In February 1999, I bought my first car—a red Toyota Celica.  I loved that car! (Sorry about the photo quality. It’s a 25-year-old Polaroid print.)

Of course, Ted and I have shopped for and bought cars together since we were married, but we always needed a car for him to drive to work and one in which our entire family could sit.  Even after I began working, I was the one who drove the “family” car.  The Celica was the first car I ever owned–titled in my name!  It was pretty exciting to finally buy a car for myself, and the Celica had a stick shift, heated seats, a moonroof, and a 6-disc CD changer. Whoo-ee!

Twelve years later, in April 2011, I traded my red Celica for a red Lexus IS-C.  That’s for “Intelligent Sport Convertible.”  I loved that car. It had such a nice ride that, even on long road trips, Ted and I didn’t feel stiff or ach-y after hours of driving. It had heated and cooled seats, Bluetooth, and SiriusXM!

The #1 fun factor of my IS-C was the power convertible.  It was fun to watch and a bit amazing to see how the car top and rear window fit in the trunk and still left room for other things within the cargo net space.  If people were passing by while I put the top up or down, at least one of them would stop to watch and then make a comment to me about how awesome that was.

Thirteen years later, in August 2024, I parted with my red IS-C and bought a red Lexus RC F Sport.  I love this car!  (There’s a pattern in my cars.)  The “RC” stands for “Radical Coupé” and the “F” is for “Fuji Raceway.”  One reviewer begged to differ, saying that the “F” is for “fun, fast, and ferocious.”  That works for me. 

The fun factors in this car include all the new technology (including a touch screen), incredibly comfortable seats that wrap around the occupants, heated and cooled seats and a heated steering wheel, a moonroof (again), and a low-slung, sporty look.  Ted says he’ll be able to reach more than halfway across the top when it’s time for him to wash it.  Unbelievably, although it’s far sportier than my IS-C, the ride is even smoother and quieter.  And then there’s the F Sport engine that has a discrete growl rather than a near-silent purr. 

I had no complaints about my IS-C–in fact, we never repaired the IS-C because nothing ever broke–I just wanted to ride in something different after 13 years. Although the convertible was loads of fun, the car handled more like a sedan than my Celica—and remember that I loved my Celica.  The RC combines the best of both worlds:  the Lexus luxuries with what some of the reviews call “aggressive” styling.  I went from this . . .

. . . to this.

As I walked into the garage on the third day I had my RC, my car’s name popped into my head.  It’s “Gigi” because I’m a Great-Grandmother (G. G.) and the name Gigi is a perfect fit.

Ted and I celebrate our birthdays and our wedding anniversary at Bentley’s every year. Ted says their grilled salmon is the best he’s ever tasted (he orders it frequently), and I love their pepper steak (which few restaurants even offer). The meal is always worth the 2.5-hour drive each way. We’ve become well-acquainted with the owner over the years, and we have a favorite server.

We belatedly celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary at Bentley’s in July and, as usual, we asked for one of Merrill’s tables. This time, Merrill had some news for us: (1) he thinks he’s going to retire within the year; and (2) Bill, the owner, had a stroke, so he no longer greets guests at the door, although he still oversees the kitchen. Merrill thought Bill’s condition might improve enough for him to greet guests in the future.

We had our usual delicious meal and finished with our favorite desserts. I like Bentley’s nice, thick whipped cream-topped grasshoppers, and Ted loves “The Thing”–an ice cream sundae with walnuts, strawberries, and a hard chocolate coating, topped with whipped cream.

Ted’s birthday will be here soon, and we’ll be back at Bentley’s to celebrate it.

The ranks of retired people added a member in July.  One of the office staff members that I hired during my working years retired, and I was invited to the party, described as a “high tea” for “Her Grace.”

It was wonderful to see so many of the staff and teachers I hired and worked with—still there 12 years later—and it was fun to see that they all enjoy working and celebrating together, just as we did while I was an active part of the team.  I started as a one-woman show, but the Adult Education program grew too large for me to handle alone.  The first person I hired was Jeanette (also retired now), on the left in the photo below.  Her Grace, Sonja, is in the center, and I’m on the right.

The two ladies in the front in the photo below are Lynn and Ellen, who were hired after I retired.  Those in the back row were some of my co-workers:  (L->R) Patty, a lead ESL teacher; Lindsay, a GED teacher (almost invisible behind Lynn); Sonja, an office staff member; Mandy, my second-in-command who took my place; me; and Ingrid, a lead ESL teacher.  By the time we decided we needed a group picture, quite a few people had already left or we’d have a much bigger crowd in the photo.

