I saw online about the death of the grannie but I haven’t seen the movie. Hugs to you.
With the death of the most recent “oldest person on earth” there is now no one alive born at the time of my maternal grandfather. It is sobering to think of the march of time and that there will be a day when no one of our generation will be alive
Last night I got my mom on Facebook again, remotely. She doesn’t even have the vocabulary to tell me what she sees on the screen or to go where I tell her to go on the page. Search biz has to be the skinny white rectangle. But someday that will be us, with whatever “new” thing there is.
As is expected this time of year, things are still very quiet at the beach. H is spending his days in the shed sanding, painting, and varnishing the sailboat.
For the first time ever, I joined a golf club. It’s a 40 min drive from here, but our really good friends joined a couple years ago and have been really pleased with the course, the value, and the people. So, I took the plunge. H will play once in a while, but would rather spend his time sailing. While I enjoy sailing, too, I also really like to play golf. So, I took a single membership. The Women’s Association at the club has all sorts of stuff going on, including a “Mentor Program” for new members. I was so pleased to see that since I didn’t know anyone except the one couple. I’m playing in the Tuesday morning league (18 holes) and the Wednesday evening group (9 holes, followed by dinner). Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming, and not crazy competitive. Very excited! Oh, and almost everyone walks the course, so I’ll be getting a fair amount of exercise, too.
D is coming down to the beach Friday night for Mothers’ Day Weekend. S will probably call, but only because D will remind him. Have I mentioned S drives me nuts with his lack of communication? I’m sure I have.
The NOLA themed party sounds great, RM. I’ll be the first one on the bus – bring it on!
Re: shorts – as casual as it is here at the beach, I don’t wear shorts out to eat, or to church. I love capris and skirts/skorts. The length of my shorts has gotten longer as I’ve gotten older. I honestly don’t believe I dress “matronly,” but at my age, I can’t/shouldn’t wear what D wears.
Sorry about your friend, arabrab.
Enjoy the beach and golf, CBBB.
Life is interesting. I am in the VIP-ish lounge at Heathrow, drinking a 2004 Bordeaux and working before flying home first class. I’ve got to do a bit of thinking/writing on the plane. I haven’t seen any famous people that I recognize, though the guy sitting next to me was talking about the producer and various personnel for his film (I think), including an actress I’d heard of. He looked more like a rock guy than a movie guy. I did see David Beckham once, but I’m afraid I don’t tend to recognize celebs.
My wife wants me to switch from my normal hotel. It is convenient and the staff is very eager to help – mostly kids from Spain and Eastern Europe. A lovely young woman is in the restaurants for breakfast. She’s from Lithuania and is working hard to earn enough money to support herself and send money back to her mother. Enthusiastic, charming, friendly, pretty. Good kid. They clean and store my suits for me. But on my trip last month, an escort and protector (and another young woman knocked on my door and insisted that I had called the agency. Not clear what her ethnicity (she said her name was Francine, which definitely did not fit the ethnicity) was but she was warm and friendly and tried to talk her way into the door. She seemed disappointed that I didn’t find her attractive (untrue), and I had to be pretty adamant that I didn’t call any such service. A real security breach. So my wife wants me to find another place.
Now, I’m looking at “gentlemen’s clubs,” which unlike the US, are the Old Boy’s Clubs with rooms, lots of dining rooms, where people meet and entertain their friends/colleagues. A bunch are too stuffy – need to wear a tie in all public spaces except the gym. Most outlaw jeans. Lots of security at the door. Some still don’t allow female members. Isn’t this the 21st century?
In contrast to shawbridge ,my airport experiences usually involve waiting for my Southwest flight while drinking a Budweiser in the airport bar! 
CBBBlinker, The golf club sounds great. I’m not a golfer but it sounds very nice.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Wow Shaw, your day is a bit different than mine… We are on the road to younger D’s school to bring her home for the summer. Seems like I only take time off work to do harder work
Because the route to the school is not all interstate, we took yet another of H’s short cuts. This one will end up delaying us about 40 minutes. C’est la vie. H is driving
Oh, I have been on a red meat fest. I put myself on a no starch, no added sugar diet and am losing weight. So I can order beef, fish or chicken with vegetables and/or salad and maybe a cheese plate for desert. Yesterday, I had a hamburger with no bun for lunch and then my client took me out to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant (Maze Grill, which was OK) that seemed to specialize in expensive grass-fed beef. Then today at the VIP lounge, I had ribeye again as the other dishes had starch. Probably the same on the plane tonight. Hopefully I will be able to switch to fish when I get home.
The sad thing here, is in the VIP lounge, they have the higher end brands of liquor and I am always working (plus do not really appreciate the difference).
My travels definitely do not resemble yours, shawbridge!
I will be traveling next week for work, then H and I are headed to Europe for two weeks to see S while he’s studying abroad and play tourist. So lots of travel, but no first class involved.
When I flew in and out of Heathrow last summer, it was a nightmare. No VIP Lounge or first class for me either.
