Blog envy

I have blog envy. Its a condition for which no pill or treatment exists. Fortunately its not terminal and I plan to fight back.

I read other blogs that are truly entertaining. Some share personal feelings about current events and politics, while others find a way to make everyday occurrences sound hilarious. Then cut to my blog, which reads like a wordy teenager's diary. "After breakfast and showers, we went here, and then we went there..." I really want my blog to be more than that.

I think I can be kind of funny. I tell stories and jokes that cause most people to laugh. People seem to enjoy themselves while conversing with me, so why doesn't all that personality shine through in my blog?

Maybe I don't spend enough time on my posts. Maybe I need to starting making a list of interesting or funny things to write about.

I'm going to try and turn up the volume on this blog!

Drag Queen name of the day: Iona Trailer

Highlights

Doug & Jim aren't our only friends from DC spending a week's vacation here at the beach. On Thurs night we had dinner at Striper Bites with Michelle & Shannon. They were staying at Broadkill beach this week, about 15 minutes from Lewes, with Michelle's family. Gosh, it had been a long time since we'd seen them! But we had a lovely time talking, laughing, catching up, and trying to predict the future of our messed up country.

Earlier on Thurs I went to my new optometrist for my annual eye exam. "So, you ran out of contacts" my aunt teased me, knowing my reluctance to go to any doctors for routine or preventative measures. But my new eye doctor is close by and very nice. I hadn't realized the doctor was going to dilate my pupils, resulting in an inability to read for about 3 hours. Ooops, guess I'd better not schedule those kinds of appointments for 10:30 in the morning on a work day anymore. So I was forced into taking an extra long lunch hour, which included a 20 minute nap and some TV time, since I was unable to focus enough to read. But good news: my advancing age has caused my near-sightedness to improve a little.

On Fri evening Spouse & I went to the grocery store to pick up last minutes stuff for our weekend guests, then we met Rick & Nick and assorted other diners at the Miltonian restaurant for our regular Fri night dinner. We got home from the grocery store with just enough time to put away the groceries before leaving for dinner. I'd arranged for our weekend guests to call my cell phone when they'd crossed the Bay Bridge, but we finished dinner and were on our way home before my phone finally indicated that I had a voice mail message. Then I remembered that I don't get cell coverage in Milton! Our friends left 2 messages, and we got home less than 5 minutes before they arrived!

We've known Ron & James and Mike & Clark for about 10 years. We all used to go to the same church and began doing things socially shortly after meeting. They are great friends with whom we'll always stay in touch, regardless of where we live. We used to spend occasional weekends together at a guesthouse in Lost River, WV. Then in 2003 when we had our vintage 1955 mobile home in Lewes the 4 of them came with us to spend a weekend. It was so much fun we did it again in 2004. Then in 2005 and 2006 we shared a weekend together at our beach house, and now that we live in Lewes full time, we saw no reason not to continue the tradition of spending a weekend together.

When everyone arrived on Fri night we showed them around the house, got them settled in their rooms, and had cocktails and snacks while talking until 1am. After breakfast Sat morning we walked to the farmers market and milled around some of the stores in Lewes, had lunch at the Blue Plate Diner, then walked to the bay and had a frosty treat at Dairy Queen before walking back home. We watched "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" which we all found entertaining. Its the one-sided story of Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner. I found it ironic that it happened to be the next DVD in my queue, when she had died just a week before. That night we had dinner at Serendipity on the Indian River. After a leisurely breakfast Sun morning we headed out for a little tax-free shopping, then had lunch. It really wasn't 'beach weather', which was just as well since Ron & James and Mike & Clark aren't much for hanging out at the beach. We bid our friends goodbye at about 3pm, then relaxed for a while.

Sun afternoon we had a rather strong thunderstorm, complete with lightening and heavy rain. We'd been invited to a barbecue that afternoon but had decided not to go due to the weather. But around 4pm Rick & Nick called and talked us into going anyway, since the venue would have a tent and a 'studio' in case the rain kept up. So we met Rick & Nick and went to the barbecue and had a nice time. The band was really good. We got home around 7pm. Spouse was surfing the internet and I watched home improvement/decorating/design shows on TV the rest of the night. The storm ended, but the rain continued on and off the rest of the night.

