Another Saturday Away From Home.

Today started out fast and kept going till 7 pm. One of those non-stop days.

We were up and out the door to the grocery store. We were behind on some of the stuff we needed, so got our shopping in - really didn't want to but Patrick was insistent that we do it this weekend. I really didn't want to be going both days. So, we got the shopping done. Put all the groceries away, and then were back out the door.

We got a text from JoAnn that they were running a little behind. So, we were at the bowling alley at 12:10 pm and they hadn't made it yet. When we got there, I saw the team we were supposed to be bowling - bowling. I told the counter not to put us next to them. They had already started bowling. Then when JoAnn and Nick finally made it, they were surprised to see them. I told them I knew they were pre-bowling but didn't know they were today. Not sure if they found out that we would be pre-bowling and showed up on purpose or not. We started bowling and they howled that we should have bowled together since we are bowling each other. We told them, "Yah, if we had known we could have." We really didn't want to and that made it a little hard. But we were nice and talked when they talked to us. I bowled a 184, 140, and 169, not to  happy about that. I didn't drop a pin on average, but I'm not happy with what I bowled. JoAnn and Nick said that they would have bowled tomorrow if they had known they would do what we did. Told them I knew but Patrick said he would keep the change that we made. We kinda knew that would happen. I would have bowled with them if I had to. Not to worried about it. They were trying to be nicer to us. I kept my mouth shout because it would be better if I did. When we were done, they had finished as well. So, I checked the scores and we won 3 out of 4 games. Nick bowled good, Patrick and I, not so good.

After bowling we headed over to mom and dad's. We were going to Tacoma's Old Spaghetti Factory for supper. Mom said she wasn't doing good and didn't think she could make it. So, she decided to stay home. We went with Dad and met up with Uncle Bob and Aunt Dale at the Spaghetti Factory. We had a good meal and everyone was happy. We had a good chat and talked about different things. Guess Dad and Uncle Bob's cousin, Marilyn was in AZ (where they live) and wanted to stop and visit, but they were up here. If they had known they were coming they would have come up a week earlier. It was too funny! So, they won't be seeing her. Marilyn lives in Canada.

We were back home at 7 pm. So, my day started at 9:30 am and ended at 7 pm. UGH. Need time to relax.

REMEMBERING:

While we were driving up to Tacoma, we passed Joint Base Lewis-McChord. I was checking the area out - on the other side of the fence. I remembered the time we lived in Turkey. Karamursel, Turkey. I was going back to when I was in Germany and telling my dad I would not go to Turkey. There was nothing I could to do convince him to send me back to my grandparents for a year. No matter how hard I tried. The row houses were a lot like JBLM. I remembered arriving at Karamursel and being put in a trailer for temporary housing. I was just out of the 8th grade and going into 9th grade. The trailer was small with my brother Patrick and I sleeping in bunk beds in the middle of the trailer. Mom and dad's room was at the end of the trailer. There wasn't much room. On the day I had to go to school to schedule for classes, mom didn't have clean clothes in the trailer. We had to go to the laundrymat for laundry. That day, mom hadn't been all week, and I was down to 1 top that was clean. It was not plain, more of flowers. The skirt I was going to ware was stained. The other skirt was also dirty. It was a skirt that I could ware as plain or plaid. The side that was dirty was the solid color side on both. One looked worse than the other one. So, mom told me to ware the skirt with the plaid side showing, as well as the shirt. On top of that, my socks were down to one pair. Those were plaid too! Not matching. None of that outfit was matching. I didn't know anyone and SO EMBARRASSED! I went to the school to sign up for classes, and there was 4 friends watching everyone come into the school. I was laughed at! Mom had the laundry done by the time I got home, but it was too late. We moved into the duplex the next week. One of those gals lived down the street from me. Didn't matter. They laughed at me the whole time I was there. I wanted to climb under a rock! (I believe now that CARMA paid me back for bullying in 8th grade). So, my whole year in Turkey, every time I ran into any of them, I was laughed at. It was not my favorite year.

Weird how I remembered that. And yet, I miss the military life. I miss the small communities that knows everyone. I remembered being in Maryland and living on the street where we all knew each other and worked together. Kept our eyes and ears open for neighbors. I do miss that.

So, after thinking back, I was back in time. Even though days like today make me wish I could go back in time and do something I wanted to do. (smiling)

Life is good, we learn from life. I'm still enjoying life. It's time to get back to Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!