a quiet thinking sort of morning...

It is Paul's happy birthday, and he's happily off to work. I didn't even get my lazy rear out of bed to make him a birthday pot of coffee, but I did think about it. Actually, I woke up and was going to get up, but then he did, and he's a bathroom hog, so...

I did leave him a nice note on the kitchen counter though. And Joseph got up and made the coffee.

No one else is awake here. The dogs have been out, fed and watered. The floors have been swept, things picked up. There is more to do, but who can resist sitting in the quiet and writing?

Abigail agreed that we need to start our journey early tomorrow. We tend to dilly-dally, she alluded. She said, "Last time we stopped at a GROCERY STORE on the way down." And this lady enjoyed that very much, thank you. It was a Weis, we don't have those around here, and I suppose I am a Supermarket Geek. So to get up extra early and leave so that we have time to do things like that is fine with me. Ab seemed to think such things are a waste of time, hmph.

When I'm shopping, I like to look in all the nooks and crannies of the store, to find the bargains. The mark-downs. Most of it is overpriced junk, but sometimes there are deals to be had. I find myself frequently telling whomever is unlucky enough to be shopping with me, "Okay, I'm almost done. I just need to look over here quick."

That's why I don't mind going alone once in a while. I can meander around, apologizing to no one. Until I get home of course, and have to explain why I was gone so long.

Anyway. This morning entails a trip to the small city to visit the dentist with Jonathan and Camille.

Then a trip to the other city to the airport with Emily. I invited Evelyn to come along with me. Camille just wants to ride her new bike. It is here in the living room, in all it's new bike glory, pink and silver streamers and butterflies embossed on the sparkly frame. The tires are still pure white. It was pouring when we got it home yesterday, so I offered Cam to bring it in. Yeah, she has been riding it around the circle of the living room and kitchen. Suzanne is going to take her on a bike ride today, rain or shine.

When I was seven years old, way back in...hmm, 1972, I got a new bike. The kind with the banana seat. It was pink, from Kid's Town, and it was $27.99. It's interesting that things like bikes and watches cost almost as much then as they do now, Cam's was fifty dollars. They were all manufactured in the U.S.A. back then.

Anyway, I remember clearly the excitement of getting that new bike.

And I got to go through it with Camille again, yesterday. As I did with all of the kids at one time or another through the years. I wish I wish I had this blog right from when Emily was born. Even before that...

Anyway...the airport in near the best bakery I have ever been in. Heaven probably smells like this bakery. I once asked the girl who works there, the owner's daughter, if she gets sick of the smell, she said she still loves it. Oh the pies and cakes and cannoli and pastries, cookies and donuts galore. The fresh baked bread, the smell of coffee...I am thinking of going in there for some pizza dough, but we all know where that will lead. I have been very successful in the past, eating only part of a donut, but hey, why tempt myself? I won't go in there at all. wah.

I met up with a cousin yesterday while shopping. Her daddy and my daddy were brothers (my father was from a family of 12). We went to middle and high school together, and she always sat behind me...we were Della Marie G. and Deanna Marie G., and everyone thought we were twins. Her daddy passed away, my daddy passed away, the family isn't close anymore...there are only 3 aunts and an uncle left, but tons of cousins and second cousins. We talked about getting together to catch up, and I think I would like that. I imagine my own kids growing up, with me long gone...and their children meeting up in a mall somewhere...

And that makes me sad.

So Washington D.C. in the morning!!!! Samuel is going to be marching in a parade on Saturday in the capitol. I am so proud of him, and can't wait to see him in his uniform. He says this time we'll be sure to get a good picture for his patient grandma, who has a cross-stitched frame waiting for a good photo of him. :)

The weather should be nicer, too, down in D.C. I am ready for that, after this long long long winter. Evelyn and Sonja are on vacation this week, and it's rainy and chilly. Tomorrow might be nicer though.

Camille found out yesterday that I am going to be gone for the weekend. She was none too thrilled. She was teary-eyed but being a big girl, and not all out sobbing, as we walked through the grocery store. The cashier asked what was wrong, and when I told her, she said to Camille, "Oh bless your heart, poor girl." Cam tried hard not to burst into tears, but her eyes were leaking and her mouth was quivery, as she tried to maintain her seven year old composure. She does love her mama.

Ah well...quiet time is over...time to get moving to go to the ugh, dentist.