Greetings from Saturday. So far, Memorial Day Weekend has been decent. I took the day off yesterday and it was mostly spent reading, walking, and finally revisiting the 4th season of You, which I had quit watching after 4 or 5 episodes last year because it was one of the most dreadful seasons in a series I’ve ever experienced. But I wanted to be able to watch the final season that just came out so I barreled through – fuck, that was some rough hate-watching TV.

I think the only thing of note that happened otherwise was that I decided to treat myself to a latte so I walked to Potomac Station (yeah, my boycott didn’t last long). However, I was one block away when I looked up and realized I was about to walk right into someone I’ve been avoiding. Sorry to be vague but you just never know. They were at a parking meter and I was like OMG SHOULD I TURN AROUND but I figured that would be more noticeable so I just kept walking and legit had to walk RIGHT BEHIND them, so close that I was sure they’d catch me in their periphery. Right as I slipped past, I was about to exhale when they turned and started to say something and I went rigid – but they were just asking a nearby cop a question about the meter.

Now I was panicking that they were also going to the same cafe as me so as soon as I got to the end of the block, I dove around the corner of a pizza joint and flattened myself against the wall. Then I called Henry and in lieu of “hello,” I hit him with a “FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!” and he was probably thinking, “This is it, this is the call from jail I’ve been expecting for 24 years.” But then when I told him what was happening, he started laughing and excuse me but the last time I checked, this was not a laughable situation.

I waited another minute and when I didn’t see that person pass the pizza place, I tempted fate and poked my head around the corner after trying to peer through the pizza place windows only succeeded in making me look even more suspicious, like some begging to lose a game of hide & seek.

They were still at the meter!!! So I hurriedly retreated to my hideout in the stoop of an apartment building next to the pizza place. One of the residents came out at one point and almost walked right into me, that’s how great I am at HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT.

“Ok, I’m going to check again,” I whispered to Henry, who had stayed on the phone with me so at least it looked I was doing something and not just creeping up and down a quiet side street for no reason. Right as I stepped off the stoop of the apt building, two people emerged from the other side of the pizza place and it gave me such a DAYLIGHT FRIGHT but it was two men and not the person I was trying to evade. When I popped my head around the corner, the rest of the sidewalk was empty. I dunno where they were went, but it was somewhere the opposite direction of the cafe, thankfully.

Still, my nerves were all tweaked when I got to the cafe so I stood there waiting for my Bakewell tart latte, wringing my hands and casting furtive glances over my shoulder.

I texted Megan this story while I was in the cafe and she was like “This WOULD happen to you!!” and then Chooch actually said, “LOL that’s really funny.” Wow. Glad I could send you a chuckle, dear son.

Apropos song for this moment:

Nothing else that great happened except that when I was on a post-exercise evening walk, I was listening to an audio book that was boring me so my mind started to wander and the final result was that for the first time in years (maybe since 2020??) I have a concrete idea for family Christmas cards and had to run back into the house and write down the ideas because all I do these days is forget.

Henry was like, “It’s….May.”

I saw this sign & dog poop baggies on my walk this morning and it made me laugh.

Then my sister Amy sent me a post from Duffy’s (beer dist. that we go to sometimes) where they were advertising a six-pack of Kennywood-inspired beer from Penn Brewery so Henry and I stopped there on our way to Mingo Park (today’s afternoon stroll locale). I mostly wanted to get this because of the cans – I have a plan to cut them, flatten them out, and tack them down onto wood and somehow incorporate one of our family pics from Kennywood into the middle of it. TO BE CONTINUED.

We got one for Amy & Dick too :)

Mingo Park was a nice time but it brought back some memz about PSYCHO MIKE because I was there once with him in high school so I started venting about that and I guess I want to say that I’m thankful that Henry is a WE LISTEN AND WE DON’T JUDGE type (most of the time). Somehow the conversation went to how when I broke up with Jeff (not a psycho but also not for me) for Henry, the most biting dig he could think of was, “Have fun dating an old guy and listening to country music and drinking Coors!”

LOL we have never done either of those things, but OK.

“Isn’t it crazy how we had nothing in common when we first met and now we do?” I said to Henry.

“Yeah because you made me assimilate to you and now I have no individuality,” he answered without missing a beat.

This is SO TRUE but he loves my interests. My interests make him interesting.