Dave and Me

This is a picture of me and my boyfriend Dave. (I didn't want to post his picture until I knew he was o.k. with it and he told me this weekend that it would be fine to post the picture.) We've been dating a little over 3 months and it has been GREAT! He is a wonderful boyfriend that lets me know he cares and gives me a lot of attention but he respects that I need time alone too.

This weekend we went to the Detroit Institute of Arts to see the Annie Leibovitz American Music exhibit. It was a wonderful exhibit and I was surprised by how many of the artists she featured were artist that played at the Michigan Theater. (John Lee Hooker, Brian Wilson, Lyle Lovett) I was also surprised by how many artists she featured that I have met during my fundraising career in Ann Arbor. (Aaron Neville, Laurie Anderson, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King and Patti Smith) I love how she captures "the essence" of people.

I did not go shopping crazy this weekend. I'm not so interested in getting up at 5 a.m. to get the best deals in town. I bought a few things when the crowds thinned out late in the day. I visited with a friend from high school that I have not seen in over 15 years on Friday night. He said I haven't changed a bit. (I wonder if he was just being nice?) It is nice to know that I still appear youthful even though I will be 40 years old in 3 months!

Buddy - My Cat

I've wanted to post a picture of my cat for a while now but I don't have a digital camera. My boyfriend took a picture of Buddy this weekend. He must have taken 20 shots to finally get this one. (Buddy likes to move around a lot.)

I always tell my boyfriend, Dave, that Buddy is "the love of my life" and he still likes me anyways. I think Dave knows he stands a pretty strong chance of taking over that title.

A few facts about Buddy:
Favorite activities - Sleeping, watching birds, chasing feathers on a string and eating.
Favorite food: Cheese, tuna fish, ice cream, butter and milk. (I can't leave out the butter or he gets into it.)
Favorite lounging locations: Morning - Dining room by the baseboard heater, Afternoon - On my bed where the sunbeams shine in. Evening - On my bed, next to me on the pillow.
Favorite vacation spot: The hallway of my apartment building visiting neighbors.

ONE Butternut Squash Can Be Costly

I went shopping last night and the bill was almost 4 times larger than normal amount. I asked the kid to check the receipt and he gave me a funny look and acted like $172 was a reasonable amount. I knew better but was in no mood to push this issue with this fellow. I paid him and immediately looked at my receipt and realized that there was a charge for a single item that equaled $110.41.

I marched over to the service desk and told them of the error. After looking at the receipt for a few minutes the manager finally figured out that the item must have been the butternut squash. (The squash didn’t have a UPC code on it, maybe that was the problem!)

I wanted the manager to shred the check I wrote, so I could write a check for the proper amount. Instead he issued a refund of $110.41 in cash. (I ended up getting the squash for FREE, and rightly so for all my trouble!) I was rather upset that I would now have to make another trip to the bank to deposit the money back into my account. I suppose the lesson in all this is next time I need to muster up the energy, no matter how tired, to force the clerk to look at the receipt. It would have saved me a lot of trouble. Of course, I would have never gotten a FREE butternut squash either.

On a sad note, I just found out today that my co-worker has breast cancer. I’ve never known anyone close to me with breast cancer and I can’t believe all the doctor’s appointments and tests she has to take. Chemo is another thing she must face and all of her beautiful blonde hair will fall out. She asked me to be on the lookout for a nice head covering to wear when that starts to happen. Does anyone have good ideas of what to wear other than a turban? She might be out of work for a while too. I’m just terribly sad about this.

Florida

I just booked a flight to Florida and I'm pretty excited. Basically I've bought a bit of "summer in the middle of winter" Does anyone have ideas of fun things to do in Orlando and Tampa? I might hang out at this Tiki bar!

Dave and I are still having a great time getting to know each other. He is is unlike anyone I've ever dated. This is a VERY good sign, however time will tell where things go. We just celebrated his birthday last week and the restaurant made a special dessert for him. I've included the picture below. Very sweet, they must know how special Dave is too.