A post in which I have a service date*

When I woke up this morning, I decided not to do much of anything today except get ready for tonight. I had done nothing but get my menu approved this week, and had planned on having a lot more done by now.

First things first, though, I had a buddy come by for a bit. That taken care of, I cleaned up and went to the grocery store. I had enough butter in the fridge to lay out for my cake this morning, but only two eggs. I laid out the rest of them when I got home to warm up. I put away the groceries, ate a bite of lunch, and cleaned up the kitchen, then started baking.

I had decided that it was stupid not to take pound cake for dessert tonight, since I had been relieved of low-cal protocol, and since I know pound cake is her favorite. I whooped it up and got it in the oven, but then realized when I pulled it out that I had used the wrong pound cake pan. I used my fancy one again, and it is just not big enough for a full-size pound cake. It's great for Aunt Ruby's, which is smaller, but those fancy ones are basically sold to use mixes in. Those "pound cake" mixes they sell at Williams and Sonoma are supposed to be pound cake, but of course are really just mix cakes. So my cake cooked out over the top of the pan, all down in the oven (fortunately I had a cookie sheet down) and was lopsided. I will never use that pan again. I'm taking it to Goodwill on Monday. Done. The cake will taste fine, I'm sure, it just looks messed up.

Next I was to put my quiche in the oven, and discovered I had forgotten to get pie crusts at the store. I use only Marie Callender's because they are the best, and of course the BiLo near my house doesn't carry them, so I had to drive all the way back across town to Publix. Grrr. By the time I got home and got my quiches put together and in the oven, it was time to get ready to go.

I decided to just shower and stuff while the quiche baked and then pack up when they were done, but it was going to be a close thing. We weren't having quiche tonight, but Lady Beth had told me several times it was one of her favorites, so I decided to take one up to leave for her breakfast tomorrow. I'm also going to slice the pound cake and leave it in the freezer for her. It freezes beautifully, and you can just take out a piece at a time and thaw it.

My quiche came out looking pretty good, although I cracked both of the crusts. I just picked out the prettiest one to take, and left the other one at the house for me (you get two crusts, and it's no more trouble to make one than to make two, so I just made two so I'd have something to eat on this week). I got all the lists checked and checked again, and started loading the car.

When I went outside, I saw my old neighbors, Christa and Ryan, and spoke to them. They were over working on the house next door (which they still own, and are renting) in preparation for putting it back on the market. The ballerinas have moved out, having been offered contracts to dance on the road.

When I got to Spartanburg, I realized I had forgotten the salad dressing (it wasn't on a list), but I was doing fine on time, miraculously, so I stopped and got some.

Lady Beth greeted me nicely, and left me to get my stuff unpacked while she finished up some things she was doing to her bedroom. When we were both at a stopping place, we went to smoke and talk for a while, and then I started on dinner.

Dinner turned out great! We started out with a simple green salad. Then I did Allison's faboo scampi, cheese grits, and then used the pan drippings from the shrimp (rich with butter and Hungarian paprika) to make a cream sauce to go over top of all. That is a great recipe and it turned out extraordinarily well. Lady Beth was very pleased.

We ate dinner, still conversing easily about the life, different scenes, philosophies about kinkiness, etc. The one sticky part came when she asked me about my Great Truth from the week after the Atlanta trip. It's not something I'm really comfortable talking about anyway, and to be asked about it while I had a pan of shrimp scampi and a pot of cheese grits going at the same time was challenging, to say the least. But I got through it, and it was fine. I wondered later if she did that on purpose, so I would have a distraction while I was talking about it, but I'm not sure.

After supper, we cleaned up the kitchen together, which was odd to me, but Lynn had warned me ahead of time that she would insist on helping. It's part of that Virgo thing - no one can do it right except for us - which I understand.

We spent the rest of the evening talking, and just getting to know each other one on one. It was lovely. She is a very kind woman, and very easy to talk to. We took a break for pound cake (she told me she wouldn't have been tempted to dessert at all if it hadn't been her favorite - we were both so full from dinner), and it was a good pound cake. Excellent crust, flavor, and texture. I let go of the fact that it didn't look perfect. We sliced the rest and put it in her freezer.

After some more talking, we were both yawning. It had been a very good evening, but we were both ready to turn in. As I was leaving, I found the money she had put in my basket for the food. Sigh. And I had thought I was so slick and doing so well at avoiding the Sordid Subject of Coin. But that's Lady Beth for you. She told me it was the best shrimp and grits she had ever eaten! I took that as a great compliment - I am such a compliment whore when it comes to my cooking. That little compliment had me glowing all the way back to Greenville. Loveliness.

So we are going to play at some point. I am really looking forward to that. But I have to do a homework email first, listing what I have and have not done, what I would like to try, what scares me, etc. I'm pretty stoked about setting up a play date with Lady Beth. Wow.

A post in which I get my hair cut

I went to see Russ tonight. it was just that time. After he cut my hair we picked up Billy and went to the Olive Tree for dinner. That salad dressing is completely addictive. I had a big salad and some pita with tzatziki sauce – their tzatziki sauce is awesome too.