Today it has been very humid, with intermittent rain showers, just the kind of weather to match a Monday where I can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm in slow motion all day.

Drag Queen name of the day: Angie O'Plasty

When a plan comes together

I love it when a plan comes together.

Back in May we made plans with our friends Paul & Steve to take a day trip back to DC to eat good Thai food and see a show. There's no Thai restaurants near us, to say nothing about 'good' Thai restaurants, and since Spouse & I had been missing our fave in Arlington, it seemed like a great idea. We checked the Wolf Trap calendar and bought tickets to see Natalie Cole.

I was slightly apprehensive about Wolf Trap (ie: outdoor venue) in mid-late July. The last 2 years in a row Spouse & I have gone to Wolf Trap in July when it was very hot and extremely humid. We were so uncomfortable that it really took away from the enjoyment of the show. But since there weren't any acts I'd like to see as much as Natalie Cole, I decided to go with it.

We arrived at Paul & Steve's on time, which is amazing in and of itself, then headed west. The traffic was quite good all the way into DC on New York Ave. Spouse & I were pretty amazed. We did get stuck in a little traffic on 395 S, but when the lanes peeled away at a fork in the highway, so did the congested traffic. We slipped right down the road with ease.

The next obstacle I anticipated was parking at the restaurant. The Thai Square is in a little strip center on Columbia Pike and has no parking lot; just street parking. Many times in the past the parking has been very limited, forcing us to circle the block several times or look for street parking in the adjacent crowded residential area. But yesterday we pulled right into a metered parking space right in front of the restaurant! 'TV parking', as we call it. I looked in the coin drawer of the CRV and grabbed several quarters for the meter. We had a fantastic dinner and Paul & Steve really enjoyed their food a lot. I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed this gem of a restaurant.

We left the restaurant a few minutes later than planned, but I wasn't worried since we'd built in some extra time into our schedule. Since we were so close, we drove them by our 1st house and recounted some of the 'stories' of having purchased the foreclosed home, still full of other people's stuff. Then we drove them by the last house we lived in (which we still own) on the way to Wolf Trap. Rather than take a chance on Rt 66 and the Dulles Toll Road being congested (almost a certainty) we took the back roads through McLean, which is far more scenic anyway, and made it to Wolf Trap with lots of time to spare.

The temperature had cooled a bit and there was a charming breeze as we walked from the parking lot to the entrance. The humidity was still low and we were very comfortable. I was happy but amazed. The concert was really good and we all enjoyed it very much.

As we walked back to the car I was mentally preparing myself for a 15-20 minute wait just to exit the parking lot. This had been our experience the last 2 times we'd been to Wolf Trap. But miraculously, most of the traffic appeared to be waiting to exit to the right and we needed to exit to the left, so we slipped right out of the parking lot in under 5 minutes.

The drive back to DE was easy and uneventful, although we enjoyed good conversations the entire way. Everything just seemed to come together perfectly for us, and I'm still having trouble believing its all true.

I love it when a plan comes together!

Drag Queen name of the day: Carla I. Dee

Amazing!

We have been experiencing the most AMAZING weather! Its hard to believe its mid-late July. On Fri it was in the upper 70s, sunny, and very low humidity. We turned the a/c off and opened the windows.

The floral arrangement I'd designed and ordered was delivered to Spouse's office and he really like it. Fri evening we met Rick & Nick (and a few other friends) for dinner. Instead of my original plan for birthday candles in individual desserts for Spouse's birthday, Rick & Nick offered to pick up a cake and secretly brought it into the restaurant when he wasn't looking. I brought glitter-y candles, which I secretly slipped to Rick under the table. When we'd finished our meal, all of the wait staff came out singing 'Happy Birthday' and placed the cake in front of Spouse. It wasn't too much of being the center of attention, which he doesn't like.

