On the road again…..

Have spent the last five days visiting a friend in the San Jose area. She has a lovely home perched high on a hilltop overlooking the entire Santa Clara valley. A view that stretches nearly to Santa Cruz on a clear day.

What a good time we’ve had, doing nothing really. One day we spent doing “girl things”. On my first day here we had our nails done, then we went to lunch and did some Christmas shopping. On another we ran errands and she cooked a delicious dinner which we ate like royalty on china atop chargers in her gorgeously appointed dining room. Her taste runs far more formal than mine. I guess you might say she’s a city mouse, and I lean towards being a country mouse.

Though I love living in a less populated area, it is nice to feel the hustle and bustle of the city for a few days. Having lived in this area off and on over the years I can still find my way around without a problem, and know where to go to scare up a good meal or enjoy a day in the stores. Yesterday we went to Santana Row. Santana Row is a very upscale shopping area in West San Jose catering to people with large bank accounts and expensive tastes. I have the latter. Whether you can afford to buy the luxury items for sale in their lovely shops or not, it is a glorious place to go and browse and enjoy Sunday brunch. The streets are lined with eateries and most have set up outdoor dining areas for customers to eat el fresco. As opposed to where I live where they’ve gotten very unmasked, everyone is wearing a mask here. All stores or restaurants have posted mask mandates on their entrance doors. I guess this varies according to county. Sometimes I wish lawmakers would get on the same page and make a decision which applies to everyone. I don’t know about you but I would like to see news about this virus disappearing in my rear view mirror.

I think I’m still suffering from “grief brain”. It is a real thing. I went through it after Rick passed away as well. People talk to you, and though you process the information, most likely it will be gone like it was written in disappearing ink in the blink of an eye. Also, doing stupid things becomes more the norm then the exception. Yesterday I looked at my calendar for this week. Three appointments were noted on tomorrow’s date, all around the same time. Hmmmmmm. I hope my cloning appointment is first in line. One of them is an hour and a half massage my son and his girlfriend gave me for my birthday. No, they didn’t actually give me a massage, they gave me a gift certificate to get one a a local spa. Remembering they had an on-line appointment function on their website, I went on and moved the appointment up a week to a more convenient day. This is the second time I’ve changed this appointment. I believe I am avoiding it subliminally, or maybe just blatantly. I have never had a professional massage. Makes me a bit squirrely at the thought of it. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it, people do all the time, but there’s something about it that makes me pause. Perhaps it’s the idea of a stranger touching my unadorned self. Could be that.

Content that I had my week back in line, I went back in the kitchen to pour a second cup of coffee. Taking a sip, my mind suddenly clicked into gear. I believe I actually heard it engage. Perhaps it was the caffeine finally hitting my bloodstream. In that moment of clarity, I realized I had changed my appointment to that morning two hours forward rather than next week. Man. Sooooo, when they opened I had to get them on the line and explain I was apparently having a mental breakdown. Thankfully, they were good about it and rearranged the appointment to the time I had meant to change it to. Whew. Seriously, I need a keeper these days.

Tomorrow I turn my car towards home again. Boo has had a house sitter for company, so will be glad to see me I’m sure but not totally unsettled as she would be if left to her own devices. Well, in truth I can’t speak for the cat, for all I know she hasn’t even noticed I was gone. I still have to finish my Christmas shopping this week and wrap what I’ve bought. Next year I’m going to look at this program. My extended family has grown with the addition of Dale’s lovely family so I have to curtail the gift giving and look at another way of sending my love. Either that or marry well before next December shows up on the calendar.

Happy hump day. Cya when I get home.