Our trip to Arkansas was over a month ago, but I noticed I hadn’t yet used these two AR pix on TIE O’ THE DAY. Here they are, kids. Photo #1: Bow Tie o’ the Day is dotted with buttons, in honor of Suzanne’s sewing and crafting abilities. This photo was taken by the “fireplace” in a Fairfield Bay, AR hotel where we found a restaurant fit for a fancy dinner. I quite like these “fireplaces” as decor, but they are not “real” fireplaces in my opinion. They are groovy-looking electric space heaters, set into a wall. Photo #2: I created Bow Tie o’ the Day out of a magnet and our Arkansas rental car key fob. I never once misplaced the key fob that whole day of sightseeing in the Ozarks.
MOM UPDATE: Mom’s doing well. That woman can rally like no other. Two weeks ago we were almost certain she’d be leaving us to go find Dad at any minute, but she showed us she wasn’t ready for that adventure just yet. In fact, the MCR Facebook page shows that Mom has recently been on MCR field trips to Cracker Barrel in Spanish Fork, and to the Oak City Days parade. Yahoo, Big Helen!
SUZANNE UPDATE: We have no definitive answer as to why Suzanne’s leg decided to swell up a few days ago. Swelling happens. Once it was discovered that blood clots were not the issue, we breathed a sigh o’ relief. And the next day, Suzanne’s leg was magically back to its normal size. We’re stumped.
Suzanne and I are both 55. At this age, we’re not old, but we’re “kinda old.” We’re relatively healthy, although we have the aches, pains, and issues that come with being alive for over half a century. Each ache alone is minor, but the list is 55 years’ long. They add up to a lot of creaking and groaning while moving through a day. Those sounds have become the constant soundtrack to my life. I know I’m not alone in that. I know you know what I’m talking about.
Anyhoo…. Suzanne and I check in with each other about our aging health every day by asking the simple question, “How are you doing today?” We have a kind of trick answer we want to hear from each other. We want the answer we hear to be “fine.” But in our code, “fine” doesn’t mean “fine.” “Fine” means this: “The list of my aches and pains is so long that it would take me half the day to name and explain them, and we both have way too much to do today. But there’s nothing new to add to my list since we last went over it, so there’s nothing new for you to worry about today.”
The word “fine” saves so us so much time.
We have discovered the real reason everyone answers the “How are you?” with “Fine, thank you.” Maybe it has always been code that no one knows until they reach a certain age. 🤓