Apropos Of Nothing

As I mentioned previously, I signed up tonight to take a speaking commitment at a Gay-A detox group out of a local hospital. It's two weeks from tomorrow so I have plenty of time to obsess about it and convince myself I will stink it up.

I also broke down and ordered a new pair of glasses, even though I really can't afford them. Cujo decided to demolish my reading glasses one night last week, and by reading glasses, I mean the pair I need to get out of bed in the morning and find my feet. Blind as a bat I am without them and I don't always feel like putting in my lenses first thing. Plus, I like to put my glasses on at the end of the night before bed to watch TV and rest my eyes. So I juggled some credit while I have any left and ordered a replacement. They wanted to charge me over $600 until I explained I needed glasses to be able to get up in the middle of the night and pee, and I didn't require glasses with laser beam stud finders and a built in GPS navigation system that will also Google up a restaurant reservation and start your car. I ended up escaping with a $240 tab and I feel lucky for it.

Earlier this week I sent my mom a couple of pictures. One was of Riley, just so she could see what he looked like, and the other was a shot I had taken a few years ago of my brother and neice. It was at sundown along the rocks of a small town waterfront. They are partly in shadow and my brother has his arm around my neice. There's a single boat off in the distance and a little duck in the water next to them. I absolutely love it, and that's all that really matters. Still, I wasn't so sure my mom or anyone would see what I did. So I was strangely thrilled when my mom genuinely thanked me for the picture and gushed:

"You could take pictures professionally, I think."

I realize that's my mom talking, but she's not given to random bursts of encouragement. So to my ears it was a ringing endorsement. And it's not lost on me that even at my advanced years, apparently a compliment and approval from my mommy still can make me feel good all day.