Chapter 114: Thieves

Let’s see where did we last leave off? Oh yes, this morning. After finishing this morning’s blog, I did wind up throwing in some laundry as I said I intended to do. Then I sat at the computer playing “Sorority Life” on Facebook until around 1pm when I finally heard from my Mom. She was off work and wanted to know if I was hungry. I wasn’t severely hungry, but by this point was in that “I could stand to eat” place, so I told her to come home and we would figure out what we wanted to do from there. Turns out my Mom was REALLY hungry and was kind of rushed to eat and wanted to decide on whatever we were going to do right away so we could get on with it. So, I did a bit of a rushed job of getting dressed and ready to leave the house. At this point, I was feeling well enough that I figured going out would be okay. We kind of briefly discussed plans for the day and both agreed that it was more of a stay-in day than anything else. We didn’t really have a lot that we needed to go out for, so we figured we’d go out and eat, then do the few things we needed to do and come back home and stay in. First things first, though, we needed to get some food in my Mom’s stomach.

We decided to go to Perkins for brunch because they are one of those places that serve breakfast all day. We were both in the mood for breakfast, so it seemed like a good idea. It was nice to go to brunch with my Mom – it seemed like it had been a while since we’d last done that. We both decided that we wanted to buy some muffins while we were there because Perkins has some really delicious Apple & Cinnamon muffins that are buy 3 get 3 free, and we made the agreement that I would buy brunch and she would buy the muffins. I kind of got a raw deal there, but I did that on purpose. After that, before doing anything else, my Mom wanted to go drive over the bridge out to Lido Key. This is her favorite thing to do in town – she does it every time she gets a chance. I think it is a bit of a spiritual experience for her in some ways – it puts her at peace and reminds her of the beauty surrounding us. I like to go along whenever I can because it is a nice experience to share and I try to let it have the same effect on me. On our way there, though, I asked if we could make a little side trip to the Allegro Music Academy, just so I could be sure of where it was exactly and how long it might take to get there. When we got down there I found that it was further than I had initially thought, but not so far that it will be TOO much of a nuisance. Of course, I haven’t asked my sister about taking me there yet – she may think it’s more of a nuisance than I do. Scratch that – she will DEFINITELY think it is more of a nuisance than I do. Still, it is the cutest little building and seems like a very professional setup they have there. I am thinking it may be a good idea to call and reschedule my appointment, though, because it is far enough that if I got stuck on a call at the end of the day or something, it might be troublesome to get there on time for a 6:30pm appointment. Plus, it is a 45-minute lesson – so, it would be ending at 7:15pm. That is a whole 45 minutes before my Mom gets off work. If I could schedule it for 7pm, it would only be a 15 minute wait before she gets off, which would be much more manageable. Still, seeing the building and the Allegro Music Academy sign outside and such got me very excited to get started. I can’t wait!

My Mom figured since we were already that far north, we might as well go do another of her favorite things to do in town – go to Sonic. It is really silly, but she loves to go there and get drinks. Neither of us order food from there normally, because it just isn’t very good, but their sodas have crushed ice and that is reason enough to go there specifically for drinks. Plus, you can add a flavor to your drink for free. I always get a Coke with vanilla, and my Mom tends to get Diet Sprite with Cranberry. It’s one of those extremely simple pleasures one can find in life, I suppose. After that, we drove back to Sarasota and went over the bridge – it was particularly beautiful today and my Mom asked me, “Do you have your camera?” I didn’t. I suppose I am picking myself back up in terms of my artistic endeavors one at a time – first was the music lessons, maybe the camera will come next. Once we made it over the bridge, I happened to notice something that may actually provide a pretty decent opportunity to pick up the camera again. There was a sign out there advertising an arts and crafts fair going on out on Lido Beach today and tomorrow. My first thought was to text Rachel about this. As I mentioned in yesterday/this morning’s blog, Rachel and I have made plans to go wander tomorrow and weren’t sure what we were going to do. As soon as I saw the sign I knew that would be up Rachel’s alley and I did say that I wanted to look at some art. Plus, it is art out on one of the most beautiful beaches in the area. I know everybody is all about Siesta Beach, but I have always preferred Lido. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I have always just been more partial to that beach. I also have developed some very special and some very painful memories at that beach. Either way, though, I think this sounds like a perfect plan for something to do with Rachel tomorrow. She seemed to agree, too.

