Howdy, Autumn!

Summer is my favorite season but love Autumn too. I  drove into Atlanta today after work to get my Massey fix. I talk to her every day but being able to give her a hug makes all the difference in the world. I picked her up outside her dorm and we tooled over five minutes to Virginia/ Highland for a bite to eat.

It's a beautiful part of town with lots of boutiques, galleries and restaurants. I decided to take her to Murphy's, a place I used to frequent over twenty five years ago. It moved a few blocks from it's original spot and is triple the size it used to be but still really good. I was a little disappointed they didn't still serve the stuffed chicken breast with Dill but we each got a nice salad.

Mixed greens with seared rare Tuna, shaved jalapenos, ginger, green onion, radish, avocado and ginger shallot vinaigrette dressing. Massey had a steak salad with bleu cheese,  red onion, tomatoes and spicy croutons. It was a beautiful afternoon and we sat on the patio overlooking the quaint neighborhood. It's been two weeks since I've seen her but she is really growing up...too quickly! We had a wonderful conversation and caught each other up on what's been going on.

Somehow, someway my little girl has become a young woman within what seems like the blink of an eye. She's loving the college life, making lots of new friends and enjoying this marvelous adventure. They had Georgia State night at Zoo Atlanta  this past weekend and she showed me all her pictures.

She's been walking all around the campus and city close by. I felt myself tearing up when I looked at  the smile on her face in the pictures. They were happy tears though.

Their dorm room overlooks the city and I love what they did to their window!

That's right little girl, seize YOUR day! We window shopped after dinner and stopped by CVS to pick up a few things on the way back to her dorm. I'm not quite sure how we went from this...

to this ...

but it certainly doesn't feel like it's been almost two decades. Yes, I'm tired and yes I work too much but spending three hours with her and seeing her look so happy makes it all worth while. Massey asked me how I was holding up working seven days a week and told her I choose to think of it as being off from the restaurant three days a week and being off from the mattress store four days  week. She agreed that was a good way  to look at it. I dropped her off at the dorm and watched her walk in. I had to roll down my car window one more time before she walked back in the door to her new home and holler from the red light across the street "I love you!" She laughed and said she loved me too. It's the little things that make you happy.

I got home a little after dark and don't have to be at work again til Monday night. Our new mattress is like a dream! The old one was almost as old as Massey and as worn out as I feel  sometimes.

My old mattress sat level with our night stands and as you  can see we've bumped up  quite  few inches. Ziggy , who is part kangaroo can hop right up. Charlie, on the other hand will never see  the top of our bed again. He needed a stool to get up on the old one. Ham was a little more than surprised when he first came into  the bedroom after we got it set up. He's blind so he thought he was jumping onto the same old bed. His face hit  about half way up the first time. He made it on the second try though. He may be blind but he can still jump. When I am standing next to the bed the top of the mattress comes up to about my waist.

 I bought the couple who gave us the mattress and box springs a gift certificate for our restaurant and they actually came in to eat last night. It was for forty bucks and my boss Barb gave me a discount on it. So now we're sleeping on a $3000 mattress (when it was brand new a few years ago)  for $30. I think that's  pretty good deal! I didn't wait on them but stopped by several times to chat with them. I told them how much we loved our new mattress and what a difference it made.

The husband said he loved their new mattress but the wife said she didn't really like it. She said it was hard as a rock.  For Pete's sake, the huge label on  the end of the mattress said "Ultra Firm." I felt okay about it because I didn't hard sell them at all (no pun intended) and actually SHE was the one to pick out that specific mattress. He was looking at another one but she insisted on the ultra firm. I told her she should go buy a  pillow top or egg crate top for it. She sighed and said maybe it would break in soon. As I walked them to the door of the restaurant I hugged both of their necks and told them once again thanks for the mattress and box springs and that we absolutely loved  it.

The woman looked at me and said "Please quit saying that."  I think she was kidding...I hope she was kidding. It's hard to tell with old peeps. I told her if it didn't get more comfortable, sell it on Craig's List and buy another one. The mattress alone they bought retails for $2799 not to mention $200 for the box springs. They got the set for $1099. I told her to call me if she wanted me to help her sell it.

I think they will be fine. The man loves it and he's the one who paid for it. I know I'M happy with mine! I came home from work and stretched out on it for thirty minutes before heading to Atlanta.

Going to visit my Diddy's cousin, Frances tomorrow morning and cutting the back yard tomorrow afternoon before work. Frances was in  hospice but believe it or not the tough old bird isn't getting  any worse so they have moved her to the nursing home. My sister went by  to see her the other day when they moved her and Frances hollered (she's deaf) to the social worker "WHY'D THEY MOVE ME HERE?" The social worker told Frances that hospice was for patients  who are dying and she isn't getting worse. Frances, always the thinker hollered back "WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU PUT ME HERE TO BEGIN WITH?" The social worker replied that they didn't have room for her at  first and Frances came right back with a loud "WE PASSED ABOUT SIX EMPTY ROOMS WHEN THEY BROUGHT ME IN HERE!"

My sister said the social worker didn't have an answer for  that one.

 Cindy said before she left she asked Frances if she needed anything and as usual Frances said no. Then my sister asked if maybe she would like a milk shake next time? Frances said that would be nice. My sister asked what flavor and Frances said it didn't matter. Cindy was getting ready to leave when Frances looked up and Hollered "DON'T GET CHOCOLATE."



Zach's going with me in the morning to see Franny, take her a strawberry milk shake and then treating me to lunch.

It's nice spending time with your kids especially when they don't mind hanging out with an old fart.

It's hard to believe my oldest is twenty seven and my youngest is eighteen. Time flies by  way too quickly my friends...as my daughter's dorm room window reminds us all, "Carpe Diem."

Til next  time...COTTON