A post in which it is an ark-worthy Saturday*

As I had been sitting last night listening to the rain deluge outside, I had thought about Russ and Billy, off at an event camp out this weekend. Today, as it rained, and rained, and rained, I was profoundly glad that I had not purchased a day pass to said event. It poured off and on all day today.

It really didn’t matter so much for me, because I had planned to bake Donnie’s cake today. I felt bad about not getting it there when Miss Ruby died, but better late than never, I guess. Plus this was a great chance to vet that recipe before the camp out in November. I haven’t made that glaze in 15 years at least. Also it was the maiden voyage of my new old cake pan I bought specifically to bake this cake.

But first, I had to actually get motivated to do it. I had to go to the store. I was supposed to buy butter last night, and despite that being my only responsibility after work I had forgotten to do so. But I was going to wait for a break in the rain. It ended up that I fell into the Manhunt vortex, which is what actually lured me out of the house. That’s pretty much the only positive thing I can say about that disaster. The guy was supposed to be 52, but he was 62 if he was a day. He had also grown his hair and beard out to scary proportions since his vintage photograph had been made. He greeted me at the door wearing what looked like a judge’s robe and nothing else.

So with that in my head (despite all efforts to dislodge it) I headed for the Publix. Where a strange redneck guy proceeded to tell me that he liked my shirt, and then later to share (very, very, much) unwanted details about his sex life with the nondescript (presumably) girl he was hanging out with at the store. I also ran into a guy I used to know when I lived on Earle Street who I believe was discharged from the military for being mentally unstable. That’s a long story. I escaped thankfully with the balance of the cake ingredients, leaving my redneck acquaintance and his (girl?)friend partaking of an al fresco brunch at the staff break tables outside Publix under threatening skies.

The weather broke shortly after I got home. Not that I had any intention of venturing back out.

I put the cake together and got it in the oven, then cleaned up the kitchen while Matilda played in the background. I then confronted the clutter in there. I decided to re-arrange the Tupperware cabinet. Yeah, it was that kind of day. But once I got into it, I really didn’t mind. It did need doing. I made a place for my new covered bowls in the cabinet. The kitchen did look a lot better when I got done.

I ate lunch and texted Jeff to see what they were up to. They invited me up, but they didn’t get off work until 10pm. I called Justin to see if we might be able to catch dinner, but he was dog-sitting for his parents’ apparently very high-maintenance dog. He told me he couldn’t go out to dinner while the dog was there.

So I got a sandwich. One of those new ones from Domino’s. I have to say I haven’t been in a Domino’s Pizza, or ordered one, in a very long time. The original owner had an affiliation with the religious right, and at one time he gave tons o money to anti-gay and anti-choice organizations. But he sold the company in 1998, and they have a new veggie sandwich. So I tried it. It was OK. Not thrilling, but better than most veggie offerings that traditional restaurants offer. Certainly better than that vile veggie burger that Burger King offers. I noticed when I was in there that they also have some attractive toppings options that the other delivery places don’t offer. They had a Mediterranean veggie pizza that looked very good. Tom Monaghan still maintains a 7% share of the company though, so maybe I have to wait for him to die before I start eating there. Hmmm. I’ll have to think about that.

After supper I got ready and went on up to Justin’s. His parents had picked up the dog, so we could have gone out for dinner, but he didn’t know they were coming that early. We had a nice time catching up and talking about glass, going through books, etc. He has a discount deal that allows him to order glass books more cheaply, and we planned which books we would buy. I also fielded calls from Dad.

For some reason, Dad has gotten bitten by the glass bug. Since we talked in the car on the way back from Chapin for Ava’s party, he has started looking for Depression Glass for me on eBay. He’s looking for a Christmas present for me, and I think he’s going to get me a butter dish for my set of Florentine. But he’s found other things and bid on them as well. Tonight he found an old-looking refrigerator water jar, but that’s out of my area of expertise. He also found a Princess cookie jar that he was going to bid on. I don’t know if this is just a Christmas thing, or if he’s just looking for something to talk to me about, but it’s touching either way.

Jeff and James got in from work and we went on down there for a visit. J&J were telling me about a house on which they have put in an offer. Justin re-arranged their china cabinet for them (apparently I’m not the only friend that enjoys this service) since they had some new pieces of the pattern they’re collecting. We eventually ended up playing cards. Justin is a real stickler for rules, and doesn’t like to lose. That took a bit of the fun out of it for me, but I still had a really good time. I love to play Spades. We ended up playing until around 4am.

When Jeff and Justin started to inventory the new dishes I decided to head on home. The last time I did this I was worthless all the next day, but it was totally worth it.