Tres Amigas

Cheryl, Debbie y yo.

Cheryl & I have been friends since 7th grade and we met Debbie in high school.  I am delighted to be a part of such an enduring friendship!

It's been a long time since we were all together, because Cheryl lives in Colorado, and Debbie has spent the last 2 years in the boonies of Peru.   Last night though, the stars & planets were aligned properly, and we managed to get together for dinner.  One of Cheryl's daughters (Brianne) joined the old ladies, but  has been sworn to secrecy and threatened with dire consequences if she repeats any of the stories of her mother's mis-spent youth that she heard.

Mr. Mikes restaurant in Okotoks is decorated in a kind of a woodsy, outdoorsy theme.  The picture that hung over our table set the tone for the evening... 

Seriously?  Three men dressed in only underwear and twigs in a canoe?!

We hadn't quite recovered from the initial hysteria when our busboy showed up and advised us that they didn't have any cutlery at the moment.  Whaaaat?  That set off another round of giggles.  Unfortunately, the surliest waitress in the world came by right then and was obviously not in the mood for dealing with a bunch of middle-aged whack jobs.  When we had a minor accident with a glass of water, her disdain became even more pronounced.  Sheesh girl, go out and buy yourself a sense of humour would ya?

In spite of Miss Pissy Pants, we had a great time!

At some point in the evening, we were attempting to take photos under the crazy canoe picture when another restaurant patron stopped by to comment that we seemed to be having just the best time evah.  Um, I think that means we were being too rowdy.   P'raps, but in a good way!  Anyway, she volunteered to take the pictures for us.  Then she proceeded to commandeer someone else from another table to help out with the lighting (a low hanging pendulum needed to be held out of the way) 

Caution:  Before you look at the following photos you should know that the very helpful lady was also very inebriated.  There's nothing wrong with your eyes.  Debbie says to warn people that drinking and photography don't mix!

Obviously, the young pretty one is Brianne.

And yes, we were sitting on the table.

Debbie brought us friendship bracelets from Peru, which we wear proudly to celebrate what Cheryl calls our thousand years of friendship.

Thanks, ladies. I had a blast!

We're working on an international version for next time.

Bye bye, Jitterbug

I've had a lot of cars over the years, but this was the hardest one to let go.  I loved this little bug!

The new owner was trying to look cool for the picture, but he was grinning all over his face before and after.  He's thrilled with his new car!  And I'm thrilled that he's thrilled.

Things I won't miss about it:

1.    Trying to back out of a parking spot. 

There is a HUGE blindspot on both sides which makes it impossible to see anything out of the rear in either direction

2.     Trying to fit a weeks worth of groceries into the tiny trunk.  It can be done, but it's a bit of a jig-saw puzzle.

3.     People telling me that I should put the top down.  I've had complete strangers pull up to me at an intersection, or go out of their way in a parking lot to come over and tell me that it's such a nice day I really should put the top down.  It's all I can do to smile and bite back the bad words and the suggestion that they buy their own convertible so they can decide when to put the top up or down.  Grrr!!

Anyway, she's gone.  Tomorrow we'll get the yellow Golf registered, insured and on the road.