Lesson 349: I Bet My Life

Weekend greetings, Readers.

Eloise had a celebratory week.

Eloise reached a double number milestone.

I turned 4-4 on 3-3!

Numbers on the timeline certainly are worth celebrating.

Thank you, Lord for my time here on Earth.

We do up birthdays right, here at the Lamp Post.

Special treatment.

Special food.

Special gifts.

What does one get their favorite blogger?

I received an Ellen Louise original.

Also some writing supplies,

Money for new running shoes,

cleverly tied up with a shoelace,

A cactus with very sentimental symbolism,

Three turtles and a wooden box for my collection,

An Easter decoration representing me and my baby birds,

and an airdropped package that my team knew I would appreciate.

Pop quiz:  What was inside the package?

Bonus points awarded through a private message.

I always get criticism for not showing my entire face on my facebook profile.

I decided to give my friends a walk down memory lane,

revealing a full faced Eloise at several stages of my life.

I posted photos on facebook throughout the day on my birthday.

This one marks the beginning of my fondness for hats and boots.

Well, this kinda explains things, too.....

My parents told me I was the most temperamental baby in the entire world.

I found photo evidence to prove the contrary, however.

I certainly seemed happy,

ready to read,

and write,

and share my love with others.

Kenyan and I spent lots of time together,

in a well adjusted, matching clothes, 

sisterly way.

(Yes, Kenyan is a girl, despite what the photos lead you to believe).

Sharing Kenyan in a pixie and a mullet,

is worth it's weight in gold on this blog.

I bet my life she's screaming right now.

Shhhh.

Quiet.

You can probably hear her.

This little girl,

who grew up loving Cinderella and All Things Fairy Tale,

eventually met Prince Charming.

I bet my life on him and said I Do in August of 1994.

I  posted the story of how we met on facebook.

Here it is verbatim:

I waited on him at Market Place Grill, got a pink slip because of it, and nicknamed my worst customer in history the Chocolate Milkshake Guy. Swore I'd run him over with my car if I ever saw him again. Six months later I was reintroduced, after a huge hype "you just have to meet my nephew, you'd be a perfect match...." Chocolate Milkshake Guy cannot quite place Eloise,..."I know I've seen you somewhere before." I beguiled him with my charms, and weeks into dating, I broke the news that I was his waitress. He had nicknamed me Worst Waitress Ever and vowed to run the other way if he ever saw me again. A year later we were married. The party continues.

There is a humorous part to this story that I left out, 

and saved for this blog.

Prince Charming and I celebrated our 20 year anniversary this summer.

When deciding what to do to celebrate two decades together,

I suggested we go for chocolate milkshakes.

The sweet concoction was the reason for 

the disastrous circumstance that marked our first encounter.

Eloise nearly was fired from a local restaurant for taking an order

for a chocolate milkshake when they were not on the menu.

My action for this big, bald, impatient customer backed up the entire cold line,

and I ended up having to take matters into my own hands and make one myself.

The milkshake, arriving  to him 20 minutes late and looking something like this,

put the entire restaurant in jeopardy, apparently.

Eloise received a harsh reprimand from the owner,

and was required to go through a two week training with the new hires.

I ended up resigning a few days later,

and the whole waitstaff exhaled.

I know I was a workplace hazard on two legs,

but at least I kept things light back in the kitchen.

The story of our meeting is one of my favorite to tell.

I've written it about it twice on blogs in the past,

and retold it several hundred times over the last twenty years.

"Let's go for chocolate milkshakes," I said to Prince Charming,

this past August.

"You realize I ordered a vanilla milkshake, right?" he replied.

what?

I started to think about it, and you know what?

Prince Charming doesn't eat chocolate.

He bypasses all the Halloween candy each year,

and every Easter he requests the vanilla bunny over the chocolate chicken.

I would have bet my life Prince Charming ordered chocolate.

I mean, I had to go find the Hershey's syrup and everything to make that sucker.

But I guess it does make sense.

Huh?

Well, how do you like them apples?

I got his order wrong, too.

Good thing Prince Charming walks with the Lord and doesn't hold grudges.

The daily drinks of living water do him 

(and us)

lots of good.

I now have a daily reminder of the importance of living water

thanks to Kenyan.

Thanks, Kenyan for the perfect gift for a Lenten birthday.

After all the talk about whether or not Lake Erie was safe to walk across,

Eloise checked it out for herself last weekend.

Last Saturday morning rolled in with a zero degree temperature reading,

with a negative thirteen windchill thrown in for fun.

We walked down to the lake

and stood on the icy shores.

I would have bet my life we could have made it the 26 miles across

 to meet our Canadian neighbors to the north,

but it wasn't in the plans for this year.

The first step toward accomplishing a goal is just the thought.

Even entertaining the idea is beautiful.

This winter is getting to most of us at this point--

not just the winter hardy here in Erie,

but my friends peppered throughout the rest of the nation.

Even Patti down in Texas,

and Beth and Tracy Southern in the Carolinas have seen snow.

Eloise is bound and determined not to let the cold get the best of her.

I will not gripe.

Instead, I choose to seek beauty.

Winter.

Look how pretty she is!

So, what else have we been doing here at the Lamp Post,

while we've been buried in snow up to our ears,

and necks?

I went into Erie to take some photographs

and drooled over this camera.

Damn birdwatchers.

Eloise has lens envy.

Sam was celebrating reading during Read Across America Week.

He tends to choose high quality literature pieces,

and picked Captain Underpants to be for Dress As Your Favorite Book Character Day.

To counter that literary debacle,

I read Charlotte's Web to Sam

and bought him a Wilbur.

Wilbur took a trip to the bowling alley,

and the teens didn't tease him 

(that much).

Sam also participated in his last basketball game of the winter season.

What a pleasant experience a sport is when it is played

under the direction of an excellent coach.

Grandma had cataract surgery this week,

and all went well.

Her sight is back on the right path,

so I bought her some yellow tulips because she could see them clearly.

Grandpa is harder to spot, even with clearer vision.

Here is my dad on the day of her surgery.

To pass the time while my mom was under the knife,

he walked to the Army Surplus Store on State Street.

Shocker.

I'll end this post with a note from Natalie.

She helps pack the school lunches every evening,

and put this note in Sam's lunchbox.

This weekend is going to be a great one.

I'd bet my life on it.

Because I am so certain of this statement,

I'll post the photos from the week to the tune of

I Bet My Life by Imagine Dragons.

Peace,

Eloise