A post in which it is dinner in

It was a fairly quiet day today.  I got some odds and ends out of the way and braced myself for month end.  As if that's possible.

I left the office on time (into notably light traffic, especially for rush hour) because I had dinner with Dad and Eve tonight.  They are having the kitchen floor done, and needed to be at home because the guys were still there, so Eve ordered Chinese take-away.  It came from Great Wall.  I was trying to be good tonight (after catfish o-rama last week) and ordered vegetable lo mein, but they sent shrimp lo mein instead.  That was what I really wanted anyway, so serendipitous fate must have nodded in my direction.  It was excellent.

We had a pretty good visit, although I put my foot in it.  I know better.  But I couldn't help but ask Dad what in the world he had said to Lisa to upset her so much on Saturday.  He claimed total ignorance, and Eve chimed in as a witness that he had said nothing objectionable.  Weird.  Either they are experiencing simultaneous arterial flow problems, or Lisa is going off the deep end.  I suppose either is possible.  Lisa has so much on her plate right now that it would be easy for her skin to get thin.  I tried to drop it, because really it was none of my business, but Dad just kept returning to it like dog with a bone.  Oy.  I really hope he doesn't call her to accuse and stir the cow-pat.  If I get a face-ful on this one I have only myself to blame.

I actually ended up leaving earlier than usual, which is rare.  I stopped for fruit on the way home, and got ready for bed.  Then I stayed up way too late playing games on the computer for no good reason at all.  I am tired, and I have month end tomorrow.  If I'm tired, I have only myself to blame.

A post in which I am a good boy - at work

I resolutely trooped in today and settled down to business.  I had a very large file that I had to prepare for collections (they aren't responding).  There were almost 400 documents to individually pull, coordinate, and scan.  That took most of the day; but by the time I left the office they were all done, scanned, and part of the permanent record. 

I went by the grocery store on they way home to pick up the minimum amount of groceries to get me through the rest of the week.  I went to get the ingredients to make a pasta primavera recipe that posted to my wall on Facebook a couple of weeks ago.  I don't usually make such things (indeed, I don't use recipes all that often any more), but the picture looked so irresistibly delicious, I thought to myself I'm going to make that.  That is one of the benefits about being able to cook.  If you see something lovely, chances are you can make it.  So the advertising worked, I'm sure the Alouette people would be thrilled to know, although the major credit goes to the food stylist who made the picture look so ravishingly scrumptious.  I don't even like pasta primavera all that much.  I sucked it up and bought all the stuff, even though the Alouette was ridiculously expensive, and that little voice in my head was saying really? you know this is just horribly over-priced flavored cream cheese. Meh. If so, I'll make my own next time, or just use cream cheese and spices.  I still managed to get everything I needed, plus a few staples, for the amount of cash I had on me, so I didn't have to put groceries on a credit card - which I strive mightily not to do.

Pasta Primavera, courtesy the Alouette people - doesn't that look gorgeously delicious?

Having done all that, I got home and realized that I hadn't bought any fruit.  Drat it.  That means I have to go back to the store again tomorrow. 

Just as I got the groceries put away and started to think about cooking, Dana called.  Miss Kat had gotten her birthday cake (a homemade scratch Italian Cream Cake), and would I like to come visit and have a piece?  Well of course I would.  Iimmediately and irresponsibly I bunged my carefully chosen ingredients into the fridge, changed clothes, and headed for their place, stopping on the way for burritos at the Taco Hell. 

See, I had been being so good, but at the first whiff of temptation, I was off like a shot.  Sadly, this seems to be the way I am heading.  I turned off NPR tonight on the way over in favor of the Donna Summer CD in the stereo.  I stashed my gourmet vegetarian ingredients to eat fast food burritos.  Plus there's the disturbing fact that I've been doing less passing at the flea market, and more fitting in.

So  while I'd like to be the kind of guy who never misses Masterpiece Theater, I'm actually the kind of guy who is plotzing himself that they are finally releasing Tiny Toons: How I Spent My Vacation on DVD (only fifteen more days - I CAN'T WAIT!!). Sigh. The unsettling revelations of self-reflection.

After feeding, I headed for Miss Kat and Dana's, where I had a lovely visit, and really great piece of cake.  We watched some of Madea's Big Happy Family, the movie I had picked up for them weekend before last (yet another disturbing glimpse of self-awareness), and had a nice visit.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that a woman in the movie was diagnosed with cancer.  When they got to the scenes of her sitting in chemotherapy, I could feel myself getting nauseous, which I know is just crazy.  I also started feeling kind of depressed.  The power of suggestion is so strong.  Even though I knew what was going on, it didn't seem to help.  Since it was past the time I needed to leave anyway, I just made my apologies and headed on out.  Miss Kat and Dana were of course very kind and understood.

And once again, I failed to do much that is productive, but sometimes spending time with people you love is just more important than checking things off your imaginary 'to do' list.  And that is one piece perspective that I have no problem with at all.

A post in which I head home*

I made breakfast this morning for Mom and Lisa.  Lisa did come over today.  A friend of Mom's had given her a batch of mushrooms, so I made Billy Mushrooms and then scrambled them into eggs with cheese.  What a lovely breakfast, and a nice visit.  Mom had made cinnamon buns yesterday, so we topped off the meal with homemade cinnamon rolls.  Yummy.

Lisa caught us up on the phone call from Dad (I can't remember what the point he was trying to make was, but she was so angry that she didn't take much of it in), and we talked about men and stuff.  I caught Lisa up on the situation with Jason.  She's rather off relationships at the moment, understandably. 

After she left, I got cleaned up a bit, packed, and headed for home.  Mom had a bunch of stuff for me from Granny's house.  I had expressed an interest in an old "sofa picture" she had for years and years, and which no one else wanted.  I had a place picked out for it at the time, but now am not quite sure what I'll do with it.  I had also mentioned that the prints Granny had scattered about the house were actually Vermeers.   (To the right see The Love Letter, The Milkmaid, The Lacemaker, and Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, four of his more prominent works.  I have no idea why Granny had such a thing for Vermeer.) Mom thought I wanted them (I didn't, particularly) and had brought them back for me.  I remembered two, but there were actually four.  I have no idea what I'll do with them, but Mom had brought them back for me and wanted them out of her way, so I loaded them up and brought them on.  They are nicely framed and under non-glare glass, although they had to have been framed at least forty years ago, so the frames are somewhat dated looking. 

On the way home, I called Rhonda to see if she wanted them.  Her living room remains conspicuously picture free, which doesn't seem to bother her, but which makes me nuts.

I had plenty of laundry that needed doing today, among other things, but ended up not getting much done.  I fell into the internet vortex and spent all afternoon chatting and lying around being fairly worthless. 

Eventually a buddy came by for a while, and we had a really nice visit.

