Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Today will be wet, at least from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm. That is excellent news since we are going to Girls Night Out at the Elks, and then to a doctor’s appointment, and then to Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts! A quick look at the weather forecast reveals the low will be 43 degrees this evening.After last night’s pizza exhibition, I was pretty sure I’d have to tie Mary’s big toe to The Silver Fox and tow her out of bed like a stuck pontoon boat.
All I heard from the bedroom was a steady stream of z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z’s—so loud I checked to see if we’d accidentally adopted a chainsaw.
Mary began to move around at 8:00 am, so we went to the breakfast table, and I fixed a steaming cup of joe! We talked and planned the day!
Elks Girls’ Night Out was a blast—Sydney stopped by, and Bill’s bride, Sandee, joined the fun too!
Final headcount: Girls 4, Boys 5. So we only got outnumbered by ONE. Clearly, we need to recruit harder—or at least start charging them admission.
Two charming ladies made the luncheon fun!!
We rolled out of the Lodge at 1:00 pm because I had an appointment with my kidney doctor to get the results from my latest round of tests—aka my kidneys’ report card.
Good news: I graduated from Category 3B to Category 2, which means my kidneys are officially “normal for a man my age.” I’ll take it.
Turns out the earlier hiccup wasn’t my kidneys staging a rebellion—it was just fallout from the parade of surgeries I went through last year. So basically: kidneys cleared,
After we got home, Mary took a quick” cat-nap” (the kind where the cat wakes up refreshed, and you’re not sure if you’re allowed to move). I stayed behind to wrestle the Daily Diary into submission.
Then we both freshened up and headed toward Cerritos—after making a strategic, absolutely-necessary pit stop at Franco’s Italian Restaurant on Cerritos, tucked right behind the Los Alamitos Racetrack. Because nothing says “we’re on a schedule” like pausing for Italian food.
They have Outstanding Italian dishes and always have a couple of specials for the evening.
Franco’s has a full bar, and I was presented with a challenge! The dusters are in place, glasses are clean, and lips are dry! Bring it on!!
What should I do? Oh My!
So, not one to turn down a challenge, I ordered from the bar and had several drinks. Those Arnold Palmers are lethal.
They even have live music on Thursdays! It was toe-tapping music, and after two Arnold Palmers, I was ready to get up and dance an Italian Jig!
Great guitar music played by a local!
Alas, our visit to Franco’s ended at 7:00 pm, and we had a 4-mile trip to Cerritos Performance Arts Center. The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts is a 154,000-square-foot entertainment and music venue located in Cerritos Towne Center, Cerritos, California.
I opened the door, ushered the gang to their awaiting automobiles, and off we went.
I try to be!
Vicky always gets the Grand Balcony seats just above the audio/video boards because we have an unblocked view of the entire stage!
I was fascinated by the sound board. It looked like the cockpit of a 747. The urge to jump over the rail and begin pushing buttons was overwhelming.
The “Look-alikes” did an amazing job. Dolly Pardon got the entire room singing and moving.
Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers sang one of their famous duets.
The show was a real toe-tapper—at least until Garth Brooks came on and my toes tried to tap out an SOS. The band was so loud, and he mumbled so much I couldn’t tell if he was singing, ordering at a drive?thru, or reading weather alerts.
Then Dolly and Kenny showed up like musical Tylenol: songs I actually knew, vocals I could understand, and background music that stayed safely below the Threshold of Pain.
We love country!
We were dressed for the show! I wore my duster, which is very warm and very waterproof, just in case Mother Nature decided to change her mind. Mary wore her hat inside and checked with the people behind us; I left my 20-gallon hat in the car.
Giddy up!
Our country cousins really enjoyed the show!
Bo and Maisie were yelling “He Haw, Who Raw” all night long!
On the way out, we made a pit stop for a “quick” photo with Vicky’s amazing camera—aka the device that turns a 3-second snapshot into a 12-minute production featuring lighting direction, pose coaching, and at least one “Wait, let me fix my hair.”
A-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-e
The Silver Fox was more than ready to head home after braving the “freezing” 49-degree tundra. We hit the car like it was a heated escape pod—Hi-Ho, off we go!
