A post in which I am naughty and idle

OK, with next week shaping up the way it is, I really, really need to get stuck in and get my hat done. But I’m having problems with my base (usually the hardest part), and having a hard time getting motivated. I was supposed to shop for bases on the way home today, but all I really wanted to do was go home and read. I was also starving.

One of the vendors brought in “school lunches” for us at work today. Sloppy joes, mixed vegetables, tater tots, and ice cream cups. So I had mixed vegetables and tater tots for lunch. The ice cream cups were surprisingly rather tasteless. I think they were better when you used to eat them with those little wooden paddles. Anyway, by the end of the day, I was fairly ravenous.

I decided that I’ve been good enough over the last couple of weeks that I could go out to dinner tonight if I wanted, this despite having 87 pounds of egg salad in the fridge to eat. I called Anna to see if she would go to dinner with me, but didn’t get an answer. I thought about calling Kimbley and Laura because it’s really been too long since I’ve seen them, but it seemed like a big rigmarole to get into. So I just went on home.

The yard guy came by today. I had been meaning to call him, since the grass is like knee-deep, but he saved me the trouble. He’s going to come tomorrow and take care of it, which is lovely. I just haven’t really had the time to fool with the yard this year, but I need to get some things done. The bushes really need trimming. I’ll get to it. Neither of the neighbors have cleaned up their yards so far, so it isn’t critical yet.

I ate dibs and dabs out of the fridge. There were things in there that needed to be eaten before they ‘went to the bad’, as Grandma Shumate says. So I ate them. I had bought two kinds of chips to go with Miss Kat’s guacamole, so the bag she didn’t choose was in the house. I ate some of them. I had gotten a prize of milk chocolate figurines for my second place at the egg dying party, so I ate some milk chocolate for dessert.

Myz Shay called as I was finishing up, and we talked for a bit. She was asking about dates for me to come down, but Rhonda hasn’t gotten back with me on her thing yet, so we’re kind of in limbo. I’m going to give her a day or two longer, and then call her to rattle her cage about it.

When Myz Shay called, I had turned off the television, and I just decided to leave it off. I finished Narcissus in Chains today, and it was better than I was expecting. Maybe the Anita Blake series hasn’t jumped the shark after all. So I started the next one tonight, Cerulean Sins, which is actually a fairly heinous title, but which started rather well.

So I just read, with the windows open in the fresh air and the cats walking all over me. It was a nice, quiet, relaxing evening.

But if I don’t get going, I’m going to reap the whirlwind next week.

A post in which it is a fairly quiet Monday

I was up before the alarm this morning, which was good. I needed some coffee and gather-my-wits time. I was tired at work today, but I’ve certainly been in worse shape and still come in.

I took the day off for the Monday after the Hat Party. I’m doing dinner for Lady Beth the night before, and then the Hat Party on the 18th, so that’s going to be a very busy weekend. I’m going to need a day off. It should be fine, as long as I can get my hat done this weekend. I want to be able to plan menus, iron napkins, pack china, etc next week.

I had a very nice email from Lynn today with all kinds of helpful hints for my service date with Lady Beth, which I very much appreciated. I wanted to be sure to include her in this process. I didn’t want her to feel jealous or hurt in any way. It is the Domme’s prerogative what they do and don’t do, but that doesn’t mean that the submissive doesn’t have feelings. I would much rather her feel included and part of this then left out. She has been welcoming to me from the beginning about my pledge, and was lovely to me about this request for help also. I hope I get to cook for them both some time. But yeah, I need to concentrate on getting through the first service date for now.

On the way home tonight I was thinking about making egg salad. They sent all the eggs (all the ones I didn’t break, anyway) home with me from the party yesterday. I had 22 eggs left to use up (having eaten two for breakfast this morning). Egg salad is great, but I wanted something different. I first thought I would make the egg salad taste like deviled eggs (I adore deviled eggs), and then I thought, even better, fancy deviled eggs. I have this great recipe that I got on line from a wonderful website that is no longer up (the guy that ran it was a gourmet, but he was all about the fat and had a fairly serious heart attack, but I digress), but I haven’t made them in a while. The reason is that when I do I have to beg people to eat them.

