A post in which we are off to Savannah*

Well eventually. 

I woke up fairly early, but was trying to get some more rest.  I've had insomnia for the last three nights and it just takes it out of me.  When it became obvious that I wasn't going back to sleep, I got up and started getting things together.  A buddy called and came by for a bit, but eventually I got everything packed and got myself ready to go.  For some reason I was just completely unprepared for this trip, which isn't like me. 

I ran to pick up Rhonda and we hit the dusty trail.  We got out of town around 10am.  Since I thought leaving town any time before noon was good, I was pretty stoked about that. 

The day turned out absolutely gorgeous.  We had been a bit concerned about the weather with Hurricane Isaac just moving through and all, but it was a beautful day. 

Much lovliness of day - note the plethora of white fluffy clouds

The drive went well today.  It usually feels like it takes forever to get there (although getting back is worse), but I had Rhonda to talk to, and I was driving (I usually ride with someone) which helps.  We stopped for lunch in Walterboro (which incongruously had big billboards on the road that said "Walterboro Rocks!" - I can assure you that it did not, but they had a decent Chinese buffet if you overlooked the chewy, twice-dipped cheese wantons), after which Rhonda took over the driving.

A Walterboro Rocks billboard, which really sets unrealistic expectations.  That exclamation point is clearly unjustified.  One wonders how much they paid a consulting firm to come up with this rather oxymoronic slogan.

I had forgotten I had a telephone court appearance scheduled for today, and by the time I realized it, it was too late to get it re-scheduled.  Alan had given me permission to handle it from the road, and I had all the documents with me.  Rhonda was driving so I could take the call.  The attorney had warned me that although the call was scheduled for 2pm, that it really meant 2ish, and that the call wouldn't happen until 30 to 45 minutes after the scheduled time, on average.  I called in several times to the conference room, but there was no one there.

Rhonda driving my car

We got to Jo Ann and Rob's, and the phone rang (of course) just before I got to go to the bathroom.  I couldn't very well go with a judge on the line.  But there were problems reaching the defendant.  He wasn't answering his phone.  He eventually sent our attorney a text saying that he was on the way to the airport, and didn't have time to do the call.  Since this was a settlement conference that had been scheduled for a while, that was pretty disrespectful to the court.  The Canadian judge was pretty laid back about it, I thought.  But she immediately ruled that there would be no further settlement conferences, and assigned the defendant to pay for this one.  She also ruled that if he didn't pay within a given time frame, his defenses would be stricken.  So that was not a great move on his part.  But that's his life.

Call done, I settled in to catch up with Jo Ann and Rob.  We spent the afternoon talking and catching up on things.  I met Jo Ann's precious grand-baby Izzie, about whom I had heard about forever, but hadn't actually met before.  She's pretty sassy, but she's four, and they are kinda the center of attention at all times at that age (indeed, some never grow out of that).  They didn't know about Jason, so I filled them in on him.  Rhonda told them about her dating Sabrina again.  It was good to be there, and have the drive behind us, and to relax.  We ordered some pizza for dinner, and waited for the boys to arrive.

RBL were due in this evening, but didn't get in until late.  Izzie was still up, excitedly waiting to see Logan.  But I was wiped.  It had been a long day and a long drive.  After greeting the boys and talking briefly, I went to bed. 

A post in which we watch the game

Things were pretty laid back today at work.  Everyone was kind of gearing up for the long weekend.  Month end work didn't really start until next week.

Tonight I was going to watch the game with Dana and Miss Kat.  I was really excited!  It's the first game of the season and all.  I got home and changed as quickly as possible to get over there.  Dana was all excited, and had been sending me messages today. She called me on the way home from work - not because she needed anything, but just because she was too excited to wait.

I ordered a Gamecocks shirt today.  I've never had one.  I just usually wear my Chicago Bears jersey to any football game.  I ordered it the year the Bears played in the Superbowl, but like my Gamecocks shirt, it wasn't there in time for the game for which I wanted to wear it.  When I got to the house though, I was quite surprised.  Miss Kat and Dana had bought me a Gamecocks t-shirt as a surprise!  It was like The Gift of the Magi.  Well kinda.  I never wear burgundy (garnet in Gamecock parlance) or black, because I look vile in both colors, but although the shirt they gave me was garnet, it was a redder color, and really didn't look bad on me.  I changed into it for the game.

I had brought some Bud Light Lime, which I love.  Beer lovers deride it as 'fag beer', but well...  I hadn't eaten because I thought they were going to have heavy snacks, but they had eaten dinner already (they eat early).  Dana gave me some baked beans and potato salad though, and Dana makes truly kick-ass potato salad!  The texture of her potatoes was perfect.  Crumbly enough to thicken the dressing, but firm enough to leave delicious large chunks of tender potato.  Yummy!

Dana, as usual, nearly worried herself to death during the game.  It seems to prey on her so that I wonder why she wants to watch at all.  Well long story short, we won!  Yay!  Dana wasn't happy with the way we won (we weren't playing at our best), but at least we won.  Apparently, even though this was the first game of the season, we had to win this one to have a shot at whatever the big game is, due to some complicated sports match-up algorithm which Dana seemed to understand.  Anyway.  I was glad. 

After the game I headed home.  It was later than I would have liked because I wanted to make an early start in the morning, but I had the day off, and wanted to watch the game with Dana.  Despite the lateness of the hour, I put in a load of laundry so that I could take my freshly-washed new Gamecocks shirt to Savannah with me.  :)

A post in which I get a very welcome surprise

This morning, which I was futzing around the house, I started singing.  Yes singing.  Not like I did before, and not beautifully, but enough to carry a recognizable, soft tune.  It has been a long time.  I lost my voice in May of 2011.  It seems like a small thing, but I really loved to sing, and did a good deal of it, even when I was just home by myself.  The loss of my singing voice isn't something that affects me day to day anymore.  It's more like the loss of a good friend.  Every now and then a memory hits you and hurts your heart.  I recognize that it's a small thing in the grand scheme of things, and a very small price to pay to keep your life.  Still, it's hard to describe the lift in my heart when I could sing a little tune this morning.  I used to think about the old superstition "sing before breakfast and cry before supper", but today I just tossed that right out of the window and really enjoyed playing with my 'new' voice in the shower.  The odd thing is that I have a higher register, and a lower register, but the my kind of regular voice is the most spotty.  So maybe it will come back.  I'd actually had a small indication last week.  We sang 'Happy Birthday' to a co-worker, and I was able to carry most of the tune.  At the time I thought my voice sounded better than usual, but hadn't thought that much more about it.  What a gift. 

I ordered a USC t-shirt today.  I guess it's about time.  Their school colors look vile on me, which is why I hadn't ordered one before, frankly.  I look awful in burgundy or black.  But I found a shirt today that was what they call a 'dark heather' (probably just charcoal - but hopes are high), and it's not like I'll be wearing it all the time.  Mostly just on game days, and when Jason comes.  I have already planned a little surprise for Jason with it the next time he comes down.. LOL.  Team stuff is SO freakin' expensive.  Ordinarily if I pay $20 for a t-shirt, it's a custom-printed one, but that was the cheapest (nice) USC shirt I could find - and it was on clearance. 

After work I ran by the library to pick up some books on CD for the trip.  Maybe there is one there Rhonda will not mind.  I like them on trips.  I also picked up a copy of a Miss Marple movie with Margaret Rutherford that I hadn't seen before.  This one was Murder Most Fowl.  Although I generally prefer Joan Hickson in the role of Miss Marple, I enjoy Rutherford's 60's take on the role, and have grown fond of the movies she made based on Christie's work.  This one didn't disappoint.  I was glad I checked it out, because there was nothing but crap on TV tonight. 

