From Thursday to Sunday (Today)

On Wednesday, Mom and I went to a group birthday party (for any December babies from the Breathers' Club and the Fit after 50 Club). We looked very sparkly in our Christmas red -- I even bought two hair thingies that glittered. I must admit that Mom and I look good in Christmas red! (Tina L on the Left and Ruthie on the Right) That was a really nice happy hour at Antigua. The restaurant was very festive with little white light clusters interspersed with small golden reindeer. I don't think they were serving venison ...

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Friday we had free tickets to a concert with Williams and Ree (opening act) and the Desert City Ramblers at the Agua Caliente Casino. We had to pick up the tickets before 6 p.m. and the show didn't start until 8 p.m. Oh, what could we do for two hours???

I found my favorite game!! It's invaders from the Planet Moolah (above). If you get some matches, the cow says, "Moo." If you get three matches, three cows say, "MOO!!!" It's pretty silly. Mom introduced me to the machine where if you get a bonus, koi come up and you have to smack the fish. After doing that a couple of times, I was exhausted and it was all for about $8.25 which is better than a kick in the pants, but I was hoping for $30. No, I didn't win. Well, I did, sort of. At one point, I had $80, but by the end of the time I ended with perhaps $2 ahead. Or maybe $1 ...

So then we trotted off to the Show Room. We got orchestra seats which was amazing to us and we were happy. They put Mom on the end which also made us happy.

They didn't say anything about not taking pictures before the concert. Williams and Ree were FUNNY. We laughed and laughed. They call themselves the Indian (Ree) and the White Man. (I don't know why I capped that; I guess the title part threw me.) They told us first off that they were not politically correct and they had been partners for 51 years. It turns out, they graduated high school one year after me. Boy, was that a sobering thought because they looked like they had graduated in 1968. Ree played an electric guitar and Williams played an electric base. Their songs were funny too. We wished they could have been on stage more.

After some fiddling around with mics, the drummer for the Desert City Ramblers took the stage and began the opening. If the volume control on their speakers went up to 10, this drumming was at 16. The incredible thumping hit you right in the chest and whipped around to jangle your vertebra. The whole room was vibrating; it was like being next to a syncopated jet engine.

Mercifully, I had ear plugs in my purse. I was never so glad to have those babies! I offered them to Mom and she declined but she did remove her hearing aids fairly quickly. After an eternity of continuous drumming, the rest of the band took the stage. But the bass player (who looked like he was 12) couldn't get his speaker right. I thought, "who could tell?" The drummer was still at it. A roadie comes out and they fiddle for 10 minutes (really), including getting feedback. Thanks to my supersonic hearing, even with the ear plugs, I could hear feedback in amongst the cacophony. Finally, they began to play and sing.  You couldn't hear the vocals at all due to -- everyone's volume was up at 16! I wanted to scream, "Get a mixer! Get a sound engineer!" but I knew it would be like blowing bubbles into the wind. (I cleaned that up for you because I thought nobody needs to hear that urine analogy.)

Did I say it was awful? I asked Mom if she wanted to go and she said she needed her walker. I didn't care, right at the beginning of the next audio onslaught, I walked right up to the front and retrieved that sucker and we beat feet. Another older couple was leaving as well. It sounded o.k. behind the closed auditorium doors ... I guess it's true: you get what you pay for.

But I highly recommend Williams and Ree.

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Knowing that we are going to hear the Gay Men's Chorus holiday performance, I decided to do some cooking ahead.

Yes, that's eggplant parm, cheesey cauliflower, and blueberry muffins. I also cooked spinach and prepped green beans. That way I don't have to cook a zillion times during the week.

Deb texted us, wishing us a happy Sunday and I told her I was cooking a lot. The damn autocorrect told her I was cocking a lot. Sigh. Now I can't make fun of Carole who sent an early morning email to her son that began with, 'Hi Horney,' This is how mothers get a bad rap. We are being sweet and this technology makes us look bad. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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I am so thankful for our new hot tub mugs! Farah, Jon, Sofia, and Brownie sent them. Somebody put my name on the Naughty one and Mom's on the Nice one. I don't know how or why that happened but I'm happy to have an adult beverage container!

Merry Christmas to you all! And especially Happy Chanukkah which begins tonight. I'll have to make my latkes out of zucchini this year.

Peace.