These eggs are absolutely scrumptious, but they have non-traditional deviled egg ingredients in them. When I tell most people about them, they get the scrunched up “picky face” that many southern people get when you describe basically anything that their grandmothers haven't been making for at least six generations. Sigh. So I got sick of making them and then begging people to eat them. It's tiring being Sam I Am. Plus I really, really hate peeling eggs, so I just quit taking deviled eggs to parties.

I ran in the grocery store to pick up the couple of ingredients I would need to make my eggs, only to find myself in the End of Days or something. There were 8 million-bajillion people crammed in the store, all apparently buying provisions for simultaneous Arctic expeditions. So I'm standing there thinking are we running out of food? Did someone call for snow tomorrow? What the hell is the deal? The woman in line behind me noted my confusion and helpfully pointed out that it is the first business day of the month (Good Friday having been a holiday) and that food stamps and Social Security checks had arrived today. Well that explained it, but I sure didn't like it any better. The self-check was of course 50 deep - sometimes you can get out faster that way, but one woman was checking out a mounded cart full of groceries, despite the clearly placed sign that said '20 items or less'. So I got in the '10 items or less' line with a checker. I would have gotten through faster too, if my usual luck hadn't held. Of course the register broke. I don't think it's just me at the hateful BiLo near my house. I think they have registers specifically designed to malfunction at the worst possible time. So I stood there and tried to think of England (as opposed to running amok) while the checker and the manager wrestled with the stupid receipt printer for ten minutes. Sigh.

Fresh eggs are very hard to peel. It used to be fairly easy to find eggs that were a bit stale, but not these days. Apparently the eggs that James got to dye came from someplace where they had a guy poised under each chicken’s ass with a catcher’s mitt. After the eggs were caught, they were sent by individual courier to assure that they were only minutes old when purchased. The involved chickens also apparently had a measure of super glue in their feed. These shells were Stuck. On.

By the time I had finished peeling enough of them to make the egg salad; I vividly remembered why I stopped taking deviled eggs to parties. Michael actually bought me one of those Eggstractors at one point for my birthday – I’m sure you’ve seen them on television. I promptly named it the Eggsploder, because it really just blew ragged egg chunks all over the place.

So I finally sat down to my dinner of a piece of toasted sourdough bread with egg salad, and a bowl of potato salad. I thought I had tons left, and was actually trying to give it away at work today, but when I dished it out tonight I realized that there really wasn’t that much of it – just a bit more than I needed for suppers this week. I packed the rest up to take to Terry at work tomorrow.

I ate my delicious egg salad, and reflected on the fact that at times I feel very much like the protagonist in Babette’s Feast. I knock myself out trying to make great stuff for people who would really be just as happy – or happier – to live on nothing but deep-fried chicken strips and honey mustard. I also kind of feel like Squidward sometimes, trying desperately to cultivate a little appreciation for the finer things while living among folks who could really care less, and in fact think I’m odd for not being exactly the same way.

I felt kind of lonely tonight. I called to talk to Myz Shay, since I owe her a call from last week, but couldn’t reach her. I also called Jason. He would have eaten my egg salad and appreciated it. I miss him. I didn’t get him either, so I left a message. I fooled around online for a bit, and ate some more of my heart out over the gorgeous guy from Colorado I’ve been chatting with on Bear411. I also talked to a new guy on Manhunt for a little bit tonight. Capping the evening though was a lovely email from Lady Beth. I responded to her, and was content.

A post in which it is the 2nd annual egg-dying party

I was up at 7am this morning. Ordinarily, I would have lazed around. Sunday morning just is the perfect time to be lazy. Must be the devil’s work.