After that I had a late supper scrounged out of the freezer and turned in.  I guess sometimes I'm allowed some downtime, but I prepared no lunches for this week. 

A post in which I head for Columbia

It was a beautiful morning.  Of course, since I could sleep as late as I wanted today and had been like the walking dead last week, I was awake early.  I fell into the internet vortex for a while and ended up trying to do a buddy visit that didn't come off, but managed to waste a huge chunk of time.

I frustratedly ate a huge breakfast, made up of things that I thought for some reason would go to the bad while I was out of town.  Overnight.  Yeah.  Then I cleaned up, threw some things in a bag and hit the road.

I entered another plateau of aging today.  I love my lame music.  Not ironically.  I just love it.  Today I put my Chaka Khan and Diana Ross CDs in the car, and grooved right on down the road.  I became the Solid Gold driver.  By the time I got to Columbia, I was thinking what a shame it was that there wasn't a mother and son t-dance going on somewhere there.  Because my mom would totally go to that with me. 

Mom and I were glad to see each other, and she was in surprisingly good spirits with all that's been going on.  We caught up a bit and then decided to go out for lunch and shopping.  We went to a great place that Mom knows called Casa Linda's.  They have a great vegetarian selection (recently re-vamped, apparently) and the food is great too.  We had a great lunch, and then it was on to two Ross Dress for Less.  I scoped them for underwear and Rhonda mugs, but struck out on both counts.  We ran through the grocery store for odds and ends, just because Mom needed some stuff. 

When we got back to the house, we both needed a nap.  After futzing around for a bit, we settled down in the living room for a little snooze.  But just as I got to sleep, the doorbell rang, surprising both of us.  It was Cole with one of his buddies from the rugby team, by for a visit. 

OK, let me go on record here as trying not to be the creepy gay guy.  I really do try.  And I usually don't really go that much for terribly young guys.  But the guy Cole brought in with him today was just cute as a bucket of puppies, and engaging.  He actually sat down to talk to Mom and me as if we were people - rare in a 17 year old.  He was sitting on the sofa with me, and then I got a whiff of the scent.  He still had that 'new boy' smell (it turns in to 'old man funk' later).  So there I sat, awash in pheromones that smelled like fresh cut grass, sunshine, and exuberant sex.  Plus he had on these clingy shorts that were showing his furry young rugby legs.  And he had eyelashes you could trip over.  But I reminded myself that this kid was young enough to be my son, and that I didn't want to embarrass Cole.  I managed to keep myself together and hold a passable conversation.  I don't think I leered overtly.  I certainly tried not to.

They stayed until around eight, but were meeting friends for dinner, and Cole was hungry, so they went on.  Surprisingly, after the large lunch we had (or not so surprisingly, actually), I was ready for supper too.  Lisa was supposed to come to dinner with us tonight, but she called to say that Dad had called her today to rake her over the coals.  Apparently he did "This is Your Life" over the phone, taking her back through every major mistake she has made as an adult.  She was too pissed to want to see anyone, and bowed out.  I know how aggravating he can be, and because he's helping her right now, he feels fully justified in weighing in on whatever. 

Mom and I headed over to Zorba's, a little Greek/Italian place around the corner from Mom's place.  I love the food, and the atmosphere is outrageously tacky-kitch, with big plaster clouds hand-sculpted around the ceiling and such.  It's irresistible.  Tonight was 'Greek night', though, which involved a big crowd of folks and a live band.  It was noisy and crowded, and our food wasn't quite heated through as it should have been, which was a bit of a disappointment.  But we were together and agreeable, and it was fine.

We talked a bit about Rod.  Mom and Rod used to eat at Zorba's a good bit when they were dating.  She says she misses him, but not enough to go back out with him.  She has a new guy she's seeing named Earle, but he seems to be a transition guy, and she doesn't seem all that fired up about him.  I'm glad she's getting out.

After supper we headed back to the house for more conversation and we watched some of the Olympics.  Before too long, though, I was fading.

I turned in just as it started to rain, then remembered that I had left my car window cracked.  So it was up and out into the rain to roll my windows up, after which it of course promptly stopped raining.  I probably should have left the windows down.  It would have rained all night then.  I would have had a wet tushie, but I would have done my part to relieve the drought.

A post in which I have a small moral dilemma

Work was mostly quiet today, which was good.

On the way home I stopped at CVS for my prescriptions.  While I was there, I was moseying around looking at stuff, partially because there were of course 8,000 people in line, as per usual.  I've been trying not to do as much shopping, and since there isn't much there that I want, that's a good place to not be tempted.  Today, however, I was.  They had honey roasted cashews on sale.  Two for $10.  I was about to leave them because I really didn't need to spend the money, and in fact had walked away, when I remembered that I had ExtraBucks.  I had $6.50 in ExtraBucks this month.  I decided to get them, so I got in line.  The woman rang me up, scanned my coupon, and said "That will be fifty cents." ??  When I got outside I checked the receipt and they had rung up at the wrong price.

Now.  I didn't really need to spend the money.  That four dollars would mean a lot more to me than it ever would to CVS.  Had I left, no one would have ever known but me and God.  But it is a moral breach.  I started thinking to myself your life was just spared THIS YEAR - is this really the man you want to be? So I went back in. There was still a line of course, and waiting so long in line at CVS (where they always have at least two closed registers) is one of my favorite annoyances.  But at that point, it was just obvious the devil was testing me.  I went to find a sales associate.  She confirmed that the price rang up wrong (after I explained it to her twice), and we went to find a manager.  The manager and I know each other to speak to (I freaking lived in there during chemo).  She is very nice.  She said "We don't set the pricing here.  That's done at corporate."  I explained that I just wanted to make them aware, and was trying to do the right thing.  She said "I know that, and you're one of the few.  But take the blessing and go on."  So I did.  I got my cashews for fifty cents, and I got to do so with a clear conscience.  Yay me.

My new plan is that when I see Miss Kat and Dana on Friday, I give them the next Friday off.  I'm trying not to wear my friends out.  But I had gotten them a movie last weekend, I had a book I needed to return to Miss Kat, and I made the decision to go get the catfish that were haunting my dreams.  I have been thinking about that fish all week, which is just crazy.  So I hied myself hence to the Silver Bay, secured a table, and ordered that fish.  While I was waiting, I sent Dana a text to find out what they were doing, and got the OK to go by and see them. 

That fish was exactly as delicious as I remembered.  I was glad I ordered the 'small' portion, which came with two large fillets, a whole large potato, a big salad, and a bowl of hush puppies too.

After eating way too much, I went to see Miss Kat and Dana, and had a lovely visit.  Dana was watching a movie called Men of Honor - not ordinarily the kind of thing I would watch, but it was OK.  I got into it after a while.  Charlize Theron was in it, looking utterly gorgeous in her most casual scene, so I lusted over her clothes and jewelery.

