It’s “Hey Rene J” Today!

You know how I wanted to remember the grocery list? Well I did! I even made it to the store before my initial morning duties at 9:00 a.m. The only issue was that I had to leave my loaded cart by the self-checkout lane. I didn’t have my wallet. Thankfully, Evelyn was understanding and nodded in agreement when I told her I’d be returning with a grandchild in tow. (Like she’s never heard that before!)

The good news was that I surprised her by returning, my granddaughter was most helpful in rescanning everything, I found my wallet, and I didn’t have a traffic violation while I was without my license.

You’ve got to look at the half-full glass on this one!

It was trying to sleep, that much I know!

Today we shall see if the brain can engage and remember to at least bring the grocery list to the store? That’s half the battle, and a pretty decent way to ensure there are only two extra cans of beets in the pantry, not three. (Didn’t we need beets? Yes, we did. But only once. And “need” is not an apt descriptor.)

Tally ho!

If I lay perfectly still on the pillow, I can view Venus as the earth turns in the early hours of dawn. She is visible through the slats on my blinds, and I can watch the earth move so gently as she appears and then hides behind the next slat. I’m only good for two slats before my mental “to do today” list takes over.

Today? Those dusty slats are calling and fall cleaning ensues!

A chuckle for today….

Apparently my short-lived career as an actress wasn’t all that amazing. Every commercial I was privy to last night seemed to include a current or former quarterback or some other sports entity. Anybody can do it! Other than memorize 40 pages of script? Hm.

I don’t miss the acting biz at all, but maybe some of the colorful people. It was great to be a nurse, doctor, tire sales rep, veterinarian assistant, to name a few. It was a different world: fun, exhausting, not so-lucrative, challenging, and in the end, rewarding. I loved being able to deliver lines, material, persona in limited takes. Why should we have to do the scene more than once? Okay – I screwed up occasionally – but not with my memorization.

Now, forget the medical terms and specialized jargon! I just wish I could remember what I had for breakfast yesterday.

Along with a gorgeous chalk display created by members of the family, this is the view we have on this beautiful Autumn day. Soaking in the sun.

In the midst of inconvenience you can learn a lot about people.

On my first flight where I was “carry-on-challenged,” my seat mates were most interesting. The young woman next to me had the same problem I had. We were in bulkhead, right at the front of the plane, and our seatbelts would not “click.” Our gentleman seat mate could not get ours fastened either. What did we do? We agreed to not say a word, thus flying without being strapped in properly. We didn’t want a mechanical called as we had tight connections. Ha!

Anyway, the man sitting with us had two astonishing stories. First of all, he was a survivor of the “Miracle on the Hudson.” He relayed the story of the bird strike which stopped the engines, the rescue, the reunions they have each year, the movie with Tom Hanks. Fascinating story. After his first tale of survival, I was curious about the bracelet he wore and queried him. It looked like those old POW bracelets we wore in high school.

The bracelet commemorated his brother, a firefighter who lost his life entering the World Trade Center tower on 9/11 to save others. It was a humbling story he told, even more so when he relayed that he was in the financial building across the street during the attack. He survived when his younger brother perished. That story proved just as extraordinary in all aspects as the first one.

I felt like I was traveling with a man both blessed and inspirational. I thanked him for sharing his stories and returned home with a renewed faith in humanity.

So there I was with my “tight connection” which turned into a good hour delay, sitting with my bag, wondering if anyone thought it was a pretty rose color. We finally boarded, I in the back of the plane with friendly passengers and a dog named Gus next to me under the seat. We sat. And sat. We had a mechanical! We could deplane, but of course, only if we dragged our bags with us.

I was SO wishing I had gate checked my bag because I would have gotten off for the 45 minute delay. But to drag a bag down and through the aisle again, only to come back with it to row 33? I sat, musing that we should just all deplane and get a new aircraft. Which we did.

Three hours later from the schedule we were on our way, with me unhappily lugging my bag to a new gate and tossing it overhead yet again. Of course, the good news was that I didn’t have to wait to retrieve it at DIA and my ride was swift in arriving near midnight.

I’m still checking my bag from here on out, “Ponna.” And you’re shorter than I am! How do you throw that thing up there?

Next time – part three – the blessings of travel.

Ever since ditching a Beatrix Potter themed diaper bag, oh so many years ago, (Why couldn’t we have had stylish backpacks?) I have been reluctant to tote luggage or unnecessary baggage. I never do carry-on when I travel. Never. I will take the risk of losing luggage (never happened) and wait in long lines for my battered belongings (new roll-on this year!) just so that I do not have to be shackled to a bag.

However, the connection from Key to Charlotte was super tight. I elected to try the carry-on approach for my return, even though it is a most deadly and unbecoming game. The fact that we fling all of this weight above peoples’ heads and yank it down always unnerves me. But it was my turn to try my hand or risk missing the last leg of the flight.

Thankfully, I was assisted both times in hauling the luggage up by gentlemanly seat mates. And with divine intervention I didn’t bang a single noggin’ retrieving my beautiful rose-colored carry-on.

I’m not good at this, though, and will still avoid carrying on so as not to have to share a bathroom stall with my bag. It did make a handy table for my salad though, the salad I scarfed down at the gate to give me energy for the last leg of the journey. The salad I could have spent hours enjoying.

More to follow!

I am the fifth wheel, but what a great one!

My brother was so surprised to see me in Dallas at the airport, connecting with his flight to Key West. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision and we have been enjoying the warmth and humidity as we siblings and spouses celebrate his “significant” birthday.

Just chillin’ with our friend.

It was chilly last night. The following dialogue ensued.

“Brrr. Don’t you have remote start?”

“Yes!” Fumbles in the dark looking for keys, can’t see the symbols. Proceeds to press all of the indents.

The lights come on, the car is awake, and the trunk opens!

If I hadn’t gone to the bathroom prior to leaving I would have peed my pants laughing as hard as we did.

“Technology is wasted on you, Mother.”