ANOTHER WEEKEND...

I can't believe the week flew by so fast and another weekend is here and gone.

We had the MCB meeting on Monday and I presented the band's CD and his price.  As expected it was deemed to high priced.  I said I would go back to him to see if I couldn't get him to come down in price. I did and he did. After being told to book him, the powers that be, decided that they wanted a band that everyone was familiar with.  I was more then a little irritated.   After wasting my time and this guys time, they decided to go with another band.  This band is geared to about thirty older people that ballroom dance. I personally don't care who the use, but stop getting me involved in everything.

 This is suppose to be a MCB not a dance for the older people. If the decision was going to be made by others then why tell me to find  someone.  So, with all that being said, I resigned from the Committee.  I know it might sound like sour grapes, but I didn't want to do this again this year.  I promised to do the center pieces and will do that, but that is the end of it.  I already have everything I need to finish them and after that it is over and out.  Everyone calls me for answers to everything because they know I will get things done.  When I tried to foist the center pieces off on someone the answer was no.  Alrighty then!

Friday we celebrated a friend of mine's eighty eighth birthday at The Ritz.  There were the three of us and it was so much fun.  The place was packed with TGIF people and as always the food was great. The Ritz has an egg that is in the shell filled with a soft scrambled egg, salmon, chives and topped with caviar served with a shot of Russian Vodka.  Great appetizer.  After that it was a steak sandwich without the bread.  All in all a great day.

Saturday Bruno was back.  He arrived about three o'clock.  He has been working on deals in the Republic of China and South Africa and has several trips planned with his partners to see what's what. He has so much going on I don't know how he does it. It was a lot of fun being together Saturday night.  My special friend.  Large place with good food and entertainment all night.  Belly dancers, that were really good, and a great band and international singer.  Guess I'll have to learn Farsi. It was a super evening. They serve almost 500 people a night, which is amazing.  The owner came over to our table and brought Persian ice cream.  Mine had Rose water in it and Bruno's had Pomegranate with chocolate.\ bits.  It was very nice of the owner and we were trying to figure out why he did it.  We had no interaction with him at all

This morning I made baked French Toast, Bruno went down to Starbucks to get his NY Times and coffee, came back and we had breakfast together.  Sunday mornings are always nice together. He headed home and back to work.  He does work seven days a week and with International business Sunday is Monday.

So another week starts.....who knows what it will bring.

THE WEEKEND...

I sat home on Friday, Saturday and half a day Sunday.  By 2:30 in the afternoon after doing a little housework and ironing I decided to pull myself together and get dressed to go to Newport Beach to  the Elks. Everyone remembers me which sometimes is not such a good thing. Staying low key is not something I do well even if I do mind my own business most of the time.

I stayed and listened to the music for a while and decided that since everyone was one hundred and two I would go somewhere that I had not been for almost thirty years.  On Balboa Island there is a long time restaurant and bar called the Village Inn.

After actually finding a place to park, which is almost impossible during the summer months, I walked a block and entered the restaurant.  The place had a few people and there was a young couple at the bar that were just super friendly and great to talk to.  They worked at the Yacht Club by the Balboa Bridge and his family had owned different restaurants in Orange County.

They had ordered Calamari and wanted to share it with me.  I like Calamari, but it is fried and in keeping with trying not to eat fried foods I tried to decline to no avail.

While I was talking to them another gal came in and sat next to us.  She had just retired from Neiman Marcus and lived on the Island as did the young girl that was part of the couple.  Everyone is so friendly and we exchanged names, phone numbers and promised to keep in touch.

Sara, the young girls name lived with her Grandmother on the Island and wanted me to come down and hang out with them.  Since I normally do very little on the weekend it sounded like a plan.  I love the fact that I can make friends no matter where I go and they want to include me in their lives.  We'll see what happens.

The place had a band too and I left after a couple of the sets,  I hadn't seen anything on the menu that I wanted so I headed back towards Irvine and thought I'd stop at the Wild Fish for a drink and some bar food.

I sat next to a man that was eating a Thai shrimp dish and he offered me one. I declined  but did order the same thing.  We were talking and he was telling me he was retired from Best Buy as one of the original corporate people in Minneapolis.He was one year older then I.

He said he had a home on Spy Glass Hill, and a five bedroom home in Scottsdalte, AZ.  He was divorced and had lived in California for twelve years.  He also had started out living at the Balboa Bay Club.  He was a nice man and he did take a liking to me.  He ended up, when I went to the Ladies Room, paying for my food and drinks.  When I came back I tried to pay the bartender and he said it has been taken care of.  All I could think of was there was going to be a price to pay.  That turned out not to be true, kind of..