Charlize Theron, looking utterly gorgeous, and in a killer set o' beads to boot

A post in which there is shopping to do

I called the doctor's office today to tell them that I had stopped taking the Lipitor, and had no plans to start back.  The doc's nurse, Debbie, called me back to talk to me about it and told me she would talk to the doc and get back with me.  Debbie is absolutely a love.  I like my doctor, but I adore Debbie.  She commiserated with me today, and told me she was supposed to be on a statin too, but had stopped taking it years ago because of the side-effects.  She called me back later and told me they were going to try me on Crestor , despite my misgivings.  I mentioned that they tell you right on the commercial that it makes you crazy and/or suicidal.  She told me the doc said, basically, that the boat had already sailed on crazy (which I had to acknowledge).  I agreed to try it, but told her if I took off buck-nekkid down highway 85 I was blaming them.  She said OK. 

I got the rest of the write-offs done today, but don't have any of them back from my boss yet.  But I lay that down now.  There's nothing I can do about it but wait.  Alan had a hellacious couple of weeks - he's been working all hours, and left early tonight.  Good for him.

I sent the manager at Silver Bay an email today, telling them how much I enjoyed those telish catfish last week, and had a very nice response :)

I'm leaving for Columbia Saturday morning, but I wanted to get some things done tonight on the way home.  It was time to do some shopping.

I started off on the way to Dollar Tree for fancy crackers.  They are just as good as the ones at the grocery store (and probably made at the same place) but they are about half to one-third of the price.  The problem with Dollar Tree on my side of town is that they are next to Ross Dress for Less.  I've been really trying to stop shopping for things I don't need, but Ross is just too big of a temptation.  I picked up some of the great underwear they have in stock right now.  Sadly, by body is no longer compatible with fancy underwear, which is apparently made for skinny people.  The waistbands on Perry Ellis and Ralph Lauren underwear roll over like a politician with a checkbook waved in front of him.  The waistbands on Jockey, however, are human-friendly and stay where the hell they are supposed to stay.  I got two more pairs tonight, and felt pretty virtuous when I a) noticed that they had been marked down; and b) put back a third pair that had NOT been marked down yet (they were a newer color).  At $4 each, they really weren't terribly extravagant.  I looked for Rhonda mugs, but there were no more in evidence.  Those must be truly over now, sadly.  I also looked at their cookware.  I have the big sautee pan in the new eco-and-people-friendly ceramic non-stick, but I need my small pan and regular 9" pan replaced as well.  They had some in stock actually, and at a good price, but some were made in Italy, and the labels were Italian.  They might have been what I wanted, but I couldn't tell for sure.  Then they had some that I really should have bought, but they were brown.  Yergh.  Who wants brown pans?  I rationalized that I didn't need to spend the money anyway. 

I finally actually made it to the dollar store and secured my crackers, but by this time I was hungry, and added some snacks, and picked up some other odds and ends.  I ended up with a basket full, and really thought I had done some damage, but I ended up spending $9.  Which is why we love the dollar store.  Unfortunately, what we hate about the dollar store is the clientele.  I sound like a snob, I know, but really.  I was in line tonight between two crying babies.  Really?  The woman in front of me was having some kind of payment issue, and we waited.  And waited.  The woman behind me was a bitter mill bat, who for some reason decided to tell me all about the air-conditioning in her car (not working), and the fact that she was only in there to get things for an underprivileged mother she knew "to help her out".  Well good for her, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't feeling particularly in the mood to give her the standing ovation she obviously felt she deserved.  I eventually just began slowly turning away from her, completing the circuit just as she finished talking and making no reply.  The guy in front of me was a cute as a bug little young'un though, and wearing clingy shorts.  I enjoyed the view (we were there for a while) until he became somewhat uncomfortable. 

By this time my feet were hurting, but I still needed to go to the Saigon Market.  (Interestingly, it used to be called the Hog Phat market, but I guess someone told them.  Anyway.)  I actually prefer the other Asian market in town, but it closes at 6pm.  That means I either have to break my neck getting there after work, or make a special trip on the weekend.  The nice thing about the other one is that they have a mix of all different types of ingredients for different Asian nationalities.  Saigon caters almost exclusively to Chinese and Thai consumers.  They do have a small Japanese section, but they didn't have what I wanted.  I can buy all the sauces I use at the grocery store, but they are in small bottles and are much more expensive.  I got some rice vinegar, which I use all the time to make refrigerator pickles and such.  They do have the kind I like, but it has gone up in price a good bit.  I also found some ponzu sauce, although it was in smaller bottles and about at grocery store price. 

The problem came in trying to find tamari.  Tamari is a very specific type of soy sauce, and is used in Japanese cooking.  I was sure there had to be some kind of Chinese equivalent, but the English descriptions on Chinese products (even those sold here) is rudimentary at best.  I spent a good amount of time comparing and walking back and forth - there are three different sections in the store where you can buy different types of soy sauce.  I thought later that this was pretty much how it must feel to be illiterate (I am, after all, completely illiterate in Chinese).  I was trying to make out what I wanted from the pictures on the labels, what the stuff looked like in the bottles, and the few words I could make out.

I finally gave up and just went to check out.  I asked the woman behind the counter about tarmari.  She had no idea what I was talking about, but took me out into the store.  She initially thought I meant soy sauce with citrus juice, and showed me that.  That is the equivalent of ponzu, and the bottle she showed me was much less expensive than what I had, so I changed it out for the smaller bottle I had picked up before.  Apparently, though, there is no Chinese equivalent of tamari.  I just got some regular soy sauce.  I'm using more ponzu in my cooking lately anyway, so that was actually probably more useful.  The woman in the store was quite nice and very helpful, especially considering the language barrier, and that I was asking for two Japanese ingredients in a Chinese grocery store.  I'm sure she thought that I didn't know the difference. 

All that accomplished, I was quite ready to get home and eat some supper.  I warmed up some papas and beer (those are just super - if it is my recipe) and had a tomato sandwich in a bowl (yummy).  I topped it off with some blueberries I had picked up this weekend that we hadn't eaten.  I vegged out watching Chopped for a while. 

Marty came on tonight.  Earnest Borgnine just died on the 8th, and I guess they were doing a tribute on TCM.  They aired an interview with him, and then showed the movie.  He won a best actor Academy Award for Marty (his only one), and it is one of my favorite old movies.  The vulnerability he brings to the role is amazing, and I really identify with the protagonist. 

Eventually, though, I knew I had to go to bed.  I flipped over to Big Bang Theory and turned in.

A post in which I get stuck in

I had to buckle down and get some work done today.  So I did.  I ended up working late, but got all of my big write-offs done so they can go to California for approval.  I left the office feeling like a good boy, which I like.

Things were quiet on the home front tonight.  I had gotten my counselling done last night, so there was no one I needed to call. 

