Food Friday - The Red Snapper

bread - Red Snapper

I don't know about y'all but Food Friday is one of my favorite features of my blog... but next week it's going away. From Friday. It's going to change from Friday to Wednesday, I mean. Marvin has taken on a new trivia show on Tuesday nights so our Tuesday night date night (and day and night and day) is changing to Wednesday Lunch date day (and night and day and night). We are planning lots of meals around Atlanta and I'm going to be blogging about them on Wednesday night so you get a same day review! And because we're two fat kids who love to eat, there will also be other posts of the places we eat for Thursday lunch... if we go out or cook something at home or whatever. Hopefully... writing the restaurant reviews while I'm still with Marvin, I can get his input on the place so you can get more than just my perspective. I'm really excited that our big date of the week is changing from Tuesday night to Wednesday lunch because I'm always just completely worn out by Tuesday night.

Changing the restaurant review to Wednesday means I'm going to have to come up with a new alliteration for the blog title. That was really my only hesitation with changing it... maybe, What I Ate Wednesday? I don't know. Make suggestions. I'm not as creative as I used to be. I'm over fifty now, you know.

seafood gumbo - Red Snapper

Side note/plug: If you want to check out Marvin's  new trivia show, he is going to be at the Mellow Mushroom in Sandy Springs (I think, if that's not right, I'll let you know before Tuesday) every Tuesday night at 7:30. Marvin will now be doing 4 shows a week. He's at El Real on Wednesday night and two different Johnny's Pizza locations on Thursday and Saturday. I think. If you're interested in going, let me know and I'll get the exact location and times for you. OR, if you want me to tag along, let me know. I mostly don't go because of my back. It's a long night. But also because he's working so I'd be playing alone and it's just not as much fun by yourself. There are a ton of  Team Trivia shows all over the country. Go to teamtrivia.com to find a location near you. If you go to one of Marvin's shows,  be sure to tell him you read the blog! He also reads here... mostly to see what I say about him (just kidding) (not kidding). Purple Michael does the same thing so if I want to make sure he is reading my blog I need to put Purple Michael in the blog title. I should do that every day for a week... tee hee. Just kidding. Not really.

crab en coquille - Red Snapper

Alright... my Food Friday post this week is kind of special because this was a restaurant that Marvin drives by every week on his way to his Saturday trivia show that he's always wanted to try. He read an article about how certain neighborhoods in Atlanta are changing and how so many special places get phased out by construction. Ever since Sherman came through here, Atlanta has been a city that isn't afraid to change. In some ways that's good but in other ways... we just don't preserve our heritage like we should. Marvin thought it was time for him to finally check out this place he's been past so many times and why not on date night?

The Red Snapper is on Cheshire Bridge Rd in Atlanta. Their website - you can click here to go to it - says that they opened in 1986. It's weird thinking of something established in 1986 as old because that's the year I graduated high school... and had my first kid... and started my first real job... and got married for the first time... not exactly in that same order. It's tucked away in a little strip mall shopping center in a building that has definitely been here for longer than 32 years. Obviously, snapper is their focus but they have a lot of other stuff on the menu.

salmon & scallops - Red Snapper

We were greeted and seated immediately. The atmosphere is definitely dated ... almost to the point of being funky / kitschy / trendy again. We couldn't decide if it fit more in the sixties or seventies - but it was clean and quiet. That's important to me. I hate when the music or conversation in the room is so loud that you can't have a conversation with your dinner partner. Especially on date night, which for us is the first time we've seen each other in several days. I would say that Marvin and I were probably the only people eating there without a senior discount. There were a lot of older folks there and some families that seemed to be having a special meal out. It's in an older neighborhood so I could definitely see it being a place to go to for special occasions.

