Mon.-Busy day packing for upcoming trip to Nantucket. Arm day. Walked/ran and then walked later at Happy Valley with Alli and Nathan. Susan is busy super cleaning her room. Went to the gym also and got groceries earlier in the day. Nathan seems to be teething and in pain. Dear little guy. I have 6 bags packed for my upcoming week and a half. A bag and a half for Nantucket. Plus my purse. A bag for overnight at Diane's and then Naomi's. And a bag for when I'm staying in Pa. plus a toiletry bag.
Tues.-Too much stuff is in my life! Whatever I bring I have to lug 1/4 a mile uphill from the landing harbor in Nantucket. I've gotta lighten up, literally. Susan took me to the dentist today. My filling was fractured and he thinks my tooth is too. Took a long nap afterwards until Susan woke me up to give me her incredible pureed vegetable soup complete with shredded cheese and sour cream. I finished packing and decided to use my new PJ top-a black flowy thing-as a dress shirt for Nantucket with my leopard print scarf. Packed up the car. Went to Lynchburg with Phil to drop off a check and have some Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream. He got coffee with Heath Bar crunched into it. I wanted the pumpkin ice cream but they were out so I had the chocolate made the same was as the pumpkin pie. I told him my mother used ginger snaps instead of graham crackers and I heard and saw a lightbulb go off in his head. "That would be good," said he. Came home. Tidied the house. Got more things ready. And took a bath all before 8 o'clock. Gotta get that sleep while the clonopin is still in my system. I've been thinking about being thankful again, recording my thanks, and recording the songs and the verses on my mind. Last night, in the tub, I sang over and over at the top of my lungs, "Thou art my hiding place" and "The Lord is my keeper." Tonight, I'm thankful for the soaring guitar player flying with his music, Philip, so happy about a questionable word I used today-"Now I can say that word,"-Freeman posting pictures of Nathan driving the pettibone with Phil, Susan, highly motivated, cleaning her room from top to bottom, and Phil, driving the gator in the dark, checking on his traps, ever patient with his drugged up wife. And tomorrow-I'm headed out to spend some time with my best friends in Pa. I may get homesick before this week and a half are up but I'll just focus on each day. I asked Phil what he is looking forward to while I am away and he said, "You coming back." He had asked me what I was looking forward to doing in Nantucket and I said, "Riding the moped behind Ashley on the beach, visiting the Lighthouse, eating out, walking everywhere, etc." So I returned his question. Oh-Jeanne G. nominated me for a fun blog reward of some kind. I printed her comment and have to figure out now what to do. Good night sweet world.
Wed.-(writing this weeks after the fact-having taken some notes)-Left home around 7 and arrived at Diane H's around 5. Stopped at a mall on the way and bought a gray silky top and a black sweater. Also stopped at Cabela's and bought a fleece jacket and flannel shirt. Using my Cabela points, I only owed 33 cents. When I got to Diane's, she wanted to take me shopping. We went to Stein Mart in the Corvette with the roof down and we shopped and she bought it all and wouldn't let me see the prices. We also went to Soma and she got me two of those. With the heat blasting and the cold wind blowing and lots of new clothes, we had an exhilarating time. Had supper of chicken salad, etc. after 9 and visited with Zack and his college friends. Slept all night in the guest bed.
Thurs.-Breakfast of eggs, ham, cheese, and coffee, while discussing everything in the whole wide world including the link between emotions and physical health. She is doing a study on it. She packed me a lunch and she headed to work and I headed to Naomi's. Arrived around 2:30. (Just writing about all this makes me so happy again.) I showed her my new clothes. We walked to Mary S. and I picked up a Shaklee product. Tink peed on every property. Naomi served me Pumpkin Latte coffee that she had made from a recipe in Good Housekeeping. We had pizza on top of pizza that we picked up at the Italian restaurant at the corner in Blue Ball. Ashley and her friend, Lauren, arrived soon afterwards and we packed up and left for Nantucket around 6:30. Ashley bravely drove through NYC traffic and we arrived at our motel on the mainland around 1:15 AM. The regular Glick motel was full so we drove a few blocks to Double Tree ?(can't read my own notes) where a very friendly front desk man gave us cookies, water, and a toothbrush and toothpaste for Lauren. I said many words I don't usually say in our short travel. Turns out that the air on the way to Nantucket brings out the best and the "worst" in me. But it was fun. Had a few hours of sleep.
Fri.-Had to hustle, dragging our suitcases for half a mile or less to find the ferry. The ride on the ferry was thrilling. We were outside. I faced the wind and Nantucket and the spray was glorious. I felt like I was leaving the past behind and starting anew. Like being born again. After we checked in to The Robert's House, dragging our suitcases over uphill cobblestoned streets and side walks, we went shopping and had lunch. We had a little tray of crackers, cheeses, cranberries, fig jam, and bread for an appetizer. I had fried potato cakes. Naomi got a salad and French onion soup and the girls had lobster bisque. I took many pictures of houses, flowers, and my girls. I am thoroughly happy. The prices here are too pricey but we found a thrift shop. I found an original painting by M. Joyce Zeigler. It's entitled 'Swimming Party' and it was in a cheap frame. It was priced at $2.00 and the check out lady raised her eyebrows and looked at me when she saw it. "I know!" I said. Since then, I've googled the artist and I see that I am really fortunate. I've bought a beautiful frame for it and it's in our living room now along with framed cards of Nantucket and the shaker basket I bought at the thrift and the tiny little pitcher with flowers from my garden. I bought two starfish later on and picked some shells and these are in my basket in front of my $2.00 Canadian Geese Swim Party. We went out to eat that night at a great place. We had fried dill pickles for an appetizer and I had chicken, mashed potatoes, spinach, honey glazed carrits, tomato bisque with toasted cheese, and a Caesar salad-all for $25. We have a lovely place to stay. When you walk up several flights of stairs, there is a number 33 on the door. That was my father's auction number. Our only complaint was that we couldn't lock the door from the inside and if we locked it from the outside, the people inside tend to panic because they can't get out.