A post in which I go to see the 'rents

Alan came back in today in a good mood (!!)  He cracked a joke first thing when he walked in the door.  I was amazed, but glad.  Apparently he took the day off to rest yesterday, and good for us.  My dildonic conference call was put off yet again.  So it was a pretty good day.

Alan approved my days off, so I'm set for Savannah this weekend, and for the beach in October.  I'm starting to get excited about going to Savannah now.  Rhonda is riding down with me, and we always have a good time when we go off together.

Dana called me today to invite me to come watch the first USC football game of the season with her Thursday night.  I was touched.  She loves them so much that I'm a fan by default.  That's a good thing since Jason is such a huge fan. 

Dad was pretty much on his best behavior tonight.  We went to Bimini's again for supper, and although my food was just as good, Eve was unhappy with her crab cake tonight.  She actually sent it back.  It was over-done, and had been deep-fried.  It's really hard to make a crab cake that will hold together enough to deep-fry and have it be fit to eat. 

We went back to the house and had a nice visit.  I was going to ask about ordering floor tiles, but they are having some problems with Daniel (the guy that's going to do to the work) so who knows when or if this is going to come together.  Plus, in addition to the time thing, they had some problems with the toilet leaking after he did their bathroom.  So I'm more trepidatious about him doing the work than I was before.  Oy.

A post in which my movie is here!

That was pretty much the most exciting thing that happened today at work.  Which was fine with me.  The peace and quiet is over tomorrow.  Alan wasn't in the office today, as I had been expecting, but I knew Larney would be.  So I just eased quietly into my week.

After work I went to pick up a few odds and ends on the way home. 

I had a debate with myself, but finally bought some recycled toilet paper.  I recycle everything that comes into the house that can be recycled.  Because I'm the only person on my block who recycles, they won't pick mine up; so I haul it off.  I buy recycled paper towels and face tissue already, but toilet paper was where I drew the line.  First, I loves me some Cottonelle.  Or Charmin.  They are the very best, and in such a personal area, I want the very best.  But they both use trees to make toilet paper.  That's just crazy.  To chop down a tree to make something to wipe your ass with is just the ultimate expression of disdain for the planet on which we live.  The reason being (so I understand) that recycled fibers are shorter than new paper fibers, and longer fibers make softer, more cushliony toilet paper.  Plus the recycled stuff is just as expensive as the new kind.  But this was on sale, and didn't look too bad, so I'm going to try it.  If I can possibly stand it, I'm going to convert.

That major decision over, I went on home to watch Tiny Toons: How I Spent My Vacation!!  I freakin' love that movie, and it was just as amusing as I remembered.  I was watching it with an eye towards my friend Gail though.  I was going to loan it to her for her to watch with her son Jeffrey.  She's pretty protective of Jeffrey.  Of course this was a children's movie, but things change - it was made a couple of years back.  The only thing I noticed was the surprising amount of cartoon breasts on the characters.  They weren't naked or anything, but there were a good many of them, sometimes gratuitous, and sometimes there were specific 'boob'-gags.  I don't remember when all the cartoons got mastectomies, but it was a marked difference than the newer animated things I have seen lately.  Odd.

I stayed up to finish the movie, despite being very sleepy, just because it had been so long since I had seen it.  As soon as it was over, I put it in my briefcase so I wouldn't forget to take it, and went to bed.

A Sunday in which I gain traction and direction*

And mostly in a fun way.

I awoke Sunday morning with purpose.  I was taking Rhonda to the flea market.  I got up (well, after a bit) and started getting ready to go.  I roused Rhonda on the phone without much trouble, which is unusual just by itself.

We went up to Barnyard today in Greer.  I hadn't intended to look for glass today.  I was mainly going for produce.  But of course while we were there I was going to look around.  That flea market is always a good place to hunt, and I have scored some notable finds there.  As I did today.  Today's find was an $80 bowl I bought for $9.  I'm not crazy about that pattern, but it is a pretty piece.  It has some dirt and a ring in the bottom of it (as if something was sitting in it for a good while) but I think it will come clean.

Normandie large (8 1/2") fruit bowl in pink by Federal Glass Co, circa 1933-1940

I also scored a set of old sapphire blue Fire King ramekins for $5 - they sell for $8-$12 each in antique stores.  There are two shapes, and I like the other shape better, but at that price I couldn't turn them down.  I use mine, and have broken several. 

I got squash, nectarines, and bought some tomatoes from the locally-grown booth.  Rhonda has switched from figs to muscadines as the season has changed, and she picked up some of those.  I had planned to make egg salad (I bought extra eggs last weekend, thinking I might make a flourless Kahlua chocolate cake - and then didn't do it, so I had eggs to use), and take eggs salad sandwiches and broiled squash for lunches next week.  Uninspired, but not too bad, and that would use up some of the celery I had left also.

By the time we left I was starving, but Rhonda wasn't hungry.  She didn't mind if I stopped though, and I knew exactly what I wanted.  We stopped off at Corona for chilaquiles.  I LOVE those, and hadn't had any in a while.  Sometimes they won't make them without the meat (I don't know either), but they weren't too busy today so they did, and they just HIT the spot.  Yum.

After I had lunch we went back to the house and vegged for a while.  It seemed like nap time, but I couldn't doze off (probably from all the iced tea I had drank).  Plus my phone kept ringing.  Eve called to offer me wedding left-overs.  And I got some text messages from a guy name Brian I had been talking to online.  He was in town from Tennessee, and wanted to get together for dinner.

Since I wasn't sleeping anyway, I said goodbye to Rhondee and headed on over to Dad and Eve's, where I ran into Judy and one of her daughters in the process of dismantling the wedding stuff from the yard.  It looks as if it was quite a shin-dig.  I went on in the house, and Eve loaded me down with food.  There were a lot of devilled eggs left over, and she and Dad wouldn't eat them because of the recipe, so she gave me those, plus pickled vegetable salad (which I love), some copper pennies, a bag of pretty bad pasta salad that I think I can doctor up, and a bag of chips.  I got everything but wedding cake (which I frankly did NOT need after Friday's cheesecake orgy). 

I went on home to get things put away and taken care of.  I didn't have to cook anymore.  I had an idea for the devilled eggs.  I LOVE devilled eggs, but really probably shouldn't just eat them all week, so I decided to make them into egg salad.  All they needed was some chopped celery and some pickles and they were good to go.  So I put away salads.  I washed and chopped up the squash and threw it in the freezer.  I can stew and/or casserole-ize it anytime. 

I put in a load of laundry, futzed around the house, and just generally put things in order while I corresponded with Brian via text.  I put my new bowl in to soak the accumulated filth off, and then cleaned myself up.

I met Brian downtown at Carolina Ale House.  Now my friend Nicole works there, and she's been trying to get me to come out there forever, but I usually don't like to go downtown to eat because of the parking and walking issues.  But Brian wanted to eat downtown, and that's where he wanted to go.  No issues here.  The weather was lovely - it's been unseasonably and refreshingly cool for August here - and I snagged a table that met with his specific criteria.  I also had a nice, cool, summery cocktail they had no special that was tasty and had a little kick.  We ate burgers and talked.  They had an excellent veggie burger that I very much enjoyed.  The staff was super-nice - I mean notably so.  After I was seated, the hostess from downstairs came up to make sure I was happy with the table.  The service was good, the waiter was friendly, and we had at least one (and it seems like two) managers come by to make sure that our food was good.  It was a high level of service for the price. 

After dinner we went back to the house to look at the glass.  Brian is a former collector too, but he collected McCoy Pottery.  Still, he knew enough about old glass to enjoy seeing the collection and talking about it, and we both had collecting stories to tell.  It was a very enjoyable evening.  He's a nice guy.  He's rather specific about what he wants, but I guess it's good to know, right? 

A post in which I get some direction, eventually*

I was just kind of shiftless in the morning today.  There were things to do, but I spent a lot of the morning in the internet vortex, which resulted in a rather disastrous wild goose-chase to Mauldin, of all places.  But rather than actually do anything on the way back, I just went home.