Sat morning we made our weekly pilgrimage to the Lewes farmers market, then had bagels and coffee for breakfast on the screened porch. Jordan and Pouncer enjoyed being on the screened porch with me while I read a magazine. In the afternoon Spouse & I went to the beach. It was magnificent! Then we showered, had a quick dinner at home, and headed into Rehoboth for the Follies.

Our original plan was to have dinner out and then go see 'Hairspray', but Rick & Nick gave us their complimentary tickets to the Follies since they were unable to go. The Follies is a fundraiser where local groups of friends or business associates put on skits and are judged. We attended 2 years ago and it was pretty amusing, but this year's was really bad. You'd think with a bunch of gay men involved, the singing would be great, the costumes would be fabulous and the production would be tight - but no. We decided to leave during the intermission.

It was such a gorgeous night that we walked down to the boardwalk, ran into some neighbors, and then walked back to the car. What a dreamy night for a ride with the top down. We watched a Netflix DVD when we got home, and went to bed at 1:00 am. It was great to feel the breeze from the open windows while we slept.

Sun morning we slept until 11:00 am! After a quick breakfast we began cleaning the house, then we met Rick & Nick at the beach for another magnificent day. Sun night we met up with Doug & Jim, our friends from VA who were vacationing in Rehoboth this week, for drinks at Aqua and dinner at Fusion. As usual, the downtown Rehoboth restaurant was much like the others we've tried: very expensive and mediocre food. But we had a nice time with our friends. On Tues we're going to pick them up in the convertible and ride out to Oak Orchard to eat at Serendipity, which backs to the Indian River. What a gorgeous view! And unlike all those downtown Rehoboth restaurants, Serendipity has delicious food at reasonable prices.

Drag Queen name of the day: Callie Fornia

Birthday

Today is Spouse's birthday.

A few weeks ago I offered to host a birthday party for him, but he said he'd rather not. He hates being the center of attention. So instead, I'm doing some other nice things in honor of his special day.

Since he loves flowers I ordered an arrangement to be sent to his office today. I think having the flowers arrive at his office makes them even more extra special. Plus, it shows his straight colleagues that straights are not the only ones who get floral deliveries for their birthdays. He'll be sitting there in his office, doing some sort of work, when all the sudden the delivery person shows up at his office door with the arrangement. Surprise! Even though he knows its his birthday, the unexpected distraction from his work to accept the floral delivery will likely be a bit of a surprise.

Tonight we're meeting Rick & Nick (and likely some other friends) for dinner at the Miltonian. I thought about having a birthday cake at dinner, but couldn't figure out a way to get the cake to the restaurant without Joe seeing it. So instead I've opted to bring a box of birthday candles in my pocket. Toward the end of the meal, I'll excuse myself to go to the restroom but instead I'll give the box of candles to the waitress and ask her to bring 3 or 4 desserts to our table with the lit candles in them.

The plan for tomorrow night is for us to have dinner out somewhere and then go to the movies and see "Hairspray". We both love John Waters' original movie and have watched it several times on TV. For Spouse's birthday 3 years ago we went on a cruise to Canada which left out of NYC. We stayed in NYC an extra day and went to see "Hairspray" the musical on Broadway. It was great! So the opening of "Hairspray" the movie/musical tonight is great, and going to see it tomorrow will be a part of the extended birthday celebration.

Drag Queen name of the day: Norma Lee

Success!

I took my convertible to the dealership this morning to have the console switch replaced that raises and lowers the roof. They did it, and I was able to drive home with the roof down! Success!!!

It took a while to get my beloved car back in shape, starting with the passenger door, then the plastic window in the roof, and now the roof switch - life is a little slower here than in DC - but it is certainly worth it. I love my car.

Drag Queen name of the day: Holly Daze

Spells

Sat morning as I was talking to Mother-in-law and drinking coffee at the kitchen table I felt the onset of a 'vertigo-like' spell. I excused myself and went to the bedroom and laid on the bed. That's pretty much where I spent the rest of the day, with the exception of a few trips to the bathroom to puke.

The 'vertigo-like' spells don't happen very often (thank god) and over the years they've gotten less severe. The one this past Sat was not that bad. Its just a little worrisome because I never know when one is going to happen, nor do I have any idea what causes them.