After dinner we went back to their house to hang out, talk, and work on Russ’s hat. Russ has a major competition hat, and he’s determined to walk off with Most Flawless, which he well may do. My only reservation stems from the fact that we have a really good theme this year, and there will be a lot of really good hats. So the competition is going to be fierce this year.

The weather was beautiful, and it was really nice to be outside. Or at least in the garage with the door open. I was enjoying myself so much that I just didn’t want to leave. I had planned on going to the grocery store tonight, which would have saved me a lot of time tomorrow, but some things are just more important.

I figured I would be a nervous wreck by now about the service date with Lady Beth tomorrow, but I’m not. Maybe just because there’s so much going on! I’ve had too many irons in the fire to really obsess over any of them individually. We’re in the kitchen, which is a strength for me, and I’m making a recipe that I’ve made many times before. So things should go fine.

A post in which I have a dinner date, just with different people than I had planned

I was up early this morning, and decided to do a bit of hat work since I had some extra time. I trimmed up some of the beads, but that means yet more bead work to come. I’m really tired of tying beads at this point. I also cut and placed some of the placement padding for the inside – that will help it stay more stably and comfortably on my head. I put the hat on for a bit first; because once this padding was glued in I knew I was going to have to leave it alone for a while. But there are other things I can work on tonight. I got the padding in, roughly shored into place, and hopefully weighted in and put in a position where the cats won’t mess with it before I left for work. Crooner thinks I am exceedingly cruel because I won’t let him bat, chew up, and generally destroy all those dangly beads.

Al ended up going in to work on his day off. I tried to compromise and meet him for lunch before he went in, but that ultimately didn’t work out either. I was more than discouraged, I was downright impatient. This is just a hot-button issue for me – this working all the time thing. But we ended up talking on the phone, and we both cleared the air a bit. For starters, he is trying to get out of the store he’s in, and to do that he has to go along for now, which I understand. Also, he is unhappy with the way things are, and pretty frustrated himself. This is a large change from Michael, who I believe would happily spend the rest of his life at work. Or would have when we were together, which I guess may be a clue to how well things were going at home. But I digress. I felt better after talking to him, and knowing that he does in fact have plans and hopes of actually enjoying his life some at some point. If it was with me that would be nice.

After work I went by CVS for a couple of things, and while I was there (texting with Al, and hoping he wouldn’t ask where I was) dana called to ask me out to dinner with them and Greg, who is up from Atlanta. I accepted. I felt kind of bad because I haven’t seen much of them since they helped me wade through my Great Truth after the Atlanta weekend.

They were celebrating the new jobs that dana and Greg have both landed, and it was a happy meal, even if the service wasn’t quite up to par. We didn’t mind really. We were together and having a good time. Since I had been irresponsible by not going home and hatting anyway, I just went on back to their house for a visit afterwards. I have enough hat right now that I could go to the party just as it is. The rest is extras. Extras I want to do, but still. I’m not going to turn down dinner out with friends to work on some contest.

The new thinking – trying to focus on what’s important.

I’m not overly worried about my service date for Saturday, although I completely expected to be a mass of nerves at this point. Part of it is that I know Lady Beth won’t expect everything to be perfect (even if I do), and part of it I guess is that I’ve been too distracted this week to work up a good case of nerves about it. What with the hat party coming and trying to meet a new boyfriend at the same time, I’ve just had a few too many irons in the fire. Perhaps that is a good thing.

But I’m really looking forward to next week when things slow down just a hair. I’m planning on taking next weekend as a lazy weekend.

A post in which I am again lazy

Well I was supposed to hat again tonight, but I did not. My fingers are cut up and sore from tying fishing line over and over again. Plus I was just plain lazy. I really wanted to go to bed, but instead sat up fooling around on the computer.

Tomorrow is Al’s day off, and we were supposed to have a date, but it’s not sounding good. We were texting tonight, and he said that it wasn’t impossible yet, but was looking doubtful. I’m taking that as a no at this point. I am discouraged again.

That was yet another excuse I could use for taking the night off tonight – I will have tomorrow night to work on it anyway.

A post in which I hat some more, and think

When I woke up this morning, I decided that I was looking at the glass as half empty, and I needed to concentrate on the full part. I need to wait until this week is over and see how Al's job goes rather than jump to conclusions. The chemistry thing may not even work in real life, although I think it will. It is just so hard to be patient. I want this so badly, and to have to wait a week longer is like being a child and having to look at that big package under the tree. It just feels like Christmas is never going to freakin get here. We texted back and forth all day today. Al sent me some more pics of himself, and I sent him some of me.

Complicating my feelings, Jason called today. Apparently he isn't very happy in Raleigh. He tells me that his job, though lucrative, is very demanding, and that he really hasn't had time for much of a personal life. He says that he thinks about me every day, and that if there was an opening in Greenville he would really like to move back here. His parents are here, and his friend Rodney, and he'd really like to see more of them both. He's coming to town the first weekend May, and he wants to see me. I put it on my calendar, but still don't know how I feel about that.

