Lunch and Dinner with friends (a short post)

When I woke up this morning, I had only two things on the docket: Lunch with CCS and Dinner with Vicki.  And both were scheduled for today due to the timing of the Jewish High Holy Days.

But first....

Lunch with CCS is usually after 1:30 pm, as CCS has her exercise class scheduled during "lunch hour". Today, it was scheduled for 2:30, as her exercise class was later than it usually is due to the Jewish holiday.  So, I had much more time than usual to get ready, and made it to the restaurant at the same time her was pulling into the restaurant's parking lot.

We didn't have that much to say today.  I talked a little about my travels, and she told me a little about her travels.  Both of us feel the same way about what's happening in the world these days, and both politics and world affairs came up - and we both see the signs of loudly creeping authoritarianism, understanding what they could mean if left unchecked.  Lunch ended, and we set a new date, then we were on our separate ways.  I then went to BJ's to do a little shopping, and then back to the house to rest before meeting Vicki for dinner.  

Vicki and I met in Mt. Kisco at Lefteris for dinner.  Both of us ordered the Greek Salad w. Chicken, Vicki polishing it off more quickly than I did.  Just as we were finishing our salads, another diner asked me when I thought of NYC's mayoral candidate, and we had a polite discussion with Vicki taking on more of the lead in talking.  This fellow didn't like what Mamdani stood for, and Vicki mentioned that Mamdani will be checked by the realities of NYC.  As for me, I support Mamdani for one reason only - he can't be controlled by the Orange Snowflake.  

When I got home I had a decision to make: How will I present for the weekend with RQS?  As Marian or as Mario?  It'll be nice to stay in dresses while I'm able to do so comfortably.

Seeing a friend, while Amazon has still not delivered.

 

When the above dog says "Woof!" he really means it - unlike Amazon's 2-day delivery pledge for Prime members.  But first, I'll talk about friendship....

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About a month ago, I last saw my friend CCS from the census.  Both of us were in good moods when we met at the local pizzeria, and had our choices of where to sit when we got there.  We were chatting so much, that I had no time to think of what I wanted to order.  (She is a vegetarian, so her limits made it easy for her to quickly know what she wanted.)  So, I ended up ordering an old standby, lasagna, even though I knew it was too heavy for a late summer's day.  We caught up on things such as our cruises, politics, and where we are vacationing next.  But all too soon, it was time to go, and we scheduled out next lunch for late September. 

Once I left the pizzeria, I dropped off my leftovers at home, then took a short drive just to see some sunlight. before going back home for a few hours to wait for game night.  Around 6 pm, I noticed a message: Our hostess was sick, and game night was cancelled for tonight.  In a way, this was just as well.  It gave me some time to straighten up the mess in my apartment.

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But back to Amazon....

The above items were originally ordered on August 25th, with delivery scheduled for August 26th. (I didn't care about next day delivery, but Amazon said they would deliver these items a day early.)  They didn't come on the 26th.  They didn't come on the 27th.  They were only noted as being late in transit, although they were reported as having reached the Hawthorne, NY carrier facility.  And this status remained well into the 28th.  

At the time I'm writing this entry, I don't think I will receive these items today, the 28th.  So, I prepared a new order, being ready to cancel the first order at 11 pm and issue a new order at that time.  I'll add a postscript to this entry if things change.... 




PS: I cancelled the order at 10 pm.   I'll reorder things over the weekend.

Another lunch, another friend....

 

Today, I had another lunch date on my docket.  This time, it was with CCS, my friend from the Census. One wouldn't know it looking at her, but she and her husband have had successful careers.  They just live modestly, save for the upper middle class area in which they live.  (She's a perfect person to have as a friend, as I'll bet that she could smell pretentiousness and BS from miles away.)

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I got dresses and met CCS at the Mexican restaurant down the hill.  And as usual, we caught each other up on what has been going on in our lives.  Again, I recounted the story of our "Moved Over" cruise, and dealing with the summer heat.  While having lunch, I received a call from our co-op's managing agent.  They didn't have copies of our meeting minutes for 2025.  So I left lunch more quickly than I'd have liked and sent 7 months' of minutes to him 15 minutes later.

Now that I had nothing to do until a zoom meeting later in the evening, I decided to look for a summer weight cotton blanket for my bed.  It's hard to believe that after Bed, Bath and Beyond closed its stores, that these blankets seem to be only available on Amazon.  So, another item will get added to my Amazon shopping cart soon.

Once home for the night, I started up a Zoom meeting with our Texas friends. First, I told the story of our "Moved Over" cruise, then I encouraged RQS to recount the trip into NYC to see Rakugo.  Later on, RQS noted that it was much more lively than usual, one of our friends opening up more than usual  It was good to know that I could lay back a little and let someone else chat for a change.... 

Lunch with a friend, then some retail therapy

 

I had almost forgotten that my friend from the census, CCS, and I were scheduled for lunch today.  Luckily, she contacted me to confirm our get together.  And I was glad to have a clean and comfortable dress to get into for one of my last days as Marian until mid July.

