Bonnie & Clyde, Guido & Gina, running away from so many different things. So much difference between the two couples. Bonnie & Clyde were running from the law. Guido & Gina are running from everything that is familiar, family and friends. Even though we are leaving for Italy in the month of April, we are not trying to escape tax season. We are just trying to run to someplace which will grow us as seniors. We won’t have Walgreens on every corner. There will be no Walmart to run for heartburn meds or Geritol.
We won’t have familiar faces driving down the street, stopping to engage in conversations about government or the latest neighborhood gossip. Yes, it will truly be a whole new experience for us both. It is different when you travel overseas with tour groups. Safety in numbers, right? Well, there is just the two of us, with the exception of a couple of weeks when we will be blessed with some of our kids and friends coming over to stay with us. This trip has been a dream for us for a long time. Why is it that these bucket lists possibilities are never a possibility until we are old. I am sitting here thinking about what we are going to be doing and what it would have been like going when I was 25 or 30. No fear, no thoughts of “oh my gosh, what if one of us falls and breaks a hip while trying to take a selfie at the Trevi Fountain?” What if we get heart burn so badly that we can’t tell if it is just heart burn or a heart attack? Can we really carry our 50 lb suitcase up 4 flights of stairs? What if we loose our passports? Will we get on the wrong train? What if we get lost and can’t explain to our Italian friends where we are trying to go?
Thoughts like this never enter young peoples minds. They just go and enjoy the ride.
After my doctor told me last week that unless I gave up certain foods that I would certainly find myself having a heart attack or stroke, I thanked him for giving me something else to worry about. Now, instead of walking the streets of Florence with a gelato in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other, I will now be afraid to eat anything other than a piece of dry crusty bread or a sliced tomato. Gelato? Forget it, the closest thing I will get now to that is a frozen slice of banana. Young folks, listen to me….steal, beg or borrow and go travel before you spend your nights preceding the trips, practicing getting out of small cars without looking like you will be bent over for ever. Guido and I are already practicing each evening how to say in Italian, “where is the closest emergency room?” We have sewed pockets in our shirts for extra Tums and ID cards in case one of us looses our memory while we are gone and get separated in the crowds.
Just this morning, when I was tempted to stop at Chick Fila to buy a new Key Lime pie flavored shake, Guido looked over at me and says, and I quote, “No, remember what the Dr said and I can tell you right now, if you have a stroke, I will put your make up on you so heavily that you will look like Tammy Fae Baker. I will not keep your face shaved, or your hair done like you like. Also,you will be laying there with a unibrow. So let that be an incentive for you to enjoy those bags of lettuce we just bought at Trader Joes.” Bless his heart, God love him….he is so caring.
Yes, in a couple of weeks, we will be seniors on the run, praying that we will return 3 months later with memories which will prove that oldies can go, grow and explore new places even loaded down with heavy suitcases, purses filled with meds and snacks that would make my doctor proud.
Trust me, I’m not leaving Italy before having coconut gelato, pizza or limoncello….even if I end up with Tammy Fae makeup being applied to my face!
Tag: Chick Fila
Homemade Ice Cream
Wednesday evening the kids came over for dinner. They said that they wanted some home made ice cream. I have one of the Hamilton Beach 1.5 qt Electric Ice Cream Makers that we use A LOT! So I decided to have vanilla ice cream and individual cherry fried pies( recipe is already on blog) for dessert that night. This recipe is EXTREMELY easy and tastes like the ice cream at Chick Fila.
Follow instructions as to allowing the container to sit in freezer compartment over night or at least 8 hours. (Read instructions that come with the Ice Cream Maker)!
1 can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 teas vanilla extract
Half & Half to fill container up to fill line.
Mix the 3 ingredients together and pour into container. Turn it on and allow it to get to ice cream consistency. It really is a great recipe for quick and easy ice cream.
You can add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, or crushed up candy bars as ice cream hardens.
