What A Happy, Happy Day!

I finished my goals in computer work (e-mails, tweaking website, etc) by 6:30 a.m., and, although I still have tons of editing to do on the Stacy Letters, I said to hell with it and went outside for yard work.

The grass was too wet to mow so I spent the day dabbling in my neighbors swimming pool doing the preliminary cleaning for Spring.

Then, because of the extra classes she’s been teaching, Ginny came home early. I was so happy to see her! We drove up to Dave’s for a late lunch together.

We found the dinner aswarm with activity. The waiters, Homer, Chris, Mark & Eddie, were already hyper about getting off by 3 o’clock, but a well-dressed, classy young woman appeared just before closing and talked with Eddie, who owns the place I think, a bit and when she left, the guys told us that she’d brought contracts for him to sign: Dave’s is to be used as a set for some movie being filmed in Jacksonville!

The guys were exuberant. They are all convinced that the movie director will notice their obvious talent and sign them on as movie stars. They were singing and dancing and cutting the fool, and acting giddy over the prospects.

They plan to refurbish Dave’s for the movie. They will close a few days next week to paint the outside and ceiling and to mop and wax the floors.

I teased that to really spiff the place up good they might even go so far as to wash the dishes; all too often the lipstick on the coffee cup is not my shade.

It was such a delight for us to see them all so happy.

To get to my handkerchief, I’d put the tin matchbox I’d made for this week on the table and Mark noticed the bear picture on the cover. (For my pipe I use wooden matches and make a new box for them every week or so.)

Mark admired this one because he collects bears and such. So -– after checking to see that the bikini girl on the inside lid was suitable for someone of his tender years (She was modestly covered) — I gave it to him.

This made him even happier, but he was concerned that Ginny might see the bikini girl. She got tickled and assured him that she certainly knows she’s been married to a dirty old man for 35 years.

Jeanette, a very elderly regular at Dave’s, came in and was glad to see us as usual. Poor thing can hardly hobble. But the guys were heart set on closing up shop on time and fussed at her for coming in so late.

Ginny & I went outside to sit on the brick wall to smoke and we resumed the same running conversation we’ve been having for 35 years:

Today we talked about books, children, gardening, car repairs, sex, websites, history, television, FAMUS, SAMUS, summer camps, a seminar she’s attending next week, the pope’s dying, weather reports, restaurants, Bible stories, matchboxes, grocery shopping, weekend plans, Ted Koppel’s leaving Nightline – and on and on. All the things we've been too busy to talk about during the week.

It was wonderful.

Back home, she went in her office to pay bills while I answered e-mail. Another super thunderstorm with house-shaking lightening came up so we had to turn off computers.

We went to Woody’s BBQ for our usual Friday Night Date and kept talking. We’d intended to rent a couple of Blockbuster movies but we had so much fun talking and it got so late that we decided to come home and watch a West Wing video of our own and fell asleep holding hands on the sofa – end of a great and happy day.