A Good Week

It's been a good week for Donna and me. Actually, we've been rather busy for us. When you are retired, you kind of get used to not doing much at all, so that when you do a few things, you really think you've been busy.

We started the week by attending a political forum Monday night to listen to some candidates running for office in the next election. That kept us up past my normal bedtime, so I was exhausted.

On Tuesday, we had appointments all day. We started with Donna getting her regular eye check-up. She also got a prescription for new glasses. She hasn't had a new pair in years, so we stopped off and had her fitted for a new pair.

We stopped in at the mall for a while. I needed a new light jacket. The one I have been wearing was about 15 years old and was becoming frayed around the sleeves and showing other wear and tear. I found a pretty good one at Dillard's at our local mall. Our local Sears in the mall was in its final days of operation. I hate to see that company fold. Those old Sears catalogs were a staple for so many small town folks in the old days. We could order all kinds of goods and have them delivered. And their appliances and yard machinery were top notch. But change happens, as much as I hate that. I'm really still stuck in an earlier time, but that's another story.

I had a medical appointment later that day, so we got to sit in another waiting room for a while. But waits here are generally not bad at all, and I'm grateful for that. We use Shannon Clinic and Hospital, and overall, we are pretty pleased with our doctors and the service we receive. After my appointment, we stopped in at the Schlotzsky's near the clinic for sandwiches. Donna really likes Schlotzsky's, and I do, too, but not as much as the old woman. Donna had a veggie sandwich and I enjoyed a ham and cheese. Isn't their sour dough bread great? After our late lunch, we picked up Donna's new glasses, then returned to her eye doctor because she was having trouble with one of her new contacts. Finally, we arrived home about 5 after a very long day. We were exhausted.

On Wednesday, we stayed home in the morning, but attended a presentation by Bilbrey Tours that afternoon. Bilbrey Tours is based in nearby Abilene, so most trips originate either in Abilene, San Angelo, or other regional towns. If you go to their website, you will see they go all over the place. We will look at some of their offerings and see if they are going someplace we would like to go. Most of the time, I'd rather just go on my own, but there are some places I would like to see that I would not be comfortable traveling on my own. And isn't traveling what retirement is about?

On Thursday, we went to Rosa's for lunch. Rosa's is probably our favorite place to eat, day in and day out. Yeah, there are other places we might enjoy more, but the price tag at those places prohibits us from eating there often. But we find Rosa's to have consistently good food at a very reasonable price. On Thursday, for example, we had very satisfying meals for a total of $13.50. We then took a drive around Lake Nasworthy and were rewarded with good viewings of both deer and turkeys.

Turkeys are such funny critters. As we approached the lake, we spotted one turkey running along pell-mell with its wings flapping. It had gotten separated from its buddies and was hurrying to catch up. On a walk around our neighborhood one day, a single turkey came running out from between two houses a short distance ahead of me, just gobbling and running madly, basically in a panic. It crossed the street, ran between two houses, and I could hear its cries continue. Soon, it came out again, re-crossed the street, still gobbling and running madly. A short distance away, I came across the rest of the turkeys. I suppose he had gotten separated and was desperately trying to find them. Perhaps we should change that old saying, "Running around like a chicken with its head cut off" to "Running around like a turkey desperately trying to find its friends."

So, another good week for Donna and Keith. But I think it is probably time we did something different.