Not just today

Remembering

      not all veterans,

             all precious and worth remembering

An adventure

The Bravern......and beyond

Yes, a beautiful setting,
                             The fireplaces
                                    The fountains
                                       The Chuhully 

                          but don't let that fool you....


Underneath it all, is another story

A scary story
are you ready?
well I was not ready for...

well, here is what happened.

My first time to the Bravern ( shops, restaurants, Microsoft, etc).  I parked, found an elevator, grabbed the location note ( sapphire, level two )
Good thinking.

At the end of my "adventure" I went back down the sapphire elevator to level two.
Little did I know my adventure was just beginning.
Where is Sabrina?  My little red convertible   was not just around the corner. Did I go to the left or to the right?  What? I am on level three now !   Back to the elevator to level two.  There are several elevators....ruby, emerald, and yes sapphire.
I am back on level two and around each corner I am hitting the alarm button on my car remote.  Nothing.

I am already feeling a lump in my throat.  That happens when I am feeling lost. That is why I have GPS in both cars.  GSP is no help for this situation.
But wait, there is a lady pushing a service cart. She is obviously an employee who would know more than I do about this huge garage.
I approach her and tell her my problem and she smiles and offers to help.
" Where were you when you came into the garage?"
   oops, first sign that this would take a while

I told her the street I came from and that I just drove straight in and took the first open spot.
A few more questions and then
"Let's go up on the elevator"  We are at the ruby elevator.
We go up one level, she peeks out
"Oh this is not the sapphire level "
     oops, second bad sign and maybe, I know as much about the garage as she does. The color of the elevator does not change from floor to floor.

Next stop is the floor two. That is the concierge.  No one is at the desk, so she takes me into the Microsoft office.  The man at the desk is very kind, but he admits he only knows the territory  around microsoft and the emerald  elevator.   We go out to the concierge desk, and lovely lady leaves me and says that someone will come soon.

A look around the desk, no bell,but there is a sign  " No one on duty today, sorry"

  oops.  I am on my own again.   I look out the window, I see the street where I came in and take the closest elevator.   Down to level two  I start pressing my alarm button on my car fob .  silence.   and in that huge garage, there is very little activity. lots of parked cars and no one coming and going.   Only the clip clop of my shoes on the pavement.   The lump in my throat is telling me I need help.  Three of my kids work less than 1/2 mile away. I text them.  I continue around another corner.

There she is !  I have never been so happy to see Sabrina !
I realize now, the alarm on my phone fob does not work.
I get in
The clock in my car says 12:04  - I had started down at 10:20
I  start the engine and grab my phone to let the kids know I am safe.
Funny thing, the message never got beyond the low level of the garage.
So, no one knew
but now you know
and I hope the lump in your throat is gone, mine is 


a few days later...
lesson:  will I ever go to the Bravern again?   For sure I would park by an elevator.  Perhaps Sapphire ?
 OK. I had not changed the car clock....so it was only 11:04   But hey, that was a long 44 minutes. 
And, I discovered that button on my car fob is not an alarm. It starts the engine, remotely

All of that, helping me to smile ( not laugh ) about my adventure.  

I live an exciting life.

among friends

This is my story.




We have been friends for years and shared a lot of life.  The good times and the not so good.

Tonight we were talking about Thanksgiving and how one child was having most of the family over, but one child had already  made plans to have his own party.
Schedules get so full and you can't decide what is the most important event and you don't like feelings to be hurt or jealousy to come into play.
Then there are hard things and some who are struggling with health issues

My friend was saying something like " Well at least we don't....
and it kind of faded as she was at the kitchen sink and I was near the tv

So I said    "  I thought you were going to say   at least we have all our own teeth"

For some reason, we both just cracked up

When the laughter died my friend said  " But I don't have  mine "


I lead an exciting life 😊

october 31

It is more than Halloween at our house 

We usually get between 125 and 150 little people at our door carrying a container, wearing a smile and saying " trick or treat". 

This year I was ready with 140 little treat bags.

Each bag gets plenty of candy and
" The Rest of his time"
a true story worth reading and remembering 

Then the front door is covered with pictures from previous years

If you can name the princess, there is a prize 

Photo by  Darrell on his 90's flip phone 

And here they come....

These little firemen came and
smiled
and said
The fire is coming...
and sure enough

FIRE  !

and this one.....

The fellow on the left

he won the prize !

And you can too. Just name the princess ! 

and

Across the street 

by day

and by night

look close

now you see him ↑
now you don't  ↓

And the music goes on...