As with most men he would have liked more, but I declined his offer to go home with him to "cuddle"  Yeah "cuddle" right! He said, " wouldn't I like someone that could offer me more," as I told him about Bruno.  Food for thought for sure.

The other man who was on the other side of me picking up take out thought we had known each other forever.  I'm not shy and can be chatty when I have to be.  The really bad thing about meeting the Best Buy man was I have forgotten his name...typical.  I have the memory of a gnat.

I hadn't been in Wild Fish for almost two years and Best Buy man said it was the first time he had ventured there too. I probably will never see or hear from him again, but at least it was company and beat sitting at home with the cats.

Tonight, Monday, I'm headed out to pick up the Manager of the Elks Club.  She has several things on the list for the menu we need to approve at the meeting tonight for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball.  I have the CD of the new band but I think they will be too expensive. The first Ball we made approximately $2000. so we have a little money to work off of.  The Challenge Coins, as gifts, run over a thousand so a big hunk is taken out of last years profits for them.

Off to get ready to get out of the house.

TRYING TO STAY UNWRINKLED...

I'm lucky genetically but there can still be facial creases otherwise know as wrinkles on ones face.  I'm more critical of myself then other people and everyone keeps saying I look just fine.  I probably should get r id of the magnifying glass, but then I wouldn't be able to put on my eye makeup without it.

So, since I have a wrinkle obsession, I booked a visit with my dermatologist to have an Ulthera treatment.  It is ultra sound, which by the way hurts like hell when applied, even with the pain pills.  It is about an hour and a half procedure with no down time afterward. You walk out with zero redness or affects.  The whole idea is to produce collagen in about three months to fill in your facial areas and it lasts for a long time. There is a slight difference right after the procedure.

I figure I could probably save a lot of money if I just got fat again and the wrinkles would fade away with the fat deposits. As the French say,  "save your face or save your body."  I'd like to do both.  So far I haven't been successful. Old age is old age.

It is a good thing I don't have a lot of money or the plastic surgeons and dermatologists would have it all.

On to other things.  I met my girlfriend to listen to a band that we were considering for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball in November. It was was a little futile since the band was booked that month and day.While we were sitting there with another friend this man came over to the table and sat next to me.

This man has been circling around for about a month.  He is elderly, but in pretty good shape. I was more then a little shocked when he told me his age. His wife had just passed away approximately a month ago and he said he was rattling around in his four bedroom house and needed to move on with his life.  Men don't wait for the body to get cold before they are looking for someone else.

Someone told me that he was worth a lot of money which he told me he was when he was pleading his case. He had been spending ten thousand a month to take care of his wife. I heard he had his own airplane parts company and had just sold his personal.airplane.  About time to my way of thinking since his age was ninety three.  He was a pilot in the war at the Chosin Reservoir.

 He wants to take me out, however, he also said he was like a fifty year old in bed......good Lord, I sure know how to attract them. Why is it that every man has only one thing in their mind.  Geez!

I'm almost tempted to go out to dinner with him.  I could be the second Anna Nicole Simpson and go for the gold. Of course one has to wake up in the morning and look at the fellow next to you.  I am not changing diapers again for anyone .I think I'll stay with Bruno, absent or not he does make me happy, at least most of the time.

So off to get ready for the rest of the week.















  

LAST WEEK GOT AWAY..........

I can't believe that the week flew by and for some reason I didn't have a lot of time to do anything on this Blog.

The usual things going on during the week.  My neighbor took me out for a long delayed birthday lunch.  She is going to be moving away and renting her home out.  I'll really miss her.  We don't see each other that often as she travels for business a lot.  She has her own Company and it keeps her really busy.  We had a great chat and actually spent three hours together.

I heard from one of my cousins from Ohio and another from New York.  It is nice to talk to them and find out what is going on in their life. The cousins, of which there are at least five or six that grew up together have always been close. Two of the group have passed away and aren't included in the five or six.

We had a Marine Corps Birthday Ball meeting last week.  We are really late on getting this together.  Finding a band is proving to be a challenge.  Everyone seems to be booked.

Bruno came down on Saturday.  He had a meeting in the North that didn't go well.  They were from the mid west and wanted to follow that States law. Since they were signing contracts in California they needed to follow California law.  Bruno said they hashed thing over forever and he finally had enough and walked away from the deal. He puts so much on his plate he is either exhausted or sick half the time.

We attended a Four Tops Review Saturday night and Bruno didn't feel well.  We left at Intermission.  I was okay with it since the event wasn't all that great.  It was a joint effort between the NAACP and the Elks and on the whole it went okay.  As with most things it can be hit or miss and we both felt it was a miss.

