, scattered fruit and veggies, homemade cheesecake that was amazing - you get the idea. It was a great brunch. One woman, Lynn, couldn't believe that Mom is 91. She was really flummoxed by Mom's age - we all admitted that we don't even have the memory Mom has (well, none of us can remember anything, really).

Dropped Mom back off at the house but wasn't ready for the party to end so Bobbi and I went out for a bit. You've guessed it - La Mexicana again. It's always very interesting up there. Met some fun people and sat on the porch for a few hours nursing a cocktail. As almost always, a great afternoon ensued.

Independence Day

The 4th started off with a delightful breakfast prepared by John - egg omelet and pancakes. Mom was especially appreciative of the buckwheat pancakes awaiting her arrival at the table in the morning. Topped off with a cup of steaming coffee and the paper and she was a happy camper.

John and I decided to take the Jeep for a spin and took bagels and cream cheese over to Sharyn's sister Linda's house as dear friend, Sharyn, and her other sister, Mary, were in town. We took Rita with us. The Jeep has a bikini top on it so it's not enclosed, thereby throwing little Rita for a loop - she was constantly trying to alert us that something just wasn't right in the back. But, I held her tightly and off we went.

It's always interesting to get together with the Sharyn and her sisters! Had a ball telling stories on Sharyn as there are just so many to wade through. She and I used to cause a fair amount of trouble together so there were always tears of laughter everywhere we went. Had some bloody marys and made another good memory just sitting around Linda's backyard.

Spent a few hours there and then headed back. Decided to stop for lunch and a cool drink on the way but had a hard time finding an open restaurant. This seemed a little strange to John and me as it was the 4th of July (not Christmas or anything). So, we decided to settle on the norm and headed to La Mexicana for a margarita and late lunch. Rita was a doll sitting on my lap pretty much the whole time. If you ever want to meet people, get yourself a darling dog and place said dog on your lap (it's even better is he/she falls asleep - tranquilizers may speed the process.....). Sat there under the awning when a summer storm appeared and just talked to the masses. Very nice time was had. Brought mom dinner - her normal meal with a side of beans and rice (a small side of beans). The staff knows us there now and always sends their best to Mom when she's not there with me.

Came home and hit the hot tub for a little bit before retiring for the evening. Nice, quiet 4th.

Reunion time

Well, it’s been a very busy few days around here. I dropped Mom off for a visit and dinner at Ron’s Thursday night while I went to a reunion party of my old ‘gang.’ Now, we were a ‘gang’ of kids before ‘gang’ was a bad thing. We’d play flag football in the median strip (when there was a median strip!) of Norbeck road when Norbeck was 2 lanes. We’d get together at someone’s house to watch tv or have impromptu parties in the summer. We’d put on the latest music (generally Bobby Sherman or, if we were feeling adventuresome, the Stones) and dance, dance, dance. We’d make up line dances before we knew that they’d one day be popular. And, that Hustle dance? We were all about getting those moves just right! I believe it might have been Mike who even had a white suit but not sure about that…

We had the childhood that others dream of – loads of fun. I don’t ever remember complaining that there was ‘nothing to do’ and we weren’t inside watching tv either. We’d play kickball in the court where I lived and late summer nights would find me and 3 or 4 friends sitting in the gazebo in the court where I lived, sipping an illegal beer (that’s about the extent of our rebellion back then). We’d sit on the transformer in front of Robin’s house and watch the cars go by. Or lie on our backs in the grass and watch the clouds float by.

So, after 32 years, it was time to see some of these people again. Most of the core group showed – Robin, Sharon, Mike, Don, Tom, Janet, Andi, Howie and me – some of them toting significant others, some coming stag or toting their kids.

It’s always interesting to me to see how similar the kids are to the parents. Janet and Tom's baby (who is 15!) looks just like Janet at that age. Very fun to see - almost like being in a time warp. I spent a fair amount of time goofing off with her.

I looked over one time and saw Sharon and Robin viewing old pictures. I love the granny glasses on both! This is the synopsis of the party. We all are certainly aging (that goes without saying) but, in the end, we're all pretty much the same people we were before - only with granny glasses.