I ate left-overs from Monday's dinner, along with tomato sandwich in a bowl.  I'm out of fancy crackers (among other things) so I'll have to remedy that.  But for tonight, I laid up on the sofa. 

A post in which it is a very long day*

Sigh.  Jason had to leave today.  But we've had a lovely visit and it isn't forever, right?  I was up early, and turned off the alarm to spend a little quality time with him before I had to get ready for work.  He slept while I was getting ready, and then saw me off. 

I plunged right in today.  I had write-offs to do, and two days worth of calls, but I couldn't seem to settle in to work the way I needed to.  I got the calls caught up, but otherwise didn't really get as much done as I would have liked. 

After work it was off for supper with Dad and Eve.  When I got to the house, the den was full of wedding folks.  Judy's daughter, soon-to-be son-in-law, the daughter's best friend, and the daughter's two daughters were there, ages nine years and four days.  It was a mad-house.  They were signing the lease to rent the rental house Dad bought, everyone was talking, the floor was full of wedding doo-dads, and Dad was on the phone talking to the man working on the house at the same time. 

Eventually, Dad got off the phone, they signed the lease and cleared out, and we headed to dinner at Fried Green Tomatoes.  That was what Dad wanted, and it was fine with me.  After last Friday with Miss Kat and Dana, I still had a hankering for catfish, which they had.  It wasn't as good as what I had from Silver Bay, but it was still very good; and I just LOVE their biscuits.  I proceeded to eat too much.  I could see my reflection in the plate glass windows as we left the restaurant.  I look more like my dad every day.  Sigh. 

We went by the house after supper for Dad to talk to the guy about some carpet they are putting in, but Dad's guy wasn't there, so we had to go to their house, and then back out to the rental property later.  Dad had told me that he has arranged for the guy working on this house to re-do my bathroom in September, so I went to talk to him.  The house looks good.  They have done good work on it, and handled a bunch of unexpected stuff that came up during the job.  He's nice too.  I tried to not think about how cute he is.  We talked about my job and what I wanted, and went through the house with some curious neighbors who showed up to talk to Dad about a drainage issue in the yard.

I had managed to calm Dad down (somewhat) over the unfolding Lisa drama with Carl.  He's feeling put-upon.  He has tried to help her, but she suspects that he has something to do with the latest chapter, which involves my mother.  Sigh.  He popped and phutted most of the evening, on and off.  I understand the way he feels, but I tried to calm him down, because he can't vent and leave things.  His anger seems to just feed on itself and continue to build. 

After we got back to Dad and Eve's house, I set out for home, but my day wasn't over. 

I stopped at the store, and called Lisa to check in on her, and to fill her in on the Dad-status at the moment.  I also talked some more to her about my feeling that Dad really didn't have anything to do with this latest problem.  I truly don't.  I hope I'm right.  Lisa sounded good, but she's very upset, and rightly so. 

After I talked to her (one of the reasons I called was to check on her talk with Mom) I called Mother.  She and my aunts sold Granny's house and closed on it last week.  She posted some uncharacteristically down-sounding posts on Facebook today.  She didn't sound as bad as I had feared.  I probed her a bit for her feelings on the Lisa stuff, and talked to her some about selling the house.  I got the feeling that maybe she was trying to sound more OK than she was.  I set up a visit with her for this weekend.  I'll go down Saturday.  I needed to get some stuff she had for me from Granny's house anyway.

So that was on the drive home.  When I hung up the phone with her, I felt absolutely drained.  There had been a lot going on today.  With Jason leaving, all the problems, all the running around, the dealing with Dad, and then two supportive phone calls to make, I was all in.  I really wished Jason was at the house to come home to.  I called him, but he didn't answer. 

I got home and got ready for bed.  Just as I got in, I had a text from my baby.  It was good to hear from him.

A post in which it is a day off together*

Jason and I enjoyed a quiet morning at home together.  We had coffee on the porch, ate muffins (supplied by Russ after Billy rejected them as being non-Weight Watchers friendly), and I did some laundry since he hadn't brought enough clothes with him.  That was fine by me. 

Eventually we decided to go out and do something.  We got cleaned up and went out to lunch at Don Pablo's (yes, more Mexican, which we apparently both love) and then afterwards we made a sweep through Antiques Plus (aka the Friendly Man Antique Store) just because I hadn't been in there for a while, and I had a yen.  The Friendly Man himself wasn't in today, but one of the nicest helpers was.  We had a good rummage 'round, and Jason was conspicuously charming to her - to the point that she was giving us vacation advice and taking things out of the case for him to look at. I hadn't really thought (well, not seriously) about buying more stuff today, but as sometimes happens, the glass luck seems to come in spurts.  I found another little part of a Christmas present, and bought a lovely platter for a surprisingly good price - almost half of book.  I almost never find a deal on Adam pieces.  I wasn't sure about the deal at the time because I hadn't even brought my backpack with me. 

Adam 11 3/4" platter in pink by Jeannette Glass, circa 1932-1934

We headed back home to start preparations for supper.  I cooked some green beans I had gotten at the flea market yesterday, and then we packed up that and some cucumber salad I whipped up yesterday, along with some other odds and ends. 

We stopped off at the grocery store for Brussels sprouts on the way.  They are Russ's favorite, but Billy and Logan don't like them, so Billy doesn't usually make them for him.  We ended up with quite a nice meal.  We had the green beans and cucumber salad. I made the sprouts we picked up at the store.  I also made some of my new buffalo potato recipe, which I'm calling 'papas and beer'.  Billy put a steak on the grill for the omnivores.  It was nice.  Everything I made turned out really good too, which is unusual when I'm showing off (just a little for Jason). 

I cleaned up the kitchen while RBL chatted with Jason and tried to figure up the number of Weight Watchers points in papas and beer. Despite my giving them the measurements and even having the bottle that the hot sauce for them to refer to with nutrition information, it seemed to take forever.  There was a lot of debate back and forth.  I cleaned the whole kitchen while they discussed.  Not that I really minded.  I would have been bored to tears anyway with that discussion, and Billy has cleaned up many, many meals after feeding me. 

We had picked up the makings for a fruit salad, but by the time Russ got in from work, we ate, and the clean-up was done, it was time for me to head home to bed.  I had to work tomorrow.  So we left most of the fruit (I took the fresh raspberries - they are my favorite, and Russ doesn't like them, plus they are hella expensive) and headed on home to turn in.  It had been a very nice, companionable day, spent in the company of a man who loves me.  You can't ask for more than that. 

A post in which it is a lovely Sunday*

We were up surprisingly early this morning, and after greeting the day properly had a quick breakfast and headed for the flea market.  I didn't get to go yesterday and wanted to do it today.  Also, unbelievably, Jason had NEVER been to the Andersen Jockey Lot, so that was where we went.