We came home and Bruno went to bed I watched a little t.v.  Sunday morning  we made "Toad in the Hole." and it really was good  Onions, leeks, bacon, sauteed spinach on toasted Brioche with  a fruit side.. We had breakfast on the back patio. It was a beautiful morning and my neighbor had great music on in the backyard which we really enjoyed. We sat under the table umbrella and relaxed  most of the morning.  He left around noon and will be back on the 20th from the South. My busy man.  At least he wants to come back to me which isn't easy when one lives in L.A. County and has to fight the traffic.

That's it for last week.  Meetings lunches, book club, and various other things going on this week

Until the next time.

BOOK.....

I slept in late this morning, still tired from the weekend.  I decided to stay home and work on getting my book ,that I wrote almost three years ago, ready to put into manuscript form. I have been putting this off and for some reason I got the bug to try and get it out to the Publishers,

I have a copyright in the works, the book has been edited by an editor in South Florida and now I just have to get on the stick to finish a cover letter and send it off.  I probably will get rejections, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

To tell you the truth, after belonging to this book club I joined there is some real junk that has been published and even though mine isn't literature I feel it as good as some of the written words out there.

I had an email from Bruno and I sent one back asking him a couple questions.  He zipped one back as to what he was doing and did I have anymore questions.  Of course I took that as him being "snarky" and I emailed back saying to my "snarky Bruno."  He had no clue what I was talking about.  Guess I interpreted it wrong, as only I can do.  He really didn't mean anything and I read something else into it. He always tell me he waits to read my emails usually in the morning as he says I can send some "flamers."  Only when I'm pissed at him.

This coming week is going to be a really busy one and today I've been sitting in front of the computer trying to get this book thing organized.  A lot of work and probably why I didn't get into it more, sooner.

The weather has been hot and muggy and the air conditioning has been going on all day, which is fine with me.

Nothing else to report.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY

I was so tired last night after spending from eleven in the morning until eight at night working and putting up decorations.  If I must say so myself things look pretty good.  The casino tables were delivered, lights were put around the popcorn and pretzel cart, money and posters of cards put around and generally a Las Vegas look.

This morning it is back again to fill the centerpiece beach pails with sand and finish decorating the tables.  The theme is on the Boardwalk and so far we have a little over two hundred people showing up.

This event is a big fund raiser for charity and so far we have raised enough money selling tickets so the rest of the funds coming in will be pure profit for charity.

I don't think anyone realizes how much work goes into one of these parties.  The building is under an acre of ground and you walk a million steps to get from point A to point B. I've been doing events for over thirty years there and I do think it is about time for others to get involved and do a few things.

Four of us spent days of wrapping gift baskets, putting bows on paintings and generally getting everything ready.  There were some nice trips.  One to Hawaii for two, a trip for two to Las Vegas, money prizes etc.  It should be a good Event.

Sunday:  well it is the day after and other then being in a pile because I'm so tired the Event was a huge success.  Everyone had a great time and you have thought people were winning money instead of Script.  The Script was turned in for tickets to place in buckets in front of the prizes offered.  The core group didn't get out of there until after 11:00 p.m. and believe me it was a full day and evening.

Today AT&T showed up and hopefully resolved the monumental problems with my t.v. and computer.  The new Tech changed everything out for me so we will see if that does it. What a pain.  It seems when you change things everything goes awry.

Heard from Bruno yesterday and today.  He is coming back on Tuesday.

I'm going back to bed to relax.

BEACH, TACOS AND BRUNO.......

Yesterday was a beautiful beach day in Laguna.  My girlfriend and I had lunch at the Laguna Hotel on their patio. The food is always good there and the proximity to the Beach, although above it is really nice. I always forget about going to Laguna.  It is only fifteen minutes from my house and for some reason it isn't on my radar.

Last night I met my other girlfriend and her parents for Taco Night. I decided I better give back a little something to them as they have been so generous to me and have treated me like part of their family. We always have a good time.

Today I spent the day having lunch again with several committee members and then we adjourned to one of their homes to make up gift baskets for the Saturday night Leading Knights Casino night.  T

There are some really great prizes with the top prize being seven hundred and ninety four dollars.  That odd number is because that is the number of the Elks Lodge in Santa Ana. There is also a lot of dinners trips to museums and various attractions.  It is all for charity and each person will be given $500. in scrip money to play the gaming tables.  The gaming tables are being set up by a man that does this for a living by going from charity place to charity event to raise money.