I couldn't decide what to cook, which meant I couldn't do the shopping.  I had the lawn mowed because I wasn't going to be here next weekend.

Eventually I had a very successful buddy visit, enjoyed it tremendously, and decided to get moving afterwards. 

I went out to run errands.  I went to Petsmart for cat litter, and to the ATM for some cash.  I dropped into the dollar store for some cheap bleach, and to the grocery store for odds and ends.  I hauled off the recycling.

While I was doing this, I decided to get in touch with Rhonda.  No answer.

One of the things I was looking for was a water filter.  One of the little niggling jobs I got done today was to thoroughly clean my filter pitcher and replace the filter, but I need some more.  They didn't have them a the grocery store, so I stopped in at Rite Aid.  It had been a while since I had been in one, and I was quite surprised to find half of the drug store gone.  They had turned it into a little grocery store.  It was odd.  Half the drug store stuff wasn't there, and of course they didn't have the floor space to put in a real grocery store, so neither function was being done very well.  It will be interesting to see if this new business model works.  It seems like one of those things that sounds good to executives but really won't work in the real world.   

I had been able to reach Rhonda, who was house and dog-sitting for RBL.  I went by and picked her up.  We went out to supper at the Hibachi Grill Supreme Buffet, where I gorged myself on cheap shrimp, which was kind of my plan.

We went back to RBL's house and just talked and talked out on the smoking porch.  I'm one of the few that still smokes.  I really need to quit.  But it was a lovely evening, and some good quality time with Rhonda.  I love her.  We made plans to go to the flea market in the morning.  My plan is to be inspired by produce and suddenly have a revelation on what to cook. 

I went home and finished up some house stuff while I waited for my mattress pad to finish drying (another little chore I got done today).  There were drag queen stand-up comediennes on Logo to watch while I waited. 

A post in which it is a quiet Friday

This one kinda snuck up on me.  It's been so peaceful here this week (by and large) I just kind of drifted up on it. 

I had an interesting case come up at work today.  I usually don't write a lot about work, I'm a 'work to live' kinda guy, but this was unusual.  We had a Canadian fraud case (they will extend credit to just about anyone, apparently) where the perps were actually arrested.  That almost never happens in the US, because computer fraud is considered a 'victimless crime' by law enforcement (it is non-violent, and the victim is a large corporation - there are no politicians stumping about the money that corporations lose on fraud), so they generally bat the jurisdiction around like a shuttlecock until the victim gets tired and goes away.  But the RCMP actually caught these guys, and good for the mounties.  But one of the guys had a prior arrest in Florida for male prostitution, of all things.  One of my industry contacts sent me the mugshot, which of course I wanted to see.  He wasn't a bad looking guy, but I don't think I would have paid for sex with him.  Hence the change of occupation, one guesses.  Just in case you are interested, I'm posting the mugshot:

I spent some time comparison-shopping for new pans today.  It just so happens that the GreenPan I got from Target is one of the really good ones.  I want to replace my 8" and 10" saute pans also, but it's going to be quite expensive.  I couldn't even find a good deal on eBay. 

I gave up on improving my mind today.  I have tried each year for the last several years to read Absalom, Absalom!  I got further this year than I ever have, but it was a frustrating and confusing experience.  I read some of the online synopsis, which said that the narrator's voice would change three times.  I read on in hope that the next voice would be more intelligible.  Then I skipped ahead in the book to find that all three characters apparently spoke in nothing but incredibly labyrinthine run-on sentences.  At that point, I just gave up.  I wasn't enjoying this, and wasn't understanding much of it.  So I quit.  That means that the genius of Faulkner remains a closed door to me, and that apparently I am not as smart as I would like to think.  That's vaguely depressing.  But I'm relieved not to have to try to puzzle out another one of those endless 'sentences'.  I can't imagine how you could teach that book to students and then expect them to write well. 

My movie finally shipped today (yay!).  It should be here on Monday. 

It was Gail's birthday at work today.  Instead of birthday cake, they brought in a cheesecake selection, which Gail told me to take home.  Weakly, I agreed, but got rid of some of it.  There were only three pieces left, and they were tiny grocery-store pieces.  Which I will share.  Yeah, right. 

I didn't call anyone or go anywhere tonight.  I couldn't decided what I wanted to do, and then it just got to be too late.  I hadn't really planned anything.  It used to depress me to spend a weekend evening at home by myself, but it doesn't bother me so much any more.  Plus I was tired from the week.  I did finish the cheesecake.  I found the motivation for that. 

I had ended up at loose ends in part because Eve had recruited me to help serve at the rehearsal dinner tonight at their place.  I loath weddings, and really had been dreading it.  I was also expecting at least two reminder messages today about coming to their place tonight.  But not a peep did I hear, which was very odd.  As I left work, I finally bit the bullet and called her.  Surprisingly, she said she didn't need me, really, and I didn't have to go.  I felt like a kid let out of school.  It's kind of a shame I didn't make better use of the evening. 

I used to go to Miss Kat and Dana's house every Friday night, but that got to be too much for them, I think, although they were much too nice to say anything.  So my strategy now is that after I see them one Friday, I try to give them the next week 'off'.  I try not to wear out my welcome, and remember that my friends aren't obligated to entertain me. 

RBL are out of town this weekend, and we'll all be in Savannah next weekend, so I'll have a whole weekend with the gang then.  That will be nice :)

A post in which I do some shopping*

But I didn't buy very much. 

It was a fine day at work.  I'd been a good boy and my write-offs were done, so there wasn't a lot to stress me out today.  Which was just fine an' dandy as sour candy with me.

After work I went to Batteries Plus and got the battery for my little clock replaced again.  I bought that little clock for a song at the beach several years ago with my mother.  As I have become more experienced at life, my eyes became unable to see the clock on my VCR (of course I don't have a VCR any longer, and the DVD player doesn't have a clock on it at all) and I wanted one close enough to read.  But I really don't like clocks.  I don't want a big decorative clock ticking my life away right in my face all the time.  So this one is tiny, like a watch made to look like a little mantle clock.  But it works fine, and it has lasted through two batteries now.  Who knew?  I heart batteries plus.  The staff are nice, they have what you need, and they don't just sell you the right battery.  They install it too - free of charge.  The guy even set the clock for me.  You just don't find many places like that any more. 

After that it was off to Target for body wash.  That was less satisfying.  My very favorite body was used to be St. Ives 'Refreshing Citrus'.  It smelled great and was reasonably priced.  For some reason, a lot of stores didn't carry it, but I didn't mind making a special trip to Target to get it.  Then they changed the scent they were using in it.  I guess they changed it to something cheaper, but whatever it was doesn't smell nearly as good.  I still used it for a while anyway, just because I was too lazy to go through trying to find another one.  I've become very sensitive to some smells after chemo, and I can't stand a lot of them.

The problem is that most of the general purpose ones are geared towards women.  They are so fruity, so perfume-y, so unbelievably sweet and overpowering that you just smell like you crawled out of a fruit-fly bordello.  Bleah.  And incidentally, it's not safe to go around smelling like a huge piece of overripe fruit or a big flower when you're allergic to bee stings.  So then you go to the (separate section) where they keep the ones for men.  They smell incredibly heavily of cheap cologne.  Some of them are really obnoxious.  Plus, many of them are strenuously colored deep blue or navy (to appear more 'masculine' I guess), which stains your washcloths.  Whatever dye they use won't come out - even with bleach - so all of your washcloths turn a dingy gray.  Most aggravating. 