The first one happened in 1984 (I think) while I was on a cruise with several friends. I happened to be alone at the time, when all of the sudden I felt flushed, dizzy, and nauseous. Thinking I might hurl at any minute, I went into the closest restroom, which happened to be near a lounge. With perspiration pouring off me, I sat on the bathroom floor with my head over the toilet and puked until my stomach was empty, and then I puked some more. I figured I must be sea sick. Then I noticed a tingling sensation in my hands and feet. Still hot, dizzy, and nauseous I continued to sit on the bathroom floor, waiting for it all to subside. Instead, the tingling sensation spread up my arms and legs. I realized I was unable to stand up. It was as if my legs and arms were paralyzed. The next time someone came into the bathroom I asked them (from my stall) to get some help. I was taken to the 'sick bay' where a doctor asked me 100 times if I'd been drinking. He placed a pill on my tongue and had me take a sip of water to wash it down. I repeated to him that I'd been throwing up, but he said the pill should help. Less than a minute later I threw up the pill and water. The tingling spread throughout my entire body and I had difficulty breathing so they put an oxygen mask on me to make breathing easier. Still, the sweating, dizziness, and nausea continued... for 30 hours. When my symptoms finally began to subside the oxygen was stopped and I was moved back to my room, and my friends took turns checking in on me every hour. Eventually all the symptoms were gone.

The next time I recall having a spell was in 1992. I was eating a late dinner with friends at Denny's when all the sudden I was struck by that heat flash, dizziness, and nausea. My balance was so bad off that I thought I was falling to the right, so I tried to compensate by leaning to the left, which resulted in me falling out of the banquet and onto the floor. I told my friends I was going to be sick and to help me to the bathroom. They did, and I puked like crazy until my stomach was empty, and then I had dry heaves for a while. Again, the tingling and numbness started to make my limbs useless to me. I got my friends to carry me to the car, drive me home, and put me to bed. One of my friends stayed overnight, just in case. The next day I was back to normal.

The third time was in 1994. The alarm had gone off and I was getting out of bed when all of the sudden I felt the flush, dizziness, and nausea. Again, I puked in the bathroom, but did not have much of the tingling sensation this time; I never lost the ability to walk or move my hands and arms. This was much less severe than the first 2 times. I stayed in bed all day and by dinner time I was able to eat and keep down a little soup and crackers. The next day it was if nothing had happened.

The fourth time was in 1995. I was on vacation at the Outer Banks of NC, lying on the sofa watching a movie one night when the symptoms started. This was much like the third time. After puking I went to bed, and the next day I was fine.

This last time was similar to the 3rd and 4th time. I'm basically wrecked for the day, but feel completely fine the next day.

After the 1994 spell I went to the doctor and described what had happened. The doctor didn't seem to match my symptoms to any known illness or condition but said he'd take a blood sample and see if any levels came up abnormal. He later reported that all levels were normal, and suggested I come back the next time a spell occurs so I could be checked then. This is rather impractical since there's not much chance I'd be anywhere near the doctor's office the next time it happened.

In 2005 I had my first routine physical in many years, and took the opportunity to tell my new doctor about the spells. I was really surprised that she didn't seem to think much of them. It seemed as if I were reporting some 'inconvenience' rather than a possible treatable medical condition. Every friend or family member I've told about the spells has been much more concerned than either of my doctors. One friend suggested vertigo so I'm going to research that. But I'm also going to make an appointment with a new doctor, here in DE, and discuss it with him/her.

Drag Queen name of the day: Phyllis Inn

Auto update

Yesterday I took my BMW convertible to the BMW dealer so they could diagnose the trouble with the roof operation. This was the 3rd place to which I've taken it. Fortunately it was a productive visit.

The service advisor was this nice young man named Brian who reminded me SO MUCH of my friend Michael of the Newlyweds. He had the same body shape, haircut, manner of speaking, and even wears glasses like Michael. I explained the symptoms I'd been having as well as the other 2 attempts to have it diagnosed and fixed. I also told him I'd like an estimate for replacing the plastic window in the roof. I told him that since the dealership is 30 minutes from Lewes and I had no way to get back home, I would wait for the estimates. He said he should be able to get back to me in about an hour.

