Friday the 13th

I have always thought of that as a lucky day, superstition be damned, because 13 was Scotts racing number and it worked for him and I don't know about luck but it was a good day.

May I just say that despite the fact that I have tons of time to write at work, I really hate this fucking job? I don’t know how the vendor does it day in and day out, it’s about to send me over the edge and I’ve only been at it for 5 weeks. It’s not even the lack of a paycheck; it’s the early morning hours which I detest. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a morning person and these chipper morning people make me nauseous.

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, let’s move on. I have talked to McYummy and he will be in Lost Wages, err, I mean Las Vegas, in November, sadly I cannot be. I suggested late March in Reno and he was planning to go to Wisconsin (I love the fact that the state name ends in sin, lol) to some big celebration his family is having but he said that he’d gone back there the last 3 years and maybe it was time for a change and Reno sounded like fun to him. So, Tab, maybe there will be more romance in the future to report for you about my McYummy. :D

Now that I have written a steamy letter to him, taking up about 7 pages of notebook paper and the better part of the day, let us move along once again.

We pulled up in front of moms house and she is still a night owl, too, cool, I am tired but glad we are not getting her out of bed. Jim and I were unloading my luggage from the truck to her porch when she came out and gave me the biggest hug and wouldn’t let me go. She remembered me and was happy I was there. What an awesome feeling to walk into when you are prepared for the worst. I might have been tired but more than that I was starving and couldn’t remember my last meal since they don’t serve them on planes anymore and the pretzels on the bus were not sustenance enough.

Mom wanted to ask questions and hug me to within an inch of my life and I wanted food—go figure. Jim had brought dinner over for me earlier, knowing my appetite and was helpful in getting mom to let me fill a plate and do some scarfing before he went home. My memory is not the best, but mom has a hard time remembering beyond 3 minutes so I was beginning to answer the same questions I would answer for the next 5 days. I felt so bad for her and yet she was still fun since she doesn’t remember to get mad.

Along about 1 in the morning, east coast time, I was ready for bed. Mom was not ready, however and even though I climbed in bed, she hung out in my room and showed me stuff that was stored in the closet, I think just to be there with me. Finally she asked again how long I was going to be there and I told her that the next night I was going to be out late with Amber and stay with her the one night and I’d be back for 3 days. It was nice to hunker down under the covers and drift off to sleep in moms house.

The next morning I got up and everything was all quiet and I didn’t want to disturb mom so I went to the kitchen to make coffee, being the coffee ho I am. Here is the sad thing- mom has a little 4 cup coffee pot but she obviously doesn’t drink coffee anymore, mostly because she doesn’t remember that she likes coffee so doesn’t think to make any. Which is not a bad thing but I couldn’t find any filters to make myself some coffee. I finally opted to use a paper towel and I had my own Hawaiian coffee and grinder with me so I commenced making my morning brew. Mom came into the kitchen and I told her I’d share my coffee with her but she said she had her own to make, hazelnut, though she never did make any. Grabbed my cup of joe and headed out to the front porch to have a smoke and let the dog out. Mom eventually came out after she got dressed and we chatted a few minutes before she said she was hot and needed to put on something cooler and went into the house. Maybe 5 minutes later she came out, same clothes, with her wallet in her hand, sat down and started going through it, asking me what every single card was and what they were for and then she would ask me if I knew her mom had passed away. Yes, mom, I know, that was 7 years ago and I’m still sorry. This would be the pattern for our time together.

That afternoon Amber called to see what time we should head out for the concert and I told her what time the gates opened and whenever she wanted to go I would be ready. When she picked me up mom didn’t want me to leave but I reassured her I would be back the next morning and all hers for the next 3 days. She looked so sad but said she was happy I would be back. Amber asked how my visit was going and I had to confess it was fine, really. We talked about how hard it was when she didn’t recognize us, Amber in person and me on the phone and then we were off and reminiscing about the “old days” and coffee at the Village Inn by the lake back home. We stopped at a convenience store so I could get some water and a lotto ticket then we were off to the concert.

The whole time I was traveling this heat wave seemed to follow me. In New Hampshire that equates to high humidity, keep this in mind.

We got in line, went through the gates and stopped for something they call fried dough. It has a Hawaiian counterpart of sorts called a Malasada and though I like them, I am more apt to go in search of a funnel cake, mmmm. Amber bought me one of these lard filled fats and we got more water and sat down to munch. After awhile we went in to find our seats and it was just too darn hot and humid to sit there so we meandered out by the food and souvenir kiosks until it was time for the show to begin.

First up was this group called “the working title” and I rather enjoyed them, they seemed to fit well with the type of tunes I so love the counting crows for. When they were done, the Goo Goo Dolls came on and the lead singer, I shit you not, had a striking similarity to Jon Bon Jovi, maybe it was the haircut, I don’t know, but I thought of Nutzy. And that was okay until I decided that I needed air again and to go pee and figured with them onstage it would be a great time to go. Of course, the minute I left the seating area (under this humongous tarp) they started singing “Iris” and I was a little bummed at the timing but soon realized that I could actually hear them more clearly from outside the seating area.

After I finished in the rest room I went back to one of the little kiosks near the front gate for a cup of coffee and it was so much cooler there and I could hear perfectly so I sat at a picnic bench there for awhile and decided to see if I could check my voicemail. I got a signal and checked and there was some message from Eric about Oscar being dead and the tank being really cloudy and he didn’t know what happened to Richard. So I called and he said that Richard said he would be back to clean it out but had never returned so I told him that unless he wanted to be smelling it for a week until I got home, he should go ahead and clean it out or at least take Oscar out and dispose of him. Bummer. Then I started feeling guilty about leaving Amber there all by herself so I headed back in.

Well kids, the day here is almost done so until later (Monday?), love love to you all…….