They bring out some warm bread and butter with your drinks... always a nice touch. We decided to share an appetizer and an entree... this works well for us and allows us to go to places that might be a little too pricey for our budget.  Our appetizer was the crab en coquille... basically little eggrolls made out of phyllo dough, filled with spinach and crabmeat and served with a sauce that we couldn't quite identify. It was sort of a tartar sauce maybe... there was a hint of horseradish and maybe some dijon mustard but it also leaned a little towards ranch. I don't know. It was good. We chose the salmon and scallops for our entree. It came with some veggies and potatoes. The seafood was perfectly seasoned, cooked to perfection and a really nice portion. Even with splitting, it was enough food for us. I was stuffed and Marvin had to coax me into taking an extra bite or two.

Shrimp Fried Rice - Golden Phoenix

The service was perfectly timed, very attentive and friendly. We've had a streak of bad service lately when we go to restaurants that I am planning to review for the blog but I'm happy to say, that streak ended this week.

On Wednesday we went to our favorite little Chinese place by the Publix near Marvin's house. We get the same waitress every time - her name is Margaret. She's really good to us. The food is always good, always a large portion, even for lunch... and I always end up taking home leftovers. Their lunch menu is a good bargain... the bill, including tip, comes in under $20 and I had enough left for dinner Wednesday night.

Thursday we stayed in all day and Marvin heated up a little Bob Evans meal that I had brought for me... and some taquitos (I think) for him. My back has been so bad this week that I didn't want to move... plus, it's just too freaking hot out.

Since it's Food Friday (the last one!) I thought I'd share one of my favorite food bloggers with you today. Teri Turner does the No Crumbs Left blog which is packed with all kinds of recipes and cooking tips. She's big on Whole 30 so if you're on that eating plan or just want to eat a little healthier, she's a great resource but she also does "regular food". I love her Instagram stories - she's on there as nocrumbsleft if you want to check her out. But even if you care not one bit for food blogs or recipe info or that sort of thing, she's just good people. She is genuine and inspirational and I have never left a message or comment without getting a response from her - despite the fact that she has over 200,000 Instagram followers! She's based out of Chicago but travels and posts stuff from other wonderful places and always brings her followers along for the adventure. This is one lady that really brings a lot of positivity to the interwebs and I wanted to share her with you.

shrimp and black bean sauce

Tomorrow is Oliver's third birthday party and so Cosy and I will be heading down to Marvin's first thing in the morning. He has been kind enough to take the day off to drive us down and share Oliver's birthday with us. I will probably not blog about it until Sunday or maybe even Monday, depending on what kind of shape I'm in. The back is a real problem right now. I'm trying really hard not to pick up kids or carry anything at all and I'm resting and stretching and doing all the things but... right now I'm in bad shape. So... I fully anticipate needing a rest day on Sunday but I am SO looking forward to tomorrow! I'm sure I'll post photos on Instagram and Facebook and then I'll share more here when I can. Hope you have a great weekend! Love and hugs!

Tuesdays With Cosy

The new normal pain level is continuing... yesterday (Tuesday) was such a long day and although I've done a whole lot of nothing today, I'm absolutely wiped out. I feel flat... like it's hard to communicate or be sociable or even just function and I feel so bad for Marvin who is stuck with my blah self for company. I'm trying, y'all. It's just at a point where pain is robbing every ounce of energy from me. I want to cry. I want to sleep. I want to ... anything but this. I'm just so tired of feeling this intense pain. It's not just my spine, is the muscles in my back, the nerves shooting down to my toes. It's the aches and pains from moving in a different way to accommodate the sore parts. Anything that involves physical exertion leaves me completely out of breath and makes my heart race. I woke up this morning feeling like I couldn't take a good breath... my heart was racing, I was near panic and I just tried to lay as still as possible and focus on one breath at a time. Once I got up and started moving around it was better but... I'm nowhere near my normal self.

