Trump Care

They were talking about this on the news today. Medicare for all. Universal healthcare. A democratic program. It's been suggested by some newly elected democratic lawmakers like James Talarico from Texas that the way to pass legislation and have Trump support it is to put his name on it. He will do anything for his ego. If he thinks his name on some legislation, no matter what it is, will be something that he will be remembered by then he will support and sign such legislation wholeheartedly no matter what the rest of the republican party thinks.

Of course then after the such legislation is law then the name of the law could be changed and when trump is out of office his name will disappear except when touted as the worst president ever.

Or how about this... a bill goes through Congress to build a high speed train system across America. Trump supports and signs the bill because they name it Trump Train Transportation of America.

Flying Home

We had a nice trip home today. We said goodbye to the kids and left Katie's house a little before 10 am when our Lyft ride arrived to take us to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 10:30. It was a nice drive. It was good timing and we checked in our bags and went through security right away. Then we had a couple of hours to hang out. We were in the far Terminal F that was full of small aircraft and transfer flights.

One of the first things I did was go to the food court and get a Philly pretzel with mustard that Becky and I shared. It was freshly baked on site and delicious. It reminded a lot of my youthful days in school when we had pretzels everyday at recess. Could that pretzel be the highlight of the trip? Well, it was the highlight of today along with getting home safely.

Lunch @ The Blue Warbler

Katie and Todd took Becky and I to lunch on Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill to the new restaurant operated by Joe Berret's nephew Daniel Berret. The Blue Warbler Corner and Garden is the full name of this wonderful cafe and bar at the corner of Germantown and Willow Grove avenues.

I had a egg sandwich that was delicious and Becky had a tuna melt. The fruit juice drinks were wonderful too.

The restaurant was crowded for a Tuesday lunch time. It looked like every table was full. The menu was interesting and leaned toward vegetarian and vegan although the dinner selections looked more diverse.  We would certainly love to go there again for dinner.

A Visit with Rita

Katie drove Becky and I to The Birches in Harleysville today to visit Rita. We had a wonderful time with her. She seemed sharp and happy to see us. We spent almost two hours with her sitting at a table in a public area. We all talked a lot and she enjoyed talking about growing up together. She also was very happy to see Katie and we were so glad that she was able to drive us. Otherwise we would have had to rent a car for the afternoon.

Rita is in the memory unit because of her recent problems with recovering from a stroke and falling a lot. She will be much happier when she can move to the regular care unit.

A lot of the family have been visiting her regularly. Eric has been particularly helpful. He and Michelle were there the day before us. Later on Dan visited her too. She was sorry she couldn't make it to Marissa's wedding but she understood her limitations and knew it was best not to be a potential burden. 

I will continue to call her regularly which she is happy about. I'll also see if we can do some video chats. Then of course I'll come visit her in the Spring when we are back in town.

The Greek Spot Restaurant

We had lunch at a Greek restaurant in Skippack on our way back from visiting Rita in Harleysville. The restaurant was really great. We enjoyed the food and loved the atmosphere of the place. It really did remind me of my many times in Greece. There were photos of places I'd been to on the walls, there was Greek music playing and the woman who greeted us had a heavy Greek accent. She was very nice and very talkative.

The food was excellent. The three of us had gyros. The location was interesting too. There was a collection of buildings off the road and in what looked like an old farm site. There were a couple of restaurants, a spa, an antique shop and an animal grooming place. But they were nicely separated in a woodsy area and the restaurants had nice outdoor dining patios. We certainly would love to go back there again in the summer and have a meal on that nice patio at the Greek restaurant.

A Philly Dinner

This evening we had a Philly dinner delivered to the door. Of course that would be a cheesesteak sauce and onions, an Italian hoagie and a chicken parm sandwich. This was all from Lorenzos Steaks and Hoagies in Manayunk. The food was delicious. Some nice leftovers too.

Katie also made a very nice chocolate cake dessert. Very yummy.

Henry and Violet helped make the chocolate cake.

Todd's Sunday Breakfast

Todd's Sunday breakfast for the family. Pancakes and bacon for nine. He is a wonderful cook and really enjoys making meals for his family.

This was a special Sunday breakfast because both sets of grandparents were there to enjoy his breakfast treats with the kids.

It was nice having Dick and Iris around while we were visiting the kids. It was visiting them too. They are driving back to Buffalo tomorrow morning.

Lewie and his Sax

I guess I didn't know that my niece's husband Lewie was a saxophone player. So I was surprised at his taking the spotlight and blowing some klezmer music at Marissa's wedding. He was awesome and had the folks dancing and acting like party animals. Even a line dance.

It turns out he regularly plays in a community band where he and Lizzie live in Providence RI. He knew all about my sax playing in a Philadelphia Mummers String Band.

Family Time

One of the most wonderful aspects of coming down for Marissa's wedding yesterday was being with family. I was especially thrilled to spend some time with my siblings at the wedding... Betsy, Cathy and Dan. And of course I was also able to visit with my sister Rita at her nursing home while in town. I also had a great time talking with my nieces and nephews and a few of their young adult kids too. That was special. 

It was also nice that our kids were there too. Sean and Ashely came down and stayed at the nearby hotel and of course Katie and Todd drove us to the wedding from their home where we were staying for the week.

I wish I had more time to spend with the extended family but that need to wait until Spring when we come down again.

We're looking forward to the official wedding photos coming out soon. Especially the family photos.

Marissa's Wedding

Yesterday was Marissa and Matt's fabulous wedding. We all had a wonderful time.