Straightening Out

I am returning home this afternoon. I cannot wait to return to the "straight" world. I am not talking about gender identification. I am speaking about parking spaces. This morning I took a walk around my parent's development. There is a parking space for every car. The lines are straight. The cars are diagonally parked. One car leans to the right. The other car leans to the left. A third car just gave up and parked half way into the spot. I need things to be orderly. I need to live in a straight world. I need to be home.

Guessing Game

Older people in Florida like you to guess their age. When she was asked how old she was, my husband's grandmother use to answer that question with, "Younger than springtime". At least three times this week, senior citizens asked me to guess their age. My sister answered them by saying, "Sweet sixteen". I use my own method. I look at them at figure out how old I think they are, then I minus 12 years. It is a win-win situation. If they are older than that age, they giggle. If they are close to my "adjusted age" but looked older, they are okay with that too. Asking someone to guess your age is a loaded question. It could backfire on you.

One of Them

I am in another land. The land of Senior Condo Living. It is an alternative universe where things are not like they used to be. After two days, I am slowly being infiltrated by the condo mindset. Yesterday I went to eat breakfast in a local diner. The price online was listed as $3.99 for a full breakfast that included coffee, eggs, oatmeal and a bagel. I sat down and saw that the menu said $5.99. If I was in New York, I would have said, "Oh, well. Let me just stay here and eat. It is only $2 and not the end of the world". I am in Florida, so instead I said, "What!! Two dollars more? Who do they think they are, trying to change the price on a senior citizen! I'm leaving!". My sister and I promptly got up and walked out. We drove a block away to another diner where the same breakfast was $3.49. We were so proud of ourselves. We officially became part of the condo insiders.

Fill "Er Up

I arrived in Florida yesterday and have done nothing but eat. I had breakfast at the airport and a tongue sandwich on the plane. I love tongue but it is a cultural dish. I arrived at my parent's house with a full stomach only to see a big luncheon spread. There was chopped liver, egg salad, rolls and more. The mother kept saying, "Eat something", so I did to make her happy. I was stuffed. We went shopping and then went to dinner. Since we had a coupon, we had to eat the full dollar amount that we were entitled to. I had a burger with everything on it and sweet potato fries and onion rings. Now I was overstuffed. When we got home, my mother had fruit. I politely declined. Then she wanted a black and white cookie. She was "dying for one". She said she only wanted a half so she needed someone else to eat the other half. I saw in her eyes that she meant me. I ate it and now I was up to the point of being nauseous.  I went to bed so full that I could actually feel the blood flowing through my heart. I laid there for about 5 hours until the food cleared my digestive system. I finally fell asleep. Now I am up going out to eat breakfast. I will try to be a bit more sensible today.

Up and Away

It is early and I am up. Ready to go to Florida. This is the one time of the year that I can relax. Usually when I travel with my husband I am the "ring leader". I do the planning. I do the talking. I do the thinking. It is never restful. When I go away with my sister, she takes over the reigns. She allows me to go with the flow and put my mind at ease. What a gift.

Coupons

Since my husband has been setting up his "shop", we have spent a lot of time at the craft store. As any good crafter knows, you never walk into a craft store without a coupon. The 40% off coupon is great but if you get a 20% off entire purchase excluding sale items, you double up on your items. Of course you must always do the math first to make sure you save the most. I am going away this weekend and my husband needs one more piece of felt. I had no newspaper coupons. I was going to explain to him that since the felt is only 39 cents, it would be okay to go without the coupon. Then I realized that if he went once without a coupon, he might think it would be fine to go again if he was in the neighborhood and needed something. I just printed out a coupon from my computer to give to him as I do not want to get him into a bad habit.

Dual Purpose

As my husband is filling up his display cabinet, I am seeing things that I never noticed before. This morning I awoke to a framed picture. In the frame was a map made from a silk scarf. My son got this for my husband a few years ago and it had remained folded up in a drawer since then. It seems that in war time, soldiers were given a map to hold onto in case their plane was shot down or they were lost in a foreign land. It was printed on silk so it would not disintegrate if they hit water. It is a wonderful piece of history that will be displayed proudly.