Yesterday???? Another one of those Misery winter days here......as I said before, grey...gloomy...depressing, to say the least!! I spent some more time with the learning curve for the possible new blog site......much to learn about.
During the morning, I had an appointment with the chiropractor.....and I was glad as my leg was really hurting....the first time since last Friday!! Not sure just why......there seems to be no reason for it....guess it just comes with the territory of having this sciatica problem!??
The 1st Lady and I left shortly after noon for STL, with the primary destination to have dinner with Andrew and Laura Gipson. We left early in order to do some window shopping for some new chairs and perhaps a high sitting bar table for the sticknbrick. Not sure what we want yet.....still looking and thinking and discussing our real needs. Sooo, we went to the Danish Modern Furniture store(s).....there are two of them in STL and we spent quite a bit of time in each one.....one on Tesson Ferry Rd just off of I-270.....and the other one on west Olive, again off of I-270. Saw several pieces which gave us some ideas.....as we are quite interested in continuing our modern/contemporary clean lines style of furnishing here in the house.
From there we went to the Galleria area where we shopped in Crate and Barrel and Pier 1. Didn't really find any furniture in either place, but we did pick up some additional glasses we needed for the kitchen. A half hour stop at Whole Foods Grocery.....and purhased several items: wine, champagne, bread, cheeses, etc., etc. LOVE that store!!!! Sure makes me wish that we lived closer to one of these groceries.......sooooooooo damn many choices that we don't have in this rural region of Misery!!!!
Then we were off to the Stellina Pasta Cafe......where we arrived a bit early for our dinner with the Gipsons. We had a drink at the bar.....and before long they arrived.....and, it was sooooo good to see both of them once again. It had been almost six months since we had managed to get together.....and, so the conversation never ended, but transitioned from one topic to another, sometimes without finishing a discussion.
The food???? Well, it was above average in most cases, reasonably priced, but I was not really all that impressed. The Cafe is quite small, as we had heard, but, it wasn't full last night. Suppose people were planning to eat tonight on NYE???? I ordered Toasted Ravioli which WAS very good.....and my entree was a pasta dish: whole wheat past with walnut overtones, egg plant, and other goodies in it. The serving was quite large.....more than I could consume....but, the sauce, or lack of it, was not to my liking. Most olive oil than any other sauce, it seemed. The 1st Lady ordered a shrimp laden pasta dish....and she said that the shrimp were overcooked....making them a bit tough, plus they were quite small which certainly meant they did not need to be cooked very long.
The wine was......OK. Nothing special about it. The server was good, personable, and lively in conversation......a real plus! Dessert was not offered.....found that interesting! I did have a cup of coffee, ....nothing outstanding about it. The bill for the 1st Lady and myself was just short of $75......as we did have several drinks during the evening. We were not rushed to eat and leave....but were at the table for about 2.5 hours at the very least......and, that was nice to not experience that hurry up and leave the table feeling.
Afterward, we walked down the street past a couple of stores and dropped into Biggie's Bar and had a couple of more drinks, with a lot of laughs as the evening wore on. It was almost midnight when we left, walked to our car....and headed back to F'town......arriving about 1:45AM. As I said, it was just soooooo damn good to be able to spend an evening with Andrew and Laura.......and we all agreed we need to do this once a month, if we can coordinate our schedules!!!
TODAY: I had an appt with the Chiropractor at 10am......and, then an appointment to have the oil changed in the Park Avenue. While there, they suggested STRONGLY that we needed new front brakes.....as it was almost "metal on metal". Sooooo, another $100 for those to be replaced. Then.....a quick stop at the sticknbrick.......and off I went to Farmington to have lunch with a long-ago former student....class of '92....Steve Starkey. We had not spent any time together in years and years.....even though he does live here in the community area.
By the time I walked into 12 West Restaurant, the predictions of severe storms....tornado warnings.....were being broadcast frequently. He and I chatted for a while, and then ordered a light lunch. About the time it was brought to the table.....the WARNING sirens went off in Farmington......and we looked around, wondering what to do. We checked and discovered the place did have a basement......it is an old brick building which has been recovered into this quite nice restaurant with great food. We rather hurridly ate our sandwiches......the sirens sounded a couple of more times while we ate......and, after checking our smart phones for the radar, and looking at the tv's in the bar, we decided it might be a good idea to go down into the basement. Steve bought me a beer and then.....downstairs we went, to be joined by several others who were not in the mood to gamble on their lives, just as we were not! After about 20 minutes, perhaps a bit less, the rains stopped, and the sky brightened. And soooo, we departed for F'town.
We had both called back to our homes....and the 1st Lady had gone down through the trap door in the laundry room to the crawl space, since we don't have a basement. It rained sooooooo hard all the way back to F'town.....16 miles....that I could barely see the edge of the highway and stay on the road!!!!! WOW......no winds, just rains!
Nothing had happened in F'town except the rains, but..........all over Misery, places were damaged from tornadoes and winds!!!! South STL was really torn up, as well as Ft. Leonard Wood............terrible storms on the last day of the year!!!! Very unusual!!!!!
The remainder of the afternoon, the 1st Lady and I packed up the Christmas tree, decorations, etc, etc......and got most of the boxes/cases taken to the garage. However, the tree and one other were toooo heavy for me to carry due to the back/sciatic/bulging disc problems I still have. Soooo, I will have to get assistance tomorrow....I hope.
And sooooo, another couple of days here in TheHowserHouse. I will not post on the "new" site this time.....as it will be just a repeat, but will put on a couple of pictures to "keep it going" for right now. My lack of sleep last night due to the shortness of the night, has left me without much creativity when it comes to writing!!!
But.....even that lack of rational thought(s).......as always,
LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
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