Next week the NAACP is joining the Elks to put on a Four Tops Review along with a comedian.  I thought the Four Tops were long dead and gone, but I guess not.  At least one or two of them are the original guys.

Now for the surprise or at least my surprise.  Bruno called and said he had rearranged his schedule so he could take me to the Four Tops next week.  He is still in Arizona baking himself and I mean baking.  It is one hundred and three over there.  I told him I was going to start calling him my Bedouin.  He rather liked that and  I swear he gets so dark so fast one would never think he was German. Doesn't he know that white is the new tan.  He said we would look great together.  Like an Oreo cookie. Silly man!  He was getting ready to go out to dinner with his son.

My sojourn of going to AT&T has turned into a nightmare.  No t.v., Yahoo is a mess, and my phone doesn't work half the time. I think I'm going back to Cox. The whole change has been a mess. The only thing I like about U-Verse is you get more channels with a lot more movies etc.

The man that took out my husbands ex wife and knew her in high school, sent me an email saying that he thought we owed it to ourselves to go out to lunch.  I'm not so sure about that.  He wants to take me somewhere in Huntington Beach,which is way to far for me to drive.  Not that it is that far, but why?  There are a million good restaurants closer. I haven't decided if I want to meet him or not. Rather odd that he is dating ex-wives.

The next two days are busy setting up for the Event Saturday night and I need to get something things done around here tonight.

Sweet dreams all.



  

TUESDAY....

i spent the day changing the bed, cleaning and ironing.  What fun.  I decided to get ready and go to the meeting but when I got there I had a club soda and decided to go home.

When I returned home I had a message from my one girlfriend in Newport Beach and she told me about another really good friend that had a cancer scare.  All of this was brought on by the sun.

Then my other friend from Orange left a message telling me she was looking forward to seeing me tomorrow night and she loved me a lot.  She and I although years apart have connected.  She was so sweet, she bought me a Mother's Day gift.  Very thoughtful.

Bruno called late yesterday afternoon, but didn't have time to talk. He is now in Scottsdale and will be home tomorrow to go to his dental appointments.  He has so many irons in the fire.  HE called back again today to let me know what was going on. We will try to see each other next week, Thursday and Friday.  He really is an Alpha males and perfect for me. Nobody will tell him what to do or how to do it.  Refreshing after years of being with a "nice guy." who couldn't be decisive.  As my brother says, "everyone is different."  You think??

 I sometimes wonder where all the time went.  We had a lot of good years but someone that is passive aggressive can really get to you after a while. I'm sure I drove him crazy too. We had so many outside peripheral forces from the get go and I'm not one to take things lying down or be quiet about things.  How we managed to stay married thirty seven years is beyond me.  They say opposites attract.  Maybe that was the catalyst. Oh well, it is water under the bridge now and you can't change the past.  I've learned that the best revenge is living well, and for me it isn't about revenge.

So, that's it from the peanut gallery for the night.

NEW WEEK..........

The Memorial service was very nice.  The women that passed on was very sweet and talented and she had some very nice tributes said about she and her husband who passed away several years ago. They lived in a retirement community of about eighteen thousand people and the different Clubs that are there gets people involved. They belonged to the New York Club and it was well represented.

The Memorial was over early and I didn't feel like going home to an empty house.  I was still wondering what happened to Bruno.  I went to the Ritz in Newport Beach and was talking to  a man who grew up in Orange County.  He knew about my husband from football and he had gone to high school with my husband's ex wife.  He announced that she was crazy back then.  Totally reaffirmed my thinking that the women is bonkers.  She has been in therapy for forty years that I know of and guess what?  It hasn't helped.

On Saturday I talked to a girlfriend from South County and she said that she had gotten an email she sent back as undeliverable. She tried while I was talking to her and it came through.

I had a text from Bruno telling me what was going on in Las Vegas and he was coming home this week either Wednesday or Thursday.  He had tried to email me too and it had come back.  I was having issues with the new AT&T lines.  All my bad thoughts about him were canceled.  He actually was in touch. or tried to be. He is suppose to call me this afternoon to discuss a couple of upcoming events going on that he may or may not be able to go to.  I find out today.

Yesterday, Sunday, I did go to my friends BBQ in Orange.  It was low key and relaxing.  She too had been to a Memorial service for a Vet that passed away unexpectedly the day before.

Today I'm staying home and cleaning house.  Tomorrow is a meeting at the Elks and Wednesday I have lunch with my girlfriend in Laguna Beach then that night it is Taco Night and I invited a couple and their daughter to that event.

Trying to keep busy and seem to be doing a good job of it.