Yesterday I had Austin go pick Cosy up from her mom's. That's normally my favorite thing. I take her to Dunkin' Donuts and we pick up a coffee for me and a pink donut with sprinkles for her. I love those first minutes of the day with her and I feel like she's more cooperative with me if I start the day fresh with her. Instead I had Austin get her and do the donut run. She was definitely happy to see me once they got back to the house. She climbed right up in bed with me and I got lots of great cuddles. We played with slime for a little while but she was afraid to touch it because she doesn't like to get her hands dirty. Then she hung out in the bathroom with me while I tidied up and got my shower. This picture is where she wanted to stay with Nana in the bathroom and play in the sink and her dad wanted her to get dressed... "save me Nana!". I know it's naughty and I try to never lead the grandbabies astray. I tell them all the time that their mommies and daddies are the boss and nana is NOT in charge but... I have to confess, her hanging on to me for dear life was pretty cute.

Austin took her outside to play in the pool and I had a few minutes to try to finish getting dressed for the day. I could hear her happy squeals all the way back in the house! They came back upstairs and got out of her wet swimsuit. She was playing and walked past the bedroom door and smacked her foot on it really hard. She immediately started screaming, that kind of scream where they hold their breath. Although my back is wrecked, I picked her up and started blowing in her face to get her to breathe. It's reflex. Then I laid her on the bed to check out her foot. It was already turning blue. I told Austin, "I think we're heading to the ER...this foot is definitely broken" so he ran over and flipped on the overhead light and said, "that's sidewalk chalk from where we were playing outside." I was relieved, of course, but... my word! She asked for a "bambage" (bandage) so I wrapped her with medical tape and she was perfectly fine.

We had to get Austin's van insured and registered yesterday but on Monday, the insurance quote he got was way beyond what he could afford. I wasn't really up to dealing with it then so I told him to shop online and I'd see what I could do to help him in the morning. So Tuesday I emailed a former co-worker at State Farm and started brainstorming with her about how to lower his insurance cost. To make a long story short, because my dad is a long time customer with State Farm, Austin qualified for State Farm's Mutual company, which has much lower rates. It took the cost of his insurance from $154 a month to $44 a month.

While I was making the arrangements for the insurance I sent Austin to town to find out how much his tag was going to be and to get a fax number so we could send his proof of insurance over. I was emailing back and forth with my friend at State Farm and all of a sudden I noticed that Cosy had dumped out the bucket of slime and was covered in it. That stuff is of the devil. It is an ooey gooey mess. You cannot get it off. I would get one little appendage cleaned off and she'd stick it right back in... so of course I was bent over, stretching my back all kind of ways and basically in tears thinking, "why me?" but also laughing at the predicament because she was just freaking hilarious! I finally got the bulk of it off her but she needed a bath to get the rest off. I couldn't let her walk because she would leave footprints of slime all over the carpet so I picked her up and carried her to the bathtub... and once again, my back was just screaming at me.

At any rate... Austin got home about then and he bathed her so I didn't have to bend over. She had a great time in the bubble bath! It was all just a great adventure for her. I posted several pictures of this on Facebook yesterday. After her bath, Austin took her home and finished up all the details on his van so he is now all set and independent. He can drive, he has his own vehicle and I can do whatever the heck I want, whenever I want and not have to worry about anyone else's schedule and that feels really, really weird. It's the first time in my whole life I've been this ... carefree... and all I feel like doing is sleeping.

I came down to Marvin's last night for date night (and day and night and day). We went out to a restaurant in Atlanta that he had always wanted to try, The Red Snapper. It was amazing and I'll post a review about it on Friday. Then we went out for ice cream and then came home and I went to bed. Today we slept late, went out for lunch, went to Publix to pick up a few things and I'm in for the rest of the night while he is hosting trivia. I'm about to get in the bathtub and then catch up on Better Call Saul, it's what we're watching right now. I'm a few episodes behind him.

Tomorrow will be a stay in the house and chill day, probably. I've got a post ready to go up in the morning so be sure to check that out and I'll be back for Food Friday to talk about what we've been eating this week. Hope your week is going well! Love and hugs, y'all!

