Old Man Wrigley…
Sits by our back door every morning…this husband of mine calling out…someone’s waiting for you…you’d better get outside and say hello… And sure enough…there he is…waiting patiently…blue cat eyes saying…hey Old Gal…you have nothing you have to do today…and I have nothing I have to do today…wanna have coffee… So we do…well one of us does…has coffee that is…the other basks in the glory of his morning pet fest… Set up a lawn chair in the sun…cover the lap with a towel for warmth…and cat hair…and we chat…have to go to Dollar General today…we’re out of toilet paper…purr purr… Then check Tik Tok…that one chip challenge…ridicky-donk…purr purr… Maybe plan supper…how about Tator Tot casserole…that sounds kind of good…purr purr… And so it goes…something new added to the morning ritual…the Wordle and the news with my Mr…then a little bonding with a new friend… An old gal…can’t…won’t…say no…to being appreciated…to being needed…to being a friend…to being loved… And this husband of mine…agrees…
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This old gal…
Went to Subway…to get some sandwiches to go…the woman next in line…was apparently feeding her husband…the same thing for lunch…about the same age…she was stunning…all put together…cute green khakis…striped knit top…one of the trendy puffer vests…makeup… This old gal…adorned in Old Navy joggers…t-shirt…flowered socks…black Merrills…and a Columbia Jacket that no way complimented the ensemble…felt a pang… Questioning her wardrobe…wondering if she should try to be more classy…if it’s possible for her to be more classy…maybe tomorrow…she should try…to be more classy…like this woman…in Subway… Came the dawning of a new day…a jaunt to Goodwill with that husband of mine…and classy me…was as classy as the Snake Farm t-shirt can make a woman of 60… That pang…that little niggle of doubt…left behind with the conviction that it’s ok…to be me…comfortable…bright colored…humorous clothes wearing me… This old gal can polish up when duty calls…but what’s more important than being classy…is loving who you are…enjoying who you are…and having fun… Being you… And this husband of mine…agrees… This old gal…
Is in a conundrum…over the Wordle… Has never gotten it with the first word…usually takes four or five tries…to finish the puzzle…part of the morning routine…coffee and Wordle…sometimes taking 20 minutes…as this old gal loves to sit…and ponder…and manipulate those letters…in her head… But then…one day it happened…got the word in two…second try win…took only a few minutes… Excited at first…to have gotten it in two…but in a weird way…let down…no stretching of the old phonetic skills…no thrill of the word battle…no more Wordle to do…with coffee… Phonetic genius me…shouldn’t have fretted…that word in two winning streak…was a one time thing…it’s back to the old routine…fighting that battle with the vowels and digraphs…just hoping…to get it in…six… And you Wordle fans…surely…agree… Those daughters of mine…
Took their dear old mom down memory lane…with a texting thread…that started like this… Guys random question, how do we know the song “aruba! Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya to Bermuda Bahama come on prettymomma" Was it from Brady bunch? Memories filled the feed…that CD from Paper Factory…Drew’s Luau Party Music…had songs like the Tide is High and Copacabana… Laughed about old blue CD player flashbacks…and toy room carpet burns…little girls dancing to the tunes…5,6,7,8…why was that carpet so lethal tho…says one…I don’t know…says another…but I loved slamming that slide door when I was mad…and then… Wow…Mems…. Within minutes…one had located the CD on Spotify as well as creating a personal playlist…to take us all back to the sweet days of our life…with the Luau… Wow…Mems…sweet mems indeed… It doesn’t get any better than this… And those daughters of mine…will agree… This old gal…
Is a total failsauce…when it comes to painting…can slap the paint on just fine…but when it comes to choosing a color…or matching a color…it’s hopeless… Can’t tell you how many rooms have been repainted…due to poor paint swatch choice…there’s poop brown baby’s room…vomit yellow dining room…and now…touch up fiasco… Thought the can in the basement was a perfect match…for the kitchen woodwork…touched up a few spots…touched up more than a few spots…but no…not the same color at all… Bought all new paint…and did an overhaul…loved the new color…seemed to have nailed the choice this time…but then got to a door frame…and the paint seemed to take on a life of its own…suddenly seemed to be two different colors…depending on the light angle… Had a mini panic…what is this madness…is it iridescent…was paint switched unknowingly…how did this old gal…screw up this time… Whined to this husband of mine…let it dry…was his advice…but it was hard to imagine…that drying would change the color…so dramatically… But he was right…yet again…and it was the first time…that watching paint dry…was anything but…boring… And this husband of mine…agrees… This husband and I…