But today I had stuff to do. I got up, stripped the bed, put the sheets in to wash, and put fresh sheets on. I went in the kitchen and finished making over some Chinese vegetables I had in the freezer to make them edible for lunches this week. In the process I used up some noodles I had picked up at the Asian market that had been languishing in the cabinet for some time. I did four loads of laundry.

I got a 45 minute nap in so I would hopefully be fresh for tonight. I always end up staying too late at Jeff and James’s house.

I evaluated my potato salad. Usually I make the sauce too thick so the potatoes soak it all up. I tried to compensate by making it kind of soupy, and in the process had gotten it too soupy. So I ran out to the store for more mayonnaise to hopefully thicken it back up a bit. While I was out, I hauled off the recycling, and went by to get some potting soil to mix in with the regular dirt so I can put my tree out.

I bought a little Japanese maple last year, and didn’t get it in the ground last fall as I had intended. I’ve left it a bit too late now, since it’s already putting out leaves, but it needed to be set out. I really need to do some work in the yard, but I decided I might be burned at the stake if I started doing yard work on Easter Sunday. I thought I might be able to get away with putting out the tree, although I could hear my Grandpa Shumate’s voice in my head telling me that it wouldn’t live. Put out on a Sunday was bad enough, but put out on an Easter Sunday was just the death knell. I watered it in well, and went inside to get ready.

I had left myself plenty of time, which was a refreshing change. I took a leisurely shower, did my nails, and basically just made sure I did what I wanted to do before I left the house. I went down to my summer beard today. Thanks to the new clippers it was a cinch. I’ve lost a little weight now, and so I’ve kind of lost that porcine look my face was getting. I decided I looked pretty good.

I headed for Spartanburg, and the drive up seemed to take no time. I felt relaxed when I got there, instead of flustered the way I usually am when I get some place. I was glad I hadn’t gone to the flea market this morning so I had plenty of time to do what needed doing.

Jeff and James put out quite a spread. There was ham, boston butt, potato salad (from yours truly) (as predicted, servings consumed - 2.5), Parker house rolls, broccoli salad, oven-roasted asparagus, deviled eggs, and stuffed salmon. There was homemade banana pudding and a blueberry trifle for dessert. We had easily twice as much food as we would eat, I knew. After admiring the new deck (we dined al fresco this evening), and tucking in, we were all feeling pretty lazy.

Justin and Jeff had done the final prep on the dinner, and after straightening up a bit, Justin started putting the egg dye together. That’s where things went a bit wonky.

Last year, we had some commercial egg dye, and some that was just the food coloring kind. The commercial dyes work much better and yield much brighter colors. After last year, I just figured we would have al commercial dye this year. But Justin was in charge of the dye, and he’s old school about that. It turns out the commercial dye we had last year was some that James had brought. Although the party this year was at Jeff and James’s house, Justin was “in charge”, and I think there was a bit of a breakdown in the division of labor. When Justin brought out the dye for the eggs, it was all homemade food coloring dye, which no one was happy about. That pissed him off, which I can understand. He had put a lot of work in to the party, and had made the dye himself, and we were bitching. James had also thrown out the egg cartons so we had to improvise somewhere to put the dyed eggs to dry. We also didn’t have a clear crayon to make designs with, etc. So there wasn’t a bunch of stuff to dye and decorate eggs with, and it was kind of hard to get motivated anyway since we had eaten so much. Also, two of the prizes this year were Peeps, which no one wanted, since they’re pretty much inedible. Since Justin had bought all the prizes, I’m sure that rankled a bit too.

Amanda is a trooper though. Once she finally got interested in dying the eggs (she always wins), she scrounged around the house and found stuff she could use to make her eggs fancy. They turned out about fifty times better than everyone else’s, as usual. The rest of us would just kind of throw an egg in the dye, and then go have a cigarette and talk for a while. Jeff and Chad (Justin’s new bf) didn’t dye any at all. So it just wasn’t as much fun as last year. My eggs, just because I left them in so long, did have pretty good color to them, so I got second place for “eggs most likely to help children learn their colors”. James got third place for participation even though his eggs had fingerprints all over them from him handling them while they were wet. They didn’t last long anyway, because he set them on a table that wobbled, and when I moved it they fell all over the deck.