Food Friday - Pig Tales at Lake Lanier

View from Pig Tales restaurant near Lake Lanier.

Good morning, friends! Just kidding. I'm writing this at 4pm on Friday afternoon but I did JUST wake up from a glorious nap. AND... I could go right back to sleep now but I'm staying awake to chat with Marvin while he's in between work and the DJ gig he has tonight. I'm having such huge guilt feelings about the massive amount of sleep I'm currently needing to function when he's out working these 12 plus hours a day, working every day of the week in one capacity or another. But I also know that it's something I haven't chosen for myself, it's just where I am health-wise at the moment and pushing myself just makes things worse.

Wednesday... you can see the pain in my eyes
this week. It's been miserable. Also, I braided
my hair into a fish tale even though we ate
at Pig Tales. Ha!

The up side is  that the house was empty and quiet today. The painters finished up and our covered porch looks great. If the grass cutter came today, I surely didn't hear him. Pop's been playing golf, Austin has been at work and the house has been deliciously cool and quiet. It's perfect for sleeping. My back is hurting worse than yesterday and was worse yesterday than the day before. I hope there is a point where it starts getting back to normal but at the moment, I'm feeling pretty discouraged and overwhelmed. I also had a migraine last night that woke me up and kept me up for several hours which contributes to the fatigue. I sometimes have these headaches... and I don't even know if they qualify to be called migraines but basically the pain originates somewhere in my spine and radiates up my back to my head. It's different from my normal migraines, which sort of feel like they originate in a vein behind my ears and pound their way up my temple and behind my eyes.

Anyways... so a cold dark room and quiet house are awesome things right now but I also had a great time on Wednesday getting out to the great outdoors at Lake Lanier. For those who aren't local to Georgia, Lake Lanier is a reservoir that was created by building a dam on the Chattahoochee River back in 1956. It is a place where people go for boating, water skiing, fishing, camping or whatever you might do on a lake. Marvin lives really close to the lake so we have occasionally been able to enjoy the view at the lake, On Wednesday we had lunch at a place called Pig Tales, which is located on the lake (near the lake? there's a little bit of ground in between.). Pig Tales is a bbq restaurant that also serves a lot of fish dishes on their menu. You can check out their website by clicking here. https://www.pigtaleslakelanier.com/

last bite of the fried green tomatoes
with pimento cheese. it was served
with ranch dressing but they were good
all by themselves.

Marvin and I had previously been to their sister restaurant, Fish Tales so we had an idea of the quality and standards of the particular restaurant group. Pig Tales, however, is a little different in that it is an outdoor restaurant. It was a hot day but the dining area of the restaurant is shaded and they have fans everywhere and I don't feel like we were particularly affected by the heat but at the same time, I was glad to get back to the a/c in the car when we left so... take that into consideration if you're heat sensitive. There wasn't any wait for a table - which is what we find most weekdays when we go out. Our waiter was attentive and came right away to get our drink and appetizer orders. The food came quicker than I expected... you know that feeling of, "who is she taking that to... it's too early to be... OH, it's ours!"

We started with fried green tomatoes which were served with pimento cheese layered between them. We gobbled them down so fast that I almost forgot to take a picture until there was only a bite or two left.

pina colada

We had sweet tea to drink but I was also in the mood for a pina colada which... I probably hadn't had in 20plus years. Marvin had a voodoo juice to drink. Neither of us partakes in the adult beverages very often... maybe once a month or so, I guess? But it felt right to have a tropical drink in the heat and humidity that is life in Georgia in July. The heat, humidity, alcohol and my being out of sorts anyways with my back all combined to make me a bit tipsy and giggly but not sloppy drunk. It was one drink, after all. Just for the record, it had been more than six hours since I had last taken pain medicine. You have to be careful about those things.