I strolled around outside, looking at the 'pre-owned' cars (nobody says 'used' cars anymore) on the lot, since Spouse & I have been hoping to trade in our Civic and Suburban. But everything they had was very recent and out of our price range, so I returned to the customer waiting area and started reading the book I'd brought.

A little over an hour later, Brian advised me that the trouble with the roof operation was the switch in the console. I'd suspected the switch and the 1st place I'd taken the car to had begun to replace it but told me that wasn't the problem. But I believed Brian, since his place had the technology to troubleshoot with accuracy. The good news was that the switch, labor, and fee to diagnose was only about $100. The bad news was that they didn't have the switch in stock, so they would have to order it and I'll have to bring the car back next Thurs.

Brian then told me the price to replace the plastic window and said that they had one in stock. I asked if they could go ahead and install it, since I was already there, and he said yes. He said it could take as much as 3 hours, but I suspected it would take less because I'd already gotten an estimate for this from another place and they said it would take just over an hour. Apparently that other shop was really familiar with how to do it, because it took the BMW place the full 3 hours. Fortunately I'd brought that book or I'd have been bored to tears. So Thurs I drove home with my new, crystal clear back plastic window. The original lasted for almost 12 years.

When Spouse came home he tossed some ingredients into the electric pressure cooker and we slipped down to Rehoboth to look at the new 'pre-owned' cars that had just arrived at his buddy Mark's car lot. A sliver 2001 Mercedes ML 320 and a silver 2004 Honda CRV caught our eyes.
Fri morning Joe called Mark and made an appointment to meet him at the lot at 1:00, while I got in touch with the credit union to see about a low interest car loan.

We met Mark at the lot and test drove both SUVs. We liked them both, but after not much deliberation we made a decision to buy the 2004 Honda CRV. It was a quick and painless transaction. Mark took both of our trades and put cardboard temporary plates on the CRV while we collected our personal stuff our of the Civic and Suburban, then we drove it home.

We ate dinner, packed a bag and tossed it and the dog into the CRV and headed back to DC for the weekend. We laughed out loud when we recalled buying the Suburban 4 years ago, on a Fri evening, and then immediately driving it to Lewes for the weekend.

Here's our new 'pre-owned' car:
Drag Queen name of the day: Anna Versary

Bits 'n pieces

Here are some bits 'n pieces for a Wed:

• A friend sent me an email with a link in it to an article about an Indian prince whose come out of the closet. Apparently he is the first and only Indian royalty to admit to being gay.
• Another friend sent me an article about a young boy with HIV who was banned from swimming in a public pool. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. It is said that people contract HIV from unprotected sex, blood transfusions, and intravenous drug use. But if the little boy has a cut or scrape and some of his blood gets into the pool, would YOU want to swim there?
• Last night Spouse & I had dinner with new friends Bill & Dean where the conversation turned to families and religion. Dean made a comment about how 'religion sees no grey area; everything is either black or white', and I really identified with that. Surely the religion I grew up with (and the religion my family still abides by) teaches this, despite all the many 'colors' of humanity.
• I was helping one of my colleagues with a client and learned that one of the contacts at the clients is named Sweety. This tickled me.
• Tomorrow morning I'm taking my convertible to the BMW dealership to have the roof operation problem diagnosed. Wish me luck and low estimate.

Drag Queen name of the day: Barbra Shoppe

An old friend visits

My old friend Kathryn came for a visit. She and her cousin Tim arrived around 4pm on Fri, just as I was winding the cord back up on the vacuum cleaner.

I met Kathryn nearly 20 years ago where we both worked. For some reason, we became fast friends. I say "for some reason" because demographically speaking we don't appear to have much in common. I'm a white gay man and she is a black hetero woman. But we were born just 10 days apart and were raised by parents with similar child-rearing beliefs. We appreciate each others' sense of humor and seem to have a sort of intuition, like twins. I've even referred to her as my "twin sister from different parents".

