Vacation in the City

I had a delightful week celebrating my birthday with my family in Roswell, Georgia. 

We didn’t cook except at breakfast and a couple of times we skipped that and went to J. Christopher's. I was taken out for dinner at Stoney River steak house where I had the most delicious prime rib. The waitress brought me a piece of chocolate birthday cake with chocolate icing. So good. I don’t eat like that often because I have diabetes and must watch my diet. But, we were celebrating!

One day my niece, Lee, and my sister, Gay and I spent a few hours at Chicken Salad Chick eating lunch and then just talking and having fun being together. Lee made a selfie of us.

Left to right: Glenda, Gay and Lee

Stu Moring at J. Christopher's restaurant on the patio

The apartment that will be mine to enjoy one day is slowly coming along. We tried to shop for overhead fans at Home Depot but were told we would do better going online and ordering what we wanted. Shopping is very different these days. No need to go to the store because the employees send you to their computer to find what you need.

As much as I enjoy being in the city with my sister, I am amazed at the traffic especially around three in the afternoon. She knows the times to be out and when to stay home, and I will need to learn when I am there for long periods of time.

Living in a rural area as I do, life is slower, and I am happy with it. However, it is great to have many restaurants to choose from. One of my favorites in Roswell is Slopes Bar-B-Que. They have great smoked pork sandwiches with a tasty sauce, but I also enjoy their vegetables cooked like most of us southerners like them. They also make delicious mac and cheese. (Barry said that was his favorite vegetable.)

When I order the black-eyed peas and collard greens, I also ask for corn muffins. This meal is almost as good as sitting at my mother’s table when I was growing up.

If one is lucky to be there at the right time, the owner of Slopes makes cheese biscuits that he passes around to everyone in the restaurant. They melt in your mouth.

Now my little vacation is over, and I must return to real life.

I will get my booster shot as soon as possible. I plan to meet with friends who are vaccinated and have them over to my house.

That will happen after the doctor visits that have to be made. A wellness check, eye exam, and injections for my bad knee are on the calendar. We must keep up with our routine medical appointments so we can continue doing the things we want to do.

I am grateful for the ability to drive my car, for friends who help me with things that I cannot do for myself. I am grateful that I can learn new things and that my curiosity keeps me interested in all that is going on in this big wide world. I am thankful that I have come to accept the changes in my life brought on by the pandemic and have resolved to listen to my body and take care of myself both physically and mentally.

My dear readers, I hope your week is full of fun and that your health is good.

Are you enjoying the fall colors if you have that season now? How about the cooler weather? I know some of you have had snow already. I hope we don’t have any for a while. I just want to enjoy autumn and get ready for the holidays.

 

 

 

 

Family Photos from annual Christmas Party

If you are a regular reader, you know I like to use pictures as prompts for stories and essays. I am sharing some photos from our recent family Christmas party down in Albany, Georgia.

Stu and Gay, Me, and my only brother still living, Max and his wife, Salita.
No one would believe that in May his cardiologist had given up on him.

 Max has been the subject of a number of essays I've written and is in a few poems. His life is rich and has the makings of a good book.

One of my handsome nephews. He is a Star Teacher and loves his work.

"The Kids" - my nieces and nephews and some cousins

As Scott Owens has said, as long as we have family we never run out of subject matter for our writing. The tall handsome guy in the very back has a darling grandson, Elliott. This grandfather and I were neighbors on the family farm in south Georgia. He created a Haunted Forest that brings hundreds out to be frightened every October. 

The men in the above photo are all Councils. The three women on the left are children of Councils. The two women right in the middle are descendants of the Robison family, my mother's maiden name.

I learned yesterday that Mary Mike Keller will once again teach her genealogy class with writing about our ancestors for Writers Circle studio in Hayesville in 2014. My study of my family history began many years ago and I have tons of research printed and in my computer. I published a family history, "Profiles and Pedigrees, Thomas C. Council and his Descendants" in 1998. 

I believe that we should document our family history, stories and details that others will never know unless we take the time to write it down. Although "The Kids" might not be interested in collecting the history at the time, there will come a time when they will wish they had asked more questions and saved more things relating to their ancestors. 

Do you need a prompt to get you started with writing today?

Choose a family member and write what you remember from childhood about this person. Include details.