voodoo juice

For our meal, I had the pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. The pork was great. I'm not a fan of slaw so I scraped that off - I had forgotten to request that they leave it off. The sandwich is served on big thick slices of texas toast and I ate that separately. The only suggestion I would make is that the texas toast be garlic toast, that would be perfect.

brisket philly

Marvin had the Brisket Philly which was sort of like a philly cheese steak sandwich but using bbq beef brisket instead of steak. He had the cripsy beer battered fries with his sandwich. It was a lot of food and almost more than he could eat. I don't often see him unable to clean his place - where with me it happens almost every single meal - so trust me, this was a generous portion of food.
It was not a cheap meal, despite the sort of rustic setting. We had an appetizer and cocktails which greatly increased the price. Maybe not a budget, end of the pay period meal for me but the price of the food is in line with the quality of the food. They are open well into the evening and I could definitely see that as a nice place to go at night when it's cooler outside. They allow pets so... that's unusual for any restaurant here but I'm sure it's because it's outdoors.

pulled pork sandwich with
sweet potato fries

Finally the "blog review" curse was broken and we didn't have to go the whole meal without refills. Of course, we also had cocktails so we didn't need as much tea and that lowered the number of trips our waiter had to come to our aid.
Overall... great service, great food, beautiful location (probably not on the hottest days) and worth a visit if you're in the area.

What has been your favorite meal this week? Do  you have any fun dining out plans for the weekend? Be sure to share in the comments either on this page or by my blog link on my Facebook page. Hope you have a great weekend! Love and hugs, y'all!

Food Friday - Pappadeaux

Happy Friday! Friday is the day I like to talk about food simply because I appreciate alliteration. Throwback Thursday - Food Friday - it just makes sense to me. This week I wanted to do a little review of the restaurant we went to on date night this week... Pappadeaux.

fried crawfish and crawfish etouffee

 As I've mentioned before, Marvin and I are kind of obsessed with New Orleans. It was our first road trip together... it's where Purple Michael lives... and then there's the amazing food and culture and music and food! Did I mention food?

On Tuesday night Marvin surprised me with dinner at Pappadeaux in Lawrenceville, GA, which has a New Orleans/French Quarter themed menu. There was a bit of a wait for a table but it was one hundred percent worth it! (other than the mosquito bite I got while waiting outdoors... small price to pay!)

Since we had to wait for a table, we had time to really study the menu and plan our meal. We always order different things so that we can share. Marvin went for the crawfish platter... fried crawfish and crawfish etouffee with dirty rice. I had shrimp creole and grits. Both dinners were delicious but if we go again, I would do fried crawfish all the way. My shrimp creole was great... it was a lot of food. Even with sharing, I had leftover shrimp creole for lunch the next day (we polished off the grits at dinner). I liked his crawfish etouffee just fine... but for me, the fried crawfish was the best we've had yet. Marvin prefers the fried crawfish at Louisiana Bistreaux, the place we went two weeks ago because it was a bit spicier but for me... Pappadeaux has it just right.

I also have to mention that I was really hesitant to try fried crawfish. I've always been big on fried shrimp... I like seafood but I'm not terribly adventurous with it. Then Marvin took me to the Atlanta Highway Seafood Market for lunch and we had the crawfish and... I've never looked back. I'll always take fried crawfish over any other seafood!

shrimp creole and grits

This particular Pappadeaux location is fairly new, I think, maybe in the past year or so. It was spacious and clean and had a nice atmosphere. There was a little jazz band playing near the bar that we could hear in the background but it wasn't too loud for us to have a conversation. I HATE THAT! It was busy - hence the wait for a table. But once we were seated we ordered right away (since we had already studied the menu) and our food came out lickety split. Our server, a guy named Mike, was friendly but he did this weird thing with refilling our drinks... he stopped at the table and asked if we'd like a refill. Marvin answered because I had a mouthful of food. Mike refilled Marvin's glass but not mine. It was a good ten minutes or more later before he came back and filled mine. I don't know if the pitcher ran out or he thought I didn't want a refill because I didn't specifically answer him but... it was just odd. Otherwise, the service was fine.

