bidding adieu to 2015!

Most beautiful ball of fire in my world,
dipping toward the horizon
as we bid adieu to another year!

Monet, Monet, Monet, Monet - MONET!

Tying up loose ends today was I!
"Good Morning, Starshine" had started my day, with the lovely Beverly D'Angelo's hair whipping in the wind of the convertible. Yes, indeed, "Hair" was on the telly!
What better accompaniment could I have wanted as I drank my coffee from my Elvis mug and ate my breakfast on my Elvis plate?
Well, to have Elvis in the building, of course!
So, I freed him from the cellophane in which he has resided, still folded up, since I brought him home from the Georgia Elvis Festival...in 2013. Bad enough that I had transported The King in the trunk instead of giving him shotgun. Poor guy...
He certainly looks great in my dining room! Las Vegas duds and all!
Now, that is the way to start a new year - in the "Love Me Tender" arms of the world's most gorgeous "Teddy Bear"!
He's nearly life-sized, too.
(smile!)

Next on the agenda: a trip for some culture, baby!
With the O'Jays song running though my head, no doubt doubly inspired by both the movie yesterday and the art exhibit I was off to view. "Monet and American Impressionism", with six of Claude Monet's originals, was at the Jepson and I had not yet been to visit.
Tsk, tsk!

With a nod to the visit
to that museum at this time
last year, I just may have to
make this an annual event!
(Great idea, Paul and Cathy!!)
Again, I went to see the
Bird Girl and took a photo with her!

Again, I went to the
"I Have Marks To Make" exhibit,
now celebrating its 21st incarnation.
With works created locally by
folks recovering from strokes
and other brain damage,
it's quite an inspiring testament
to the power of the human spirit
to overcome obstacles.
Bravo!

And for the first time,
I viewed the flowers in "Champ d'avoine",
painted when Monet was 50 years old.
(That's me with the replica painted on a museum wall for us posers!)
I admired the rushing water in "Rising Tide At Pourville", painted eight years earlier.
Next, I saw the sepia tones he'd used for "Bridge at Argenteuil on a Gray Day", painted six years before that.
I then marveled at "Waterloo Bridge", painted in 1903, when he was 63 and suffering from failing sight.
Amazing! By thinking of his works in chronological order, I could see the development of his style through the decades. That helped me admire the man, as well as his art and his reflection in those works.
Perspective - what a difference it makes!

Next stop: gasoline! I found a penny by the pump, too!
(Thanks, Mama!)
I went ahead and bought my lottery tickets, so the next time you see me, I should be debt-free!
(smile!)

A slunch was needed now...where to go, where to go?
The Chromatic Dragon beckoned! They're having a big celebration tonight, Lasers vs Longswords, but that was still hours away, so there wasn't a big crowd there yet. I dined on Starfox Barrel Rolls, consisting of corned beef and sauerkraut in egg roll wrappers - very good! I even have some left for breakfast tomorrow!
The Uncle Chuck hot dog (all beef... get it?) was topped with good chili - just what I wanted!

Now, after getting the fixin's for hoppin' john and greens for tomorrow, I'm catching up on some year-end stuff here. Later, y'all!
See ya next year!

day trip of las tres amigas to bluffton!

Honestly, when I think of me and Sandy and Barbara, the phrase "the three amigas", or some variation thereof, pops into my mind!
This time, we were off to yet another movie not destined to be shown here in Savannah. Of course!
"The Big Short", about the housing market collapse last decade, was our target. Cinemark was our goal.
I had tried to convince them to come to Bluffton for movies, and more, but I'd had no luck until this winter break. Finally!
We had a great time, together, even though the movie brought tears.
Well, maybe those were only on my part. I well recall that period in time - very scary.
Good to know I had two friends there with me today when the movie brought back those memories.
The best thing about the movie?
How ultra-super-sexy-hot Brad Pitt has become! His 52 years look GOOD on him! Ooh la la! We were all in agreement on that!
Not that he had enough screen time to be called the "lead actor" in the film. All together, he probably was onscreen ten minutes.
The movie was truly an ensemble piece, with no one person having top billing. I have no idea how the folks in the business will decide which of the guys might get a "Best Supporting Actor" nomination.
For instance, Steve Carrell, playing financial analyst "Mark Baum", gave the absolute best performance I have ever seen from him. Barbara agreed. Neither of us have ever been a fan of his work, so this one performance completely revised our opinions of his talent.
Christian Bale was absolutely incredible as the one-eyed financial wunderkind, Michael Burry. He wore the role so well that it was hard to believe this was the same man who had played the Dark Knight.
All three of the actors portrayed men in the tough moral position of being profiteers from the dire, economy-destroying decisions by stupid, greedy bankers.
Rock and a hard place.
(Not that any of them gave money back to all those who lost their pensions, their homes, their jobs, from the collapse of the real estate bubble. So, pot, meet kettle.)

