Jill visits for Spring Break

“Spring Break”

    Kay and I have made it a point to stay close to home from mid-March to early April. We made it a point immediately after renting a beach house with the Plilers during spring break of 2003. What a stupid time to go to the beach.

We saw things that still bother me to this day. Just think, without the binoculars, I would’ve missed a lot of it. Anyway, I protect Kay from stuff like that now. Virginia and Freeman? Oh, you can catch them in some of the spring break footage that appears each year on the news. It changed the couple. -- Virginia is either laughing or in the process of calling me.  

True to form, last week Kay and I stayed put during spring break. But, we still had a blast, ‘cause my sister Jill came up and spent a few days with us. My kid sister works at a college south of here, so she’s a big fan of the break known as “Spring.”

I’m a fan of her visiting ‘cause we talk about old times, test each other on the lyrics of the old songs and we laugh a lot. Oh, the best part is that Jill treats us to IHOP for breakfast. She used to take us out only on Christmas mornings, but has recently decided to treat us during each of her overnight visits. I keep insisting that she stop doing that, but each time I hand her the check she takes it. Whatta sister!

At last week’s IHOP visit, I finally got the red velvet cake pancakes. It was either that or the banana caramel. I asked the waitress which she preferred, and she said the ones without the bananas and caramel. I developed an instant liking for Kathleen. 

And also for red velvet pancakes. They have now edged out the cinnamon pancake as my favorite. Kathleen told me that I’d better eat as many red velvets as I can, ‘cause in the near future they’re gonna drop ‘em for something else. She was almost in tears when she said it.

I tell you that as way of encouraging you to notify the IHOP front office and urge them not to kill the red velvet pancake. These people have lost their minds.

Besides IHOP we went to Kroger. Kay and I go there usually twice a day, ‘cause one of us can’t remember to occasionally refer to the grocery list. Hey, that thing usually gets misplaced over in produce. Either that or someone is stealing it from me. 

Before leaving Kroger, Jill told the kid who bagged our groceries that he looked like Eric Burdon. The boy did not change his expression, so I said, “Eric Burdon of The Animals?” Nothing. Then I said, “House of the Rising Sun?” He looked up to his right as if he were thinking of the song or hoping I’d leave him alone. 

I decided to sing him some of the lines to jog his memory. “There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Sun--” Kay dragged me out of the place. She said, “How can a guy who didn’t recognize a single song or recipient during this year’s Grammy Awards, expect a high school kid to know who Eric Burdon is?”

After a lunch of Vernon’s fried chicken (I really like Fried Chicken Tuesdays) we went to the movie to see “The Great and Powerful Oz.” We went because we’d already seen “Jack the Giant Slayer.”

Turned out, OZ was really quite bad. Great special effects and the 3-D look was superb. However, the movie stank on ice. Jill blamed it on James Franco, the guy who played OZ. Jill said that Franco is not suited for comedy… or drama. I believe her words were, “The guy can’t act and can’t even pretend to act.” You have to weigh that awhile before it makes sense. Once it registers, it’s near profound.

Kay actually agreed with Jill. Kay is so sweet that I like to hear her say something negative. Makes me feel better about me. – Oh, and the good news about the OZ outing  was that the popcorn was good.

And, do you want to know a coincidence? The night before Jill left, we watched something on PBS about the songs of the ‘60s. Sure enough, there was Eric Burdon. I reached for the phone to call Kroger, but a sane mind prevailed.

    During the rest of Jill’s visit we managed to squeeze in a lot of other fun stuff. I don’t think the bag boy at Kroger would’ve thought it all that much fun, but, hey, youngsters? Unless they’re on the beach, they never look like they’re having fun.

    Speaking of which, I’m fairly sure that incoming call is from Virginia. – “Hey, kiddo, it was a joke. I joke, okay? Sheesh…” -- Next time.

Earlier days: I'm in the middle with a tight grip on Big Al. 

Jill is trying to help.

End