It was beautiful flea market weather.  Warm and sunny, but not unseasonably hot (although seasonably hot is quite hot enough, thank you).  We wandered around and looked as stuff.  It was an auspicious day for yours truly. 

We really hadn't gotten in well before I made a major find.  I bought two bowls that had a combined book value of $95, for $12!!  You just can't beat that.  It reminded me of why I love flea markets so much. 

The trip kind of peaked early though, so the rest of it was just kind of walking around, although we enjoyed it, and enjoyed spending the time together.  But it was getting hotter.  After we did the outside, we picked up some produce and headed out.

American Sweetheart 8 3/4" large berry bowl in pink by MacBeth Evans Glass, circa 1930-1936

Sharon 6" cereal bowl in pink by Federal Glass Co, circa 1935-1939

The plan for today was to meet the boys for lunch and go to the movies.  I'd had a text from Logan to meet them at 3:45pm.  I thought that was an odd time to eat - right between lunch and dinner - but I usually just kind of go with the flow when they make plans.  First though, it was back to the house to cool off, shower, and rest for a bit. 

We were doing just that, and I was trying to disconnect to hop in the shower, when I got a text.  RBL were at the restaurant.  It was 2:20pm.  I was like what?  I called, and apparently I had mis-read the text.  The movie was at 3:45, but lunch was now.  Well crap.  We weren't ready.  I was very disappointed, because I had been looking forward to all of us going out together, but there was little I could do.  I told them to go ahead and eat, and that we would meet them at the movie.

Jason and I ran through the shower and then headed out for a quickie lunch before the movie.  We ended up at the same place RBL had been, and caught the very tippy-end of the buffet at Compadres, but we had time to eat and get to the movie to meet them.  I hadn't eaten there before, and the buffet was very meat-heavy, but the food was good, and I found plenty to eat.

Today's movie was Brave, and it was very good.  I had been looking forward to seeing it, and had asked that RBL wait until I could go with them.  Having Jason there too was icing on the cake.  I wonder how many girls will be named Merida in the next year.  I love redheads, of course, and there were a lot of them in the movie.  Jason's family has Celtic roots, so there was something there for him.  And there were lots of bears too - Yay!

After the movie we went to the shop.  Russ was meeting James there to cut his hair.  He does that sometimes for friends on his day off.  James seems to be doing well, and looks great, as always.  We kind of settled in for the evening.  Russ cut Billy's hair and then mine also.  My hair hasn't looked as good since chemo (I was not really super-happy with the last cut) but it turned out pretty good today.

Russ had expressed a yen for some grilled shrimp, and I suggested that we might find some at Copper River Grill.  I hadn't been too impressed with my initial visit, but the menu changed and I really enjoy eating there now.  We met Vince and Brian at the restaurant.  Vince looked as gorgeous as ever, but Brian looks worn.  They have been working non-stop to get the condo 'staged' for the market, and it's getting to him.  But they need to get as much of their investment back on it as they can.  They settled in for cocktails while we ate and we visited with them. 

After supper we all went our own ways.  Jason and I went home to spend some alone time together.  And we still have all day tomorrow.  Yay. 

A post in which the day starts poorly, but ends well*

I was up early this morning to vacuum up all the flea powder before the guy from DirecTV got to the house.  Yes.  I had finally gotten the appointment set up.  After evaluating the options and realizing that no I did not in fact have the moral fortitude to read uplifting literature and crochet flags in my off-hours, I sucked it up and called.  Helpfully, the woman I got on the third try was very nice.  It also helped that the fee for a service call had dropped from $100 down to $50, and she agreed to waive half of even that.  So although I don't think I should have to pay them anything to fix the service I pay them for when it quits working, I was willing to pay $25 to get things going again.  I had thought about having Charter back in my home, and been repulsed (vile, evil reptiles that they are).  I had checked into U-verse and found that it wasn't available in my neighborhood.

My 'appointment' was for any time between 8am and noon today.  That pissed me off too, but while heart surgeons regularly make appointments to see patients, it seems to be the industry norm that the cable man requires a four-hour window to fix the freakin' television reception.  I straightened up and settled in to wait.  And wait.

At 11:30, I got a call from the robot at DirecTV telling me that the man would arrive within the hour great I thought, he's running late.  12:30 came and went.  At 12:45 I was on the phone with a customer service rep, asking where the guy was.  She of course had no idea.  I said "This service call is now free, right?" and she began hemming and hawing.  "Oh hell no." I said.  I asked for a supervisor.  I was put on hold.  And hold.  And hold.  She came back on to tell me that no supervisor was available.  I asked for a call back, but was told that they 'do not call out' as a matter of policy.  By this point,  I was pretty pissed.  I continued to hold.  After over twenty minutes, I was told that there was a supervisor to take my call.  At that point either I got cut off or she hung up on me.  I was livid.  I sat down to send an email to DirecTV.  Actually two.  They have a character limit on their emails. 

Shortly after 1pm, the cable guy came nonchalantly strolling in.  I explained the problem, which he unbelievably did not know.  I had explained it repeatedly to the employees over the phone because, I was told, that he had to know that before he came.  I couldn't resist.  I was SO angry.  I said "I don't guess it would do me any good to ask where you have been?"  He deflected and went outside to look at the dish.  I followed him out.

After hooking up some gizmo to the dish, he told me that a tree in the yard was blocking my signal.  That tree has been in the yard for ten years, but apparently it has magically shot up within the last three weeks to interfere with my reception of two-thirds of the channels I am supposed to receive.  He said we either had to move the dish, or cut the tree.  I told him he was full of it.  He then told me "You can calm down, or I can go.  I can leave, and not come back.  You never have to talk to me again."  At this, I just about exploded.  But after thinking for a moment, I apologized and asked him to move the dish.  It had taken me three weeks to get someone out to fix it, and having committed to this much, I was going to have the damn TV back on.

I then went back into the house to send another email to DirecTV.  He fixed it stuff and left. 

While he was finishing up Lisa called, and I talked to her for a while.  She's still upset, but not as upset as she was.  She asked for my advice on how to handle the talk with Mom about the latest crap from Carl.  I was pretty non-plussed  I have no idea how to make this blow any easier.  Its going to be a tough talk to have, and I'm really glad I don't have to be the one to do it, frankly.  But I offered the support I could over the phone. 

After I got off the phone with her, the cable guy left, and I settled in to pout.  Getting into it with him, and several DirecTV employees just made me feel lousy, and I was in a rotten mood.  There were things I needed to do before Jason arrived, but I just plain didn't feel like doing them. 

