Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
On The Road Again (That would be a great title for a Country Western song!)
The alarm clock rudely interrupted our sleep at 5:30 am. It was set so we could be ready to hit the highway at 6:45 am for a 7:30 am appointment with Mary’s physical therapist.
While I was not uncomfortable sitting in the parking lot in my jammies (the ones with the flap in the back), I was worried about being stopped by a police officer on the freeway and having to get out of the car with my hands on the hood. If that happened, several things would be flashing.
We were back home at 9:00 am and readied ourselves for outing #2, a trip to Scout’s hairdresser and then on to the Elks for Girls Night Out.
We had a super lunch complete with a comedy show… us!!
We returned home after lunch via Scout’s hairdresser, and now we have to put up with Scout prancing around the house, acting like he is on a runway.
We worked on the patio for a while and then cleaned up to head for Belmont Shores, which is trip #3. We went to Georges, located just south of Long Beach, for dinner with Vicjy, Jim, and Kyle. George’s Greek Cafe has long been a favorite place to dine, and tonight, Sontos was there playing live music.
I introduced Vicky to the 8 oz steak stuffed with spinach & feta, lemon juice, spices, and olive oil. Jim went for the Salmon and Mary tried their lentil soup and a small salad.
Every Thursday at 7 pm for a local tradition—Sotos Kappas live with real Greek music.
We began the evening with two orders of saganaki. Saganaki is a Greek dish, most famously known as fried cheese, but also encompassing other dishes cooked in a small, two-handled frying pan called a sagani. The word “saganaki” itself refers to the pan, derived from the Turkish word “sahan,” meaning copper dish. While cheese saganaki is a popular appetizer, other variations include shrimp and mussels saganaki. The dish is often flambéed with brandy or ouzo in restaurants, a practice popularized in the US and Canada.
Burn, baby, burn!!
Dang, the alcohol is gone after the flames go out. When we made it at home, we used Havarti cheese with kalamata olives and lemon juice.
So good, it almost becomes the main course!
Mary is wearing her new eye-catching eyeball blouse this evening.
These two are always a hoot to be around.
We found out tonight that Vicky was kicked out of her high school! As the President of the East Los Angeles Girls Club, she found a way to obtain a package of two hot dogs for $1, and she would take them to school and sell them for $1.50.
Further, she got caught sneaking out of school by telling the “hall monitor” (remember them) that, “What!! I am a student teacher and I am going to my car!”.
Here’s some trivia about hall monitors and schools in that era:
- Enforcing rules: Hall monitors were responsible for ensuring students followed rules in the hallways, such as walking, not running, and having a valid hall pass if outside of class.
- Checking hall passes: Students who need to be out of class during instructional periods need a signed hall pass from a teacher, which hall monitors check.
- Maintaining order: They helped keep hallways quiet and prevent disruptive behavior like loitering or unauthorized gatherings.
- Supporting safety: By observing behavior and reporting incidents, they contributed to a safer school environment.
- Assisting during transitions: They helped manage student movement between classes, ensuring students arrived at their next classroom on time.
Thanks, Kyle, for the picture!
We headed home around 9:00 pm, enjoying no traffic to speak of. We got his majesty, Scout the Wonder Dog, to come inside after we promised to applaud him as he sashayed down the hallway with his new do!
We crashed.
