Thurs 3/17/2005

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

What a week. Howard came to visit on Sunday. We haven't seen each other since the week of Valentine's Day! Ugh, what a horrible month it was.

He got here Sunday evening and went to church with me. A Catholic in a Baptist Church!! Everyone survived. LOL. Monday we went to Parkersburg to visit Martha and Becky at WVUP. We had planned on going to dinner and a movie. We went to the mall and ate in the food court. (I had Chik-fil-A and he had Burger King.) Then we went to check on the movie times. We would have to wait 2 hours! Sooo...

We decided to leave Parkersburg and drive towards Indianapolis to visit his mom. We decided we'd drive an hour or two then stop and see a movie then stay all night. We were aiming for Columbus. Along the way we decided to skip the movie. We drove a little past Dayton and got a hotel. We got up the next morning and ate at the Waffle House. We drove on to his mom's house in Indianapolis.

We stayed with her until Wednesday afternoon. It was quite an emotional time for Howard. His mom is under Hospice care. Say a prayer for her and for him. And for his brother too.

Wednesday afternoon we left Indianapolis. We drove to Dayton and visited my Uncle Jr. and Aunt Hazel. It was really good to see them, but they are not doing very well healthwise. I need to get back out there soon.

We made it all the way back home on Wednesday.

Thursday turned my week around. I had a very good Thursday. Howard and I went to my Writer's Group meeting. The facilitator, Joan, asked if anyone had any readings. I did not (for a change!). Others read then Joan said, "Well, I brought something to read this week. I don't usually write fiction, but Suzie has been my inspiration. She inspired me to write."

WOW!! I felt soooooo good about that!! And what she wrote was very good! I have had this dopey grin on my face since then!

THEN...

After the meeting I went to the Ladie's room and ran into Toni there. Somehow we got to talking about stand up comedy and she said she'd like to try it. I told her I had done it and it was a lot of fun. So she got really excited and started talking about all these places we could try to get to let us do it. She, Joan, Howard, and I went to a cafe on Main Street (Red Parrot, or something like that) to talk to the owner about doing it there. She sometimes has musicians so we wondered if she'd be interested in allowing our group to do readings or comedy.

They kind of put me on the spot and asked me to do some comedy there. I was very nervous but came up with a few jokes. They thought it was pretty good and the owner said she'd think aobut it. But Toni wants to do the show next month! I don't know if that's enough time for me to come up with a routine. Anyway, Joan and Toni went into the other room to play the poker machines. Then the owner of the cafe...what was her name??? She looked at me and said, "You really have some talent there. You need to persue this comedy thing. I look forward to having you here. Good luck!"

:) I feel really really good about this.

But on the downside...during that meeting, Howard got a phone call from his ex wife. He knew his daughter had stones in her neck/throat (like gall stones or kidney stones, but in her neck). His ex was calling to tell him that their daughter needed surgery and it was scheduled for the day after Easter. Not a good week for him! :(

After that, Howard and I went to dinner at the Golden Corral (sp?) across the river. Then I wanted to drive him across Route 2. But we had made plans to be at Pat's by 7. We had 45 mins. We started out Rt 2. I stopped to get gas. $2.08!! And that's a GOOD price. It's $2.25 in most places. We went out Rt 2 to Plain Valley Rd. We went across to Sand Hill. I had to check my msgs before going to Pat's. I had left a msg to make plans to visit and told them to let me know via the phone. There were no msgs!! I picked up the phone to call and realized my computer was still online! We had left it online to finish downloading something. But I really thought it would kick offline when it was done. So Connie had tried to call, but couldn't get through! Yes, it was ok to come over and visit.

We had a really nice visit with them.

Today we met Mom and Grandma for lunch at the Corner Cafe. After that Howard wanted to go to the dam. We went, but couldn't get very close to it. So he asked if we could get closer on the Ohio side. I didn't know, but told him we'd find out. We drove to Ravenswood and crossed the river. Then went down Rt 124 to the dam. There is fishing access to the river on the south side of the dam. We walked down and watched the water for a little bit.

Then we drove back to Butch's and Howard fixed mac n cheese. The three of us visited for a while then Howard left to go home. He should be home any second now! I can't wait to chat with him. And I will not wait another month to see him!!!!!!!