I like some smell.  I just don't want to be tearing up in the shower from the fumes, don't want dingy washcloths, and don't want to smell like I just left the Strawberry Shortcake whore house.  Is that too much to ask?  Well not if you want to pay six freakin dollars a bottle.  Only if you want shower gel you don't have to take out a second mortgage to afford.  They had one kind that smelled lovely.  It just cost twice as much as the others.  Grrrrrr.  After much looking and smelling, I eventually picked out one to try that didn't make me gag and decided to try it.  But I was not best pleased.  Apparently the choice is smell like a whore or smell great in bankruptcy court.

I looked at dish towels while I was there.  I need some more, but the problem once again is my own frugality.  I love the ones from Williams-Sonoma, but I'm too cheap to buy them.  But I don't want cheap dish towels, and all the ones at Target tonight failed to pass muster.  I'm down to about four now, so after looking at them everywhere, I finally just thought screw it.  I went to the mall to Williams-Sonoma. 

I had been in Target way too long (I kept getting distracted and wandering over to the newly completed grocery section to comparison shop) and my feet were killing me.  But I had finally decided I was just going to go buy these &^%^$#!! dish towels.  So I hobbled in. 

And once again failed to buy any dish towels.  I knew how much they were.  They're only $5 each, but you have to buy a pack of four.  And they are superior quality.  But it is close to the change of seasons, and they do seasonal colors.  There just weren't any colors that I was in love with.  If I'm going to pay that much for dish towels, I have to love them.  Yes, I know that's crazy.  I hobbled back out of the store, cursing myself for my own crazy, empty-handed.  I decided to check online to see if they had any on sale.  They used to do clearance in the stores, but they have cut way back on that.  They did have some gorgeous napkins, place mats, and tablecloths on sale, but that wasn't the purpose of the trip.  I do need new napkins, but I have a strict rule against colored napkins, and against poly/cotton blend napkins.  Won't do it.

By the time I left there I was literally foot-sore and hungry.  I did go by the fancy bath place, only to rediscover the fact that I just will not pay $13 for a little bottle of shower gel.  That's crazy. 

After a brief detour, I headed home. 

I made a veggie club and heated up some green beans, and congratulated myself on not spending extraneous money to eat out.  I'm trying to do better about living within my budget, and I really don't enjoy going out to eat by myself anyway - particularly when I don't have a good book.  I'm still trying to chew through Absalom, Absalom! with limited success (and to be honest, comprehension).  Maybe I'm not as smart as I like to think I am. 

I vegged out with the Thursday night Chopped marathon, until they started a new show called Extreme Chef, the premise of which seemed too dildonic even for me.  I turned it over to the Big Bang Theory, and turned in. 

Sleep eluded me.  As tired as I was, I could not get to sleep, which was very aggravating.  I'm blaming the single-serving size (no, not a pint - the size they actually mean to be a single serving) Starbucks Ice Cream I had for dessert.  It was delicious, but had a really strong flavor of coffee (Java Chip Frappuccino).  I told myself no more than I was eating it wouldn't bother me, and it was smothered in cream, but apparently (from what I can find) a cup of it has the equivalent of a half a No-Doz in it.  It worked.  But I drifted off eventually.

A post in which I go to the dentist

I was thinking that today pretty much had to be better than yesterday.  I was right.  Carla was back in the office today, and she and Jeffrey set about fixing things and doing their job, for which I was very grateful. 

I settled in to do my job, and got all my write-offs done.  What a good boy.  Sadly, it doesn't look as if I'll be able to get the approvals I need to process them.  Between Alan's and Dennis's schedules this month, the confluence doesn't look as if it will happen.  Meh.  They'll go through just as well later. There aren't  that many this money anyway.

I had a little scare right before I left the office.  It looked as if an account with a 36k balance had filed for liquidation, but that turned out to be a false alarm. 

I left the office with a clear conscience.  My desk was caught up, and I had worked through lunch.  It was all good.

I had my teeth cleaned by my very sweet dental hygienist Joanne.  She always kind of pets me.  She is such a nice woman.  My teeth were in good shape, and it didn't take a horrible long time to get them cleaned. 

Afterwards I went by Home Depot to look at tile.  They offer 7,000 eye-shattering colors of beige.  I could have anything I wanted as long as it was tan.  So it looks as if I'll be ordering the tiles from Floored, which is fine with me. 

When I got home, I really wanted a nap, but I fell into the internet vortex and ended up having a buddy come over for a while.  His visit wasn't the best, but he didn't stay long.  Which was fine with me.

I vegged, made a sandwich and some popcorn for dinner, and turned in more or less on time.  With the exception of Tuesday, this is turning out to be a peaceful week :)

A post in which I see Dad

It started out as such a nice day.  I got in, pulled the data, and sent it to Manila for reports to be done.  Then I found out that our 'report specialist' wasn't in the office.  No problem, she has a backup.  Then I started to notice that no reports were coming out.  About the time I was becoming concerned (and starting to field inquiries about same) a couple of reports came out.  All of which were wrong.  Every report the backup guy sent out was wrong.  Oy. 

By mid-afternoon, he just sent me an email and dumped the baby in my lap.  By that time, of course, everything was late, everyone was impatient, and the time to get things fixed was short.  I managed to get it all pretty much back on track though.  It was just a lot more stress than I banked on today.

I did manage to finally get Angela's cookbook in the mail to her.  About damn time.

By the end of the day I was tired out and frazzled, but Tuesday night is dinner with Dad and Eve.  I didn't really feel like going after last week, but I also didn't want to have it hanging over me.  But since things had gone so poorly last week, I figured Dad would be on his best behavior tonight, and he was. 

So dinner went smoothly.  We went to Mimi's, which they like, and which is fine with me.  As long as I didn't have to make the decision, I really didn't have a preference. 

After dinner I went back to the house for a visit.  We talked about tile, and the bathroom.  Dad said I should get the floor I want.  He said the cost of the tile wasn't a huge deal because the bathroom is so small.  I'm going to go to Home Depot to see what they have since Lowe's didn't have what I wanted.  I'm really dreading having the house torn up for an indeterminate amount of time, but also really looking forward to the bathroom being done. 

It was a nice evening, and I am relieved that he isn't pouting about last week.  I like it when we get along.

A post in which treats have surprising longevity

I was all prepared today to dispose of the remainder of the Chocolate Overload Rice Crispy Treats.  I'd made a whole pan, but because of Russ and Billy being on a diet, and Rhonda's sudden, inexplicable, and new-found ability to think there was 'too much chocolate' in something, I had about a half a pan left.  I honestly didn't expect to make it in the door with them very far.  I carried them in and put the word out quietly to a few people, but when I got back from lunch there were still some left.  Apparently our entire office is on a diet.  I had cut them pretty small (because they are very rich), but the folks that were eating them were cutting them down even smaller.  So I finally just sent out a critter call email.  They did get gone by the end of the day, but that was due to people taking them home to their kids.  As long as I didn't have to take them home with me though, it was fine.

Work was amazingly calm.  Alan and Diane are in China, and Larney is on vacation all week.  It was quiet and peaceful.  I had checks coming in, people paying off, and I was able to give good news to a sales representative in Canada, which almost never happens.

After work, I had food at home for supper (indeed I have left-overs to eat on all week long), but first I had some errands to run.  The problem was that I couldn't remember the one I had intended to do today.  I knew it was in there, but much like that elusive last cashew in a can of mixed nuts, I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  I decided just to head on out and see if I could remember en route. 

The first stop was at Floored to look at tile.  As soon as I walked in, there was a gay guy to help me.  I knew him.  He knew me.  But I could not think of where I knew him from.  Not with a gun to my head.  But he was very nice and very helpful.  He got the owner out to help me, and I told him I wanted hexagonal tiles.  He took a long look at me.  I'm not 100% sure he knew what a hexagon was (I looked it up, and I was right - it was hexagonal tile I wanted). We still found exactly the tile I want for my bathroom almost immediately.  But it was about twice as much as the tile my dad had gotten for his kitchen.  And they didn't have enough in stock to do the job.  And the price was higher if they had to order it.  Of course.  That is the way every job in this house has been.  I wanted what I thought was a pretty basic tile.  They made it by the millions in the twenties, and it would be perfect for the era of the house, but now it costs way more than all of the pseudo-sandstone crap that everyone wants.  Dammit.  But I found a similar tile that I could live with, that was cheaper, and that they had in stock.  Meh.  I can compromise.  But I still couldn't remember the errand I was supposed to run. 

