tedwords

"While looking at the fortune teller, I fell in love..." Rolling Stones

Friday night martini post:

Friday has come around again, and here we are, celebrating the 60th birthday of our friend Sharon, and also, looking forward to a nice week off from the day job. I tell you, it's something I could get used to.

Sharon likes to say she may be 60, too, but I am still older. She has a point.

This past week, Corb was busy putting together the framework for his third lighting location, which will be located at a store called Simply Shiplap, which is opening in March and is located right next door to one of our favorite restaurants, Eagle Brook Saloon. Of course, with the grand opening taking place...so soon (I can't say how many weeks. It makes Corb anxious), the next nine days off aren't exactly going to be days spent relaxing at the beach. We will be headed to Vermont for a few days, but that will involve scouting out items (although for me, browsing at antique malls is kind of fun). I'm along for the ride, but also, kind of gearing up as business manager and communications csar for our growing business.

I kind of like the sounds of that.

So tonight, I raise a Ty Law martini and toast to Sharon's birthday, long may she stage manage and build Legos. And also, a toast to the future, to possibilities. To traveling around the country collecting things. It's like the world is just one great big pirate's map...and here's to the Xs at the end of each journey, may they contain plenty of booty.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Postscript now that the long weekend is complete:

Lots to talk about this week, but not quite what I expected.

First off, on Wednesday, my boss asked if I would mind if we delayed saying anything about my retirement until I return from vacation--meaning, the week of the 23rd. I was disappointed a bit, but quickly accepted that she needed more time, and it's really not a big deal, to me. What's two weeks, especially if one of them is out of the office?

Next, Josie is taking Annie and Ashes to Sedona this week, and for some reason, both of their significant others up and had hospital stays right before they left. Friday night, Chad's appendix burst; the next day, Dan was checked in to the ICU due to diabetic ketoacidosis (he hasn't been taking his insulin, in other words, and they need to bring his sugar levels up.) Chad was home by Sunday, but Dan was still in the hospital when Ashes headed out Monday, although just about to be discharged.

Third, as I mentioned, Corb is hard at work on the design for his third lighting space, this one located in Waltham. It's located right next to the Eagle Brook Saloon, one of our favorite restaurants, built in the 1800s. So this week has been a lot of back and forth and building, and much of my vacation will be spent getting ready for the grand opening.

We are taking a few days off to travel to Stowe, Vermont, which is where I am writing this. Just to get away for a bit. We are staying at the Talta we enjoyed so much in the summer, but in the winter, it's not quite as bucolic. The place is full of skiers and I was unable to get a glamping cabin, so we basically have a small room with a heating device that hums and vibrates likes crazy. It's like living inside a vibrator.

(It turns out, the humming was the heater. They have a second heater in this room! It was 80 degrees in the room by one at night, we were dying. Turning it off dropped the room to 68 degrees, which is MUCH better.)

But Monday was a nice day. A visit to the Vermont Antique Mall, where I bought another stack of comics. Corb went to Stone House Antiques and negotiated a decent price for a chandelier he has had his eye on since December 2024. Dinner was nothing much, as we tried to avoid the hipster straight person crush of couples and ate farther away from Stowe, at a place called 10 Railroad Street. A place for locals and I have a feeling my stomach is not going to be forgiving tonight.

Sunday night, as we were driving home from the new store, Corb and I had a really interesting conversation about my future, once I am out of the Corporate World, as I have no intention of sitting home watching TV. This is a new chapter, but not a chapter filled with empty pages.

I mentioned my support for his (our?) business, but also, I would love to do more with the Friday night martini club concept. I could see it having the potential to grow bigger than just toasts to the week that was and invite in other creative souls to discuss their dreams and goals, too; maybe we could get together as a group monthly to raise money for a good cause. Maybe we could sell T-shirts with the logo, make the world a Friday night martini club.

And, I need to get back to writing. I haven't published since Late Night Show years ago, because of my promotion and added work as artistic director for Eldredge Players. I think both need to wind down so I can reassert myself on the writing front.

One idea I have for the book part of the stores is to focus in on books with a strong striking visual element (not children's books, necessarily), catering to those of us who read and comprehend best visually. I want to pursue this from an artistic perspective, as well: my stories coupled with a strong visual, bundled together into a gorgeous string.

I also want to explore Josie's idea for piecing our journals together during the time of our breakup as sort of a gay Love Letters, descent and reconstruction. And also, perhaps a Friday Night Martini Club book, too. And also, maybe, revisiting Amelia's Bones.

There is a time of rediscovery, for me. Let the next ten years really mean something. There's a lot of the vision yet to be fully explored.