criplomats

We were thrilled that our good friends Jim and Joan drove up from San Antonio to see us this week! Their stay was too short, but we got lots of good visiting in and explored downtown Hot Springs a bit – we really enjoyed the tour of the lovely restored Fordyce Bathhouse on historic Bathhouse Row and we picnicked at Gulpha Gorge. Who knew when we met 20+ years ago in our little neighborhood in Costa Rica that we’d still be hanging out together so many years later! Good times!

Thursday morning, John and I drove to Fayetteville – such a gorgeous drive through the Ouachita National Forest – and had dinner with Pete and Ginger. The next day we went to The Momentary Museum and made a fairly quick visit to Crystal Bridges, primarily to walk through the contemporary art gallery and see the Frank Lloyd Wright house. The Momentary is also done by Alice Walton (like Crystal Bridges) and features contemporary art – it’s in an old dairy and the space is gorgeous. We had some great Mexican food for lunch (green posole!) and did some shopping at Dillard’s, then we made our way over to Phillip and Michele’s new house for dinner with them and Pete and Ginger. We headed home the next morning via Little Rock.

San Antonio was again represented by a visit from James and Marybeth later in the week. We had a fun dinner at David and Alison’s with them last night and I went shopping with them downtown today – and we had a lovely morning boat ride today. Julie and Scott had us all out for dinner tonight – lots of fun yakking and reminiscing, and, of course, great food and wine!

Last night we had a fun bunking party for Ann’s birthday at Muffy’s house – lots of laughing and enjoying being together! Muffy was a great hostess, as usual, and it was wonderful to catch up. Old friends are the best!

Speaking of old friends, John’s friend from Systematic days, Dewayne, came for lunch on Saturday. I left for Little Rock, but he stayed the afternoon catching up with John.

John and I tried Rocky’s pizza for lunch one day (delish!), and we had massages another day. I ran errands here and there, and it poured rain a couple of days (which we love). We got our visa applications in the mail for Argentina – fingers crossed there are no hiccups there. I had cocktails with David and Alison one afternoon. I tagged along for girls night with Alison and Peewee again – we walked along Bathhouse Row and through the Arlington, and listened to chamber music street-side (it’s the Music Festival week here). We finished the evening with Mexican food on the lake at Trejo’s.

Thursday night, John and I were glued to the TV watching the House Select Committee hearings on the January 6th insurrection. In non-fiction, we watched “Operation Mincemeat” (good!), and got caught up on “The Offer.” We finished “The Staircase” (unsatisfying ending) and we’ve picked up on Season 8 of “Homeland.”

Flavie decided she likes her new bed after all! She looks so cute in it.

This was another fun week! We had dinner with David and Alison on their lovely porch overlooking the lake Monday night. I tagged along with Alison and Peewee for their Wednesday night outing, and we ended up having dinner at Rocky’s – a Hot Springs institution, but somewhere I had never been before. It was great, and now I want to go back to try their pizza. John and I had fried catfish at the Red Oak Filling Station (new to us) one day for lunch. Thursday night we had a nice dinner out at The Oak Room at Oaklawn with Julie and Scott – it was fun to catch up with them. Friday night my good friend Leslie came for dinner. We talked and talked till we were blue in the face, and continued the next morning over coffee (our first overnight guest). We wrapped up the week with a fantastic brunch at Peewee’s in honor of David’s birthday tomorrow – with special guest Chuck! Peewee is a wonderful cook and hostess.

I read an historical fiction book about Hedy Lamar, “The Only Woman in the Room” – very enjoyable. I’d always wanted to read about her and her scientific inventions. Next I read “The Dung Beetles of Liberia,” a book I’ve been trying to find for a while. It was a fun read about a bush pilot in Liberia in the 1960s (based on true events). After that I read “American Baby,” a non-fiction book about adoptions in the U.S. post WWII and how many women were coerced into giving up their babies; this book followed the story of one woman in particular and it was heartbreaking.

We’re caught up on all of our regular shows. In addition, we watched “Charlie Wilson’s War” (a Mike Nichols film) and “The Darkest Hour” about Churchill. We also binged on season two of “Borgen,” a Danish political drama that we really like.

This week was filled with old friends, starting last Sunday with Ann, Pam, and Jackie coming for brunch on the balcony. It was a bit chilly (!) but we sat outside all afternoon yakking – big fun! Later in the week, we went to Chuck’s house for a fun dinner and catch-up session, and Thursday, Miss Charlotte Bobo came for lunch. And we stopped by Star of India to have a bite to eat Monday when we were suit shopping for John – fun to see Samy, as always.

I tagged along with Alison and Peewee for another shopping adventure Wednesday night – we went to Benton to hit a couple of stores and had dinner at a new-to-us place over there. I bought Flavia a nice soft bed, but she has systematically refused to sit in it – although John caught her in it once! We also had burgers with David and Alison yesterday outside at their new pavilion while we enjoyed the lovely weather and watched the numerous boats on the lake. We heard the fireworks at the airport last night and could glimpse them over the treetops – fun!

I had an eye doctor appointment (my eye is healing well), we tried a new burger joint, and I hit a couple of flea markets and estate sales during the week – I even found John a board game and we whiled away an afternoon playing it (Ticket to Ride Nordic). We continue to go to the gym every morning, too. We’re up to date on “The Staircase,” “Hacks” (so funny), and “The Offer” (very good!). I finished a great biography of Mike Nichols (wow) and a historical fiction about Hedy Lamar (amazing).

Life is good at the lake!

I was able to have cataract surgery on Thursday with the fabulous Dr. Hester in Little Rock, and I can’t believe the difference it makes. The eye is still healing but I’m able to read signs in the distance, etc. – amazing. I’ll still need glasses to a certain extent, but I am thrilled to see colors, textures, and street signs again.

I completely forgot to blog last week! We got over our jet lag after a few days, and John finished his employee evaluation so we started coming out of the fog last weekend. The first few days we were home were rainy, which was just perfect. We’ve seen David and Alison, of course, and Cousin Julie dropped by with a sweet birthday gift for me (wine and wine glasses, thank you!) – we celebrated both my birthday and Mother’s Day in Fayetteville with John’s parents. It was a beautiful drive – everything is so lush and green. We had lunch one day with the Stokers at a new Tex-Mex place. David and Allie had us over for a yummy dinner last night, and we were delighted to see PeeWee – the first time an opera star has sung happy birthday to me!

I’ve done some shopping and we’ve watched some TV. We also joined a gym, so we’ve been going there in the mornings, too. Life is good! We watched “The Dropout,” about the rise and fall of the bio-med company Theranos, which we enjoyed. And we loved “Anatomy of a Scandal.”

Flavia loves the condo!