This and That at The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

I find I am very irritable

July 24, 2008 AmeliaJake

I have not been in a good mood lately, and this early afternoon exclaimed, “I am not going to be your patsy, anymore.” Whoa, big talk for a short, fat, getting older woman. In fact, maybe I should start carrying an old-fashioned Margaret Thatcher type of handbag so I can whop people over the head or in the solar plexus.

How do you spell “whop” as in “to hit” – It doesn’t look right. Maybe I should say wallop.

Oh, what the heck.

I think I will apply for a drill sergeant job so I can yell at someone up one side and down the other, give them a good dressing down and make them run five miles real fast right after having fed them spaghetti – spicy spaghetti . . . and then I will run over and perform the Peter Finch role is the post’s play . . . I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.

Perhaps I need drugs . . . I kid.

I am going to shower and then drink a Diet Cheer Wine.

Just Me - AmeliaJake, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

My shirt is dirty . . .

July 24, 2008 AmeliaJake 2 Comments

Today is a work day, inside and out, though I don’t know what jobs I will be tackling. Well, painting the fence, I think and maybe the deck floor – the little one right outside the porch door to the back yard. It’s an old-fashioned deck, grey, dontcha know, and one I put together myself because I was tired of the mud.

I need to declutter this porch, get it down to the bare bone – my kind of bare bones . . . in other words the clutter is hidden away. I don’t know what else I will be doing, but I suspect it will be dirty stuff, so I am glad my shirt is already dirty.

Cameron has got me reading The Idiot; I think again. But the first time was so long ago, I just don’t remember. I am not a fan of Russian literature. I keep thinking, “Will you get on with it . . . ” I have no idea how much the factor of translation influences my opinion, but I suspect it is significant. Of course, I often confuse literature and writing, the latter being, in the end, the words, the words that first linked you to others and thoughts. I guess the literature is the story and the symbolism – and crap – I sure do hate symbolism. Why don’t these high level authors write their own Cliff Notes: this is what I meant in three sentences instead of 500 pages? Essay exams would be so much easier.

Ha! Maybe an honest one would say, oh, it was just a story and people are drawing conclusions or hey, I was free associating.

Got to go – here comes Frank for his morning cola and foldover.

This and That at The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

TLC- Please . . . no more Jon and Kate and eight

July 23, 2008 AmeliaJake

For the past few weeks this show about Jon and Kate and their twins and sextuplets has been running at a marathon pace on TLC. It used to be The Learning Channel; now it has evolved into the tabloid station. Ten Years Younger; What not to Wear, A Baby Story, Baby Coming Home (or whatever that title is), Trading Spaces. And now, hour after hour of Jon and Kate. Acccccck.

This and That at The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

If all days were like today . . .

July 23, 2008 AmeliaJake 1 Comment

Blue sky, temperature in the 70’s and a breeze. It is uplifting and makes you feel like partying. I don’t know how I would like all days being like this. Isn’t that odd?

Just Me - AmeliaJake, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

The way it is at the Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

July 22, 2008 AmeliaJake

Okay, if your bowl, plate, and/or glass is not returned to the kitchen by you – YOU wash it or I will throw it out even if you are a really regular patron, here. If I find you wander out of one of the approved dining areas of the Cafe and EAT, you will get a demerit . . . a big one and not on a just any board, on my grudge board – and most people know how long demerits stay chalked there.

We feel we have been quite lenient over the passing decades and we not appreciate patrons who do not show basic respect.

Yes, we know one of the Roadhouse habitues has been classified on the autistic spectrum and functionally is not up to speed. We in no way see that as a reason to not live to standards of respectable civility and grammatical use. Communication and English are a gift and we will not show any disrespect for them. We also expect voices to be of a normal conversational level . . . and if you want to speak to a person in another area, go there – do not yell. Non-compliance with the above will result in demerits.

Carry on . . . for now.

This and That at The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

A horrible nightmare

July 22, 2008 AmeliaJake

It was a long one – this nightmare I had – but one part was so terrible and it wasn’t the part about me on a large bicycle on the highway having all sorts of problems. It was the part where I was in a taxi – an old boxy yellow one – and Sydney was somehow didn’t get in and was racing after the cab as it went faster and faster.

I screamed at the driver to stop, but he was driving from the back seat looked like a sadistic KGB thug . . . not that I have knowingly seen any. I started banging on the windshield and it began giving way like an odd sugar glass concoction. But all the time, Sydney was running harder and harder. It was awful, just awful.

I am still in that period of getting my emotions out of that after dream state that sometimes leaves you vowing you will never close your eyes again.

Just Me - AmeliaJake, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

It’s a rainy day at the Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

July 21, 2008 AmeliaJake

The rain is coming down not too hard outside and the temperature is in the mid-70’s. It’s restful and I think maybe I will take this as a symbolic day: I think I am going to let the rain wash away the current rules and write myself some news ones based on my experiences. For instance, I think I will myself to employ the “I don’t want to” reason when people ask me to do favors. You see, the PBC & R is not some idyllic place where all the kids are perfect and everyone is always having a great time. We get sloppy with the peanut butter knife, splash a few drinks on the floor and we bicker.

Heck, Friday, our dog, sometimes leaves because everyone is in a loud agumentative confrontation. today I pulled into the parking area and met Friday standing in the rain. I went in and asked, “Hey, who was arguing about what so acrimoniously that the dog went out and stood in the rain. Two young voices answered, “We don’t know; we were playing poker.”

Oh, God. I know those poker conversations . . . sometimes they have evolved into one chasing another with a broom. Cool, huh?

So this AmeliaJake is putting a little jackboot in her attitude.