Over the course of the afternoon, I got several calls from DriecTV about the situation - apparently the way to reach them is via email.  They agreed to waive the service fee, and that made me feel a little better, but the money wasn't really the issue at this point.  I hate the way I have been treated during the course of this treatment.  Most of the people I talked to could have cared less about the issue, and would do nothing to help me.  I HATE to have to get ugly to get results.  I got the results in the end, but I would far rather have just a) had the service work as it was supposed to; or b) had someone take care of it on the front end as they were supposed to.  I would have been happier to pay the money and not have to go through such a rigmarole.   So the TV is back on, but the next time it goes out, I'm not going through all this again.  If U-verse isn't available, I'll try Dish Network.  This is my third go-round with DirecTV.  I'm just sick of it.

I was actually debating when I would get ready for Jason when I had a surprise text from Logan, inviting me out to Lieu's with them for supper.  I didn't really feel like going, but I wanted to see them, and I needed to do something to improve my mood before Jason got here.  I ran through the shower and out the door to meet them.

Logan also invited his friend Todd to dinner tonight.  Todd is cute.  Apparently I had met him before, but I don't remember it.  He's a gamer like Logan, but he has reached the age of reason, is super nice, and laughs in all the right places.  (Plus, I couldn't help but notice later, he has a sexy furry tummy, but I digress.)  He worked with Disney for years as an entertainer.  So the company at dinner was lively and fun, and the meal was very nice.  I felt much better, and was really glad I went.

After supper we went back to the house for Logan and Todd to get to gaming.  (They like to Dance Central together, apparently.)  Russ and I went to the store to pick up a few things. 

Jason wasn't supposed to be in until about 10pm, but I had a text from him while we were at the grocery store that he was almost at the house, so as soon as Russ and I got back I headed for my place.

It was SO great to see Jason!!  I had really missed him more than I thought.  He showered up and we settled in to catch up.  Eventually, I put a Family Guy DVD in the player and we decadently ate homemade cheesecake (supplied by one of Russ's customers and packed off home with me) in bed.

We said goodnight and drifted off to sleep, looking forward to spending some time together, and with that extra delicious day off ahead.

A post in which I have a wonderful dinner

I was SO glad I got paid today.  I'm just sayin'.

I have a capital weekend shaping up.  The twit meeting was this afternoon, and I was talking to Larney today about Jason coming.  I am very excited to see him, and he's staying through Tuesday.  She said "So you've taken Monday off, right?"  Well I hadn't.  But she started me thinking.  So when I went into the meeting, I asked my boss if it was OK if I took Monday off, and he said yes!  Alan is really good about letting me take my time off.  I can't complain about that.  In further GREAT news, I got an email that the California office had set up a new report to save me from the (increasingly ridiculous and impossible demands of the new) auditors!!  That just never happens.  So I left the meeting and finished up the day with a light heart.

When I got off work, I had errands to run before I could go to Miss Kat and Dana's house.  First I ran by Petsmart for cat litter.  When I left the house this morning Jinx and Crooner were throwing dice to see who got to use the last ounce or so.  Of course Jinx was cheating, and Crooner was too slow to know it.  It was good to lay in a new supply.

I ran by the house to change.  They were taking care of dinner tonight, and they usually eat pretty early.  I didn't want to keep them waiting. 

On the way over, though, I went by Family Dollar to pick up some boric acid.  There was an older couple in front of me, and they nicely asked me if I would like to go ahead.  I can't remember the last time that happened, and I was glad to have cash so I wouldn't hold them up.  They even complimented me on my tattoo.  So I was in an excellent mood when I got to the house.

I ran Dana up to Silver Bay to pick up supper.  They had ordered catfish.  I am pretty old school about catfish.  I want it bone-in, fried (of course), and un-fancy in general.  I haven't eaten any that I remember since Gene's Restaurant closed downtown.  Generally when I got to Silver Bay, I'm there for seafood.  I follow my Poppy's advice.  I always used to say when you eat at a restaurant, you order the specialty of the house - that will be the best food.  But I was willing to try it (even though this was fillet), and I love catfish.  I was most pleasantly surprised.  It was the best catfish I had eaten in years.  And I was hungry. So I tucked in to a capital supper.

Afterwards, we visited and caught up.  I shared with them my worries over the latest events in Lisa's divorce.  I SO wish that was over, and I'm not even the one going through it. 

But it was a nice visit, and good to see them, as always.

When I got home, surprisingly, I was motivated to go ahead and treat the carpet for fleas.  I can't have Jason coming to stay in a house (literally) hopping with vermin.  I dusted down the carpets and went to bed.

A post in which I am invaded

Fleas!  Fleas everywhere!  I've had them before, but nothing like this year.  I guess it's the mild winter, I don't know.  But when I sat down on the john this morning I looked down and I had fleas all over my legs.  Insane.  I'll have to do something about it this week.  I'm going to try treating the house with boric acid again and hope that works.  I've never had to call an exterminator, and I really hate the thoughts of having my house sprayed with poison, but I may not have any choice.  Thank God I get paid this week.

Because of the pain I've been having (among other issues) I've decided to take myself off of the Lipitor for a week to see what happens.  Dad and Russ have both told me that they had issues with feet and leg pain on it, although that was not listed in the side-effects on the website.  If it isn't the problem, then I guess I'll have to see the doc - I'm having more and more problems with my feet.  If it is the problem, then I'll call them and have them put me on something else.  Dad is on Crestor, but the side-effects for that one (depression, weight gain, becoming suicidal) sound even worse. 

My new glasses finally came today.  The lenses were not nearly as dark as I had hoped they would be, but they looked pretty cool I thought.  It is surprisingly psychedelic to look at the world literally through rose-tinted lenses.

I had a busy day laid out at work, but got everything done, which was nice.  I've been surprisingly worthless this week, and can't really figure out why. 

I exchanged texts with Jason for a bit.  I'm kind of trying to plan out the weekend some.  He won't be here

until Saturday evening, so that gives me a chance to get some things done beforehand so that I can enjoy him while he's here. 

I ran through CVS on the way in from work (spending the last of my money) and called about having the yard mowed, brushed the fleas off my legs, and ate the left-over Chinese for dinner, then topped that off with a tomato sandwich because I was still hungry.  Then ate some rice crispy treats.  Gee, I wonder why I'm fat.  Lucky me, Jason apparently likes me just the way I am.

I had a very disturbing phone call from Lisa tonight.  The battle with her recently-ex-husband has descended to a new level of meanness.  He has decided to use Angela's movie as grounds to try to block my mother from seeing Ava.  Sigh.  How hurtful, and what a horrible thing to do.  Apparently there is no level to which he will not stoop.  Lisa is absolutely outraged, as well she might be.  As usual, there was little I could do but listen and commiserate.  So much misery - and it just seems to go on and on.  I thought she was finally almost free of this, but there is now a new chapter to fight.  I could be called on to testify.  He could even stretch this to try to keep me from seeing Ava (he is reportedly quite jealous of how much she loves me).  I can hope to God not, but there's little else I can do about it.