Drive Thru Memories
Last Saturday night, our 11 year old grandson, Sevy came over while his parents went out to eat. Because Peter and Penelope had been digging out Fall decorations all day and I had been climbing up and down the ladder decorating the fall trees that inspire me to bake (like I really need the trees to get me in the mood to bake) anything thing that has apple, pumpkin or cinnamon in it. So as soon as Sevy walks in the door, he wants to know what there is to eat. It is 7:00 p.m. and I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen and was all prepared to go sit down for a long winter’s nap (oh wait, that is not suppose to happen until December). My feel were aching and swollen from all the ladder climbing and going barefoot all day, so when Sevy told me he was hungry, I felt that the best thing to do was just ask him if we could just drive to get something instead of me standing and cooking something for him. He agreed and said that he would love to go to Chick Fila. I grabbed the keys and heard Peter in the background yelling, “since you are going to Chick Fila, would you bring me one of those lemonade cream shakes?” Of course we would be glad to. So out the door Sevy and I go. Just getting to sit down in the car was such a relief. As we were headed to get chicken nuggets, Sevy says, “you know Nana, I forgot I had Chick Fila for lunch, maybe a Whataburger sounds good.” Of course, anything for our little angel. So off we go to Whataburger. For those of you who are not familiar with Whataburger, the drive thru lines around dinner or lunch time tend to be 15 minutes or longer. But it is always worth it. We get up to the order box and Sevy tells them that he wants a double meat whataburger, plain and dry with no bun….the lady at the other end doesn’t understand ordering a Whataburger without a bun, so I just tell her to put it on a bun and we will throw it away. This avoided another 5 minute conversation with the young lady who just couldn’t grasp ordering no bun. So we get Sevy’s order and he munchies down as I drive. Because I felt badly that Randy (Peter) had worked so hard all day undoing Fall boxes in the hot garage and bringing them in for me, I didn’t want to go home without his Lemonade Cream shake. So I told Sevy that we would just drive the couple of miles to Chick Fila for Pops shake. We drive up in the parking lot and the line is about 15 cars long, but I thought, “sevy is happily eatting and drinking his chocolate shake and my feet are throbbing so I’m just going to wait it out in the drive thru line. We inch along and 20 minutes later we are up next to order when I look up at the order board and see all the different kinds of donuts that are available. I said, “Sevy, I didn’t know Chick Fila started selling donuts.” He said, “Nana, they don’t we are in the Krispy Kreme drive thru”
What??? How did I do that? So as soon as the car in front of us pulled up enough for us to get out of line, we haul next door to the Chick Fila drive thru. Again another 15 minute wait, but anything for my little Pumpkin back home who was expecting a cold creamy Lemonade shake.
It was then that memories of taking Sevy’s dad and Jamin and Jodi came rushing back. Times after ball practice when I would go to 3 different drive thrus because they all wanted something different and it was easier to do that than to try to get them to decide on the same thing. DO NOT JUDGE ME, none of them are in jail, they all have jobs and and they all call on Mothers Day!
We get Pops drink and pull out of the parking lot. Sevy sees the Dunkin Donut store and says, “you know what sounds so good right now are the little jelly munchkins” Well, what are grandmothers for except to spend ALL NIGHT SATURDAY NIGHT AT 4 DRIVE THRU’S? So off we go to Dunkin Donuts to get a bag of Munchkins for the lad. Luckily we were the only car in the drive thru. After all, who buys donuts at 8 pm on Saturday night? I guess we do.
We walk in the door a little over an hour later and hand over the Lemonade Cream Shake. When I ask if Peter was the least bit worried that we had been gone so long, he just looked at me and said, “oh I have learned you! I knew that the chances of you leaving here and going to just one place was pretty slim”. I’m so thankful I came home, goodness knows that if ever I stay gone all night, he will just think I found a 24 hour drive thru that I just couldn’t refuse!
I wonder if there is a Gunniness Record for how many drive thrus one could go through in one night? I know I just broke my record of 3. Thank you Sevy for helping me reach a new goal. I can already see it
Grandmother Reaches for the Stars….Four Drive Thrus in Just One Hour! Way to go Granny!!!!
Chocolate Castles 