This and That at The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

Who’s that doggie in the sky

July 21, 2008 AmeliaJake

Once again we have received notification from Georgia about a very interesting story . . . THIS ONE.

This and That at The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

Comes in threes?

July 20, 2008 AmeliaJake

Last fall the Georgia guy had a problem with pulmonary emboli and that was scary and bad. But he has done well and has even lost 40 lbs . . . and is planning to lose more. I am really proud of him. Of course, now he’s on my case. Can’t fast talk my way out of it, not up against his master of communication. Probably have to just lock my lips and throw away the key. Remember when teachers did that to get students to quiet down. No eating, no talking . . . oh, sheesh.

The coming in threes thing? Well, Phil on The Dangerous Catch had a blood clot goes to his lungs . . . and now Alex the Ice Road Trucker has one.

The one thing they all have in common – Bing’s friend, Phil and Alex – is that they all kept on going, instead of going to the doctor right away.

We’re glad things worked out . . . real, real glad.

This and That at The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

New glasses

July 19, 2008 AmeliaJake

I have tortoise shell frames on my face around my new lenses. I also have tortoise shell prescription sunglasses. I think maybe the regular glasses may look a little dorky and the sunglasses look cool. So I need to move to a sunny spot so I can wear my sunglasses all the time. Ah, but then, I should have purchased bifocal sunglasses. I think I will post a picture of my glasses sans face first to lessen the shock value. At my mother’s I think I will just wear a bag over my head.

I purchased them at Lenscrafters and was someone upset when it became apparent that many of the options are . . . wait for it . . . special order. Hey, guys, the reason I went to you in the first place was to get my glasses immediately. As a pretty much lifelong spectacle wearer, I have had my share of waiting for glasses to come in. And I am a Baby Boomer; I expect things now.

But I have them and I learned that styles have changed a lot since I got my last pair in ’05; so many are like the little visor thing that Jordy wore on Star Trek. After years of metal frames, I am now back in plastic and while the warm color softens my face, they certainly do stand out. Then again, the wire ones were blending into the creases in my aging face and I looked like a Mennonite.

***Jody Lynn Vance: 1985-2011***

Jody was born at sunrise on a bright, sunny, cold, snowy Groundhog’s Day and from Day One she was a gift to everyone around her. Her infectious laugh and rambunctious spirit made her the center of attention where ever she happened to be.

She and her Dad would watch Sesame Street and sing at the top of our voices (and quite out of key) all of the songs. She enjoyed having Mom fix her hair so it was fancy and just right.

As a toddler she had quite an impressive vocabulary and often had a lot to say. One time Dad was headed out the door to go to work and she pointed her finger and said, “No. No. No. Don’t go anywhere!“

Jody was very seldom crabby, always happy and she wasted no time in spreading that joy to everyone around her. Jody’s favorite place was to be perched on the lap of Mom or Dad or playing with her toys spread out all over the floor. Jody was always affectionate, wanting hugs and “moochies” as she called smooches on the cheek.

At around two, Jody’s illness began to attack her. It took a beautiful, innocent child and put her through untold pain and suffering,

I know that through all of that she was not afraid. She had the heart and spirit of lion. She never gave up; time after countless time, she would open her eyes and there would come that smile. Jody lost her speech, but never was at a loss for words. She could say more with a look or a half smile than most people do yakking all day long.

After numerous doctor, hospital, and specialist visits, we were given the news of her illness. I remember that moment frozen in time … it was as if the entire world stopped. It was in that brief moment we both knew that we must make the very most of the time we had remaining together and not dwell on the despair of all of the things that would never be.

Jody was not expected to live more than three or so - but she had too many things to do and stories to tell, so she cruised by that birthday and over two more decades of birthdays, Christmases and millions of smiles and hugs. Jody was well-liked by other kids; once when she was being wheeled into her classroom at Handicare, one of the children yelled, “Hey everybody, Jody’s here” and all the kids cheered.

Two of the biggest joys in her life were her two little brothers, Joey and Sammy. She would just beam with joy when they would sit next to her and when they began to get older she’d love to listen to them running through the house and playing together. The two of them would start laughing and Jody would laugh right along with them. She would listen intently to everything they did and they would include her as often as they could. The three of them loved watching Saturday morning cartoons and The Three Stooges.

Joe and Sam did without a lot of things that other kids had, did and took for granted … and they never once complained or were resentful of the way things were. That shows a special kind of love and a special kind of family.

As the years went by and the boys grew up into strong and healthy, Jody’s health slowly and steadily declined. She would have long stretches where she was fairly stable and then would become so very ill.

Many times we were sure the end was near and then she would open those sparkling blue eyes and stretch just like nothing had happened at all.

Once she was in the hospital with her usual bout of pneumonia and lapsed into a coma; this went on for 8 days. One Dr. came in, examined her and just shook his head. Later that night Jody’s eyes popped open and she was refreshed from her cat- nap.

People over the years have commented, ”I don’t know how you do it. ”This always struck me as odd. My thoughts would always be: How could you even think of turning your back on someone who needs you that much?

It was always our promise to Jody that she would always live at home with her family and I think she found comfort in knowing that.

But, no one person can take the credit for caring for this wonderful young woman. It has taken an army of doctors, nurses, teachers, aides, pharmacists, friends, and family over the years to maintain Jody at home, and we could never begin to thank you enough.

Jody always kept her head held high and never seemed to be afraid; she has truly been my inspiration on many occasions. When things were gloomy and seemed hopeless, just one smile and a hug was all I needed to go on. Jody will always be my hero. I love her and will treasure the time we had together.

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