I Don't Get Out Much

One of the consequences of having a child on the autism spectrum and living where I don't have much of a support system, means that I often have to say no to going to significant events. In the past, I have gone to some of these with the help at home of one of my daughters or rarely, a sitter. Tonight, in the early evening, we think that Alan can cope at home alone, and he is convinced he will be fine. We have gone over what to do in the event that someone knocks on the door. He will carry his cell phone, and we will check on him by our cell phones. We are going out to dinner at the new Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village. This is a celebration of the City of Westlake Village's twenty-fifth anniversary. The company Don works for is sponsoring a table. This is a black tie formal.

Sometimes, I have bought a special dress for dinners and dances. I had one in my closet. Don wasn't at all sure he would be in town for this event as he has a looming trip to Japan. I didn't want to get another outfit in case we weren't going to go. Also, it is a good thing I had something that fit that I could wear again since I can't remember the last time I wore it. So, I will dust off the dust on the shoulder (really should store this better) and wear it. I have some hose I bought at the grocery store. Who knows where a person buys hose? I have some shoes I either got at PayLess or from Zappos.com for a previous event. I have a bag I got at that well-known boutique, Target. I clipped off a tacky looking loop. The only people who will know it comes from Target are people who look closely at such things at Target. Probably they will also have something from there with them or on them. The only thing I did that cost extra was have an inexpensive manicure yesterday. I have only had manicures about five or six times. I didn't have fingernails to manicure until I was in my fifties. It is a treat to have someone else massage my arms and clip and paint my nails. Don got his tuxedo cleaned. It is only the third wearing of this suit. He bought it for Cate and Jim's wedding. Men can wear such a thing many times as long as they can still get into it.

So, we will be stepping out for dinner in style tonight. It will be interesting to see how this goes. I hope I won't mortify Don in some way. I hardly know anyone. I can't remember anyone's name from previous occasions, even the one this past fall. Maybe we will get to go to dinners a bit more often now that Alan can stay alone and I will be able to commit people's names to memory.