Afterward, we had a major decision to make.
Where to eat?
Chin Dynasty?
Cheeburger Cheeburger?
The new Mexican place, Cinco?
The one from Chicago, Hinchey's?
The Outback steakhouse?
I had billed Hinchey's as "looking like a sports bar, but with great food" and that was the winner!
The big-screen televisions all over the place definitely give it a "sports bar" feel and look, but their menu is way beyond wings and burgers. For instance, I had the Penne Pasta Galisteo - full of tomatoes, garlic, and flavor! That was eaten alongside of dessert, of course: pecan pie! Barbara had the crab cakes, with the cinnamon-sprinkled sweet potato fries - she loved them! So did Sandy, who got the fries with her huge Italian Beef sandwich. We all had to-go boxes afterward, too!

Next on our agenda?
Well, Barbara was driving, so her choice! We went to a craft store, in search of two shadow box frames to round out the pair she already had.
No luck. But she could order them!
Okay, errand done! Homeward bound were we!
And guess what? We never did get rained on!
Such a great day for las tres amigas!

dos veces con amor en chili's!

For two days in a row, I've been at Chili's with guys dear to my heart!
Yesterday, I worked most of the day on new school stuff. You see, as I will be the first to teach Chem1151 at Savannah Tech, I'm having to do everything from scratch.
New course schedule for the very different textbook which I will use for the first time.
New homework assignments to be constructed from the material in the new textbook.
It's been WORK!
I'm so glad I've had this normally idle time available for better use!

Anywho, the peace Guy had contacted me, via text, yesterday morn.
"Want to go eat somewhere?"
Heck to the YEAH!
So, we arranged for a dinner date at a favorite place.
Strike one!
The Noodle Bowl was closed.
Next up - The King And I...
Strike two!!
Also closed. Hmm... maybe Asian food is out...
Off to Chili's!
Home run!
Especially for me - Joe treated!
Chips and salsa, baby back ribs!
Woohoo!
And the good news is I'll be seeing him at least twice more during this week that he is in town. He's fixing the upper apartment in his folks' house so it can finally be rented out. The gas has not yet been turned on for that apartment, so there is no hot water for showers. So, in return for cleansing waters, I get more visits with him. LOL!

Today was another day put to good use.
Clothes? Washed and dried at Nami's laundrette!
Bed linens, blankets, afghans? Also washed and dried at Nami's!
(I don't know why, but clean clothes always take up more room than dirty stuff. How does that happen?)
When I returned home, I spread out blankets and such to finish air drying while I worked on school stuff some more.
Then Joe came over for a hot shower.
Nice visit!
After a little TBBT, it was off for some live laughs at Odd Lot!
I mean, with Odd Lot!
(smile)

No, no, no! Not that Odd Lot show! That was last week!

THIS is the show I'm talking about!
The one that was concentrating on past events of this year!
It was supposed to be PG, as are all of Odd Lot's shows. However.... given that I grew up around boys... then had eight years in the Navy in the company of boys... well, sometimes, my mind has been known to jump the track.
You know, that straight and narrow track?
Yep, that's the one!
The topic of the two-man film-noir style skit was "deflate-gate". You remember, right? It was the furor that rose up from the under-inflated football used in a pivotal game.

Well, the skit had barely started when Dorsey, in response to Zach's claim that the temperature was to blame, said "I've never noticed that temperature changes have an effect on ball size." -

and I cracked up! 

The image had leapt into my brain from the Seinfeld episode when George was complaining about ball shrinkage in the cool pool water. Seriously!

I may have been the only one who responded to his line! And I was LOUD, too! My laugh was a definite show stopper for a minute there!
Ah, well, not the first time I've stopped a show!
After that, it seemed that "ball" became a cue for laughter from me, if not from others who caught the double entendre. So, though the show wasn't truly blue...maybe some balls were!
Hahahaha haha!

After that, I flew over to Chili's to see if the Philo folk were still there.
Yep!
Connie even made sure I knew that the Kid had been asking about me!
With him right there!
Very fun way to finish the evening, with hugs all around and even an "I love you" or two!
(smile!)

7 pm on the 7th!

Christmas Day was a bit of a mixed bag.

For breakfast, I made a sandwich with the rest of the gyro from Tuesday. Dessert was the rest of the pecan brittle from Sunday. The meal was served on the Elvisware from the bfe.
Most excellent!