The un-exotic floor I wanted, sadly now valued beyond rubies.

I went to CVS to pick up my prescription.  Nothing.

We had eaten all of my fancy dollar store crackers at the party Saturday (Billy had particularly enjoyed them), and although I didn't need them immediately, such has become my addiction to fancy crackers that I drove half-way across town to replenish my supply.  While I was there, I bought a card to send to Angela and Karl.  I've been meaning to send them a cookbook for kind of a wedding present forever, and just haven't gotten around to it.  It's high time I did. 

But still no memory of the errand.

When I got home and opened my briefcase, there it was.  The little clock I keep on my coffee table needed a new battery.  But time enough to do it later in the week I suppose. 

I put a big load of laundry in and settled in to supper.  Tonight I had a veggie club sandwich (I had Tofurkey slices and facon slices in the fridge) and a bowl of my special green beans, some cucumber strips from the party with ranch dressing, and topped it off with some Fiddle Faddle from a former dollar store excursion.

It was a nice evening.  I vegged in front of the TV for a while before turning in. 

A post in which I work most of the day*

It was my day off, but I ended up being busy for most of it.

I was up early again, but because Rhonda was asleep in the living room, I went back to bed and surprisingly fell asleep again.  I woke up around 10:30 and was hungry.  Rhondee was up.  We stirred, and I had my coffee.  I made breakfast for her (an omelet for which she gave me rave reviews), and had the rest of the spinach dip for me.  I hadn't really thought anyone would eat it but Rhonda and me (Lori eats no vegetables, I didn't expect Dana to eat it, and it wasn't on Russ and Billy's diet), but it had been a surprise hit.  For some reason I had just been really craving that.

About the time we finished up breakfast, the power went out.  Dammit.  I had a lot to do today.  But I called the power company and resigned myself to do nothing for a while.  Sabrina came to pick up Rhonda, and since I had no power anyway, I put the stuff together and got ready to do my feet, which have been needing some attention.  I never seem to have time to fool with them. 

Crooner, ignoring the two bowls of clean water available to him, drinking foot water

About the time I had settled in well with that, the power came back on thankfully!  I finished up with the feets and got in the kitchen.  I had decided what to do with the party leftovers this morning while I was trying to go back to sleep.  I diced up a good portion of the left-over crudites (celery, carrot, bell pepper, grape tomatoes, and some onions I bought yesterday) and threw them in a pot to sweat down into a ragout with spices and minced garlic.  I put in a container of frozen veggie meatballs I bought the other week and hadn't used.  Rather than go a tomato-based route, I combined with some soups I bought for squash casserole and didn't use (creamy onion and cream of mushroom with garlic, I think) and a cup of plain yogurt.  I mixed all of that with a box of pasta and bunged it in the oven to cook. 

Veggie ragout casserole with veggie meatballs in mushroom garlic cream sauce

That made lunches for the week. 

I also surfed online for a bit and had a buddy I'd been talking to online for a while come visit for a bit.  He was nice.

I snapped my beans and cooked them up. 

I did some laundry, did a quick trip to the store, and divided the casserole up into lunches so they were ready to go for the week.  I ate the remainder of the casserole for dinner, and tuned in to the Food Channel to watch the Chopped grand 50k finale.  It was good (the opening was hilariously over the top), although the outside grill thing was a bit much.  But it was a change of pace for the show. 

Then it was time to turn in.  Work tomorrow.  I reflect that I spent most of the weekend doing house stuff.  But a lot of it was in the kitchen, and I like that.  I love feeding people, and I LIVE for the compliments, so it's all good. I really enjoyed having my friends in.  It was a good weekend.

A post in which it is party night*

I was up at 7am.  Ugh.  It never fails to amaze me that during the week it seems like I could sleep until noon when the alarm goes off, but on the weekend, I'm invariably up early.  It was just as well though.  I had stuff to do today. 

I turned on the computer, and unexpectedly ended up going to Greer to visit a buddy, but we had a reeeeeealy nice visit.  Whoo.  Yeah.

I was headed out, and marvelling that a) I had a car to take me out into the country; and b) that I and an entire car was being powered by rotten dinosaurs and corn juice!  It's just a miracle that we don't contemplate that often.  Because I had passed the peach orchard on the way out, I stopped to get peaches on my way back.  And ran into someone I know, oddly enough.  When I got in though, they had a whole produce selection in there, all of which was locally grown.  Perfect.  That saved me a trip to the grocery store.  I was able to get most of what I wanted for crudites, plus other stuff, and unlike at the flea market I knew it was all locally grown.  It was beautiful produce.  The cucumbers and bell peppers were perfect, as were the snap beans, of which I bought the last.  It's a long way to go for produce, but I may have to make that a regular stop.

By this point I was ravenous.  I stopped at Panera, and resisted the egg "souffle" they sell (actually an omelet baked in puff pastry). I love them, but like five bites has 540 calories (they have less now than they used to, surprisingly) and 34 grams of fat - 19 of which are saturated (that's about a whole day's worth of saturated fat).  I figured I would have enough fat tonight anyway. 

After breakfast, I called Rhonda and went by to pick her up.  We stopped at the store for carrots, and while we were there decided on a sweet for the party.  I had been debating making brownies, but I've made them so often lately, I wanted to do something else.  We decided on my special Chocolate Overload Rice Crispy Treats.  I created them for a camp out for the chocolate people.  Let me explain.  When I started doing desserts for the camp out, I identified a rather obsessive and fixated percentage of the population for whom dessert actually means chocolate.  After some initial disappointments for them, I learned how to prepare desserts for this sub-set.  They have no regard for balance, subtlety, or technique.  The important thing is the 'splendor of quantity'.  The question you ask in preparing these desserts is How much more chocolate can I possibly shove into each bite?  So I started by making Rice Crispy Treats with Cocoa Pebbles, and it just kind of grew from there.  I was calling the "Triple Threat" treats, but then I realized that they had chocolate in them five ways.  I don't like the word "quintuple" (it sounds vaguely nipular and unappetizing to me), so now they are just Chocolate Overload, (which was later cemented by Rhonda).

Chocolate Overload Rice Crispy Treats

We went back to the house, and Rhonda settled in to talk to me as I settled in to cook.  I made the treats first, and ran Rhonda out of the bowl to finish them.  I made the dips, and then had to sit down for a bit.  My feet are giving me fits again.  I'm thinking I'm going to have to try another statin. 

As I finished up in the kitchen, Rhonda (bless her) realized I was flagging, and pitched in to help me get the kitchen cleared out.  We cleared out the kitchen and set up a game table in the spare room.  Then we cleared out the living room to set up a card table in there.  I did the cat chores and got ready to receive.

About the time I was deciding which serving pieces to use, Miss Kat and Dana came in and got to work on fruit.  The rest of the guests arrived.  Russ and Billy brought fat free dip for them, and drinks.  The food overflowed the designated serving area.  I was really glad Lori just brought the fruit dip.

Rhonda moved in seamlessly to arrange and put things in serving dishes, etc, so I was able to spend time with my friends.  Of course I did things too, but she managed the bulk of it. 

The party was quite a success.  The  conversation flowed easily, and I seemed to be spot-on with most of the portions of food I had prepared.  Most of the left-overs were extra things people brought, which was fine.  The food went over well, and there were lots of compliments.  Rhonda, surprisingly, finally got her rice crispy treat and said "I think these are too chocolate-y."  Thus, she cemented the name.  Lori, being a chocolate person, disagreed. 