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CCS and I have known each other for 5 years, and we try to see each other every month..  She chose a new restaurant in Briarcliff Manor serving a Mexican/Italian menu.  Surprizingly, she loved her Quesadilla, and I loved the Linguine Carbonara - and both of us will likely be going back there soon.  We talked about today's political situation, and why I'm hedging my bets on America by applying for a second passport.  She had a bit more to say, including supplying the name of the man who will be running against my congress critter next year.  (My congressman is a coward, and refuses to tell people where (or if) he plans to hold town halls, as he supports the Orange Snowflake's attempts to destroy America. But I digress.) 

Once we left the restaurant and went our separate ways, I stopped at home for a bit, and then drove to Poughkeepsie to see if the above garment was in stock at Lane Bryant.  Once I got there, I found it, bought it, and took it home with me.  Could I have spent more in the store?  Yes.  But I'm in the process of purging excess stuff from my closet and don't want to add any more dresses to my collection.

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One thing I can say - I'll likely be wearing this late one evening when RQS is next here....   

Lunch with 2 friends (on different days)

 

The above picture is from the days when the old "Whine and Dine" meetup group still existed.  It's been a long time since then, and I still enjoy eating out whenever I can - especially with a friend or two.  Over the past two days, I've had two separate lunches with two separate friends and wish it could be more often.

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My first lunch was with my friend,CCS, from the census.  Each month, we try to get together and catch up on things.  This month, I got to talk about my trip to Bermuda with RQS and she got to talk about a family reunion for Passover.  Although we chatted about more things (current politics always seems to come up these days), our focus was mostly on our trips and not the BS going on in the outside world.

Next up was my friend, SJM, from the imaging firm.  Like me, she's glad to be out of the place, as it was a stifling place to spend 8 hours each day. I brought her up to date with my travels, and she talked about her job search, her son's performance in college, and other things a little too personal to cover here.  As expected, talk of the Orange Snowflake came up.  I said that I would love to see a revival of "Our American Cousin" take place at Ford's Theater, with the same Ad-Hoc ending.  

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A common feature with both friends is that I would likely have never developed a friendship with these two ladies had I been presenting as Mario instead of as Marian.  Over time, I'd like to be able to leave as much of Mario behind and live as much of my life as Marian as possible.  At my age, I can deal with males trying to talk down to me ("mansplaining", among other things).

Mexican lunch and a new Bra

 

I had only one thing on the docket today, and that was lunch with CCS, my friend from the US Census.  Around noon, I made sure to get shaved, showered, made up and dressed for a 1:30 lunch.

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CCS and I aren't that close.  We're not the types who need to be at each other's beck and call.  Instead, we are the type of friends who can keep each other up to date on what's going on in each other's lives, and be there for each other when we need a small favor from each other.  So a friendship built on workplace camaraderie has evolved into something that nourishes us years after our involvement in the census.

When we got together, we talked of several things - current affairs, her upcoming trip to Atlantic City, my life with RQS and our upcoming trips, and issues one faces when one holds dual citizenship in the US and another country and wants to travel.  I learned how I'll be dealing with passport issues once I have my second passport.

Once we finished lunch, I took a long, overland route to Lane Bryant in Paramus to see what is in the store.  Nothing I would have liked was selling at a price I wanted to pay.  About the only thing I wanted was a new bra, and they were on sale.  Even more interesting, they actually had my size in store stock for a change.  So I bought the bra in the above picture.  Just before I left, there was another woman in the store who was shopping for a bra in her size - 38-I.  I can't imagine having breasts that large on my chest. The saleslady was trying to tell her to try on both the 38-I and the 40-H sizes, as sometimes a "sister size" bra will work better on some frames.  (I wasn't going to get involved in this conversation, as I've already had to deal with sister sizing when buying my bras.)

Soon, I was on my way home, and dealing with rush hour traffic.  Luckily, I got home in a little over an hour, and was able to relax for the rest of the evening.

A social day for Marian

 

This was a day where I knew I'd be spending the day as Marian.  So I made sure that I'd be wearing a comfortable dress when I went out for lunch (but not the dress above).  But I had one thing I wanted to do, but didn't for reasons I'll mention later.

My first appointment in my calendar was meeting with CCS, my friend from the census, for lunch. Since she exercises with a personal trainer on Wednesdays, we decided to have lunch after her session.  This meant that I'd be having a late lunch. The day's plan was to have me start moving around 11, and leave the house by 1:15 pm for lunch.  While I was getting dressed, I got a call from Vicki suggesting that we meet for lunch today.  So what did I do?  I scheduled dinner with Vicki for tomorrow, and had lunch with CCS today. 