After I showed them around the house (it was their 1st time here) and they put their things in their rooms, Spouse came home and the 4 of us sat and talked for a few hours. Then we joined Rick & Nick and a few others for dinner at the Miltonian Pizzeria and Wing House.

Sat morning we talked over coffee, then walked to the Lewes farmers market, then strolled threw the arts and crafts show. We returned to the house for brunch, talked some more, and then we went for a little drive around Lewes before stopping at the Timberland outlet on our way to Rehoboth where we met up with Rick & Nick again.

Rick & Nick were standing in line in a bookstore to get their photo taken and their book signed by Tim Gunn from Project Runway. Next we got an ice cream cone and watched people on the boardwalk. When we returned home we talked some more, took Jordan for a walk around the pond, then listened to some music before Kathryn and Tim packed their bags. They left at 9:00.

We had a great time, and Kathryn promised to come again when she can stay the entire weekend.

On Sun Spouse & I met Rick & Nick at the beach. It was kind of hot that day, but its always cooler and more breezy at the beach so it was just perfect.

It was another lovely weekend... livin' our dream.

Drag Queen name of the day: Brandy Alexander

Fantastic 4th

Yesterday has to be the best 4th of July I can remember.

First off, the weather was fantastic. The forecast originally called for showers, but it never even sprinkled. In the early morning it was overcast and more humid than the day before. But as the day went on the humidity seemed to go away and we had several periods of sunshine. The temperature was mild and it was fairly breezy, which I love.

Spouse made biscuits for breakfast so we ate them with our coffee on the screened porch. It was delightful, and the dog and cat really like being on the porch with us. Then I decided to vacuum all 3 vehicles. Since we are hoping to trade 2 of them in, I figured it would be good to clean them up now so it would already be done when our buddy lets us know he's found a suitable car for us. I disposed of all the trash and then vacuumed the seats, carpets and mats thoroughly. I talked Spouse into wiping down the dashboards, center consoles and other hard surfaces.

Then we walked to the canal and watched the 4th of July boat parade. It was cute - lots of different sizes and styles of boats, all decked out in red white and blue. Then we hopped on our bikes and rode a little ways to a church that appears to be in a building that was once something else. (It doesn't look like a church.) Our neighbor had told us his 1975 Caprice Classic convertible was going to be in a car show at the church so we went to see it, being the car lovers we are. It was a small show, probably only about 25-30 cars, but it was fun to see the cars, and biking to and fro was great as well. When we returned home we sat on the wrap-around porch facing the vacant, wooded lots across the street for quite a while, enjoying the heavenly breezes and hypothesizing about what the houses will look like that will one day occupy that land. (We learned that the land owner has finally gotten approval to build 3 houses that will face the street as well as his own private residence behind them, close to the border with the park.) Although I'd prefer the land remain unoccupied and wooded, Spouse said he's eager to see the houses built, which surprised me.

Then we showered and walked to Mike & Steve's house, located on Savannah Rd, the main drag leading into downtown. They had invited a lot of folks from the neighborhood for a cook-out and to watch the 'Doo-Dah' parade. Their backyard is lovely, filled with many varieties of plants and flowers; obviously many, MANY hours of work, but assumably they enjoy doing it. We got to meet LOTS of neighbors, which was really nice. The 'Doo-Dah' parade is not a Lewes sanctioned parade so the street isn't closed off. It was basically started a few years ago by a family who wanted to have a 4th of July parade, and lots of neighbors and friends quickly joined in. Anyone who wants can be in it and there's no application or advance notice required. So I've decided next year I am going to be in it! It was really cute; very informal and lasted about 10 minutes. All the folks from the cook-out spilled out onto the front porch, porch steps and yard to watch. Many other neighbors had similar cook-outs followed by parade viewings.