In keeping with the English tea party theme, the party favors were little cardboard teapots with candy inside.

When I retired, the staff gathered photos of our group from throughout my tenure, wrote a story to go with the photos, and had it all bound into a book titled “A Tale of the Star Kingdom.”  Our AEL (Adult Education & Literacy) program—the “Star Kingdom”—was one of a limited number of the 26 statewide AEL programs that had achieved Star status for excellence.  In the book, I was designated as the Empress.  The current staff made a similar book for Sonja.  In her book, Her Grace, Sonja, was recognized as the Duchess.  Shall I assume that when Mandy retires from the dean’s position that she accepted after my retirement, she will be referred to as an Empress in a similar book?  I hope so.

In addition to the book, invited guests were asked to send stories about their memories of Sonja.  Those stories were put into a binder for Sonja, and each of us who was present read our own story aloud to Sonja and the group.  It was fun to hear all those memories.  Among other things, my story included a trivial but true lesson I learned from Sonja.  It was about candy.  Sonja worked at the front desk and always kept a dish of candy on her desk for visitors.  All of us regularly contributed candy to the dish (it’s not a budget item), and Sonja once told us that:  (1) the more candy there is in the dish, the more pieces individual people take; (2) chocolate disappears very quickly; and (3) nobody likes Dum Dums.

I was still doing PT at Athletico at the time of Sonja’s party, and I couldn’t help noticing that the candy dish on the Athletico counter was filled with Dum Dums.  There was very little difference in the Dum Dum level over my next few visits, so maybe the Athletico staff will learn the same thing I learned from Sonja.

I hope Sonja’s retirement is filled with as much happiness and as many blessings as mine has been.

Due to a variety of reasons, Ted and I, Kathy and Annette, and Kari’s family were unable to get together for our “birthday season” celebration until June 24.  Part of the delay was due to my TKR.  Although my physical progress was rapid, I didn’t have enough energy to tolerate a seven-hour excursion—three hours of driving, plus party time—until then.

Our family celebrates six birthdays in only a few short weeks, so we usually make it a group event.  Mother’s Day falls in that time frame too and, because we celebrated so late this year, we added Father’s Day to the party.  We chose Columbia, MO as our party place.  Annette’s son lives in Columbia and his birthday fell two days after the party, so we celebrated his birthday too.  There were a lot of gifts to be opened! 

Because the weather was very hot (heat index of 105 degrees), we scratched the plan for a picnic in a park like we did for the solar eclipse and met indoors at Shakespeare’s Pizza.  Shakespeare’s has a quirky attitude.  For example, here’s Shakespeare.

This Shakespeare’s location is across the street from the Mizzou campus and has a sign telling patrons “This isn’t the dorm.  You don’t have to bus your own table.”  It’s a very large restaurant with several dining rooms.  Rather than repeatedly giving directions to the rest rooms, the floor literally has an inlaid yellow brick path that will take you from any dining room to the rest rooms—just “follow the yellow brick road.” 

Signage is fun to read.  Here’s the parking lot sign.

This is the back of a Shakespeare’s gift card holder.

And here’s a beverage cup.  Notice how the location of Shakespeare’s is described.  On the other side of the cup, one of the restaurant’s other locations is described in terms of latitude and longitude.

There used to be a red light and a bell above the rest room doors with a sign that said, “Did not wash hands.”  I don’t know if it was in working order, but who would want to take that chance?

Back to our party. . . .  June 24 was a Monday, and we met for lunch, so the restaurant was deserted.  We picked a dining room that was vacant and had a long table that would seat all nine of us.  When we finished eating, we stacked all of our dishes on a vacant table (that doesn’t really count as bussing our table, does it?) and got down to the business of opening gifts and catching up with each other.

Soon (four hours after we arrived, but the time flew by) it was time for all of us to think about heading for home, but first, . . . Blue Stem and the Candy Factory were only a few blocks away.  Blue Stem, our first stop, has a constantly changing display of work by Missouri artists, and Ted and I are looking for wall hangings.  We didn’t find anything we wanted, so we all headed for the Candy Factory, which makes its own chocolate.  After checking all the displays and making our selections we left with fresh chocolate candies in bags.  Then Ted and I headed for our car, but some of the others went a few more blocks to the Peace Nook, another favorite family stop in Columbia. The air-conditioned, nearly-empty restaurant and the large table were a good lunch choice; the company, conversation, and gifts were all delightful; and we all went home happy.  It’s so good to celebrate things as a family.  ❤