Until Next Time B.

I set an alarm for 7AM this morning - which yesterday was 6AM 'cuz we did Daylight Savings Time Spring ahead an hour last night.  I felt GREAT - wide awake, not groggy at all.  Felt rested and ready to go - so perhaps setting a wakeup 'alarm' isn't a bad thing.  

A fun morning at Atlantis Buffet with B. and his friend R..  Food was excellent (as always) and while I never eat enough to make it worth the price tag (full brunch buffet including shrimp, crab, etc.), I made up for it enjoying Mimosas.  With J. as our designated driver, it was fun to splurge - and I added a bit of cotton candy to my drink for extra sweetness.

I played slots for a bit and came pretty close to doubling my money so that was a great day.  Genghis came through including a $1000 win on six free games.  When Ghengis is hot, it's like no other - 

I decided to head to the airport with B. and J. to avoid putting a lot of my winnings back - so the choked up feeling was hard (as usual).  Hugging him as we dropped him off was the best - but goodbyes are so fricking hard.  

My heart hurts.  

When we got home yesterday, I logged on to Facebook and there it was.  My former boss' wife had died on Friday - after a not quite three year battle against Stage 4 colon cancer.  They knew when she was diagnosed that her life span was greatly reduced - but her goal was to do any and all treatments possible to have as much time on earth as she could.  She was very young and leaves behind 4 children including one in college, one about to graduate from high school, one a freshman in high school (I think) and a four year old.  It's so incredibly hard to fathom the depth of the loss for that family - even with years to know it would happen, it still feels shocking and sudden.  

Tomorrow is not promised and I really feel that so much more lately - my mind goes to all the 'what ifs' of life.  What if that was the last hug I will ever have with B. ?  

Then I (internally) slap myself and say 'life is short and tomorrow isn't promised - nothing is - but live every day and continue to love hard 'cuz it's worth it'.  

Losses happen and they are brutally hard - but I can't let the fear of losing or someone else losing someone stop me from living.  

I think about mortality a lot more lately - aging, I guess.

We're having lobster mac 'n cheese tonight using up the extra lobster tails we had from our surf and turf extravaganza.  Decided on the way home from Reno and told J. 'I don't think we have elbow macaroni so I'll have to make a grocery run'.  He said 'let's just use the Annie's mac 'n cheese we (always) have in our pantry and add lobster to it'.  AWESOME!  Add a salad and maybe some wine and we're good to go.

We've already tackled a couple house tasks and got the dishwasher running.  I stayed at the computer a bit watching B.'s plane take off - hoping he would fly overhead - but they veered left by Washoe lake so missed flying over Carson by a long ways so we waved from afar. 

Now it's time to tidy up the kitchen - wipe counters, sweep floor, etc. -  

B., when you read this - it was a lovely visit and we treasure our time with you SO MUCH!  You are always in our thoughts, prayers and hearts and we can't wait to visit again soon - and YES to us coming out your way and hanging out in Nashville with you - as soon as we're both vaccinated for COVID and can get out there, it's happening!!  

Hey, and/or could you meet us in Orlando?  Maybe someday?