It was a very nice evening.  And then, just as I began to get seriously tired, everyone seemed to decide it was time to go.  They all just kind of took off at once.  Lori did a lot of the clearing up. 

After they left, it was just Rhondee and me, talking over the evening, and sharing reflections.  That is half the fun of having a party.  I had gotten to use a lot of my glass, which I really love to do.  I enjoy cleaning it up and washing it, just playing in it and handling it.  A party is a good excuse to do that.  Glass seems to have a happy squeak when it's washed after being used.  Even though my feet were really killing me, I still washed and put away all the glass before I got ready for bed.  I had such a good time.  I really should entertain more often. 

A post in which I go shopping

Alan stayed up late today, which resulted in some snippy emails to all of us this morning, but eventually he went on to bed.  Which suited all of us just fine.

It was a pretty quiet day after that.  I got my work done, and pulled recipes off line for the party game night Saturday.  Rhonda emailed that she is coming and will probably stay over (yay!). 

I ordered the Tiny Toons movie I've been waiting for.  It isn't released until next Tuesday, but I wanted to get the special advance order price.  To make up the balance for free shipping, I ordered a new little saute pan.  I just love the Green Pan ceramic non-stick saute pan I got from Target, and have been meaning to replace my other non-stick pans.  This one was cheap enough, I must say. 

After work I went to the store.  I had made a list of all the ingredients I needed for most of what I was making.  I haven't decided on a sweet yet.  I'm making:

- Tricia Yearwood's hot corn dip (I ate this once and really liked it, plus corn is a Lori-friendly vegetable) with Frito's scoops
- Knorr spinach dip (to which I add my own special 'secret' ingredients)
- crudites for Russ and Billy's diet

Lori is bringing a fruit dip, and Miss Kat and Dana are bringing chips and fruit.  Since we're only having heavy hors d'oeuvres that should be fine.

I was all over the store trying to remember all the party food, trying to get the regular groceries, and trying to get it all in order that the cold stuff would stay cold, and the frozen stuff would stay frozen.  In short, I walked about 75 miles in the grocery store.  $70 later, I emerged triumphant, if fagged.  Then I had to get it all in the car, get it home, and unload it all.  Which I did.

Then I realized I hadn't picked up anything for supper.  And I sure wasn't going back out.

So I ate some snacks, and vegged on the sofa for a while.  I talked to Lori online for a bit, finalizing plans for them to bring a card table and some extra chairs.  I wanted to go to bed, but knew I hadn't eaten enough to sleep through, so I made some popcorn, brushed my teeth, and turned in. 

A post in which I plan for the weekend

Work was quite brisk today.  Alan being in China didn't reduce the amount of reports I still had to do.  He probably won't have time to look at them, but he'll still want them to be there. 

I was able to eat my lunch in the cafeteria today, which was nice, although they were having a huge dildonic birthday party in there today.

So about noon or so, I get what begins a series of phone calls from my dad, asking about glass.  He's online looking at stuff and asking for my advice, for which I receive copious thanks.  That's as close as we get to an apology folks (caveat: his email subject line yesterday was "I'm sorry").  He knows he acted like a dick, and this is his way of making amends.  Fortunately I speak fluent dad.  And the fact that he makes amends is the important part, not how he does it. 

After work I went on home.  There is plenty to do - I need to buy groceries for the weekend if I'm having the gang in, but I don't get paid until tomorrow. 

I got home and was chatting online when the phone rang.  Dana was calling to firm things up for tomorrow.  JP and Lori will be there, Rhonda has confirmed, and Miss Kat and Dana are coming.  I talked to Billy and he and Russ will be there.  They will be bringing their own nibbles, thank goodness.  I'll get some veggies and do a veggie tray.

It's complicated to cook for the group.  Miss Kat and Dana are both notoriously picky, Lori won't eat any vegetables, Billy and Russ are on Weight Watchers, and I don't eat any meat.  Can you imagine the logistics? 

I once again blew off tending to my feets, watched telly, and wasted the rest of the evening on the computer. 

It should be a great weekend though.

A post in which I am fretful

Fret, fret, fret.  That's what I spent most of the day doing today.  I did other stuff on the outside, but on the inside I was fretting.

It really pisses me off that my dad can still do this to me.  It really disappoints me that my own father can feel that I deserve to be a second-class citizen.  To add to that, I got an email this morning where he mixed in the crazy:

You know Steve, I have done everything I know how, to demonstrate I love YOU, unconditionally, since the day you were born.

I have accepted your lifestyle as being a big part of my son. I much prefer to have you in my life, gay or straight than to try to live without you.

But, regardless of how much I accept, adapt, and bite my tongue, I live every day knowing full well;

If the Democrats every come up with a campaign platform that would (1)force all firearm dealers out of business immediately, (2)confiscate all business and personal property and assets (including life savings and personal home) and (3)charge all firearms dealers as Convicted Felons rendering them unemployable for lifetime.

MY SON would be first in line at the polls to vote for the new Democrat slate in the morning.  


Note the tugs of guilt, and then he brings the Democrats into this.  I have no idea what that has to do with anything, but during an election year, all bets are off with my dad.  Sigh.  I thought we had moved beyond all this bullshit, but apparently not.  I have no idea where he gets this stuff from, but he really believes it.  Or at least puts forth that he does.  

****  

I put out the critter call today about Saturday night - mostly to crickets.  Well Miss Kat and Dana should be there.  

We were still thrown out of the cafeteria today, so on my lunch hour I went to the grocery store. I found out when I got back that we actually weren't barred today, but meh, it was fine.  I got some stuff done.  I filled up the car with gas.  Just as well to do it during the day.  I usually do stuff like that before or after work.  

I was free to go home this afternoon, but traffic was of course crazy.  I did call Rhonda to make sure she had the word about the weekend.  I was tempted to stop off for something tasty on the way home, but I couldn't do it because I had groceries to get home and into the fridge.  It was just as well.  I didn't need the added expense or calories.  

I ate dibs and dabs out of the fridge, and sorted things out in the fridge to make lunches easier for the rest of the week.  I watched some telly and folded the big load of laundry I had been putting off seeing to.  I brushed the cats.  I didn't sign on to the computer because if I had another email from Dad I didn't have the patience to deal with it tonight.  

Jason had sent me a text earlier in the day, and I had told him I was upset.  He called me tonight to check on me, despite all he has going on at the moment.  It was so sweet of him.  But I'm fine.  If I hadn't learned by now how to deal with my dad pissing me off, I would have gone insane long ago.  But it was good to hear his voice and to talk with him for a bit.   

I got off the phone, wondering if I really deserved someone who cares about me that much, but glad to have him.  

I went to bed feeling better.

A post in which I fight with my father, yet again

Although it was hard to get up this morning, it was a remarkably relaxed day today at work.  Alan is in China, and apparently doesn't have the energy or the time to make my life difficult.  I caught my desk up from the two days off with relative ease.

There is a vendor fair going on at work which has taken over the entire cafeteria, so they have tossed us out to eat lunch wherever we can.  I ducked into an empty conference room, but it wasn't comfortable, and I really wasn't supposed to be in there.  Plus I am in the midst of my annual attempt to improve my mind.  I'm trying, once again, to read Absalom, Absalom!, but it's pretty rough going.  Faulkner seems to write every single sentence in incredibly long cinnamon-bun type spirals of words which are not only almost endless, but damn near indecipherable.  So I decided to go out and run a few errands on my lunch break. 

I ran over to the grocery store for sugar, and on the way in stopped a nearby liquor store to replenish the supply of vodka at the house.  I've become fond of the 'Whipped' flavored stuff by Pinnacle, so I picked up some of that.  I went over to the new big Dollar Tree to compare prices on liquid hand soap (yes, folks, it's the exciting life of an internet stud), and bumped around in there for a while.  I picked up a big envelope I've been meaning to get to mail Anglea's wedding present. 