This was another splurge price wise for us but... it was enough food to cover us for lunch the next day so... it balances out.

On Thursday Marvin made black and bleu burgers for us for lunch... burgers with blackening seasoning, bacon bits, fried onions and bleu cheese dressing. They were huge and they were delicious! He had Cheerwine to drink... it's a North Carolina thing... and I had this new flavored Georgia Peach flavored coke that was... so good! I'm not a big cola drinker but I would definitely go for the peach coke again.

I am trying to eat healthier because of my high blood pressure... so for lunch today I roasted salmon and assorted colored cherry tomatoes and green beans. I just lay it all on a cookie sheet and bake it at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. I had sliced the tomatoes open and drizzled everything with olive oil then gave it a generous sprinkle of salt and garlic powder. I know... high blood pressure and salt do not necessarily sound healthy BUT, as I've recently learned, it's the sodium content in the processed foods that screws with your blood pressure, not the sprinkle of salt while cooking fresh food. Honestly, this cooking method - fish, fresh veggies all drizzled in olive oil on a cookie sheet - is my favorite go-to meal. It's fast, easy, the clean up is as simple as pulling the tin foil off the cookie sheet (except for today when I accidentally ripped the tin foil while plating). I took a picture of my plate before eating and the light is not so good but you will get the idea. I made enough for two meals because heaven forbid I actually cook twice in the same week. Actually... I've already cooked twice this week because I made mac-n-cheese and tuna the other day so... I'm practically a chef!

I'm thinking of making a big "garbage salad" over the weekend to pack in a lot of fresh, healthy stuff. I've got a list in my phone of stuff I want to add to it... and then I'll just do olive oil and vinegar for the dressing. What are your favorite things to pack into a salad? Have you had an amazing meal lately? Feel free to share in the comment here or on the Facebook link for this blog post.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Cosy Pictures

I bragged on the phone this afternoon about feeling good and then out of nowhere... BAM!... another headache. I didn't play around with this one... it got the good migraine meds right out of the gates. Last week I was nearly comatose over date "night" (and day and night and the next day) and I'd like to be a little more engaged this week. Sprinkle all those good "headache be gone" vibes my way, if you would.

Gamer Girl watching her dad play

This morning I had the little chickadee and her furry companion with me. I picked them up and we drove through Dunkin' Donuts for an iced coffee for Nana and some munchkins for the munchkin. The employees gathered in the drive-thru window to see the tiny kitten and tried to bribe her from us. Cosy would never forgive me if I gave her kitten away. They are fairing fairly well, I think.

Tucked in for a nap

We did have to have a conversation today about not throwing the cat... and how to pick her up gently... and then there was a complete meltdown when we had to leave the cat at home to make a little grocery shopping trip. I'm telling you... three year old girls are probably the most emotional creatures on earth. It wasn't just tears... it was tears and hyperventilating and giving her dad the stink eye... she's hard core, that one! But before that we had a nice, peaceful... sort of... happy morning. Thought I'd share a few photos with you, especially for the ones who aren't on Facebook or Instagram or the other spots in cyberspace I tend to hang out.

Now I'm going to close my eyes for a little while before time to head south for Date Night (and day and night and the next day). Hope your Tuesday has been lovely! Love and hugs, y'all!

wearing a chair for a hat

Laughing at her silly dad... 

A bit wound up... 

 

The Week In Review - Reflections on Things

Me and my sweetheart... New Orleans 12/17

Check out my comments on the post about the Royal Wedding. I thought there was great input there regarding the minister in the Royal Wedding from my cousin Melissa (who knows these things). My friend Stacey who is  a home ex teacher backed me up on the fit of Meghan’s dress, so yay! My blog community is a vast sea of knowledge and I’m just a dinghy in the midst. On the Facebook link my dear friend Linda called me out on the naughty meme with the Queen. I know. It was borderline inappropriate but that’s what makes it funny. I warned you that fifty year old Heather is a bit more edgy than the previous, younger versions. It's inevitable.

