Monticello Adventure Report

The granddog came over today for her first visit. She is such a teddy bear, that dog. Jessie said that she recently almost kicked the little Doodle Bug out of her way, thinking she was a stuffed animal. I described her today as a small, solid center surrounded by a cloud and that is what she feels like. She likes it here at Mer and Bop's, I think. Plenty to smell both inside and out, different people to cuddle and pet her. 
August wanted a little snuggle himself with his Boppy.

Jessie and I decided to take the boys to Monticello to eat lunch at the Mexican restaurant and so we did. Mr. Moon was going to watch the FSU game on TV and said he'd be glad to babysit Sophie. I loaded up on quarters before we left because they have about eight of those bubble-gum/prize dispensers and I figured we could use the promise of a prize as a bribe to ensure good behavior. 
It sort of worked. 

"Take our picture!" August said when we got to the restaurant. And of course I did.

Every time I go there I am once again shocked by how colorful and pretty the place is. And the food is so good! 
I tell you what else I was shocked at- how much August ate. The kid must be in a growth spurt. He ate about a basket and a half of chips, all the bean dip, and a chicken burrito with queso sauce, guacamole, and sliced avocado on the side. 

Isn't that pretty? 
He told his mom she could eat all the lettuce and tomato on his plate but NOT THE AVOCADO!

Understandable. 

And they were good boys so they each got four quarters to use in the machines. They both got stretchy, sticky toys and silver rings. I told them about the time when Uncle Hank was about Levon's age and got a sparkly ring out of a dispenser like those and he asked me if the diamond was real. 
"No, honey," I said. "They don't use real jewels in those rings."
"Maybe they made a mistake!" he said. 
I have no idea why but I will never forget that. It was so precious.

Of course we had to go to Wag the Dog after lunch to see if they had any treasures for us today. Both boys got something and Jessie got a few things too. I didn't see a darn thing that would have made my life any better. Then we went to the library to see Terez whom we had not seen in a long time. Such a sweet man. 
"I'm a fan of Terez's," Levon said on the way over there. 
We all are. 
The library has new guinea pigs which we admired and after we visited with Terez we went in the children's room and read a few books. Monticello really does have a fine library. 

And then one more stop at the Winn Dixie. Although Winn Dixie is not Publix, this Winn Dixie is a pretty darn nice one. Jessie needed frozen pizza for the boys because she and Vergil are going out on a date tonight and that would be an easy meal for the babysitter to make. I needed to get some good sandwich rolls because we're going to have fish sandwiches made with two beautiful pieces of leftover air-fried grouper from two nights ago. 

My bread last night turned out lovely. It was really not sour enough because it had not had enough time to rest and it was a little too soft for real sourdough, although it was real sourdough. But it was very good and held the butter quite well which is bread's main purpose in life, unless you have some nice olive oil with herbs to dip it in. 

So that's the Saturday news from Lloyd. A very nice day, especially in that Maurice did not kill Sophie, even though I had a dream early this morning that two people were walking a dog by my house and stopped to chat and Maurice was there. "Does your cat get freaked out by dogs?" asked the man in my dreams. 
Maurice was so puffed up and howly that she looked like a Catzilla and I told the man that yes, she does, and in fact, she gets freaked out by everything but for some reason, the couple just stood there with their dog. 

And dream scene CUT!

I thought it was funny and odd that I had that particular dream right before a real dog came to visit. This is not a regular occurrence by any means and I've never had a similar dream in my life. But there was no showdown. Maurice was jumpy and made herself scarce, and Jack, who was in the kitchen when Sophie came in, looked at her like, "What fresh hell is this?" before running for the back door. 

Sophie, of course, is quite sure that everyone in the world loves her and was not disturbed in the least. 

I wish I had some deep thoughts or even handy household tips for everyone today but the fact of the matter is, I just don't. I do not feel wise or smart or very capable in any way. 
I think that August (aka Truth Teller) may have summed it up for me when I stumbled a little bit at one point this afternoon and said, "Why did I do that?" and he said, "Because you are old?"

Yes. That's how I feel. Old. 
"You're right," I said to him. "I am old. Now hold my hand while we cross the street," and he put his little brown paw in mine and we safely crossed and I do love being old in some ways because that means I get to be a grandmother. The rest of it can sort of go to hell. 

Love...Ms. Moon