The Summer of ‘24

Haha!

It has been a relatively uneventful summer for me, other than a wonderful family wedding in Traverse City in June.

I’ve had no other big summer vacations. No road trips. No major plans. But still. I count every interaction and get-together as a blessing.

 

Recently I had dinner with a couple of friends from my old neighborhood. We went to a new place I don’t think any of us had been to before. Sadly, we were all decidedly underwhelmed. Since it was happy hour, we took advantage of the appetizer and drink specials – but the food was not great and the drinks were a little too concocted, if that makes sense.

 

They took a simple gin and tonic and mixed all sorts of weird ingredients in it to make it completely unrecognizable as a G&T. When I had to remove the green leaves floating on the top in order to take a sip, well, that didn’t bode well.

 

On the other hand, we got to experience a new place. For all we knew, it could have turned out to be our new favorite hangout.

 

And aren’t new experiences what life is all about?

 

Maybe.

 

Because on the other other hand, I’m best described as a creature of habit. I tend to visit the same places repeatedly. I have favorite meals that I order consistently such that I won’t even bother looking at the menu. And I find comfort in knowing how to get to a certain location and what I’m going to find upon entering the establishment.

 

But I also know that life is filled with adventures and it’s sometimes good to get out of my comfort zone, so I do make the effort every so often!

 

Regardless, I was happy to be out and it was good to have some time with Pat and Suzy and catch up on life a little bit.

 

I’m finding it hard to believe that it’s past the middle of August already and kids are heading back to school. My floatie is still filled with fresh air and I can count on one hand the times I’ve gotten to the Lazy River this summer.

 

Believe me, that’s a tragedy in Jane’s Domain.

 

I was sick after returning home from the wedding in Michigan, so I missed out on several mid-summertime activities and events. And then I had some doctors’ visits, family obligations and various and sundry responsibilities to handle that precluded me from being the social butterfly I normally am.

 

So, in recent weeks, I’ve made the effort to get together with various friends. 

I've been fortunate enough to be invited on friends' boats a couple of times. But rather than wait for the phone to ring or the invite to come via text, I've made the extra effort to schedule those get-togethers with friends. After all, isn't that where the maintenance part of friendship comes into play?

 

A few weeks ago I had lunch with Becky – a forever friend from our days at Ohio State. Becky and I don’t get together often – usually only a time or two every year for a marathon catch-up session at lunch. Fortunately, we found a spot that doesn’t care if our stay exceeds the normal time for lunch – and I always tip a lot extra so that our server doesn’t get too annoyed with us. (The place is rarely busy at lunchtime, so we’re not holding up the table. That is, until the happy hour crowd starts to arrive. And that’s generally our cue to leave!)

 

Anyway, Becky and I have traveled the same route with our aging parents and we are kindred spirits. We’ve been able to commiserate with each other and give each other helpful advice when it’s needed. So we always leave those lunches exhausted from trying to fit in ALL the stories we’ve been saving for our next get-together. I don’t know about Becky, but I always go home and remember something I meant to share with her but forgot.

 

Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoy our time together and look forward to the next one.

 

I’ve had get-togethers with Sue (before she left on her recent international trip with her husband), with Karen and Karen, and with Debbie in recent weeks. Incredibly, I’ve known all these women since my late teens and early 20s.

 

I even met up with John and Sesame at the Hollywood Casino recently. And that was definitely impromptu. Going to the casino on a random Tuesday evening was nowhere close to being on my radar, but Sesame texted me and said they were heading out and did I want to meet them there. Spontaneous is not my modus operandi, but I surprised myself by saying yes.

 

The ONLY picture I took from
all these get-togethers. 

Since I had had no plans that day, I was most assuredly not ready for a public appearance. But I slapped on a little blush and lipstick, pulled my hair back and dressed in something other than the wrinkled tank top I’d been wearing. And set out for the other side of town for a quick meal and a little gambling. As I’ve never won anything at this casino, “little” is the operative word in that last sentence, but I figured it was a fun way to spend the evening. Plus, I hadn’t seen much of my friends – so I was happy to spend a little quality time with them.

 

I had breakfast with Lynn whom I hadn’t seen in a while. Her husband had been in a serious car accident last spring and Lynn has been by his side every day helping him in his recovery. Thus, getting together with her was a special occasion and I was happy we had the opportunity to spend a little time talking about our lives, faith and Steve's progress.

 

I also had lunch with Melinda last week at Carrabba’s because, well, I had a coupon. This place was the location of my first date with Vince, so it holds a special place in my heart. And he always indulged me by taking me there a couple of times a year. Since his passing more than three years ago, I’ve only been there a couple of times when I can talk someone into going.

 

But Melinda is actually the one who introduced me to the restaurant years ago. She also introduced me to their Chicken Bryan, which is my most favorite meal. (The lemon butter sauce is amazing!)

 

So even though I was excited about having my most favorite meal, I was also looking forward to seeing Melinda and catching up on life. Oh, and to clarify - the coupon was only the impetus to our getting together; not the only reason we got together.

And I can’t believe these words are coming out of my mouth, but friendships are even more important than lemon butter sauce!

 

We have a few more weeks of summer left and I’m hoping to fit in a few more get-togethers with friends. It may not add up to a phenomenal summer filled with major plans and adventures, but it was a phenomenal summer anyway. Friends make life phenomenal. And good friends? Well, they’re priceless.

 

I hope your summer has been phenomenal, too.