My week with Marvin was a bit different than usual. Softball was postponed so he picked up an extra night hosting trivia on Tuesday night. I was able to go with him and y'all... he does such a great job!  It was my first time going with him because it is a lot of sitting for me. I didn't really know what to expect and went alone (well, alone with him but he was on stage and I was sitting at a table by myself). I, of course, had my phone to keep me company and worked on some blogging and other things. I didn't play the game because it was just me and... I'm only so-so and I wasn't sure if it was kosher since I was with the host and... all that... but I did enjoy being there and chatted with a few people who were playing. The food was awesome... the venue was sort of loud and there were a few drunks who were giving my guy a hard time which I did NOT appreciate. He's used to it and just ignored them. Usually Tuesday night date night includes a softball game or two (for him while I watch) and/or dinner. Going to trivia was like softball without the dirt and with food. It was a little rough on my back and I crashed as soon as we got home but... still really glad to go with him. I would totally go again, especially if I could convince a friend or two to tag along with me.

Sidebar: IF YOU ENJOY TRIVIA... I'm playing an online trivia game called HQ. Games are played at 3pm and 9pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday they play at 9pm but don't play the afternoon game. They ask a series of multiple choice questions and you have 10 seconds to pick your answer. If you get all the questions correct you win... the prize is usually $5000 but that pot is divided between all the people who win. Occasionally they do games with a larger prize amount. I think the most they've done is $250,000. Sometimes they play until there's only one winner. It varies. Today they did this thing where you could see your friends' answers - which would have helped me immensely because I only missed one question and it was a sports question so Marvin would have almost certainly known the answer. You can play by downloading the HQ app. Enter my name as your referral and I will get an extra life (it will make sense when you play). My screen name is just my real name - heathergant . Then you can friend me on there and whenever they do the special "friends games" like today, we can help each other out. More often than not, Marvin and I play together so if I'm sharing my answers, I'm sharing HIS answers and he is GOOD with trivia! 

Anyways... back to my week. On Wednesday, Marvin usually just hosts trivia in the evening and has the whole day free for us but this week he pulled an extra shift delivering pizzas during the day. Obviously, I was bummed not to have as much time with him but I will still take a day in the cool, quiet of his nest over my noisier, busier nest. It feels like a vacation to be curled up in his bed, even when he's not with me. And the bonus of being here, even when he's working is that he comes home eventually and we get to have some quality time together, even if it's not quantity time together. Here's the thing... I'm never gonna get upset with him for working. He's a hardworking man. That's just who he is. I respect the heck out of his work ethic. We make it work when he has to work, plain and simple. He brought me breakfast in bed before he left for work... He brought me dinner in bed before he left for work in the evening and I had my usual Wednesday night spa night with a nice soak in his big bathtub while he was gone. I feel so spoiled when I'm at his place.

Disclaimer: I joke with him that I'm hesitant to brag on him too much because I don't want to make him look TOO attractive to someone who might want to steal him away from me. I should probably list a few of his faults here so that I don't face any competition... but honestly, whatever shortcomings he may have are just between us and I'm hoping he'll return the favor. He could probably complain that I just lay around in his bed all day while he's working... ha! But I'm also gonna keep the BEST stuff private just in case. *wink*

