Say what?

As my very young male server showed me to my table this morning, I thought for a moment he called me "dear."

Naw. That would just be insulting and patronizing and, worst of all, insincere.

I had driven out of my way after an early morning assessment in Plano to try a local restaurant called The Egg and I.  It had good reviews and with a name like that, come on. 

"Can I get you something to drink, dear?"

Turns out there's nothing wrong with my hearing. Ugh. There he went, violating one of my pet peeves, thinking his phony baloney endearment is folksy.  It's not. Some servers can pull it off, but typically these servers are closer to my age. You know the type, they have that server cred. He most certainly did not. In another 20 years, maybe.

Usually I like to over-tip. Instead I decided to subtract a dollar for each fake endearment. So I hope he enjoyed that one extra dollar.

Ok, on paper that sounds lame. Next time I will say something. Maybe.

The food was excellent. I give it 3.5 out of 4. The grits were almost perfect, which is a difficult feat.  Shows the chef cares. I had the open-faced veggie omelet. Too much cheese, but crispy around the edges, which was nice. The English muffin could have used less butter. The coffee was primo. I had the dark roast. It was as good as any high-end coffee shop. I look forward to another breakfast there. 

A new day

Feeling patriotic. I made this (I say with pride as I am not generally that crafty).

The sun is shining. The birds are singing. Sami the border collie just had a cute exchange with a squirrel trespassing on her turf.

I wonder what a squirrel says when they do that chatter thing? Do you think it's loaded with f-bombs? I do, likely followed by a "bless your heart" as they lithely scamper away up the fence or a tree all the while still making their presence known. At least here in the South that makes sense to me. In Jersey they probably say "fo-git-about-it" while raising their middle squirrel finger. In my home state of South Dakota I imagine a more polite "uff-dah" while escaping certain death by barking.

Back to my point: I feel lighter today. My disposition sunnier, like the actual weather today after weeks of clouds and rain. But it's not just the change in weather. It's something bigger than that. One might even say the news is YOUGE.

For the first time in the history of these great United States of America a major political party has nominated a woman for president. I had almost given up hope to see it in my lifetime. I am going to take a couple of days to let the history of this moment sink in. Madam President. Holy shit!

I know Grandma Eskelson would be OK with this Democrat, Hillary Clinton. A life long Republican, she also was among the first group of women allowed to vote in a national election. She would totally get it.