Pie
MorePie
Fourth of July
Banjo Man
Glen the Banjo Man
on the rocks
Meet Lynda (from Idaho and California) and Barbara (from Texas and Oregon), who were enjoying a short New England road trip Wednesday. I caught up with them in Newport. Barbara and I had never met before, but we were wearing the same earrings! I piled them into my car and took them on a tour.
Here they are on the rocks of Brenton Point, right before Barbara (who had never seen the Atlantic Ocean before) scared the pants off me by stepping out onto the wet rocks to dip her toes into the ocean. I loved her enthusiasm but I was worried about her, um, drowning.
I thought I scared them when I yelped. But they’re used to flying in small planes and aren’t afraid of anything.
Here they are returning from a quick peek of the ocean from the Forty Steps on the Cliff Walk. They would go on to eat lobster salad overlooking Narragansett Bay, walk on sandy, safe beaches and see a huge rainbow before heading to Connecticut.
I hope they come back and stay longer next time!
Posted in friends, rhode island
2 Comments
pretending
Last night we picked up the new-to-us “salsa red” Toyota Highlander. Banjo Man drove it home from New London and I, driving the old Mazda, had stops to make on the way home. By the time we got home, we barely had enough time for cabbage soup and salads before “Survivor” started.
So we waited until this morning (7:00!!!) to play “Pretend Road Trip”.
And yes, it was my idea, but Banjo Man went along with it. There were rules, I told him: travel cups for the coffee, music in the cd player, seat belts fastened and the heated seats turned on. We were in Montana, it was a chilly June morning and we were about to get on the road and leave the Hampton Inn behind.
Here is a photo of me sitting in a heated seat. If you pretend your ass is warm, you can play “Pretend Road Trip” too.
Posted in rhode island
1 Comment
the last fitting
The bride’s dress has been hemmed. It’s perfect.
The shoes have been purchased. They’re perfect.
Flower in her hair? Yep. Perfect.
And–ta da!–we found the most perfect earrings. Little silver dangly glittery balls.
Two months to go!!!!
And no, I don’t have my dress yet. Give me a few more weeks to let my gray hair grow in.
Posted in wedding
Leave a comment
a done deal
After a marathon car-shopping day, Banjo Man and I found our dream car. Up at 5 AM, armed with Consumer Reports, on-line research, dealer inventory print-outs and coffee, we set out to actually drive cars.
Imagine that.
We were shopping for a used car. We knew how much we could spend. We knew we wanted 4wd, V-6 engine, comfy seats, a roomy interior, safety features, a clean Carfax report and a high reliability rating from consumer magazines.
So here’s the MorePie Summary:
Mazda Cx-9: no, because the console was huge and annoying
Honda Pilot: no, because it was almost too big and the one we drove made a weird knocking noise
Rav4: passenger seat = torture chamber (this car was new; by this point in the day we were now considering leasing and Banjo Man was experiencing severe sticker shock).
And the winner is……..[insert ripping open the envelope sound]:
TOYOTA HIGHLANDER!!!!
Yep, we bought the “lonely little Toyota in the Volvo shop” at 5 PM Saturday.
(is anyone old enough to remember what song I’m paraphrasing????)
And you know what the best part is? HEATED SEATS!!!
Posted in rhode island, secondhand stuff
4 Comments
happy birthday, mom!
today is mom’s 86th birthday.
tomorrow we’re going to the “big suburbs” for massages and lunch, but i wanted to share some of my favorite photos with you today.
1943, high school graduation, New Orleans, LA (my mother has always been a true fashionista)
her handsome 19-year old Navy man
a southern gal’s one-and-only time on ice skates, 1945
with me, topless and with a new hairdo
with her son, who obviously had never seen a camera before
with her grandsons (mom worked in a library for 25+ years)
happy birthday!!!!!!!
Posted in family, rhode island
3 Comments
easter in montana long ago
Did Nancy Ball really say I had to wear these ears????
if it’s spring
It’s the season. Banjo Man is car-shopping again.
This time I am enabling him. Aiding and abetting. I am, surprisingly, his partner in crime.
Because…I secretly (and now, not so secretly) want a van for this summer’s road trip. I want room, baby! I want to be able to open the rear passenger door without a basket of cd’s and my sneakers dropping to the pavement. I want to be able to ride west without maps and banana peels and half-empty water bottles bumping my ankles. I want Banjo Man to have a place to lie down in the back so he can take afternoon naps and I can drive and listen to talk radio and eat potato chips and drink bad-for-me diet Coke in total isolation.
[It is always better to indulge one’s strange habits in private, rather than subjecting your spouse to them, which is why Banjo Man eats sardines in his workshop.]
And when I get to where I’m going, when I’m hauling laundry, groceries, garbage and band equipment, I want to be able to do it all at the same time. I think. Three out of four, anyway.
At first Banjo Man thought he wanted something with great gas mileage, something small like the Subaru Impreza. I sat in one. He sat in a Honda Fit. Hmmm…..great cars but maybe not for 3000 miles in 6 days? We want to stay married for a while longer so we can someday pool our Social Security checks and go to the early bird specials at Applebee’s.
Neither of us really want to spend the money on something brand new. But the Mazda5 mini-mini-van is/was tempting.
We succumbed–for a couple of days– to our former dumber-than-grass car-shopping days when we were always optimistic about buying something used. Really used. I had visions of a Mazda MPV minivan (Will has a high-mileage MPV in Texas for driving 4 miles a day to work), one with low miles and lots of room, but the “low miles” feature is hard to find, especially when the vans stopped being made in 2006.
So for the first time in a year we are going together to a car dealer tonight. So far we’ve made our little research trips separately, which is how we’ve stayed married for 40+ years.
[It is always better to annoy the car salesman than your spouse, though it doesn’t often happen that way.]
Banjo Man is eying used Toyota Ravs. I like those, too. I’d love to have 4WD. And I like sitting up high (which is why I love my truck). My if-I-won-the-lottery car would be a fancy Subaru Outback with heated seats. I also drooled over the new Mazda CV (CX?) 5, but the reviews said it’s not so good on steep hills. And if you’ve ever driven down/up our summer driveway, you know the definition of “steep hill.”
btw, this new Mazda has something called “hill assist”, which I can’t wait to ask the salesman about. I picture a Sumo wrestler popping out of the cargo area and pushing the car up the slope.
“Hey, Mr. Ito? We’re heading up the mountain for band practice. You have enough water back there?”
Then again, depending on how our shopping trip goes tonight, we might end up this way again.
As long as we get to where we’re going, we’re gonna be happy.
Posted in family, rhode island, road trip
1 Comment
silent star trek moment
We skyped Tuesday night. First time ev-uh!!
It was quite exciting. Banjo Man and I were staring into the computer monitor at our little family in Texas as if we hadn’t seen them in years (instead of days). We smiled and giggled and pointed at each other and generally acted silly while the Texas camera unexplainedly zoomed in and out (my grandson may have been pushing something on the keyboard).
We even waved at the dog.
Unfortunately none of us on either computer could hear each other. We had a technical glitch with the sound. OR we need to buy microphones. We never did figure it out, so we’re going to have to work on it a little more. So we talked on the phone while we acted as if we were watching each other on that big TV screen on the Enterprise.
What’s coming next? Teleportation?????
If so, this grandmother can’t wait!
Posted in family, grandmother stuff
2 Comments
