Nasia goes to a club and she takes a trip (fall)

Saturday, the day before Nastia's trip she is home. Teri agreed to baby sit KJ and Nastia is asked to help before she goes to a club on the Hudson in Newburgh that evening. She watches the baby until about 4 in the afternoon. Watching a baby more so when they are fussy like KJ is that afternoon is hard work. I just watched and I am tired after she hands him off to Teri.

Nastia asks me my opinion on what dress to wear for her grand evening. She shows me a snug fitting red dress that she does fill out nicely. I tell her it is a sexy dress. She shows me a black dress. I ask her which is more comfortable. She tells me the black one. I tell her she should wear the black one and even though heels look great, to wear flats if she is going to dance. Later in the afternoon, about the time Sean and Nastia are going, she comes down the stairs in the red dress. I notice, she looks at me and says, “Sean liked the way I look in the red dress better.” I asked her to take some pictures for me. As they head out the door Teri and I tell them to be safe and have fun. Later in the week Nastia will tell stories of the night. How Arrianna starts talking with these two guys, who have a boat and even though she is told to stick together, she goes to see the boat, coming back about twenty minutes later. Nastia tells me that while dancing she dips down and her dress rides up a bit too much. Sean notices and gives a quick pull down. I'm sorry, I need to make the joke, dis-ass-ter avoided. She said she was wearing a thong, so Sean catches a full moon. Even for me theses joke... I'm sorry there funny, I've got a smile on my face as I write them.

Later in the evening I’ll get a couple of pictures of her and Sean and a second of her and Arriana. They have reserved a room somewhere up there so we will not see them until Sunday. On Sunday, I’m sitting in the chair in the living room when I hear footsteps on the stairs going down and out the door. That is all I will see of her, Sean and Elena until 12:30 AM. Teri and I have a quiet dinner, leftovers I believe. Sometime around 7:30 I get a phone call from Nastia. I hear some strain in her voice and I hope that there has not been a car accident and everyone is okay. I then hear Sean’s voice and he goes on to explain that Nastia was riding a bike with hand brakes and she is heading for a tree and can’t stop, so like any sane person she jumped off. Somehow in the jump she landed poorly, hurting her left foot and can’t walk on it. At this time they are heading to immediate Medical Care. It’s Sunday around 7:30 and none will be open. They end up at the hospital in Middletown. She is still in pain and now the wait begins. Sometime around 9 she is seen and an x-ray taken. She has broken the fifth metatarsal bone. In English, it’s the outside of the foot nearer the little toe than the ankle. She is put in a walking cast and has to see an orthopedic surgeon to see what the next step is.

They arrive home at 12:30. Teri and I went to bed at 11:00 and I’d fallen asleep. When they come in Mesha barks and I wake up, my heart bounding. Nastia is like a drunk with crutches and needs help wherever she goes. Everyone settles into bed and eventually everyone goes to sleep. Elena gets up early to walk Matt and her new dog, at the time residing at Matt’s. I get up and go to work. Teri gets up and will eventually fall asleep in the chair. Sean calls in and switches his day off and sleeps in. Nastia will spend the day in bed. Not that she can’t move around, she just doesn’t try. Day 2 Nastia does move around. She’ll be in the cast for about six weeks. It’s a removable cast and eventually she will remove it to shower. Tuesday, we have dinner and everyone is gathered around the table. Elena reads a text from Matt outload. He is returning the dog to the shelter. His mom has issues with pets and the dog, his name is Raman, a two year old is not following the rules. So Elena and Matt’s first born is being returned. Raman is a boy, otherwise we’d have considered taking the dog. Since Bandi’s death, Athena and Mesha have almost acted like friends. Introduce another male and it might go back to the way it was with Athena restricted to the couch by Mesha. It would not be fair.

Elena's birhday, The Last Chance Saloon.

Elena came home on the afternoon of her birthday. She stayed with Matt until late, so her birthday celebration was moved to Saturday. ChoCho San was booked so we moved to the Japanese restaurant in the Palisades Center, Little Buddha.

We were a group of eight, so we didn’t share a table with anyone else. Matt and Elena, Nastia and Sean, Nancy, Teri, my mother and myself rounded out the group. I sat next to my mom and we talked about the last time she was here and she didn’t remember. At 89, I worry it’s the start of something, but she is also 89 and at 89 I’ll be dead twenty years most likely, so don't worry.

One of the chefs walks by our table and recognizes Nastia. It seems there is not a place on God's green earth where we can go that someone doesn't remember Nastia and stops to say hello.

At the Last Chance Saloon, the bartender comes around the bar to give her a big hug. At the pizza parlor down the street from the bar, a woman comes from behind the counter to give her a big hug. There seems to be not a person who has met her that doesn’t love her.

She tells the chef, “Remember I only like broccoli.” and he asks a waitress to get extra broccoli. We wait for the chef to appear. Because we wait longer than normal, management gives us free sake. I finish my beer and experience sake. I’ve experienced sake before, you know when the chef squirts a spray of it in your month.I guess that just barely qualifies. They warm it to almost a tea temperature and that is an odd experience for me. The outside of the small carafe is so hot, you either wait for it to cool or pour it quickly. I poured it quickly.

The menu is the same in every place, the jokes are slightly different. It is fun evening. Everyone is told to order what they wanted and they do. Some order steak, others order salmon and some order a combination. I have chicken and steak, it is very good. After dinner, the girls, Matt and Sean, are going to the Last Chance Saloon. They invited me. I wander down a little later, after they have left. I play a couple games of pool. I buy some alcohol for the girls and myself. Around 11:30 it began to rain and everyone walked from the house. Sean and Nastia head out just after it stops. Elena and I finish our game of pool, then head out. Her and I have to wait for a train to finish before we can head up the hill to the house. She is feeling no pain and I took a couple of videos of her. I have offered to not publish them if she pays me cash. If you want to counter the offer, please enclose a self addressed stamped envelope. Yeah, I know it’s a joke from a former post, but classics don’t die. Plus all of those millennials, I love to watch them scratch their heads, look confused and then ask what a stamp is and how do you get one to attach to an email. Life is just too short to not have this much fun.