Went to an auction…so many people…so many doodads…so much glassware…searched the tables…looking for treasures…and there it was…a black panther…dirty…sad…calling out to days gone by…when little me…spent summers in a cabin…on the river…with her grandparents… That grandma of mine…was a no frills Bohemian…gardened…made kolaches…boiled chickens who had recently been running in the back yard…for homemade chicken rice soup… Grandma Em…wasn’t one for frills…house was simple…decorations minimal…but she had her things…that to little me said…Grandma… Cattails…in a vase by an old walnut table…a lemon tree that sat by a window…on a chest…peonies floating…in a little dish of water in the center of the table…and the black panther planter…perched on top of the fridge…camouflaged under vines of ivy…that green jewel eye…keeping steady watch over his domain… Sadly…beautiful panther wasn’t meant to be…the wait too long…the room too hot…this old gal…needing lunch… But the memories rekindled…fun memories…happy memories…memories that no one but a Grandma…can make… And no doubt…those brothers of mine…agree… This husband of mine…
Made an observation…you know what I haven’t seen around here…he said…squirrels…all those trees…surrounding Old Pink…have been left behind…Little Cottage…sitting on a treeless lot…nothing to offer…those favorite little critters of his… But I beg to differ…with this declaration of there being…no squirrel sightings… Mr. Faux Squirrel Hater…can sniff out a squirrel…in the strangest of places…there’s doorstop squirrel…and plant squirrel…and best of the best…puppet squirrel… Those eyes of his honing in…him bustling over…always ending the observation…with a chuckle…and a whispered… Stupid squirrel… Trees or no trees…this old gal has a feeling…those little furry friends…continue to win the battle…with Mr. Faux Squirrel Hater… And this husband of mine…would never agree… This husband and I…
Were outside…enjoying the beautiful day…doing what old people do…petting Old Man Wrigley…dusting off the car…chatting about winter coming…when calliope music filled the air… The American Queen…the largest steamboat ever built…christened in Memphis in 2012…by Priscilla Presley…was docked in our quaint…downtown… The calliope music…indicated its pending departure…being ever so curious…this husband and I put our important old people tasks on pause…and headed to the river… Got there just in time…as the Queen high tailed it out of town…music still filling the air….her hind end…bidding a fond farewell…trying to get a glimpse…my Mr. and I worked our way through the onlookers heading back to their cars…the sight…still splendiferous… And then we hear it…from a gentleman nearby…passing us on his way to his car…you just missed the boat…he says…with a laugh…and a smile… Indeed we did…we so did…just missed the boat…and sometimes you do…miss the boat…life throwing you a curveball…opportunities seem to get away… But it’s all in the adventure of trying…the fun of the drive there…and what you do…on the trip home…after… And this husband of mine…agrees… This old gal…
Loved Indiana Jones movies…loved Indiana Jones…so much so…that those daughters of mine…gifted their mama…a giant movie poster of Indie…many moons ago… And so it was…channeling this inner super hero…daring sidekick Mr. leading the quest…the hunt was on…for the elusive…man socks… Not just any man socks…had to be the perfect man socks…the same kind…as those relics…in the drawer…once dug up at the local JC Penney’s…that site now is bare… Fought our way through department stores…novelty shops…big box shops…could not find…the treasured apparel… Our sock expert…Soxpert…was not satisfied…with any of the finds…too thick…too tall…too short…too loose…too tight…wrong color… The expedition lasted months…might as well have had to fight off snakes…and boulders…and ghouls…as grueling as it became… Soxpert felt doomed…but then an idea struck…time to turn to modern technology…letting Google take on the crusade… Search…find…and click… And this companion of his…agreed… This old gal…
Is flabbergasted…such fond memories…of that slumber party years ago…the life changing Velveeta dolloped pizza…fun with friends…only to find out…it was all a lie…ok…not all a lie…just the Velveeta part a lie… This friend of mine relaying a message…that the slumber party indeed was exactly as remembered…except that her mom…never used Velveeta dollops…on our supper… What is this madness…or is this the onset of madness…but no…it’s not age…as slumber party mom has been credited for the dollops for over 30 years… Can’t be trauma…unless the gooey goodness could be so gooey…and so good…it overrides normal memory… Not gonna over think it…don’t want to consider that 60 years of memories…might be a little mushy and gooey…much like those melty blobs…this old gal loves so much… Just gonna say…somewhere along the line…all those wonderful times…with friends…melded together…in one big mental scrapbook…the cellophane tape loosening a bit here and there…causing an over lap of favorites…over time… Sounds legit… And this husband of mine…agrees… |
This Old Gal
Devoted Wife Magical Mom Retired Teacher Embracing life's grand adventures with humor and grace. Archives
July 2024
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