Eve had gotten in touch this morning about me going over there tonight for supper.  Because Dad is still recovering from his second hip replacement, we were having dinner in, which was fine with me.  I got there and discussed the estimate on having the bathroom done while Eve finished up dinner.  I also got to see their new tile kitchen floor, which Dad's guy had done for them.  It was nice work, but he takes a lot longer to do jobs than he estimates, to which I am resigned.  We had coconut shrimp, stuffed scallops, boiled shrimp, green beans, cole slaw, and baked potatoes with all the fixings.  It was a capital meal (which Eve destroyed the kitchen to make), after which we repaired to the den for conversation.

That's where things went south.  I started talking about the weekend, and the strange dichotomy of the Dewy Rose, GA population.  Dad launched off into a rant about how gay people just wouldn't have problems if they wouldn't 'advertise' their gayness.  He finds the wearing of the rainbow flag and the pink triangle offensive.  It boils down to we should just stay in the back of the bus like good darkies, and all will be well.  I flew mad.  When I tried to explain to him what it would be like to live his life in the closet, he couldn't wrap his mind around that.  When he began to lament about the ridiculous 'reverse discrimination' he faces as an over-fed, over-privileged, overly catered-to, wealthy white heterosexual man, I was just at my limit.  I left.

On the one hand, I feel that I squandered what could have been a teaching moment.  On the other hand, he has made up his mind about all of this, and wasn't really receptive to anything I had to say.  I'm used to looking the other way when he goes off on something, but he knows nothing about this, and apparently has no interest in finding out anything that doesn't agree with his own narrow viewpoint.  The idea that gay people should just be happy with the things we are grudgingly tolerated to do by heterosexuals just flies all over me.  I couldn't rein in here.  Part of me thinks that I expect too much.  He has never faced any discrimination in his life.  The entire world, and the majority of our society is specifically catered to appeal to his whim.  The other part of me resents that privilege.  And part of me feels vaguely guilty for 'flying under the radar' or 'passing' as much as I do.  That may have been why I got so angry.  Part of me is also thinking that he is on some serious post-surgery meds.  Things may have just gotten a little to un-edited tonight.  But if that's what he really thinks, the fact the drugs spilled it really doesn't help.  At any rate, I felt terrible.

I just went home and got ready for bed.

Dana called, was nice enough to ask, and I just regurgitated this all over her on the phone.  Lord knows she has enough parental shit of her own to deal with. 

She had called to suggest a game night at my house this weekend, which seems like a lovely idea, and a great way for me to think about something else for a while.  We made some preliminary plans, and I turned in feeling a little better.  Good thing I bought vodka today - I could use a drink!

A post in which I decompress*

As usual when I schedule a day off to rest, I was up at six am on the dot.  Dammit.  But since I was up anyway, I logged on and had a buddy come by for a bit. 

But I had stuff to do.  I did several loads of laundry and put things away from the weekend.  I ate left-overs for breakfast, but skipped lunch.  I had the yard mowed and ran to the store for a couple of odds and ends, plus some cash to pay the guy. 

Billy had given me some pretty big squash that they weren't going to eat, so I decided to make a little squash casserole.  The squash were pretty far gone though.  When I cut them open they were almost like a gourd inside.  I put them on to stew, but then fell into the internet vortex and forgot to check them.  I burned the squash, but from what I salvaged it was really tough anyway. 

Eventually, I decided I had to get cleaned up and get out for a while.  I had been talking to a buddy online, and he kept saying he was coming over, but he never did.  I hauled off the ridiculous amount of recycling that had built up over the last couple of weeks, not to mention the extra stuff from the weekend. 

I wanted to go out for supper, and called Rhonda, but she couldn't be coaxed.  I guess I didn't really need to spend the money anyway, but it didn't seem that I'd had all that much fun on my day off.  I ran by Big Lots, and then went on home to eat left-overs for supper.  There were some things there that needed to be eaten.  I picked up some deluxe nut mix at Big Lots that was supposed to have Macadamia nuts in it, but there notably few.  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. 

I just resigned myself to staying in, vegged in front of the tube, and played some computer games.  Back to work tomorrow.  I got everything done that I had planned to do, except for me feet, which are again in need of some attention, but I guess they'll get done sometime. 

A post in which we go home*

Well all good things must come to an end.  We got up this morning and I had coffee on the porch of the little sleeper cabin.  I was glad that I brought coffee with me.  I've been drinking iced coffee in this weather anyway, and there's something decadent about having a luxury like homemade hazelnut coffee with half-n-half in the middle of the woods. 

We took a shower, said our good-byes, and packed up our stuff.  We stopped at The Berryman House for breakfast, where we enjoyed the service of another very sweet waitress.  Jason said that the table next to us glared at us, but I didn't see it.  Bowman, GA is an odd little place.  It's a tiny little town in rural Georgia that is invaded by between three hundred and a thousand homosexuals every weekend.  The businessmen welcome us and our wallets, but some of the locals aren't quite as thrilled with the weekly influx.  There's a doctoral thesis in there somewhere. 

Over breakfast, we got  more in-depth into some of the back-story with my family, in the context of a discussion of the difficulties our friend Rodney is having with his family.  In particular we got into the Cindy situation, which Jason seemed to latch onto.  The dissection of my motivations there with the birthday card occupied most of the trip home.  It was another sunny beautiful day.  The drive seemed to fly by. 

We got in and got unloaded.  I began to unpack, and Jason headed on to see his dad for a while.

After futzing around the house, I got in touch with RBL and went over there for supper.  I really missed them this weekend.  They're being good on the Weight Watchers plan, so we had dinner at the house, and just visited. 

Because of the lightness of the fare, I didn't have any guilt about soliciting a piece of Logan's birthday cake.  I had spied it out in the extra fridge.  Under the Tupperware cover, it looked like a grandmother-made confection with nuts or something in the icing.  I had forgotten Logan's proclivity, however.  By habit (one can only assume) he requires a Pillsbury 'Funfetti' cake every year for his birthday.  Which Billy had of course made.  I don't know what they're going to do when that mix isn't offered any more, but not my problem.  Chagrined, I dug into my dessert. 

I talked to them about the Jason situation.  This weekend certainly wasn't a test, but had it been he would have passed with flying colors. We got along remarkably well considering the close quarters and the myriad of issues that could have arisen.  There was food for thought, certainly, but overall I was really pleased and had a really good time. 

I headed home for bed contented, and with the lovely luxury of a 'decompressing day' ahead tomorrow. 

A post in which it is a lovely River's Edge Saturday*

We woke to a lovely morning in the woods.  I just love waking up in a little sleeper at the Edge.  We greeted the day in suitable fashion, and had some breakfast.  We actually ended up staying around the cabin all morning.  Usually I'm ready to get to the pool ASAP, but Jason pointed out (justly) that things weren't going to start in the morning because folks would be sleeping in after last night. 

After breakfasting and other riparian entertainments, we prepared to go down to the pool, but were distracted by a fellow camper, who we invited in to visit for a little bit.

We got down to the pool about 1pm.  I was quite surprised that there was no volleyball in progress.  I figured I had missed at least a game, but no.  We stayed down there for a bit, and I applied copious amounts of sunscreen, but still no game.  I decided to head back to the cabin for some lunch so I wouldn't have to miss any play later. 

When we got back to the pool though, still no volleyball.  That continued all afternoon.  Apparently the guy who organizes the games wasn't here this weekend.  I was very disappointed.  Being down there is nice, and the people were very nice, but I wanted to PLAY!  No dice.

