Monday, August 22, fun with Milton and Kay

First thing when we got up the majority of the mornings Milton and Kay were in my apartment ... oh, I've not told you that the stayed with me in my studio apartment, have I? Kailey's sweet parents loaned me an inflatable AeroBed queen size double decker mattress. After spending several nights on the train in their sleeping car on the way from Jackson, Mississippi, to Portland, Oregon, both of them agreed they preferred the AeroBed to the train bed. Where was I?

Oh, yes, when we got up each morning, Kay and Milton enjoyed their Stumptown coffee while I enjoyed my Shaklee Vanilla Protein drink. We checked our e-mails and our Facebook, too, plus most mornings we talked about how to do something or other in our G-mail e-mail and/or Facebook. This particular morning Kay said, "We gonna be so damn smart when we get home!" Then we three laughed and laughed. Soon we were ready to walk the tenth of a mile to the Zipcar that I had reserved for our use. Right then Lamont called and said he was walking over from Atomic Auto where he'd left his older model Volvo station wagon for a repair to the front passenger window mechanism. Before you knew it, he met us at the Zipcar, and we were on our way to Genie's for breakfast. Fortification was necessary since Milton, Kay and I had decided to visit as many area Goodwill Stores as we could, looking for London Fog rainwear for women. Kay had passed up buying one when they visited us in May, 2007. She was on a mission.


While we waited for our food, Milton and Lamont intently discussed something--I can't remember the topic, but ...


... the conversation required lots of hand motions.


Milton asked for a glass of milk--we never expected it to be in this sort of glass.


Milton's omelette


Lamont's scramble


Kay and I had pancakes, which turned out to me to be very disappointing. Suffice it to say, I'll buy my breakfast pancakes at the Bijou Cafe from now on.

Once we finished brunch, we dropped Lamont at 3 Doors Down where he needed to place orders with purveyors for all sorts of stuff for the week's menus. Then Kay, Milton and I went to our first Goodwill, a new one on SE Hawthorne. Kay found a couple of London Fog raincoats, one too little, one too big. I bought the too big one because it fit me just right. Now I can look decent in rainy weather if I go out after work. For a good price, too.

The next few hours found us at a Goodwill stores all over.

We started with the Superstore near my office. That's where I found a few paperback books by James Lee Burke, one of my absolute favorite authors, as well as "It's Only a Game" by Willie Morris, beloved Mississippi author, and a wonderful book about Portland, "Papas' Portland." Milton found several rolling swivel desk chairs with arms--he had me try all of them with the idea in mind that we'd come back later and he'd get one for me. Sweet!

Next we went to the Goodwill downtown across the street from the Central Library. I went behind Kay, looking at raincoats and found her a Michael Kors, black with silver and black buttons, mid-length. She bought it and we headed back to the Zipcar.

Next we went to another Superstore at SE 82nd and Powell, the last Goodwill I went to with Mama--she just sat in the car that day and waited for me patiently. I remember her rolling her eyes at me when I walked out with a small cook pot and its lid. "Where are you going to put that?" she asked, thinking our cabinets were already too full of such things. I never got to cook anything in it for her--she died soon after I bought it, but since then I've steamed broccoli in it, cooked a roast and potatoes and carrots in it, things like that. I'm sure she's smiling about that cook pot and its lid now.

Anyway in that store all I found was a collectible candy tin, one of the ones I love because they are covered with shiny, jewel-colored designs. They're made in England, for the most part. Or should I say they were made in England? I don't know how old they are, but I do enjoy them and use them to store all sorts of things, from dominoes to bungee cords. Kay found herself exactly the London Fog raincoat she wanted and a rain jacket for her daughter.

By then it was mid-afternoon, so we decided to head over to one more Goodwill, the one within walking distance of mine and Mama's apartment. We had to park in the Elephant's Deli parking lot, so while they shopped I went into Elephant's and bought a small snack.


Brussels sprouts, Chinese BBQ pork loin, and some a peanut butter cookie and a chocolate chip cookie, both of which are in the paper bag. I ate a little bit of it and left the rest for Milton and Kay. We didn't need much to tide us over until we had supper. We hadn't made up our mind where to do yet, but it didn't really matter, we just wanted a snack right then.

Somewhere during the afternoon, my phone rang--it was the place where I had left a print to be framed. It was ready! So we stopped off to pick it up on the way to drop off Kay. We also unloaded the rolling black bags that I had taken with us in case we purchased anything heavy, and then got back into the Zipcar to return to the first Goodwill store to see if the office chair was still there. Yes! And Milton got it to fit into the car, too. What good friends they are, Milton and Kay! Every time I sit at my desk, I think of them and how sweet they are!


We rested a bit, then decided to walk over to Ole Ole on East Burnside for supper. We saw this concrete lawn chaise in front of a house. Strange, but that's Portland.


When we arrived at the restaurant, I couldn't resist asking Milton and Kay to pose with the bull out in front of Ole Ole, you know, maybe pay some attention to a specific part of the bull. They didn't hesitate for a second. What a game couple! Look at those smiles!

I took photos of what turned out to be bland, blah Mexican food. What a surprise that was!

Kay's


Milton's


Mine


Another shot of more roses on the front sidewalk of my building. Once we got home, we ate fresh peaches for dessert and settled in for the latest episode of "The Closer" which meant the evening was not a bust, after all.