I arrived at the Ossining pizzeria around 1:30, and found CCS already sitting in a booth.  Both of us ordered hearty meals with dessert, and I was stuffed by the end of our meal.  We caught each other up on the things happening in our lives, including RQS's visit to the ER, and CCS's family reunion during Passover in Atlantic City.  By 3:30, we were finishing lunch, and scheduled next month's get together before parting our ways.

Next, I was too tired to take care of one errand I had planned for the day - going to Costco and getting a membership card with Marian's image on it.  (I have one with Mario's face on it.)  So I went home, and went into a digesting sleep for a couple of hours.  

After I regained full consciousness, I prepared for a Zoom meeting with RQS and our Texas friends.  It was a good meeting, and everyone had something to say. At 9:45, I ended the meeting, and finally had a chance to rid my face of the makeup I was wearing for almost 10 hours....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A trip to Uncasville

 

I wasn't planning on driving that much this weekend, but an invite from CCS got us out to Eastern Connecticut Saturday night.  Instead of sitting at home and wondering what to do, we drove to Mohegan Sun to meet my friends for dinner, followed by both Gladys Knight and the O'Jays in concert.

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RQS and I relaxed most of the morning, and realized that it was 12:30 pm before we got moving to get showered, dressed, and out the door. We had planned to leave Croton around 1:30 pm to have adequate slack time to reach Mohegan Sun with time to spare.  However, this was not the case.  We left 30 minutes later, and it took all of 2 1/2 hours to get there.  Luckily, we were not traveling in the opposite direction, as the Southbound traffic was jammed up throughout most of Connecticut.

Reaching the casino complex, I was impressed at how big it had become.  Years ago, I remember coming here when only the first of the casino wings was open.  The last time I was at the casino, the third wing was under construction.  This time, all four wings were open, and one could need a road map to find his/her way around.

Our friends were waiting for us at Pepe's pizza, and we proceeded to order our pies. 30 minutes later, they were ready, and we proceeded to feast and chat.  This would be the second time I met CCS's husband, and the first time RQS would meet CCS with her husband.  CCS had mentioned my co-op's issues to her husband (he's a lawyer) and he gave me some information I can pass on to our board's president.

Around 7 pm, we walked over to the casino's theater.  CCS and her husband received 4 free tickets to the performance as perks for their gambling efforts.  I have no idea how much they gamble, but they get free rooms at the casinos as perks, and other goodies as well.  But we consider myself fortunate to be there as their guests for this show.

Gladys Knight came on first.  For a woman in her 80's, she still puts on a good show. However, one can see that age has taken its toll on her body, as she used assistance in getting on and off stage.  After 45 minutes, her set ended, and we had 30 minutes to wait until the O'Jays came on.  By this time, I should have stretched my legs and gone to the women's room.  But no, this T-Gal stayed in her seat, allowing her legs to start aching.

Next were the O'Jays.  One of the original singers had passed away, and this was noted by the group as part of their performance.  And then they got on with their music.  It was good, but not the music I remembered as a youth.  As expected, their closing number was "Love Train", and they did not fail to get the audience moving to the beat.

The show ended around 10 pm, and we relaxed in the theater waiting for the crowd to disperse.  Three of us had to rush to the ladies' room, and I was impressed by how clean it was - even after a show, when one would expect it to be a mess.  Then if was off to the pastry shop to have a bite to eat before we were to go home.  30 minutes later, we left CCS and her husband, and made a "donation" to the casino before finally leaving for home.

I said that we'd stop at the first service area on I-95 we reached.  While RQS was taking a bio-break, I could fill the car with gas.  This was not to be.  The gas station had turned off its pumps for its weekly refresh, and I wasn't in the mood to wait until 12:30 am to get gas.  So, it was off to the next service area - 15 minutes away.  And here is where I filled up and stretched my legs before driving another 100 miles to get home.

We reached home just before 2 am, and were exhausted.  It was a long day, and both of us were grateful for friendships old and new.

 

Lunch with CCS (a quick post)

 

CCS and I got together for lunch today.  However, we changed the original location for lunch so that she could have more time for lunch, and still make an appointment near to the restaurant.

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Lately, I've been waking up early and not falling back to sleep after a early morning Bio-break. As a result, I wasn't necessarily interested in getting out of bed or having lunch.  But I did so, and got to Briarcliff Manor at 12:30 - and still was there a minute or two late.

Lunch was good, as my Gyro had enough meat and salad stuff in it to be tasty.  I should have had the rice with the gyro, as there was too much greenery on the plate to enjoy properly.  We caught up on what was going on in each other's lives, and she had a pair of tickets to offer for two Motown acts performing at Mohegan Sun.  So, I contacted RQS afterwards, and she said yes to rescheduling things we had planned for the weekend.  (And I was looking forward to a German dinner at Zum Stammtisch.)

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After lunch, I called my doctors office to get a prescription renewal.  (I'll have to call back for a yearly exam.)  Then it was home for a nap.  Although I planned to do laundry tonight, I didn't wake up in time to do it before the 10 pm deadline.  That'll be another task for the morning.