Amazingly, I had two presents to open!
My cousin Penny gave me a sun-moon light catcher, with a glass ball painted to glow in the dark.
Ooooohhh!!! Major coolness!!!
My outlaw Kathy gave me an Estee Lauder eye makeup kit, with more colors than I know how to use.
Oh, my!!! It's been years since I used eyeshadow!
The Melaness said she would send a package after the new year, as she has recently had reconstructive surgery and isn't quite back up to snuff.
I told her, "no worries, dearest. You know you don't need to send me anything - except love!"
My brother Smitty called to see if I'd heard from Ronnie, as he had a plate of food for him.
I replied that I had not, but I had heard from Ronnie's girlfriend on Wednesday, when he and she were together.
(Hooray for fb messaging!)

Then, I did something completely different - I joined Live Out Loud! for Christmas dinner at Sushi Hana! I had so enjoyed it back in May, but haven't had an excuse to go again...until now!
Very nice!
There were eight of us for dinner: Robb, Bryan, Ben, and Mike, all of whom I already knew from either LOL! or Movies in Pooler. Then three new folks: May (Mike's girlfriend); Jo; and Michele, a tour driver with Old Town Trolleys. Quite a lively group!
I splurged and had an apple-infused chilled sake - very lovely in every way and served in a martini glass! Then I splurged again for the Sushi Trio dinner! Wow! Miso soup and a ginger salad, to start, followed by three pieces each of tuna, salmon, and yellowfin, with a spicy tuna roll to finish it up. Definitely sated my appetite for seafood!
After our 2 1/2 hour visit, we headed in separate directions. Some went with Ben in search of the geocache in Triplett Park. Others headed off for diversions elsewhere... like back to Savannah, where I had a movie date with Barbara and Sandy!

The movie, "Joy", was not at all what I had expected from the previews.
I had looked forward to the new Jennifer Lawrence-Bradley Cooper offering for so long...I ended up quite aggravated at having been misled by the advertisements.
Instead of being another one in the same vein as "Silver Linings Playbook" or "American Hustle", it was just a biopic. About someone famous in the Home Shopping Network world, which I never intend to visit.
That was definitely a bummer.
Yes, it was nice to share the time with the girls.
Yes, it was nice of the clerk to load us down with "Kung Fu Panda 3" fortune cookies.
(Hey, what's not to like about a fortune cookie or two or three? Even when the fortune seems zanier than usual?)
I just didn't appreciate being duped into watching a movie about a woman who invented a better mousetrap - I mean, mop.

So, after our usual hour-long gabfest in the parking lot, I headed home to wash the taste out of my mouth and try to reclaim some Christmas spirit.
That's when I saw it.
"Bruce Almighty".
I had pulled it out a few days ago and left it on the coffee table.
Sure, let's pop that into the computer!
Great idea!!!
A healthy dram of Morgan Freeman, with a main course of Jim Carrey, was exactly the meal I needed!
Guess what?
There was even mopping in it.
Remember the scene when the sadsack first meets God?
Then, later, the two mop the floor together.
At 7 pm on the 7th, as promised at the first meeting.
Very nice.

i thank You, God, for small favors.
Or are they small miracles?

BE THE MIRACLE.

I'll try to give blood later today.
G'night to all!

merry christmas from Mama

I still have the watch, of course.

I have had it for almost forty years.

It still works, although I have not
worn it for a long time.

The dressy silver band has a sprung
spring and needs to be repaired.

Meanwhile, I also still have
this card from Mama.

Honestly, this simple card is
more valuable to me.

Her note in the card reads:

Dearest Tina,

On the Christmas that I was eighteen years old, I received this watch.

Your father gave it to me as an engagement gift and I treasured it.

Now on the Christmas of your eighteenth year I am giving it to you.

Please wear it with the blessing that the new life you're entering will be fulfilling and contentful.

You'll always be my heart.

Love

Mother

christmas party with miss gay america!

Oh, yes I did!!!
Right here in Savannah, Georgia!
As good fortune would have it, Miss Gay America 2015 just happens to be my friend Blair Williams, rock star dancer at Club One!
He was the keynote speaker at the last two Lavender Graduations at Armstrong, too.
Now, the time had come for the annual Christmas Eve Open House at the home he shares with his husband. And I was invited! Hooray!
I saw folks I haven't seen in several years!
Like Dawn and Sharmin from the days when I bowled with the Friends league. I hadn't recognized them at first, until I heard Sharmin's name get mentioned. Nice to see them again!
Then I saw some of the other dancers from Club One's Cabaret... but I couldn't have told you which girls they were without their make-up! Seriously, that stuff makes a big difference in appearance!
Such a lovely night it was, with the nearly-full moon peeking through the tree limbs as we laughed and shared tales in the back yard!
Thanks, guys!