Once we came back over the bridge, I started feeling pretty strange. I don’t know if it was the sun or just being more active than I had been in days, but I started feeling really light-headed, dizzy and drained of all energy. My Mom also mentioned that she was feeling really tired, so we decided to come home instead of the rest of the things we had planned. We weren’t planning on anything urgent and decided we could go back out later. When we got home, my Mom immediately went to lie down for a nap and I came into my bedroom and zoned out in front of the computer – Yes, there was more “Sorority Life” played. It is becoming a bit of a sickness, really, as a result of my actual sickness. I suppose I need something to obsess over when I am sick and have more free time than usual. It is really easy to zone out in front of, though, and that is exactly what I have been doing these past couple days. I was at that for maybe an hour or an hour and a half before my Mom woke up and we sat down to watch the ending of “Clueless,” which just happened to be on the Lifetime Movie Network. After that ended, “Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit” started and before we could get sucked into that one, we decided to go out again. The only plans we had left at that point were to go to Blockbuster and pick up some of their 3 for $20 previously viewed DVDs and go to Walgreen’s for some new makeup. I figured I could afford to spend $20 on DVDs and $20 on makeup. That would be plenty for each, I figured.

When we got to Blockbuster I discovered that the 3 for $20 previously viewed DVDs were no longer, and now those same titles were 2 for $20 and then a bunch of older stuff was 4 for $20 or 5 for $25. I didn’t feel like the new-ish titles were worth $10 each, and I didn’t want anything that was 4 for $20 or 5 for $25. We wound up leaving there empty-handed. This worked out fairly well for me because when we went to Walgreen’s I wound up spending $40 on makeup. I had some really terrible dark circles under my eyes today, and in general, and was looking into concealer sticks to cover them up. I asked the sales clerk in the cosmetics section at Walgreen’s for an opinion on which shade I should use and she directed me to something else – an under eye firming serum, which is designed to be like liquid Botox under the eyes. This stuff is supposed to firm and tighten the skin under your eyes to reduce the appearance of dark circles or puffiness. It also happened to be on sale, so I figured it was worth a shot. I also picked up a couple of Maybelline Eye Studio eyeshadow duos, in blues and greens, and a couple of eyeliners to replace the crap ones I have right now. I know this doesn’t sound like much for $40, but it is well worth it – I got some really great stuff. The under eye serum was the most expensive thing, so I am kind of excited to see whether or not it works. I think I will give it a try tomorrow, actually, along with trying some of my new eyeshadows – I experimented with them a little bit earlier and figured out that one of the Christian Siriano shades I got will work really well with the green Maybelline I got this evening.

I was a little disappointed, though, that I didn’t get to pick up a movie for us to watch this evening. Then, on our way to Starbucks to pick me up a Chai Tea Latte, I remembered something – one of my co-workers had lent me her bootleg of the movie “Precious.” My Mom and I have both been dying to see this movie since we first saw trailers for it months ago. We decided that this would make for good viewing this evening, so we came home to watch it. What can I say about the movie “Precious?” It is completely heartbreaking, but also extremely uplifting. I laughed a lot, I cried even more but, most of all, I felt completely inspired. It really stands to prove that there really isn’t anything in this world that can’t be overcome. It left me feeling like no matter what troubles I might face, or what emotional issues I may have, there is always a way to rise above. I have always believed that, but this film really reinforced that concept in me so strongly. It is an absolutely amazing film. Best Supporting Actress for M’onique? ABSOLUTELY. Best Actress for Gabourey Sidibe? DEFINITELY. Best Picture? As great as it was, I am still really keeping my fingers crossed for “Up In The Air.” I know it’s silly, because clearly Best Picture is going to go to “Avatar,” which I have yet to see but I don’t doubt probably deserves it, but “Up In The Air” was just such an amazing film. Seriously, of all the nominated films that I have seen, it is absolutely the one I would pick. I don’t know which will win, but I am sure it will be deserved – it was a very good year for the film industry.

Hey, you know what I forgot about earlier? The laundry! It wound up sitting in the dryer all day long and things were a wrinkled mess when I checked in on them about an hour or so ago, so I put a wet rag in and ran the dryer again. It just finished, so I should probably go check on it and then get to bed. I need to get up early-ish tomorrow. Rachel and I are planning on getting together around noon, and I need to shower and shave and such beforehand. Remember last weekend when I said I was going to start showering every night and shaving every other night? That plan went out the window the very next day. Every shower I have taken has been in the morning and completely rushed, and I haven’t shaven in a week now. Tomorrow. I still think that is a good plan, though, and may try to go with it again moving forward. Not tonight, though. I need to go check the laundry, then I need to go to sleep. I am pretty exhausted.