Day 120 of 365 Days of Being Thankful

            Today I am thankful for the wonderful day I had on Sunday with my best friend Priscilla, and later with Dan.  I got up and went to a flea market in a close by shopping center.   I stopped at a Giant food store to get a flower for Priscilla's daughter's grave. I checked out and the male cashier asked me if I was Olivia's mother. He said and you have another daughter who was a year behind us, right?  He graduated with Olivia.  He asked me if she was still  at Penn State, what she was up to, etc.  I didn't expect that only because I was about 30 minutes away from home.  He told me that he had to drop out of the trade school he was in because he was in a bad motorcycle accident and has a metal rod in his leg and pins and screws in his collar bone and shoulder. I am not a fan of motorcycles!  I think they are so dangerous, especially because riders don't have to wear helmets.  Then I met up with Priscilla. We went to Krissy's grave, I had never been there before. Krissy is buried in a beautiful non-denominational cemetery in a family plot.  She is buried with her grandparents and her uncle. The cemetery is beautifully landscaped and so well maintained. Colorful and beautiful flowering plants are planted all over the cemetery in neat, trimmed rows and clusters.   Some of the headstones were so huge, had attached benches, and were ornately decorated.  Those things would never be permitted in a Catholic cemetery. We had to submit drawings of Amy's headstone and get it approved before it could be installed. There are so many rules in Catholic cemeteries.
        Then we left and went to a huge Goodwill Shop!  We had so much fun chatting and laughing.  We think we should be on a reality show called The Millionaire(Priscilla) and her sidekick shopping at Goodwill Stores. Priscilla really is a millionaire.  We went to my favorite Goodwill Shop after that and everything in the store was 50% off.  We were ecstatic! I got a lot of things for Olivia's GLAM ROOM.  Almost everything I bought  was brand new.  Olivia's colors are turquoise, silver and white.  I couldn't resist the pink glass purse.  It is so pretty!  The two mannequin forms were brand new with the tags still on them.  I also got a small high white table for $10.00.  It doesn't even need to be painted! I also got 10 red chargers that fit under plates for Christmas Eve dinner. I already had about 15 but now I am covered if we have more people.  This will be the first year that I will be using fancy paper plates! I have never done that before but I am doing it this year.  Now the plates will have a fancy red charger under them! My friend Jackie orders dinner from Heavenly Ham and they might be getting my order this year.

Priscilla also got a cart full of stuff.  She has a great eye to find the designer brands.  She got a beautiful Laura Ashley tote bag! The print on the bag was so pretty.! We chatted with a woman in line with us. The lines were so long . Olivia always complains that I talk to everyone.  I tell her that you can always find out new information if you chat with people. Priscilla also always chats with people in stores.   I think that half the store was emptied out! Of course, we had to stop for lunch!  After lunch, we went to Amy's cemetery and said hello to her.  That might seem strange to other people, but it is our normal lives now.
      When I got home, Dan and I went to two other Goodwill Shops that were also 50% off. I think he had cabin fever because he let Olivia use his car most of the day. She went to her new boyfriend's house for dinner, not knowing that there would be about 20 relatives there. Both sets of grandparents were there as well as Aunts and Uncles and cousins and in-laws.  She said they were all very nice but she just didn't expect so many people. His grandmothers kept telling Olivia how pretty she is!
         Dan mostly sat in the car and read the paper while I shopped in the stores. He likes to ride in the car and eat! We stopped at Wendys and he got a milkshake.  He started telling me about the phone calls he keeps getting at work from Google. He gets calls that say he is going to lose his account if he doesn't activate something or other and he just clicks the phone off.  They keep calling him ...........and he just clicks the phone off.  He doesn't spend much time on his website because it says it is still under construction 10 years after it was started.  He said he never gets any business that way, then he was thinking maybe it is because his website says "under construction!"  Soon as he hears his phone ring daily, he knows it is Google and he says he just goes "click."  He figures that if he is in danger of losing his account, ten years after the first phone call, he'll just lose it! At the last Goodwill Shop, I got a glass vase filled with costume jewelry.  The jewelry is sparkly and shiny.

Olivia is making a wall hanging that will be decorated with the jewelry! I think it will look great!  After we got home, Olivia came in and told us about the dinner.  She said Frankie didn't tell her about the huge group until she got there!  Olivia can be very outgoing and friendly, she always gets along well with adults.  I called her before she got home and told her about Greg, the cashier I met earlier in the day.  Her boyfriend Frankie is in the same trade school Greg went to and they were in the same class! It is a small world! I don't think Greg will be able to do construction with a bad shoulder and leg.

        My friend Jackie organizes the book club dates and sends reminders.  Of course, this organizer always tries to accommodate everyone's schedule which is difficult with 10 members!  Jackie called me last night and we picked a date she thought would work for everyone. Apparently, we were wrong!! Then today she sent me this email:        
       

Colleen, you're going to get sick of hearing from me!  I talked to Mary, and she reminded me that it's hard for Cathy to make meetings on weekends when she works.  Like you, she believes that trying to having meetings in the summer is hard, and thought maybe we should simply wait until the end of August.  I think that's a good idea in many ways, and was wondering if you could host on Sunday, August 26.  You've been so kind in offering to have the meeting; does this date at the end of August work for you?  If not, we can always go back to the drawing board!

Love, Jackie

 

The date was fine for me. I think we'd need a HUGE drawing board if we had to go back to it! When I got home, she called me and said you're not going to believe this but.....the first woman changed her work schedule because she wants to meet in June!  It was fine with me but we both laughed about it! I actually cracked up listening to her message before I called her back.   Poor Jackie, it's like she is trying to broker a world peace summit! The United Nations should hire her, she is great at arranging and re-arranging and again re-arranging meetings. 

 

        I haven't weighed myself in a few weeks. My scale has betrayed me! It had better shape up.  It is in real danger of being replaced!! I went out to dinner with Dan and my friend Myra and her husband last night, today I went out to lunch with Priscilla. I have no will power in a restaurant! I just love food and it calls my name.