I need a vacation from my “vacation”.
This past weekend, I celebrated my actual birthday. Jenise and I had a Groupon for a dinner for two at Gordon Ramsay’s Pub and Grill in Atlantic City (remind me to elaborate on how a restaurant treats you with and without a Groupon), so we decided to rent a car, reserve a room, and make a real getaway of it.
I wanted to wear something special, so I pulled my sewing machine out of mothballs and bought a few yards of gorgeous Kente print to make myself a dashiki/caftan with a matching headpiece. I haven’t sewed an outfit in a couple of years, and I foolishly thought that getting back into it would be like riding a bicycle. Let’s just say that after arguing with my sewing machine, a two-hour project turned into a two-day project. But I was pleased with the final product.
Neither Jenise nor I gamble, so we spent the entire weekend eating and shopping. 
The Pub and Grill was pricey, but every meal we ate there was worth it: stuffed flounder (enormous!), homemade chicken pot pie (flakiest crust ever!), lobster crab benedict for breakfast (oh, the crabmeat!), beef wellington (my first time tasting it!), sticky toffee pudding (absolutely decadent!), and the pièce de resistance…lobster mac and cheese! We tried to take some home with us. It didn’t make it.
We discovered that Tanger Outlets opened a new location in Atlantic City. Jenise and I were ecstatic to find a kitchen store there, since we’re both foodies (I cook, she bakes). We came, we saw, we conquered. That’s all I’m saying.
For three days, I got to step outside the scary stupidity of reality, let loose, and enjoy my life. I am very grateful for that. Three days amongst people who don’t look like me, and 45’s shenanigans were not mentioned once. Everyone around us just wanted to have fun. Wow. I can’t forget my physical limitations, but I got to forget this parallel universe that Americans now live in. I haven’t truly been able to do that since January. I need to do more of that, because life is too short to focus only on the negative. I’ve got too much God in me to stay sad, depressed, and angry. I’m sure that I’ll have more “moments”, but for every “moment”, there will be twice the joy. I like that deal.
Forty-eight. Not so bad.
Wow! I’m happy that yo had time to relax and enjoy yourself. Happy birthday in arrears…
Thank you!