Sunday funday…

Yesterday morning was gorgeous. Crisp, cool, blue skies and bright sunshine. The weather was perfect, even though I love summertime.

We had coffee and tea on our front porch and enjoyed the warm sunshine we were bathed in. It was a healing kind of gentle sunshine, without the heat and humidity that had kept me indoors since I had breathing issues in those conditions.

We were able to cook our breakfast outside. Yay! I prepped all the items we needed, and Marty was going to do the cooking. I set the outdoor table with pretty purple springtime cloth napkins with hydrangeas.

Marty is a good short-order cook and has done it for real. Breakfast was ready in a snap since the flat-top griddle was piping hot.

The menu…Fluffy gf pancakes with strawberry whipped cream, bacon, over-easy eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns finished with green onions.

It was a beautiful, relaxing setting with soft jazz playing in the background. I called Martin from across the street and asked him to join us, and he did! I quickly set another place setting before he walked over.

No Nelly! Off! Hot!

It felt like we were dining in a cute spot with good food and a great atmosphere. Our breakfast was delicious; the hashbrowns were my favorite part of the meal, like any other good Irishman.

After breakfast, I went in to get ready for Barbie, and it was cool enough to blow out my hair and straighten it! This is still a big deal since I am still a Jersey girl through and through. My scalp and hair have been damp all summer; having dry hair was delightful.

I wore pink, of course; I don’t always wear only black anymore. When I came down before I left for the movie, Marty told me I looked good in pink; it did look surprisingly good on me.

I went to see Barbie with my friends David and Arthur from next door at the Deming House. The guys are from DC and purchased their Vermont home a few short years ago.

The good news is they are now living full-time in Vermont since they have retired (well, sort of for David.) We hit it off right away; we love having them as friends and neighbors.

Weirdly enough, after the guys purchased the Deming House, Arthur did a little genealogy and found out the Demings in his lineage were related to the Demings of Arlington, VT! How can that even be, except it was meant to be?

We had to wait 30 minutes for the movie to start since the projector had an issue. While we waited, we talked about what cartoons we watched and the toys we played with when we were little.

I know when I was a kid, I watched a shit ton of tv. David and Arthur did, too; I guess everyone did back then.

I remember running to get a quick bowl of sugar-laden cereal or a Poptart and sitting “too close to the tv,” which would ruin my eyes, especially after staring at the small screen for hours in an Indian leg position or on my back.

We all loved Scobby-doo the best, with a lot of runners-up. For toys, I told them how much I loved my Barbies and played with them until I was 12 or 13.

David and Arthur both played with GI Joes; I am pretty sure David said sometimes he got to play with a friend’s sister’s Barbies. He was pretty knowledgeable about the different Barbies and their names.

Before playing with Barbies, I played with baby dolls and took one of them everywhere. I took care of it until I got tired of the baby, and it landed face down on the car floor. Good thing my mothering skills improved when I had Noah.

I loved those small bottles with the disappearing milk or orange juice. Orange juice for babies? I never second-guessed it back then.

The Barbie movie was really good. It was better than I expected, with many entertaining and funny scenes. We all liked it.

It was a great way to spend my day with people I love having in my small circle of friends, which took my mind off my pulmonary appointment the following day.

Last night, Marty spotted a vast bird way up on a branch of a black locust tree before sunset. We weren’t sure what kind of bird it was, so Marty shared a photo with a group on Facebook called “Happening in Arlington.” Everyone agreed it was an osprey.

An osprey is a type of hawk that is also called a fish hawk since fish makes up this type of hawk’s primary diet. They are found near large bodies of water such as Lake Champlain, lake memphremagog, and the Connecticut River.

The more I thought about it, even though other people have seen other osprey in our area, I knew this was a direct message from my power animal Hawk. He shows up whenever I need him. Marty and I took this as a good sign that put me at ease a bit.

I just returned from my appointment at Dartmouth Hitchcock and am happy to tell you I do not have pulmonary fibrosis. Thank God! I do have interstitial lung disease, but with a game plan in place to monitor it and accepting I will have some breathing issues for the rest of my life, I am ok with it.