I turned on the latest episode of Chef Wanted, and stayed up waaaay too late watching it.  Oh well, tomorrow is Friday, and competitively I have a light day.

A post in which I am crabby

Crab, crab, crab

Today was employee appreciation dat at work.  We have enjoyed 100 consecutive profitable quarters.  Let me start by saying that I understand that this is an accomplishment, and that I am indeed glad that I work for a successful company.  I am glad to have a job, and glad to be able to pay my bills.  I understand that there are many people in this economy who would be tickled to change places with me.  Having said all of that...

They decided to start empolyee appreciation day by dragging us out of bed a half hour early to go to the quarterly meeting, where they thanked us for making them so much money, and extolling us to continue to make them lots of money.  This during the course of an hour-long, butt-breaking meeting.  They did provide breakfast.  It was interesting today that they didn't feed us a passel of sausage biscuits (as they ususally do during the quarterly meeting).  Today's repast was tasty, and more healthy than bisucuits, but not terrifically filling.  We had one quarter of a piece of flatbread, sprinkled with some fresh spinach, tomato, and feta cheese, a cup of fruit, and some juice.  Tasty, and notably better than our usual fare thanks to the company's new focus on living a healthy lifestyle (which I applaud - whether motivated by health insurance costs or not), but I was hungry within the hour.  They fed us lunch too, which was fine, but again not really a stick-to-your-ribs portion.  There was an afternoon snack of a small serving of gelato, which I dived on like a crazed weasel, despite the long line.  So I was pretty much hungry all day.

There were raffles for prizes, and a car that they were giving away in a sales-specific drawing.  Since I am long used to sale being the star-bellied sneeches (and since I recognize that they pay for such privilege), that really didn't bother me.  But I couldn't help but reflect that I would have appreciated my usual half hour of sleep and a small bonus infinitely more than anything done today.  They have programmed the flat-screen monitors scattered through the office to radomly flash employee names below a banner telling each of us how much we are appreciated.  Perhaps it was cynical of me to think of the possible money to be made by writing a book called Cost-Free Employee Motivators for Dummies.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that was cynical - many companies don't even do lip-service to employee appreciation.  But being forced out of bed early makes me crabby.

By the end of the day, I was ready to put away some serious groceries.  But I was also fat and broke, so I decided to go on home and eat what was there.  I remembered about half-way home that I had a container of gorgeously delicious Fresh Market pimento cheese in the fridge, and that it needed to be eaten, so I didn't even have to feel particularly guilty (well, except for the fat thing) about scarfing it down. 

As I pulled in to the driveway, I had a text from Miss Kat.  She was coming by for a short visit.  But first things first.  I raided the fridge and ate like a white trash king, if there can be such a thing.  Fancy crackers, the aforementioned pimento cheese, and fresh Cherokee Purple tomatoes.  Just one of my favorite meals ever.  I got through in time to run over the bathroom and clean the table in the living room that Crooner has been living on for the last week.  His apprent strategy is to pick one place and see how digusting he can possibly make it before moving on to a new perch.  As soon as Miss Kat came in, both cats were immediately glued to her person. 

After she left, I lolled around in lazy splendor until time for bed.

A post in which I have a new picture of Cole

Apparently Ava insisted that Cole put on these Bugaloo acessories tonight, and Lisa sent me a picture.  He'd probably kill me if he knew, but isn't that precious?

A post in which I am greatly relieved

I sucked it up and got things done today.  There was a lot to be done at work, and they just keep piling on.  But I avoided calling the auditor in California.  I really need to talk to her, but I keep putting it off because I dread it so much.

One of the things that has been weighing on me lately is that I haven't been able to get in touch with Jason.  I have sent texts, called, and emailed to crickets.  I went back through today and realized that I haven't heard from him since July 6th.  I have vacillated between being miffed, worried, concerned, and kind of depressed.  I was pissy this morning and didn't wear my ring to work.  But I heard from him this afternoon.  He apparently left his phone in the back of a friend's car.  A bit lame - well maybe.  But it could happen.  And I was so relieved to hear from him and hear that everything was OK that I couldn't really stay mad.  Besides he told me he was coming down this weekend, and the excitement from that pretty much cleared out any left-over miffedness that might have hung around.  I'm actually rather surprised at how relieved I am.  I had thought that when I heard from him that it couldn't possibly be good news.  I have apparently invested more in this relationship than I was letting myself admit.  So that's food for thought.

I had dinner with Dad and Eve tonight - Chinese take-away since Dad just finally had his procedure done yesterday.  He's hurting, but seemed to be in pretty good spirits.  Eve happily nattered on about canning and the like (she's putting up vegetables out of their garden this year), and packed me up some home grown tomatoes.

Dad didn't last long tonight with the pain and all, but I saw him back to his room and then headed on home myself.

Since I was home early (for a Tuesday - I'm usually over there until 9pm or later) I decided to do something else I've been putting off doing.  I called DirecTV to schedule my service call and get the cable working again.  That's been a thorn in my side, but I've so dreaded dealing with it that I've put off calling them.  I looked into alternatives, and then wished that I had the fortitude to tell them just to turn it off.  But I am not a good enough person to just concern myself with my reading and crochet flag in the evening.  I lucked out.  For a denizen of the evil empire, the woman I got tonight was fairly decent, and most forbearing.  So we scheduled the service call, and I'll have to leave work, miss my lunch hour (and possibly longer) AND pay them yet more money (on TOP of the exorbitant fee - more than it costs to heat my house - I already pay) to get the freakin' TV pumping drivel again.  But since I must confront the fact that I apparently can't live without that drivel, I suppose it is ignoble to complain.  But I will, of course.

In the meantime - Jason is coming!  Yay!!

A post in which it is a fairly bleah day, but ends nicely*

I didn't feel good today.  I didn't feel like doing much of anything, although I did manage to go by and have a little visit with a breath-taking man this morning. 

In general though, I just felt, and was, pretty worthless. 

I did some laundry.  I made some bread from an interesting mix I bought at Deal Mart yesterday.  It's called Pan de Queso, and is apparently Colombian in origin.  It turned out pretty good, and was very easy to make, but for some reason having a whole batch of it (and perhaps - perversely - realizing how easy it was to make) made it less gorgeously delicious than it was when we had it in the restaurant.  It was something that RBL turned me on to. 

I got caught up in a Pawn Stars marathon, and pretty much wallowed in my own worthlessness today.

Eventually I got ready to go to RBL's, but the plan had changed.  Billy had forgotten that they had made plans to go to Vince and Brian's tonight to go through clothes.  Vince is a bit of a clothes horse, and they are having to downsize before they go to Oregon, because the place they are moving into there is much smaller than where they are now. 

Russ and Logan lucked out, and Billy got a pair of leather pants.  There wasn't much there to fit me, but I did get a couple of shirts and a bathing suit that I will likely never wear.