Well, I’m with your wife, shaw – time to find another hotel, UNLESS the manager can assure you that such a thing will NEVER happen again. You did tell him/her, right? Maybe I’ve watched too many TV shows/movies, but it seems as if things could get out of hand too easily. Is this escort service bribing someone at the hotel to get in?
My problem with celebrity sightings is I never recognize anyone! Not that I actually cross paths with many, but it usually takes someone else telling me who someone is. So, if any celebs want to remain anonymous, they should hang out with me – I won’t know them!
Hmmm – this statement is all wrong, mp!
I think it sounds like time to find a new hotel too, shaw. That is creepy.
I did tell the manager who was very apologetic. He implied that they always call when a guest had visitors but they must have slipped by. My goes is that room 302 ordered her instead of me in 402. I think Hotels do not try to block those kind of meetings but just want to make sure they are desired. Based on appearances, it was a relatively high class service so it wouldn’t have been obvious she want a guest. But he can’t guarantee it because the front desk could get distracted by existing folks while the escort slips by looking like she belongs. The muscle maybe less so.
When my husband was in St. Petersburg a number of years ago, some guy called him in his room in his hotel and asked, “Would you like to take a call?” Since we had been having great difficulties connecting via phone, H enthusiastically said, “Yes, I’ve been trying to get a call!” You can guess what happened next . . . The next night the guy on the phone asked, 'Would you like to sleep better tonight?"
Not very subtle, eh?
Shaw, we put ourselves on that no starch, no sugar diet about 5 years ago; I dropped something like 18 pounds; H dropped a little more. We mainly still eat that way (vegetables, salads, fruit, grains; some fish and chicken; rarely red meat, etc.), but splurge now and then – the pulled pork sandwiches we had last night don’t really fit the bill. But oh so yummy!
How do you ever ever give up sugar? I am such an addict. I don’t eat a whole lot of starch but I think I would have to be in a controlled environment to give it up.
It’s a lot easier when two are doing it together. And we didn’t give up dark chocolate.
MP, I’m giving up things with added sugar. So, chocolate and ice cream. What could be harder are things like tarte tatin that I love. But, for me, simple rules work. Complex rules will not. Although I love dessert, I don’t have any trouble saying, I don’t eat dessert except for fruit or the cheese plate (with apples but no crackers). It would be very hard for me to say, “I’m going to have X calories today” or do the weight watchers kind of thing (well, I can have 3 units from this list, but if I want I can substitute a grain for a fruit."
Totally creepy about the hotel, Shawbridge. Ick.
Drizzly weather for four days now, and I am ready for it to be done…but they say we may get a little snow Saturday night. Mountains may get up to a foot. Good for the snowpack, but if the cold weather zaps my poppies I’m going to be ticked.
Sorry to hear about your friend,arabrab.
Very creepy about the hotel, shaw.
I have a major sweet tooth but am trying to cut back. Don’t eat desserts when going out. I buy/make only small sweets when we entertain and take leftovers in to work. I am really a candy fiend but do better if I just stay away altogether. It’s hard.
Not a lot planned for the weekend. First time in 24 years that I will have no kids home on Mothers Day.
We are on the road with younger D. And her stuff. We look like the Clampets leaving town. Should be the last dorm for our family.
I will have two kids home for Mother’s Day. I don’t think they are aware that it is coming up. As long as I get a long nap and don’t have to cook it’s all good.
ShawSon is hoping to be in dorms for the next couple of years. The dorms associated with the business school tend to be palatial (future titans of industry deserve no less, I guess). ShawD only stayed in dorms her freshman year. She’s been the beneficiary of a very good real estate investment on our part. We couldn’t afford that for ShawSon as the cost of real estate would be much higher.
The funny thing about the hotel is that it didn’t bother me that much. I was on the phone when they knocked and was a little slow on the uptake (“Hi. I’m Francine. How are you doing honey?” while touching me and trying to walk into the room). It took me a bit to figure it out. Stranger things have happened to me. A few years ago, one of the staff members at the hotel decided to show me my room when I checked in at about 9:30 PM and seemed to have no intention of leaving. I clearly did not need to be shown the room and its features as I’d been there once a month for months and she knew it. If I were a different person, well, she was probably 25, a blond haired, blue eyed Eastern European, attractive, friendly and very nice (I’d been talking to her each time I visited). It was a little awkward shooing her out while pretending nothing was happening so she wouldn’t feel embarrassed later. But, the issue is that if a stranger can get to my door, my security is at some risk even though I am not such a small guy.
What I want to know is why MY hotels don’t send buff young men to my door 
Sexist management! Then again, at Motel Six, maybe that’s what the creepy caretaker is up to…:))
(Just kidding, Shaw. In your shoes, I would wonder about management’s judgement or efficacy, because I don’t actually think someone would have been able to identify what door to turn up at without inside help.)
Mom and boyfriend en route soon. I must be nice to mch You’re correct, Shaw, that mch should be knighted or something for boyf-duty!