As good as it was to see everyone, I think Justin wanted this year’s party to be just like last year’s, and unfortunately you just can’t control that type of thing.

Anyway, we finished up the judging, and then went inside and blew up the Peeps in the microwave, which is about all they’re really good for.

Justin and Chad left pretty quickly after that, Justin citing school work he needed to do, but I think he was pretty disappointed.

I stayed on to visit. We hung out and just enjoyed each other’s company. I told stories to make James laugh. I love to get him tickled. I had intended to leave about 10pm, but when I checked the time it was 11:45. Ugh. I have to be up for work in 6.5 hours! I got home and got into bed as quickly as possible, but tomorrow is still going to be a rough day.

A post in which Ava does Easter, toddler style

Ava painting Easter eggs. She loves doing all that little eensy detail stuff just like Lisa does.

Eating the cracked eggs with Daddy Carl.

Easter morning. She has gotten her Easter Basket. With a vengeance! What a mess!

A post in which I have a lovely visit*

I woke up this morning with pretty good intentions of things I was going to do, but didn’t get much done in the end. I had some breakfast, and decided I needed a nap. I did. I was working off a serious sleep deficit from last week. But first, I went online and fooled around online for a bit. A buddy of mine was on there, and it was his birthday. I couldn’t let him go without on his birthday, so I invited him over for a visit.

It was great, but afterwards I was more tired than ever. So I slept for a couple of hours.
When I woke up, I realized that I was going to have to do something. I went to the flea market, and then to the grocery store, to get the stuff to make the potato salad for tomorrow. I also picked up some nice avocados for a batch of guacamole that Miss Kat has asked me to make. I took yet another little bunch of stuff to Goodwill.

While I was out today, I was trying to be conspicuously charming. It’s amazing how many people (particularly older women, for some reason) are just ignored by most people. You’d be amazed how many times just acknowledging someone with a smile and a “hello” makes them light up like a Christmas tree. I was doing my best to make random people light up today. I called to talk to Miss Kat about the guacamole, and Helen answered the phone. She sounded a bit withdrawn, as she frequently does these days, but I was able to jolly her into a bit of a better mood before I got off the phone.

When I got home, I had to get cooking. I peeled my potatoes and put them on to boil while I had a late lunch. dana returned my call about delivering the guacamole to them tonight, and invited me out to dinner with them, but I couldn’t go. I had too much to do. After lunch I whipped up the guacamole, and then started chopping stuff for the potato salad.

dana called me to say they would just stop by to get the guacamole to save me a trip, which was nice, but I hadn’t done a thing to the house today – I hadn’t even made the bed. It was hardly company-worthy. But I’m trying to lay down that “house has to perfect for company” thing. It certainly wasn’t tonight.

I figured the only thing that had to be done today was the potato salad – it’s never good until it sits overnight. I had planned to make a small batch, since only about three of us would be eating it tomorrow, but I ended up with a huge mixing bowl full. Sigh. I'll be eating potato salad for a while. Justin and Amanda won't eat it, and I doubt Justin's new boyfriend will either. Jeff will eat about two tablespoons, and James and I will eat a serving. So I really only need about two and a half servings. I just can't seem to make a small batch of potato salad. I finished up the potato salad, and had almost finished cleaning the kitchen when they arrived. It was fine.

So I just sat down to enjoy their company. It was a beautiful evening, and I opened the windows to let the fresh spring air in. Crooner fell in love with Miss Kat, and was purring away on her lap. We visited and laughed together as the sun went down. It was really, really nice. It was one of those evenings when you suddenly think this is what it’s all about – this is what matters.