Sat.-I slept on the sofa for reasons I won't explain but Naomi did the same then for the next two nights. I guess we're getting too old to sleep in the same bed together what with snoring and restless legs and late night phone calls from certain peoples husbands. ;) We had breakfast in the basement at our establishment. Naomi went in her fleece jammies and some people really really gave her the 'look'. But she knows who she is and it didn't bother her a bit. But Ashley, her 25 year old daughter, was a little embarrassed. You see, we had to walk a little ways to the other house to get to our breakfast. Ashley came up and put her arm around her mother and every time we passed someone she said, "Don't worry; we'll find your family." Have I mentioned that her jammies were a loud shade of turquoise and that we ourselves were loudly talking and laughing and retelling the funny stories about how Naomi put the word 'shady' in Shady Maple when she thought the man standing behind her out of sight but not out of touch was her husband. We told the story of the gracefully flowing toilet paper that got stuck in the top of my pants and how we strolled among thousands of no longer bored vacationers on the boardwalk and how two sister fought it out about who would be the one to tell me. They told Naomi and she turned me around for our other friends to see and they both helplessly collapsed on the nearest bench having been overcome by laughter that I can only hope heals them in some way. We told about the little gift that attached itself to Ashley's briefcase right in front of her whole college class and how she denied truthfully but unconvincingly that this attachment was indeed not hers. And the time Morgan set her back pack on the grate in her college room and somehow managed to get the large metal flap connected to the bottom of her back pack and how she walked up to the front of the room and clanked it down loudly in front of her professor. Realzing now why her back pack was so clumsily heavy she said, "Oops, excuse me," and traipsed back the long pathway to the naked vent and banged its missing piece into the hole that had been exposed. And the time Susan threw me under the bus as a 3 or 4 year old, telling the pediatrician, "Michael's wearing underwear, I'm wearing underwear, but my mommy's not wearing any underwear." "Oh, the things we learn," said he. Or the time she said to a full dentist office waiting room as my hand was in my purse, "My mommy's got a gun," and the time she said to the pediatrician after she passed gas and smelled up the room and then he walked in-"My mommy just passed gas." And my all time favorite story of Naomi's when she had just a few articles of clothing on and the girls told her that their neighbor was on the phone and she scooted downstairs and in fact, he was standing at the door and was not on the phone. "Oops," she cried, (why is this their favorite statement?) and she scooted right back up and put on some pants and a shirt. All the while the neighbor was laughing. And she laughed too. I mean, what else can you do at a time like that?
It's in the 60's. I know I am writing this past and present but hopefully you will understand that although I am writing this in the past, it was in the present that I jotted down notes. We got slowly ready for our day after breakfast, relaxing in the process. We went to Brandt Point Lighthouse and then to the Whaling Museum where we saw a 45 min. movie about the history of Nantucket. I bought myself some gold basket earrings and cards to frame.
Oh-All during our time with Ashley and Lauren, the affectionately called us 'Ninny Muggins'. Which means 'Old People.' We went to Nix Pub again for supper and the girls had oysters-one dollar a piece, and we shared Naomi's Nacho chips. I had Caesar salad. There was a guy at the bar with his 10 month old daughter in a front loading knap sack. We all thought he was so sweet. His wife joined him later. It's nice to see a man take care of a baby. Naomi loves my black hat. Later that night, we had some hot chocolate and went to the book store. I am not sure what this means but my notes are: "passing lots of gas, burning matches, carting cameras." I own up to the camera note and the burning matches note but I'm quite sure the other note was about someone else. You know who you are. Naomi and I watched an Agatha Christie movie. It was too scary so we watched The Voice, which wasn't scary at all.
Ashley said to me today, "Your soul is the color of light pink roses." So is yours, Ashley. So is yours.
Sun.-After a breakfast of chocolate crescents, coffee, cereal, yogurt, vanilla breakfast cake, and fruit, we rented double mopeds and rode all over the island. Went to Siansun light, Brandt point, the winery, a great grocery store near the winery, the beach, the oldest house, a beautiful church, and had lunch at the only existing working windmill in a certain area of space-is it the US Naomi? We sat on the bench and ate food that Naomi and Ashley provided-sharp cheese cubes, crunchy purple grapes, pita crackers, pistachios, goat cheese with pesto sauce and tomato paste, and peach sparkling cider. We came back and regrouped and walked to the beach and took some sunset pictures and ate at a Mexican Place. On the way home, I jumped behind a big tree and jumped out at Lauren, creatively shouting, "BOO!" which scared her so bad I laughed so hard I peed my pants. The poor cop stationed with his bike at the corner may have done the same. Suddenly Naomi realized that she had left her purse at the restaurant so Lauren, having recently been scared, took off at a run and retrieved it, much to Naomi's relief. Meanwhile, Ashley and I kept on heartlessly laughing and reliving the pleasures of giving Lauren a fright. Ashley, having done this earlier. Later that evening, Naomi and I looked at hundreds of photos that we had taken and the girls sat down in the lobby and visited.( I called Phil. He had taken Alli, Freeman, and smiling Nathan out to Chinese for lunch. Michael and Philip were there. Susan, Julie, and Colton went to the Richmond State Fair. Michael was playing with the worship team at Jesus Jamz. Philip was walking the properties.) Lauren said, "In my circle of friends, I'm you." The girls visited in the lobby again. Naomi read. I watched 'National Treasure 2' and accidently ate my quarter pound of salted caramel chocolate fudge during the most intense scenes.
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