Eventually we did some sparring with the ball, but there were even fewer people than yesterday, and we couldn't put a game together.  Folks started drifting away to get ready for the wiener roast tonight.  We were idly splashing around in the pool talking to the few people left when I met a guy named Tony.  I had seen him previously.  He is really my type, furry and red-headed.  He was trying to get away from Mike (yes Mike from next door, who turned out to be kind of a letch).  We started talking and I ended up going to visit with him for a while in his cabin, which had an unfortunate outcome.  But he was really nice about it.  Jason had gone on to the wiener roast, and Tony dropped me off near the cabin before he went on to it as well. 

I was tired.  There had been a lot of walking back and forth (and other activities) today, plus the half-volleyball sparring.  It had been a really active day for me.  I didn't want a wiener anyway, so I decided to just lie down for a while.  I hadn't even gotten in the cabin good before Mike was knocking on the door, wanting a visit, so I had to fend him off.  Eventually Jason came in and talked for a bit.  He made me a sandwich, and I felt better after eating. 

There were a bunch of folks headed back to the pool again, and we decided to go down.  The water was cooler tonight, but after dunking in the hot tub it felt OK and we stayed down there for a while.  We spent some time talking to a guy named Johnny and his lover.  I really liked them, and Jason had made fast friends.  They are apparently putting in an offer on the Edge (which I found out last week is up for sale), and planning some large and good changes if the offer is accepted.  The place has already changed more than I would like, but some new cabins and the upgrades they were talking about would be nice. 

Eventually, I was ready for bed.  I sent Jason off to play with Johnny & Co. and turned in, after again fending off Mike.  Twice. 

I was watching some telly on Jason's computer when he came in for bed.  We talked for a bit and settled in for sleep.  It was a lovely couple of days. 

A post in which we start our trip*

Very thankfully, I woke up feeling much better this morning.  The trip was on!  I was most excited.

I got up and started getting things together while Jason got ready.  We dashed out for a quick breakfast at K & S Restaurant, a little meat 'n three near my house.  That done, we ran by the store for a few groceries, and went home to get things together.  I wanted to put some food together to take with us.  Although we had planned on eating out some, the campground is pretty out there.  I was rushing, not because I felt rushed (we had all day, after all), but because I was ready for the fun to begin.  I was a little stressed because I hadn't made a list yesterday, and I always work from a packing list to make sure I don't forget anything.

Eventually, I got it all together, Jason helped load the car, and we got underway. 

It was a beautiful day, and a lovely one for a ride.  Jason plugged his iPod into the stereo and played DJ for a while, and we chatted.  I told him about the place. 

We pulled off the highway in Lavonia and went into one of my favorite huge antique places, the Lavonia Antique Market.  It's a huge place, there's always lots of glass, and the women who work there are really nice.  There were a couple of pieces that I wanted to buy on the way to Frolicon this spring that I left.  One was a Woolworth glass basket, which I had mistakenly thought wasn't real.  It had been, but was gone.  (That wasn't a surprise, it had been offered at a fantastic price.)  The other piece was a Cameo ice bucket (aka butter tub).  It was still there, but I was quite disappointed to see today that it was sick glass.  Yes, some idiot had run this rare piece through the dishwasher and ruined it.  So that was a no-go.  I looked the place over.  As usual, there was plenty to see, but I had pretty much scored as soon as I walked in.  I found a Floral bowl I hadn't seen before, at a pretty good price.

Floral" (or Poinsettia) 7.5" salad bowl in green by Jeannette Glass, circa 1931-1935"

The pattern has been re-christened "Poinsettia", but it actually shows marijuana plants growing.  It was struck off to commemorate the role of the hemp plant in World War II.  I just love the pattern, and usually pick up a piece when I see it.  I got it for $25, which I later found out was a pretty good price, book value being $40.

I also found a "Raindrops" saucer for a modest price.  Since I have a random cup I found years ago in the pattern, I bought the saucer to go with it. 

After that was lunch at a Mexican place called La Cabana.  I had often seen on my trips in, but I had never eaten there.  Usually when I'm on my way it's after work, I'm ready to get there, and not willing to take the time to go in and eat.  Plus I don't like going out to eat by myself.  The food was quite good though, and the staff was very nice.  We had a delicious lunch, and headed out into the country.  I commandeered the stereo and put in my special River's Edge CD.  I could feel my blood pressure dropping.

I had an unexpected moment of regret.  My tradition is that the CD I play on the way is full of songs I love to sing, and I generally sing all the way out there.  Of course I couldn't do that today.  It bothered me more than I thought it would.  I hadn't been expecting that at all.  Sometimes it sneaks up on me. 

We were still in no hurry.  We stopped to get Jason some cheap sandals at Family Dollar.  We had intended to stop at the liquor store for some beer, but I think the place has changed and I didn't see it, or I was too busy talking.  Either way, we missed it.  It wasn't a big deal since I had packed some booze anyway.

We got to the Edge at about 3:30.  We got to know our neighbors.  I thought I had reserved a cabin off away from everyone else, but I was actually in one of the group of three I usually stay in.  I realized after we settled in that it was the same cabin I stayed in with Gavin in 2009.  But I hadn't planned that, and didn't see it as an omen.  We met our neighbors.  There was a guy named Mike on the left who introduced himself, and an older guy on the right.  I don't remember his name.

We settled in, showered off the outside world, and headed down to the pool.  Fridays are pretty quiet, but there were a few folks down there.  I was pretty surprised to find out there was a guy down with his wife - that's unusual.  But he was nice.  We played in the water, and there was some preliminary volleyball, although there weren't enough people to really play.  Still, since it was bonus games, I was all about that. 

Eventually, though, folks drifted off and we decided to go to dinner before the restaurant closed.  We had planned to eat at The Berryman House both nights to save on food we had to prepare and trouble.  The place was just as pretty as I remembered it.  We had a pretty tired (we were towards the end of the shift) but very nice waitress, and the food was fine, although I was disappointed that they didn't have their famous tomato casserole tonight. 

As we ate, we talked about his family, and he caught me up on the situation with his brother and his father, which I had heard bits and pieces of, but didn't know the whole story.  He's been such a good listener to my family issues that I wanted to give him equal time.  We're getting to know each other. 

When we got back to the campground, we found the party tonight was quite near our cabin, and moseyed over.  Jason proceeded to make friends.  It was quite noisy and boisterous.  Everyone was anxious to get started on the weekend.  Jason found folks to talk to, but with the music and all the talk around me, people couldn't really hear me, so I was just kind of there.  We stayed for a while, but folks began to drift off towards the trails. 

We found out that there was a group headed back to the pool, which is unusual for a Friday night.  We headed down with them, and spent an enjoyable rest of the evening chatting and splashing.  It was a lovely evening. 

A post in which it is almost vacation

I was up and out this morning, as was Jason.  I had to work and he had stuff to do.

Work went well.  Alan leaves for China tomorrow (for the next two weeks)(!), and today was about wrapping up loose ends, finishing the month, and getting my desk sorted out.  Which I did.  Beautifully.  I was a very good boy today.

In the afternoon though, I started to feel yucky.  It seems that I get sick every time I make checca sauce.  I was really upset and disappointed that I might miss the camping trip, to which I had really been looking forward.

It was also raining today.  Copiously.  When it rains here, it makes people nutso crazy and today was no exception.  When I got off work, every route off of Pelham hell was blocked to the threshold of non-movement.  I ended up having to detour out to Taylors and coming back into downtown from there.  This at an eye-tearing 25-27 mph.  Which was an improvement.

I got a call from Jason while en route.  To his credit, he took my pending illness in good stead.  He was all for us just cancelling the trip and staying in, but I really wanted to go.  I decided to wait and see how I felt in the morning.  In the meantime, I wanted cookies.  I went by the store and picked up some gourmet cookies of which I am very fond, but in which I seldom indulge.  I also got some queso dip and chips for dinner.  I crave crap when I feel bad.  Jason said he would be fine with frozen lasagna, bless him.

We just took it easy, stayed in, and listened to it rain basically.  It was for the most part a quiet evening.