Memorial Day, etc.

First, before I begin more retelling of holidays gone by, I want to thank all those who dropped in or otherwise went to a bit of trouble to make my trip home one for the blog. Seeing your faces did me a world of good and being in your presence put things in a different perspective, at least for a little while. Not least of all, I am grateful to my mom and dad for hosting me for three whole weeks and to my Gram for clearing the deck so we could play Yatzee any time the notion struck us.

I love the easy lifestyle in this country and city I live in but I do hate the distance from my family, friends and strangers with English as their mother tongue. But I digress. There's more fun stuff to share!


What else? Cherry custard pie.

Monday, May 25
Memorial Day holiday. Got up around 7, had cherry custard for breakie. Got dressed and went for a walk on the frontage road with mom. Did exercises when I got back. Mom later helped me with my stretches.


Mom's photo taken along our walk.

While it was nice and cool this morning, I sat out on the swing after all of my exercising. Dad joined me, then Mom. She said it looked like a Kodak moment.



Read the paper throughout the day. Sat outside for lunch, ate a grilled cheese with fried bologna and worked a word puzzle. Almost headed out to read my book in the afternoon but worked on my blog instead (Saturday fish fry and Sunday Bluegrass gospel day).

For dinner, Dad deep fried chicken for the first time. He almost overheated the oil. Good thing I was there to ask, “um, isn’t the thermometer supposed to be in the oil?”

Gram’s been coming down for most every evening meal. So, I decided I could sacrifice my diet in exchange for these special moments (though I look forward to ramping the calories back down in anticipation of my next vacation on the beach).

Tuesday, May 26
Slow morning though up before seven. Mom was making breakfast of scrambled eggs, Dad’s favorite hashbrown casserole, toast plus sausage from Randy’s butcher. Read the paper and promptly took a nap until 9 a.m.



While Mom was in town getting the car’s oil changed, I did my exercises. I can’t say why I’ve been so exhausted these past few days but it’s a hard to even move let alone lift barbells and legs.

As Mom was returning late, I made us both lunch, fried chicken salad. I finished getting ready for our outing to the McDonold’s and left around 1 p.m. Emma was, as always, the hostess with the mostess, even inviting us to strawberry shortcake, which we could hardly refuse. Mom had told me she’d been mostly housebound after having reactions to odors, which sometimes make her ill for days. “Housebound” and “people person” is a great combination for someone who would love a home visit. I’m so glad we did.

Gram decided it was her turn to make dinner again. Pork steaks with white gravy, potatoes, steamed cauliflower, Mom’s “Judy salad” and sweet potatoes designed for little left over. Yum.

After dinner, Gram and I played Yatzee. She kicked my butt, as usual, with lots of extra Yatzees to boot. The film captures exactly the glee she exhibits upon each said Yatzee. Delightful.