 

Until next time, friends.

DEFINITELY a Senior Moment

I was on the phone with my friend Debbie the other day having a good catch-up chat. She’d been traveling to see her daughter and family and we’d missed each other’s call several times, so I was happy when we finally connected.

 

I had not charged my AirPods after my last marathon phone conversation, so I had to do the old-fashioned thing and hold the phone up to my one good ear. This was no problem when I was sitting in my living room, but not so great when Maggie Minx insisted on a late afternoon walk. (She does not like it when I’m on the phone and whines constantly for some attention.)

 

Being the super-human that I am, I managed to hook Maggie to the leash, put a bag in my pocket, pull my hair up in a ponytail (since it was hot out), switch to my sunglasses and pop on my shoes without missing a beat during the conversation.

 

It became a little trickier when Maggie decided that this was an unregularly-scheduled “poo walk” and I had to collect her, uh, deposit – all without dropping the leash, the phone or the poo bag.

 

Debbie offered to hang up, but we were in the middle of solving the world’s problems, so I wanted to continue.

 

I got home, unclipped Maggie, replaced my sunglasses with regular glasses, took off my shoes and then sat down with a sigh. And then I did something that I never thought I’d do.

 

I started looking for my phone.

 

While I was on my phone!

 

I even went so far as to get my Apple Watch off the charger to do the “Find My Phone” thing, which will make the phone chime so it can be located.

 

I don’t know if that actually works because once I pushed the button on the watch, I realized that I was holding my phone.

 

I literally felt my face turn red in embarrassment. That hasn’t happened to me in a long time. And I didn’t tell Debbie what I’d just done because, well, I didn’t want her to laugh at me.

 

(So, naturally, I had to blog about it so lots of people could laugh at me…!) What can I say? I’m a conundrum.

 

But, seriously. I’d heard of people doing this and would shake my head in wonder. How in the world could someone be so clueless??

 

Well, friends, I’m here to tell you – it’s entirely possible to be so clueless!

 

I think the problem was that I’m usually talking on the phone using my AirPods, so my phone is not physically tethered to me, but is in the charging stand next to me. And when I didn’t see it there, I started looking for it.

 

Either way, it was definitely a Senior Moment.

 

So I started wondering what other Senior Moments I’ve had lately.

 

Well, let’s see.

 

There was the time several weeks ago at the grocery store. I had my list, my purse and my keys in hand. I even remembered to put a couple reusable totes in my car ahead of time so I would be all set once I got to the store since that particular establishment no longer offers “paper or plastic” options.

 

As I strolled the aisles, I realized I was having trouble seeing clearly. I thought back to the last time I’d had an eye doctor appointment and it occurred to me that I was definitely overdue for another one.

 

But it was still concerning since my vision shouldn’t have changed that much in the last year and change.

 

When I got home, I sat down at my computer to look up my eye doctor’s phone number…and then it hit me. I’d been wearing my computer glasses instead of my regular glasses! They are half the strength of regular glasses – so no wonder things were fuzzy.

 

Computer glasses, by the way, are a godsend if you have bad vision. My coke bottle nearsightedness has always been a little hard to correct and I’m not one of those people who can “get by” without some sort of corrective lenses (either glasses or contacts).

 

But a few years ago when I took a seasonal job that was basically sitting at a computer for eight hours a day responding to emails, I struggled to see the words on the screen. I’d go home every night with blurry vision and a headache. I told my eye doctor about it at my next appointment and he suggested an easy fix and prescribed computer glasses for me.

 

I was a bit skeptical and figured it was one more way for them to make money off me, but I went ahead and ordered them anyway. And, boy, have they been a godsend. No more eye strain. No more headaches.

 

Not so good, on the other hand, when I’m trying to see at a distance farther than a couple of feet.

 

I’ve since gotten in the habit of feeling the shape of the glasses on my face, which are rather distinctive and different than my long-distance vision glasses. Then I know if I’m wearing the correct glasses.

 

Oh, sure, I could just take off the glasses and look at them. Or perhaps I could simply look at either the computer screen or out at the ducks in the pond outside my window to see which is clearer, but hey, my method has been working for me so I’m not going to mess with success.

 

I think we just have to keep trying as we get older. Adapt and overcome – right?

 

I will say just one more thing that concerns me. At my last doctor’s visit, she said that my next one would be a little different since I will be over 65 and on Medicare. This is the annual Wellness Visit where they do the memory thing, I guess. So they will tell me the three words that I have to remember and repeat back to them after some conversation – right?

 

Well, heck. I sometimes have a hard time remembering someone’s name the second after I’m introduced. If I purposely attempt to remember someone’s name after meeting them, I seem a little “off” during whatever initial conversation we have because I’m so busy trying to remember their name that I’m not paying attention to the words coming out of their mouth.

 

Instead, in my head I’m just repeating, “Helen & Bob, Helen & Bob, Helen & Bob” over and over to try to store the names and their faces in my short-term memory bank.

 

And then I can only hope that my efforts will pay off the next time I see Helen and Bob.

 

I don’t know if they still do that thing during the memory portion of the Wellness Visit where you have to draw the analog clock and “set” the hands at a certain time. I’ve never really drawn a clock in my life – so maybe I’d better start practicing. I don’t want any medical professionals to begin suggesting I may need “assistance” in my daily living.

 

I am not ready for that. At all.

 

Meanwhile, have you had any “Senior Moments” lately that you want to admit to??