A post in which Ava visits

Of course Lisa and Cole came with her.

I was up pretty early this morning, and heading for White Horse Road flea market. I hadn't bought any fruit yesterday. First because I didn't want to have to carry it, and second to give me an excuse to go to White Horse today.

First though, I changed the sheets, put them in to wash, and made some breakfast. Buttermilk biscuits with egg, cheese, tomato, and facon - yum. Sadly just as I was getting dressed to leave, it started to rain. It was just a spit, and in about half an hour it was over, but it killed White Horse this morning. I still went over (telling myself I go as much for the walk as the shopping anyway), and I did get my fruit, but there was almost nothing on offer this morning.

By the time I got home I was feeling sleepy and decided to take a nap, but I ended up getting sucked into the internet vortex, and then the phone rang. It was Lisa, and Ava, in the inexplicable ways of a 4-year-old, had gotten it into her head that she wanted to come to my house. It has been a while since she was here. Of course I said yes, and agreed to meet Lisa at Dad and Eve's house for lunch 'sometime'.

That was the problem. Lisa, I guess for taking so much ribbing for constant lateness, has lately taken to refusing to any time frame at all for her visits. While I'm sure it is more convenient for her, it leaves everyone else dangling. I don't do well with "sometime - eventually" because it kicks me into procrastination mode, as happened today. When they did get here I wasn't ready. So I had to rush through the shower and dress, which I don't like to do. I really had no one to blame but myself, but it's more convenient to blame her.

I got to the house and we had a very nice lunch, especially when you consider that Eve put the whole thing together on the fly, because she didn't know that they were coming today. After lunch there was a brief visit, but the conversation seemed to get mired in Lisa's latest divorce, which has turned notably nasty and unpleasant. There isn't really anything I can do to help, and when I realized that it was just degenerating into endless re-hash, I loaded up Cole and took him to my house.

Lisa and Ava joined a bit later, and we had a nice visit. Ava contentedly chased the cats around, which conveniently kept her away from most of the fragile stuff and happily occupied. Lisa, Cole, and I had a nice talk. Ava gave the cats a saucer of cream, and we basically just relaxed for a while. The day had turned out pretty and I had all the windows open, and the living room was full of fresh air and sunshine. I wish they came more often, but Lisa's increasingly severe allergy to cats means she really can't stay at the house comfortably, which makes me sad. Still it was a nice afternoon.

After they headed home, I checked in with the boys, who were at a funeral I had forgotten. I made some fried rice for dinner - I'd been meaning to do it all week, but kept putting it off. Then I vegged in front of the TV and computer for the evening. There is enough rice to take for lunch tomorrow, and I have some stew in the freezer. I finally opened the chocolate truffles one of the women at work bought me for my birthday - the were delicious. I just enjoyed the fresh air, relaxed and chatted online until time for bed. It was a most laid-back evening.

I have seriously underestimated two people in the last month. I heard back from one of them today. After all the drama with M last week, I hadn't expected to hear from him for a while, but I did. He contacted me with one of the most heartfelt and sincere apologies I believe I have ever received. It was very out of character for him in my experience, and I was very touched. It just goes to show - you never can tell. I've pretty much been of the opinion that people don't change, and in general they don't; but maybe it's just that the majority of people won't change. It's nice to know that it is possible, and that some people will avail themselves of the opportunity.