My weekend was okay. I pulled on some comfortable clothes and a pair of the ridiculously high heeled sandals I enjoy wearing now that I don’t have to endure Cutty’s comments about them, tossed a change of clothes and ziplock of food for Mushy in my ever ready ‘go bag’ and played a geographical game of ‘spin the bottle’.
With no plan or agenda, I placed 4 bottles of water upright on the floor representing directions and spun the fifth. Then I plugged the farthest town in that direction into my TomTom and off we went.
I need to spend a little more time familiarizing myself with that device this week to find the ‘back road, scenic, no particular time line’ setting. It kept wanting me to get on the major highways and after an hour of ignoring it’s directions it stopped talking to me. I think it was exhausted from stating ‘recalculating route, AGAIN!’ I laughed as the 'turn arrows' increased from one to two and eventually three as if saying 'get a clue you idiot!'
If you’re thinking ‘why bother taking it at all?’ I wanted help in case I got lost. I didn’t want to spend my time on the Texas equivalent of the Daytona 500 whizzing by endless restaurant chains and malls while negotiating multiple lanes of road rage. I’ve driven in NYC, Detroit and LA. Texans are, seriously, more aggressive. I’ve even driven the Jersey turnpike at 5PM and was surprised to see drivers politely waving me on for the merge. In Texas, you’d be road kill.
And now you know why I’ll never be invited to work for the travel bureau.
We stopped at yard sales, trades day, you name it. Short of spray painting “I’m a girl” on her, I give up. Even with the purples ruffles of her new harness people still referred to Mushy as ‘he’. I took great joy in telling everyone it was her birthday. She even jumped in the lap of a stranger at a roadside flea market. I wish I had her nerve. I may take a page from her book. Hmm.
I ate food I haven’t touched in two years … beginning with a cinnamon roll and a kolache for breakfast. I don’t feel I ever ‘over ate’. Even the burger I ordered was a ‘junior’ (kids) burger. The taste without all the quantity. I overdosed on the canned Starbucks Mocha double shots but drank plenty of water in between. And I'd carried apples with me. So it wasn't all junk food.
I listened to two audio books as I drove: “Orange is the New Black” (as I’ve binge watched both seasons on NetFlix and want to know how it ends. I guess I know how it ends, she serves her time and gets a TV show. Yay Piper) and “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hays. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to this book yet each time still reveals a new idea. Maybe it just depends on ‘when’ I’m listening, what I’m open to ‘hearing’.
At times I’d find the directionless, agenda-less meandering a little boring. Breaking the old habit of only being in the car to go to trade shows or hospitals by the quickest route is taking some time. Being able to stop for lack of a timed agenda, making U-turns to ‘check that out’ and just aimlessly marking time is unfamiliar to me. But, it's coming back.
I’d talk that out with Mushy. We did finally go in a direction of a place we knew and stayed there overnight. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. From that I concluded I needed to stay in exploration rather than revisitation mode for a while.
Yo, I need a conversion on the 75 in 31 please. How many miles do I get for running in the hotel halls with Mushy? She has become addicted to that. I guess it’s the soft padded air conditioned carpet or something. On the cool marble floors of the lobby she flops down her belly portraying a ‘I’m so exhausted you’d think she had me pulling the car’ position. But get her on carpet and you’d better Hang On or pick up the pace.
So yeah, I’m the woman with her ridiculously high heels in one hand, leash in the other, laughing and running barefoot with her ‘fat dog’. I decided to forgo my aggressive defensive reaction to those comments this weekend and skip the lectures choosing to remember the old saying, ‘Never argue with morons, it confuses the onlookers.’
I’d like to see some of those folks run with her. She probably clocks out about 4mph because it takes everything I’ve got to keep up with her. But then again, I’m carrying the shoes.
I did leave her in the suite (despite her protests) and have dinner in a fine restaurant. Alone. I’m getting a little better about that. After a day, well, two days counting the solitude of the holiday, of talking only to myself and Mushy, I had an overwhelming desire to exchange conversation with a person.
I ordered a second vodka rocks glancing around the room wondering if I could work up the courage to approach someone. I did not. I merely sipped and composed my opening line, “I need to talk to a stranger. Do you mind?” But everyone else was paired up in even numbers. So I finished my melt in your mouth filet mignon and sauteed mushrooms and left. Shopped a little in boutiques but no purchases.
Would I have talked to a stranger? Yeah. I was remembering the night about 15 years ago I was in Nashville; the hospital phoned and informed me my Grandmother had finally passed away. She’d been on ‘any day now’ for a month and it seemed she waited until I left the state to finally let go. I’d already made all of the arrangements for her funeral including her clothing for the viewing so everything proceeded and I was back in time for the service.
But that night in the restaurant the singer on the stage performed, “Help Me Make it Through the Night.” That was her favorite song. I ducked my head and fought back tears in public. A man at the table next to me asked if I was okay. We talked for hours. I was only there alone because Cutty was off somewhere else at a ‘no wives allowed event’ with his colleagues.
We walked over to the Gaylord and crashed several events; never lingering long enough at any to get ‘busted’. It was kind of fun. Never exchanged names or anything else beyond a few cheap schwag items lifted off the greeting tables. I got a ball cap for Cutty at one of them. It was just a nice memory and I would have liked to have done it again.
The only drawback to hotels is Mushy is hypersensitive to the sounds of other guests and wakes constantly in alert mode. Translation, we never sleep that well. Even from the bedroom buried far back in the suite, she can hear people as they pass in the halls. I consider that a blessing that she’s such a good watch dog. Maybe I need to stay over several nights in a row to help her settle a bit.
And that’s my adventure. As I was getting ready to leave I did phone Blondie and ask if she wanted to go; no answer. No call all weekend even. I find that strange. She came over and asked ‘where’d you go?’ I responded ‘You don’t go, you don’t get to know.’ That’ll teach her. Or not.
It was probably best she didn’t. I need to spend more time alone and figure out who I am now and what I want. It’s only 5 days until the weekend again.. hmmm…
Thank you for stopping by and visiting with me. Hope you are having a wonderful day in your world.
Bella