After walking home, feeding Jordan and taking her for a walk around the pond, we sat on the porch again and enjoyed the perfect weather. We'd pretty much decided we were NOT going to get caught up in all that chaos in Rehoboth just to see the fireworks, but sort of felt like we wanted to see some. Joe suggested we walk down to the bay at Lewes beach so I agreed. When we got there the parking lot was completely full (good thing we'd walked) and there were multiple people/groups setting off fireworks on the beach. Once again, this was not a Lewes sanctioned event but the police didn't try and stop it. It was great! We just sat on the beach and watched fireworks going off in several directions for nearly an hour. They had started before we got there, and were still going on when we left. It was great being so close, and of course the breeze and low humidity made the night just dreamy. We've decided this will be our new 4th of July fireworks watching tradition.

As we were walking home we saw one of the couples we'd met at the cook-out, George & Alan, feeding their cats on their front porch, so we stopped and chatted with them for a few minutes. They showed us their gorgeous and LARGE backyard (well, large by in-town Lewes standards) and they invited us to come and swim in their pool anytime. They also gave us some fresh catnip for Pouncer, which they grow. They are very nice and I can see us becoming good friends with them.

By the time we got home it was 10:30 so we changed into comfy clothes and went upstairs to watch TV. My legs felt like spaghetti from all the walking and bike riding. All the windows were open and we were continually caressed by lovely breezes. It was a magical day.

Today I called the BMW dealer and accepted the next available appointment for my car: next Thurs. Aagghh... yet another full week before I'll find out what is needed to fix my roof, likely followed by several more days of waiting for parts to be ordered and delivered.

Drag Queen name of the day: Doris Open

The weekend and more car woes

Sat morning we strolled over to the Lewes farmers market. Joe was disappointed that the bagel stand wasn't there, but we got blueberries again to make another cobbler.

We decided to go shopping in Dover. We went to Big Lots but didn't buy anything. It seems that none of the Big Lots locations I've been to carries the same great stuff as the Front Royal, VA location. But since its always hit-or-miss, we continue to go and see what's there. Next we went to Value City Department Store and as we walked in the door we were handed scratch and save cards. We both found some clothing and sandals. My scratch and save card gave me 10% off my entire purchase, and Spouse's card gave him 15% of his. Back in Lewes we stopped in at the Kirkland store and picked up a metal wall hanging on clearance for only $9.99.

After lunch Spouse took a nap and I organized my closet. I pulled out some containers I'd shoved in there just prior to having company a few months ago, and then began designing the space for the most efficient use. I was able to remove the rest of my stuff from Spouse's closet so now all my clothes and shoes are together in my closet. I love organizing things. Since I love doing it you'd likely assume our entire house is organized, but not so. We're still getting settled in from having moved a few months ago, and I'm not going to spend beautiful days organizing indoors when I could be at the beach. But I will definitely get the rest of the closets organized within the next few months.

Sat night after dinner we went to Rick & Nick's to watch a movie. It was "Toys" starring Robin Williams, Joan Cusak, and LL Cool J. It was alright, not a recommendation. But since Rick & Nick have that giant movie theatre screen it makes even mediocre movies more fun.

Sun morning we met John & Marty for brunch at the Crystal restaurant in Rehoboth. It was great to see them again and have time to chat and get caught up. We'd seen them briefly at a car show a few weeks back. After brunch we went over to see their house. It is a single story with a prominent Frank Lloyd Wright theme inside and out. The house and their surrounding gardens were beautiful.

After brunch we met Rick & Nick at the beach. It was a picture-perfect day: sunny, very low humidity, and breezy. On days like that I feel like I could spend the entire day there. When we got home we made an apple and blueberry cobbler, took showers, ate dinner on the screened porch, and then Rick & Nick came over for dessert. We had cobbler with ice cream on the screened porch. What a lovely way to end the weekend!

Tues I drove my convertible to a shop in Dover to see about getting the top fixed. I'd had it in a local shop and they thought the console switch was bad, but when they replaced it they found that wasn't the problem. They recommended this guy in Dover. The guy in Dover played around with it and told me he could check a bunch of different things which would take a lot of time and may not be 100% accurate, so he suggested I make an appointment at the BMW dealer where they could connect a computer to the top and figure out exactly what the trouble is. So, yet again, I've had no success in getting my convertible top working. I'll have to call the BMW dealer on Thurs to see about an appointment.

Drag Queen name of the day: Candy Graham