After they left, I did finish cleaning up the kitchen eventually, but that was about it. I was content to lie up on the sofa like a Maharani with the windows open. I chatted online for a bit, and went on to bed. It was a lazy day today, but I really needed the downtime. Last week was so incredibly packed that it was good to drift for a bit.

A post in which it is a blessedly uneventful Friday, for the most part

I slept pretty well last night, and woke up this morning still tired, but feeling a lot lighter than I have in the last couple of days.

I got an email back from Lady Beth today, basically telling me that most of what I had picked out for my dinner I’m making for her was completely wrong. I had intended to check in with Lynn first about likes/dislikes before I started planning stuff, but got too excited and jumped the gun. Lady Beth was, of course, very nice about it all, but it was rather disappointing.

I also discovered today that I have scheduled our service date for the same weekend as the hat party, which is just insane of me. I’m going to have to get my hat done next week, because the week after will be spent in preparation for the dinner Saturday night. It’s going to be a big weekend.

It was a fairly quiet day at work, and afterwards, I really just wanted to go home. So I did.
I fooled around online and stayed up later than I thought I would. I chatted on Bear411 tonight for the first time in a while. There are some really nice guys on there. I met a gorgeous man, who thinks I’m hot too, but of course he lives in Colorado. Story of my life.

I was on Manhunt for a while too, but failed to fall into the vortex.

Eventually, I just pulled myself out of it and went to bed. I’m pretty beat.

A post in which I lay my burden down

I woke up at 5:30 this morning feeling like a complete zombie. I had left time to be up by going to bed early last night, but I had used that and then some. I had taken a sleeping pill at 8pm, and was back up at 10:30pm. I was up another time as well. I felt bleary, salty-eyed, weighted down like an old donkey, and kind of like Frodo felt in that last part of the trek through Mordor. But I had month end to do, and had already taken Monday off. There was no help for it – I had to go to work.

Miss Kat knew that I was in need of help because I had reached out to her. I’m sure she knew I was waiting for her call also. She called at 7:40 this morning to give me the go-ahead to come talk tonight. I longed for that time as pants the hart for cooling streams. But I had to get through the day first.

There was a lot to do. After looking at my tat this morning, I had decided that I needed another ointment day. Sigh. But it’s a lot easier to replace underwear than improperly-healed tattoos, not to mention less expensive. So I threw the ointment back in my bag.

At work I had to re-cut the numbers yet again to reflect the new divisions, which is detailed work. I did OK, but then couldn’t get the numbers from last month to balance with the re-cut. By this time it was late in the afternoon, and my compartmentalization way beginning to fray. Finally it was time to go.

I got home, did my tat care, and fixed a quick supper. Now that it was time to go, I was reluctant. I really didn’t want to drag all this out. I didn’t want to burden Miss Kat and dana with the things I needed to say. It’s been a rough couple of days. And I was so very, very tired. But I knew that the only way to deal with this was head-on. So I stiffened my upper lip and headed out.

I got there and gave dana a couple of little birthday cercies. I showed them my new tattoo, which has remained stubbornly fresh – maybe I’m taking care of it too well – but I was glad they got to see it before the ugly peeling stage sets in. They're the first ones to see it.

And then we just got down to it. It was a great relief to just get it out there. Once it was out of my head it seemed to lose a lot of its power and pain. Miss Kat is an excellent listener. In the end though, it was dana who really capped the whole thing. dana is not an eloquent speaker, but she’s very no bullshit. When I got done telling my tale, I asked them if they thought this made me broken. dana just looked at me as if surprised, and said “There’s nothing broken about you, baby. You’re fine.” We talked about it some more, and Miss Kat helped me to understand why that was the right answer, but really as soon as dana said that I felt the stone roll off my shoulders.

So after that I actually got to enjoy the visit, which was great, and such a HUGE relief. So I enjoyed spending some time with them. Then I went home to bed; to sleep, God willing. I could certainly use it.