Wednesday bowling, Thursday 26 years of marriage.

Tuesday Elena got her second Covid shot. I think it was the Moderna vaccine. Wednesday she slept in until noon and then went over to her boyfriends. Nastia on Tuesday slept over her friend's CJ's house. On Wednesday she arrives late at bowling with her friend Jessie because someone forgot something, I didn't ask. We won five points at bowling Wednesday, but the team infront of us did the same and they are ten points in front of us and time is short. After losing five points the previous week I think we'll run out of time before moving much higher. Thursday was Teri and my twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. Just like some how I've become a sixty-three year old, somehow I've been married to Teri for twenty-six years. Oh so many years ago, when we had money Teri said for our twenty-five anniversary she wanted to go to Hawaii. After suffering through five or so lean years I don't ever imagine having enough money to go to Hawaii or to go back to Vegas and sit at a black jack table and lose a couple of hundred dollars like I've done in the past. It's sad, but having money, then not having it, then getting back to comfortable and then getting old while you weren't looking changes you're out look on life. I was watching a show on TV and one of the characters, a girl in her first or econd year of college suddenly out of the blue at least to me gets engaged to her boyfriend. I really didn't see it. I guess that is how it will happen when my daughter's run in one night and say they are getting married or maybe it will be I'm moving out with my boyfriend. Either way I can see something like that happening in the next four years as Teri and I try to focus on getting to sixty-six and a half to retire. In a perfect world I'd want them to move in upstairs and Teri and I would fix up our parlor and make it a bedroom or something like that. I'd like to stay local and try to keep the house for the forseeable future. I don't think Teri would be into that. Dinner for our twenty-sixth anniversary was at a place called Michael's on Main in New City. Teri and I first went there a few years ago for our anniversary and had a very nice dinner. Last year we did a Covid anniversery. Instead of going to Hawaii, we stayed home and did nothing. It was early Covid at the time and we were feeling that it would be over by summer at the latest. I guess we got the year wrong because it most likely won't be completely over by this summer. It might be tamped down enough to go to the beach by July. I called to make a reservation at the restaurant. They were not open at two-thirty. There hours, there Covid hours are four-thirty to nine-thirty except on the weekend where they are open a littler later. I left a message and didn't think that I had to return a phone call so when we show up there is no reservation. The maitre d politely explains this to us and he is almost apologizing. He's good at his job. We are lucky and he sits us at one of the last tables. He was so fluid that he is telling us next time to return their call and sitting us at our table. He depart important imformation and we absorbed it as we were being seated by the waitress. Michael's is a touch expensive, but we have a gift card and a Visa gift card so dinner will cost us out of pocket with tip thirty-four dollars. We order drinks, I get a beer, Nastia tea, Teri water. When it comes to Elena, the waitress says what can I get you sir, I say ma'am, miss and try to take her hat off to show the waitress. Elena

grabs the hat and keeps it on her head. Then in a I'm not insulted voice tells how she is alway mistaken for a boy and it doesn't bother her any more. Looking like a boy, I guess is her shield to be left alone and not picked on. The funny think is when she dresses like a girl she is a very beautiful girl. One day I hope she can leave her defenses behind and just be happy being herself, or I could just be wrong and she likes dressing like she does. Elena has pasta, leaving all of the onions and tomatoes. Nastia has shrimp and has issues taking the tails off. Teri has a steak special, a rib eye. I ask how big is the steak. AWhen I hear twenty eight ounces I figure I'll get the veal saltumbucca and Teri won't finish her steak and I'll have some of it. I got filled up on my dish, but I did eat a couple of corners off her steak, it was real good. I liked mine, but I should have gone for the steak, it was that good.

During dinner there is talk of Dairy Queen but everyone is full and we just head home. It was a good night. My mom framed Teri's picture. It came out great. /