Another disclaimer: this is why this whole part-time gig is working for us. I'm pretty sure he'd get sick and tired of my broke down self lounging in his bed 24/7 and honestly... the fun of being in his space would get old if it was the only thing I ever did. I like the balance we have ... a little bit of my world with my White County family, my kitty cat and the rotten little dog. I like being a small town girl and I love living on the lake and keeping close tabs on Pop and Austin and Cosy. At the end of the day I'm still an introvert and I have to isolate myself a bit to recharge my batteries. We're old dogs and as much fun as it is to be together, being apart some every week just works for us. We talk every day, several times a day so I feel like we're always in touch. If something happens good or bad, he's the first one I tell. I say all of this just to say I spent a lot of years avoiding any relationship at all because I know that I'm a lot to handle. When one partner has to have mandatory down time just to function, it can really drag you both down. I just never wanted to drag anyone else down. If you're intentionally isolating yourself because you feel like you don't have enough to offer someone else, maybe you just need to think outside the box. I don't know if this will reach a point where it no longer works but I don't let the fear of that possibility steal the joy I have in this season of life. And the bonus for him is... if you're not feeling good or want to have a lazy day, I'm your huckleberry! Nobody excels at resting more than me.

Tuesday night we finished watching Evil Genius on Netflix. It's the story of the pizza deliveryman who had a bomb strapped around his neck when he robbed a bank in 2003 in Erie, Pennsylvania. This show digs into whether the guy was a participant in the crime or a victim. It's really interesting! Then we started watching a show called, Safe, staring Michael C Hall (from Dexter) about his teenage daughter going missing. We had two episodes left when I left his house yesterday and I was going to wait until next week to watch the rest with him but he said I could go ahead and finish it. IT IS SO GOOD! Safe has so many twists and turns your head will spin!

Thursday was my mom's youngest brother, John's funeral. It was held in Okeechobee, Florida, too far of a trip for me and Pop to make although we were certainly with the family in thoughts and prayers. Uncle John was such a character! One of my earliest memories of him was going to the grocery store with him when I was maybe 8 years old. He was an egg farmer. He asked if I knew how to tell if an egg was fresh (obviously, I didn't) and he took one out of the carton and dropped it on the floor letting it do what raw eggs do when you drop them. It was so funny / shocking / crazy... I'm not sure I ever got the point but it was definitely memorable.

He was such a Godly man and devoted so much of his life to helping others. He suffered from the after effects of Agent Orange from his service in Viet Nam and ultimately, that is what cost him his life. Mama always loved John dearly. John had three sons, one of whom I've become closer to over the past few years. I have literally dozens of first cousins... so many first cousins once or twice removed... countless second cousins... and I'm in touch with many through the magic of Social Media. I have several cousins who have lost a parent in the past few years and my heart breaks for them to walk that path of grief, so I am particularly sad for my cousin Jason to go through this. We believe that we will be reunited as a family one day in Heaven and that hope sustains us, of course. You just miss 'em, you know? John's last visit up here... we knew was probably his last visit. Mama was not well either, so we knew it was probably their last time together on this earth. They fished... and had a decent catch... and fried 'em up... and those are memories I will cherish. We will probably catch more fish from our lake and we may even cook them but they won't ever taste the same.

Thursday Marvin slept late and then we went out for brunch at Waffle House. I'm not sure you can consider Waffle House "brunch" but we had breakfast at noon so... there's that. I needed to pick up a few things at Walmart so we shopped together and then went back home to "Netflix and chill" some more. Yes, I know what it means. All too soon it was time for me to head back home. I was really dragging so I sent Austin out to pick up dinner. OH MY GEEEEEE how much do I love that Austin can drive? It's the best thing ever!

This morning I set my alarm for 6:30 so that I could do a food shop before Austin went to work. I'm set for the weekend. I don't HAVE to leave my house again until... well, until next Wednesday when I have a doctor's appointment. My blood pressure was pretty high today so I definitely need to take it easy. They added a new blood pressure med for me a month ago and apparently, it's still not enough.

Today I finished watching Safe, I watched Mamma Mia and I've watched a few random documentaries. I completely forgot to post this blog until just now even though most of it was already written. I hope you had a great week and I hope you have a fun/peaceful/restful holiday weekend (except for Wendy in Oz because... well, it's not a holiday for you but I hope you have a good weekend anyways!) Love and hugs, y'all!