We decided to go out for Chinese food, and ended up at House of Chan.  I had never eaten there, but they wanted Chinese, and Billy doesn't like Chinese buffet.  There really aren't that many sit-down Chinese places around any more.  HoC wasn't either.  They do the vast majority of their business as take out, but there were four sad little tables up front.  In good company, it was fine - and we had a touchingly gay guy waiting on us.  I daringly ordered curry shrimp, which was pretty freakin' spicy.  It was OK.  The heat level in our food was all over the place.  My food and Vince's food was really hot.  Billy's was mild.  It was OK.  As usual, I was there more for the company than the food, and I ate all my dinner, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.  I wouldn't order that again though. 

After we finished we went over to the nearby ice cream parlor for a scoop.  I had thought about it as a way to put out the fire, but by the time we finished eating I really just wanted the ice cream.  I was walking through the place, looking at these just ridiculous flavors of ice cream, thinking who the hell over the age of nine would this appeal to?  Then my mind was like oh yeah, right.  I had rum raisin, and it was a little frosted from not being scooped that much.  That's an old-timey flavor, and I guess there isn't as much call for it.  Logan had something called Play Dough ice cream.  Yeah.  It was a blaring yellow not found in nature - to the point that I wondered how the hell much food coloring it took to make a color like that? - but he seemed to like it. 

We split after ice cream, Vince and Brian to head home, RBL and I off for a Wal-Mart run.  I didn't buy anything (thankfully).  Billy and I looked at housewares while Logan went to games and Russ went off on one of his seemingly endless errands.  But it's fun to go just about anywhere with RBL.

By the time we got back to the house, I was a pumpkin again.  But it had been a nice evening, and I was feeling a bit better.

A post in which we go out to lunch

I was up and motivated again this morning, strangely.  I did a load of laundry and made my squash casserole for lunches this week.  Since I tried a new recipe last time, I went traditional this time.  It turned out good, but too salty, which is pretty much how Grandma Shumate's used to come out. 

I got in touch with Billy, who told me there were no plans for the day, but to just come on over and hang out.   That was why I had gotten my chores done early.  With Sabrina and Wendy still in town I figured there would be something going on today.  Billy told me Russ was still in the bed, so I decided to take some time for some long-overdue foot maintenance.  It took longer than I thought.  I finished off with some Aveda Foot Cream that Eve had given me, and was frankly astonished!  I will be getting some more of that. 

Because of the extra time I spent on my feet (however stunningly they turned out) though, I was almost late for lunch.  I skreeked into RBL's just in time to get to Pho Noodleville, a visit to which had apparently been a special request of the guests.  I had the vegetable curry today, and it was one of the best things I have eaten there.  I am generally not a huge Noodleville fan, but RBL are big aficionados.

After lunch we ran through Deal Mart for a browse.  I had been curious about the place for a while but had never been in there.  I have to say I was pretty impressed.  The prices were great, and a lot of the stuff was name brand.  I bought some very high fiber cereal (13g per serving - my colon may well just explode) for $1 a box.  The prices on cereal are just crazy.  I will be back in this place.  I saw several things I could use.

Sabrina took off to visit another friend, and after a detour through Whole Foods to pick up some dessert (a 5-freakin'-dollar piece - yes one piece - of cheesecake for yours truly, which I must admit was telish), and to say hello to Vince, we took Wendy back to the ranch to settle in with a movie.  Mindful of trying to make better use of my time, I had brought a bag of mending with me in case we ended up with any downtime.  The movie Billy decided on today was Bear City.  It was OK.  The guys in it were pretty.  They looked like real bears, I suspect because most of them really are.  But the writing was pretty bad in places, and I found it hard to sympathize with the protagonist, a young beautiful boy finding it very difficult to find love amongst the bears.  Because we all know what a hard time young beautiful boys have finding boyfriends in the bear community, right?  *Yeah.*  But I've seen worse, and it wasn't vile.  There were some sexy scenes in it.  Had I not been so distracted with mending a sheet, I suspect I might have enjoyed it a tad more. 

I was working on a sheet from a set of ice blue ones I have.  Not only is it a favorite set of sheets, I bought them with one of the last Christmas checks Granny Brown ever sent me, so there is a bit of a sentimental attachment there.  I haven't been able to use them for some time because they've been on the mending pile.  More of the seam I was repairing was gone than I thought, and it was a bigger job than I had anticipated, but I did eventually get it put back together.  Sadly, I didn't get to the pair of brown tweed plaid pants that have been in the mending bag practically forever; but they're out of season right now anyway.

Sabrina returned, collected Wendy and the dogs, and they took their leave. 

I hung out with the boys for the evening, and we raided their fridge for dinner.  There were plenty of leftovers from the cookout they had Saturday.  I was disappointed to find that I had missed seeing Carol, an old friend of Billy's I really like.

But when True Blood came on, it was 9pm, and I was turning into a pumpkin.  I left with an invitation to come back tomorrow night to graze on leftovers.

A post in which I go to a dinner party

I was up early today, determined not to waste this Saturday the way I did last week.  To that end, I got moving.  I went to the flea market, where I was pleased to see one of my favorite local sellers had started bringing in their produce.  They had Cherokee Purple tomatoes - YUM.  I got some of those and some beautiful baby squash, which I decided to casserole-ize.  Then I bought some peaches. 

The Disney DVD seller who used to be up at Barnyard showed up at my local market today, and after consulting with Lisa I picked up some movies for Ava's birthday.  She also called to invite Rhonda and me to Ava's birthday party at the baby ho sto in Columbia.  Then I ran by the grocery store and headed home.

Tonight I was invited to Miss Kat and Dana's for dinner.  Dana called to tell me that Lori and JP would be there also - yay.  I haven't seen them in forever.  I had picked up stuff to make cherry yum yum for dessert, and Dana was excited about that.  So I made yum yum and futzed around the house for a while before I got ready to go.  I had thought about getting to work on my casserole today, but Dana told me to come early so we could visit for a while before L & JP arrived.  I was happy to oblige.

Dinner was lovely.  Miss Kat had salad, some kind of 'bake at home' bread that turned out great, and a fettuccine alfredo casserole with shrimp and mozzarella.  It was telish!  My cherry yum yum was well received, although I thought my graham cracker crumbs were a bit stale.  I should have toasted them.  Still, it was good.

It was great to see everyone, and we had a really nice visit.  I'm worried about Lori. She looks wiped out - it's having all the children and grandchildren in the house all the time, I'm sure.  They both seemed thrilled to get away for a while, and it really bothers me that she's raising another generation. 

We ended up watching Pink Floyd - The Wall, which was rather a heavy way to finish off the evening, even taking into consideration that we were in the perfect frame of mind to watch it.  When that was over, I left for home.