{"id":91933,"date":"2025-11-28T05:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T12:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=91933"},"modified":"2025-11-29T10:12:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T17:12:32","slug":"a-wonderful-day-indeed-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=91933","title":{"rendered":"A Wonderful Day Indeed!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We did!!!\u00a0 The bathroom scale has been banned from showing itself for several weeks!<\/p><\/div>\n

Two weeks ago, we got a call from Becky (Mary’s youngest daughter), who invited us to a post-Thanksgiving lunch with her and her brother (including their families).\u00a0 We thought this was wonderful!!<\/p>\n

We were up early and got ready to go to the “Irvine Spectrum,” which is a large outdoor shopping mall.<\/p>\n

The Irvine Spectrum Center is a lifestyle center developed by the Irvine Company, located in the Irvine Spectrum district on the southeast edge of Irvine, California, United States.\u00a0 The center features Nordstrom and Target department stores, a Ferris wheel, and a Regal Cinemas 21-screen movie theater.\u00a0 Built over a 10-year period, the first phase of the center opened in 1995, and the second phase followed in 1998.\u00a0 The third phase was completed in 2002.\u00a0 The fourth and fifth phases were built and completed between 2005 and 2006.<\/div>\n

What we forgot was that it was “Black Friday” and the place was jammed.\u00a0 There were police and security everywhere, and signs saying “Parking Lot Full.” We drove around for twenty minutes and decided to go to the parking garage and drive to the third floor, where there were a few potential openings.<\/p>\n

Out of the car, we were ready for a short walk to the restaurant, Javier’s.\u00a0 \u00a0Did I say short walk??\u00a0 We should have brought water, a box of MREs, a small tent, and an elephant gun!<\/p>\n

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The photo was taken from space.<\/p><\/div>\n

We couldn’t quite read the space map, so we went to a kiosk and downloaded directions to our phones.\u00a0 We are off with the first stop being the elevators.\u00a0 So we can adjust our lungs to the altitude difference, we stopped at the second floor and finally at the first floor.<\/p>\n

We followed the red brick road and slithered oodles of people standing in lines to go into stores.<\/p>\n

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We followed the directions.<\/p><\/div>\n

About 1\/3rd of the way there, we ran into the Christmas Tree.\u00a0 The base of the tree looked to us like a good place to set up camp for the day and continue our journey tomorrow.\u00a0 However, the invite said 11:00 am on Friday, so we trekked on past the tree and into the narrow corridors, hopefully leading to Javier’s.<\/p>\n

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Oh my!\u00a0 It looked small from the satellite photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

About four hours later, I startled Mary by yelling, “Javier’s Ho!” in my deep sailor voice.\u00a0 Yes, we arrived!\u00a0 \u00a0Having not eaten for days, I was ready to say hello and get down to the gastronomic delights promised in the menu.<\/p>\n

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The kids were already there.\u00a0 They called the police and un-reported us as missing.<\/p><\/div>\n

We got down to serious conversations immediately (immediately after getting our first round of drinks)!<\/p>\n

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We got to Javier’s about ten minutes late.\u00a0 Dan and Becky were entertaining the kids.<\/p><\/div>\n

We had a great time visiting and catching up.\u00a0 I tried to get a photo of the boys (Adam and Ethan), but alas, they were both being “tickle bugs” and were busy eliciting uproarious laughter from the adults.<\/p>\n

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David and Kate were ready for some hours d’oeuvers.<\/p><\/div>\n

Since it was the season, I polished off another three margaritas.\u00a0 We jabbered for quite a while before heading to the door.<\/p>\n

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When the police showed up, we told them, “We Were Framed!”<\/p>\n

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Paul, Ethan, Mary, Becky, Kate, Adam, David, and Dan.<\/p><\/div>\n

We really enjoyed visiting with family!<\/p>\n

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Merry Christmas, all.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mary waited for all the pictures to be taken.<\/p>\n

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On the way home, I was fading fast, so a nice Security person came and helped Mary get me seated to rest.\u00a0 They decided to drive us to the car when they heard we were four miles from the parking lot.<\/p>\n

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The journey to Javier’s was the longest I had attempted since the operation.<\/p><\/div>\n

They then called for a car, and the driver took us right to the vehicle, thus saving us days, perhaps weeks, of foot travel.\u00a0 Being smart, on the way to Javier’s, I dropped popcorn so we could find our way back.\u00a0 Alas, the popcorn was gone thanks to the Santa Ana winds.<\/p>\n

To end the visit, I attempted to open the door for Mary and missed a step, going down face-first on the concrete with a clatter like a reindeer on the roof.\u00a0 People from neighboring cars rushed to my aid, thinking I was “out of it – drunk”.\u00a0 No such luck, I am still not totally stable on my feet since the operation.<\/p>\n

After a few minutes of total humiliation and studying the patterns in the concrete, we managed to get me into the car.\u00a0 People are so nice when you are in trouble OR they wanted our parking space??<\/p>\n

I drove home without incident!<\/p>\n

Before going to bed, we went to TCM and decided to watch Goldie Hawn in “Swingshift”.\u00a0 Summary:\u00a0 During the Second World War, a navy wife helps the war effort by taking a job in the local aircraft factory, where she meets a man declared unfit for military service who sweeps her off her feet.\u00a0 When her husband returns on furlough, things become very complicated.<\/p>\n