John and I saw some gorgeous fireworks on the way home – big bonus to being out late on July 3. All in all, a nice time was had by all.

Lazy days - fun filled evenings

Well, not much going on at the old Mansion East yesterday. I spent most of the morning on house/car issues which, sadly, is pretty typical around here.

I did have some fun though with my Blackberry at the Frederick MVA as there are some sights there that you, well, just don't see anywhere else in the world. My favorite family montage was a woman Bobbi claimed (after seeing the picture) was one of 3 wives - she had brown hair to her waist, pulled back in a tidy clip at the crown of her head (it's important to get that 'poof' up there just right) and then cascading down her back in 3 long braids, each ending in a red ribbon - a l-o-n-g red ribbon. What I assumed was her son-in-law was a stunning black man with hair the color of buttah - spiked. He had a nice touch of having one teeny weeny braid ending in one teeny weeny bead. Sort of looked like Crabman on My Name is Earl. Now, the crowning participant though was his girlfriend/wife (relationship assumed by her position of reclining across his lap in the front row of the MVA). She was about 16, in a buff colored bustier which, excuse me, didn't quite cover her bust. It ending way north of her pierced navel. The jeans were low riders and quite unassuming until you got to the belt buckle which was a sunflower - and a BIG sunflower. Now, this woman obviously had assumed her mother's penchant for scarves as she had, not only one, but TWO long green scarves adorning her - one tied in her hair and the other tied like a cast on her arm - come to think of it, do they make casts in green polka dots? At any rate, taking stealth pictures of the motley crew kept me amused for the requisite hour while I waited for the MVA staff to finish their lunches, play computer games, etc.

Mom's feeling much better and stronger these days as can be witnessed by an episode yesterday afternoon:

I came in from an hour outside to find her dressed and pertly sitting in her chair. I was a bit surprised as it generally takes the two of us (me being the 'dresser', she being the 'dressee') to get her up and at em. I asked her who helped her get dress - I didn't hear Sophia (or Jeff?!) come in! She said she did it herself. I said that I didn't realize she could do that and she made a similar comment. I believe this was the moment when the gig was up. I've got the mop and broom ready for this morning....No more of this walker crap....

Old friends, Andi and Howie (probably 'Howard' to anyone who hasn't known him for the past - um, few years....) Anyway, Andi called in the afternoon and wanted to drop by to give me a gorgeous silver necklace they'd gotten me and 2 rose bushes - one for Mom, one for me. Too sweet. Threw some chicken kabobs on the new grill (still da bomb!) - they brought fresh corn which accompanied the chicken, made some jasmati rice with basil in my rice cooker (if you don't have one of these things - get one. Amazing invention). Grilled, marinated portobello mushroom topped with Parmesan rounded out the meal. Fresh fruit and coffee for dessert and some nice talk, loads of laugh. Mom had a great time, as did I. Talked a bit about Dad - he's always very close by when friends are here. Got some fun pictures. Mom and Rita continued their nightly bonding exercise. - well, Mom bonded, Rita slept...

Cocktails with Gert!

Well, best intentions -

Mom and I had plans to go to the movies (Sex in the City) but, when I came home from running errands, she was napping so let her catch up on some z's.

I did, however, manage to get Mom out of the house last night and onto a bar stool. Went to La Mexicana, a very small mexican restaurant/bar here by the house. Mom really likes the food and the people love her there. So, took her in and propped her up at that bar with a whiskey sour. Played Keno and actually won $52 - covered the tab for Bobbi, Phil, Mom and me. Not a bad take.

Decided that Cape Cod is not the best place to head in late July. Put a post up on Fodor's website and all who responded told me to stay clear. Very tough traffic and few places to stow an RV mean that we'll head for a different path. Not exactly sure where to go, but we already have some stops planned. Might take Mom to the library today and sit in front of an atlas to start the planning. Yes, we can do it on the internet but, for Mom, paper works better. She really is an amazing woman, inside and out. Having a lot of fun with her this summer.