On the way home I went by the craft store to get some padding for the inside of my hat, and found exactly what I was looking for. I can't tell you how rare that is. I virtuously avoided going to pig out tonight, which was what I really wanted to do. I went home and ate a sensible meal out of the freezer. I worked on my hat. I think I am finally finished tying strings of beads, for which I am very grateful. I have to figure some stuff out though. I think the hard part is over though. I glued the liner in it tonight, clamped it, and put it aside gratefully.

I got my acceptance email from Lady Beth today, and my proposed menu has been approved. So now it's just a matter of putting stuff together, and I can do that.

I checked the dates for SELF to I could ask for the days off tomorrw. So I'm getting things settled and set up.

Just as I was thinking about going to bed, the phone rang, and it was Al and Mike! I rarely hear from them, but we've been meeting each other down at River's Edge every summer for years and years. They are both sweet guys. I talked to them until bedtime.

A post in which I look a gift horse in the mouth, and finally start hatting again

Eventually.

I did start off the day by calling Al. He came through the kinky talk OK, so I wanted to get some other things out of the way so I could quit worrying about them. He came through it all in stride, and he has a great voice.

I went to the grocery store on the way home, ate dibs and dabs out of the fridge, washed the shower curtain, etc. But I finally got the hat out and got back to work tonight. Thank goodness. I did make some good progress, and I don't think it will be a problem to finish.

Al and I have stayed in touch, and talked all day today. He actually sent me a very nice and reassuring message after our talk this morning.

He is a sweet, funny man, but I can't help but wonder about his job. He just seems to work all. the. time. I tried seeing if he could go to dinner tonight, but he apparently is required to put in a 12-15 hour day each day this week since the GM is out on vacation. He is "supposed to" be off on Thursday, but apparently his schedule changes constantly. I'm thinking who can live this way?

It also takes me back to one of the frustrations with Michael. He was *never* off work the entire time we were together. He was always on call. We would have to pull off the highway for him to call his boss with answers to inane questions on trips. When we were in Hawaii we spent mornings looking for wi-fi areas that would allow him to update the website. But at least he could go places. It seems like this guy just lives at the store where he works.

He has told me that this is an exceptional week, but I kind of have the feeling that it isn't. Am I projecting all this on him? Am I just looking for something wrong with any guy who gets interested, however peripherally? He did tell me that he never gets weekends off. One of the reasons I want to have someone is to go places and do things with, and that doesn't seem as if it will be much of an option here. I mean, what's the point of having a boyfriend if I still have to go to all the parties by myself? I don't want to look back on my life and see years of waiting to get to see my lover because he worked all the time. But then again, I suppose it could be worse to look back and to have never been special to anyone at all. I'm torn.

He's a sweet guy. And I like him a lot. But tonight I am discouraged.

A post in which we have a reunion cookout

I was up bright and early, but wasted so much time online talking with Al and on Bear411 that I wasn't ready when Russ and Billy got there to pick me up. But I was ready shortly, and we were off to Anderson.

I really just kind of went down for the walk today and to spend some time with Russ. I needed some produce too, but the produce was pretty sucky today. As we walked up the first row, I saw an Old Cafe Ruby Red mint dish for sale. Now I had bought one at the beach with Mother a couple of years ago, but was very disappointed when I got it home because it was sick glass. I looked this one over carefully, and it was in great shape. So I picked it up for $10.

Old Cafe mint dish in Ruby Red by Anchor Hocking, circa 1936-1940

We walked on a bit further, Billy and I appreciating the extra-generous percentage of hotties out today, and I found a 7" Fire King Jadeite Swirl mixing bowl. I have some of the others of the set, but didn't think had this one. It wasn't the elusive 5" bowl, but then they are scarce as hen's teeth. I bought this one for $8, which was pretty much a steal.

7" Fire King Jadeite Swirl mixing bowl, circa 1940's

Walking on a bit further, I saw a found a set of Horseshoe plates. Horseshoe is one of those rare patterns that you usually just don't see at all. Three of the five were a bit chipped (apparently one had gotten broken at some point), but for a dollar each, I just couldn't resist. They are so pretty.

No. 612 "Horseshoe" 8 3/8" salad plate in green by Indiana Glass, circa 1930-1933

We nosed around inside for a while, and briefly visited with a friend out there. I talked to a guy about having some stripes put on Gracine, and Billy and I discussed the cardiac episode my father would have if I pulled into his driveway with eyelash decals mounted above my headlights.

But we had to head on back. Billy had been discussing a cookout this evening, and since I had plans with Jeff and James, he invited us all over. There had been some Drama a while back, and Russ and Billy hadn't seen much of James since. There were negotiations, because Ben (James's ex) was coming with his new boyfriend Willie, and then Russ's feelings got hurt because we had misunderstood him earlier and poo-pooed his (we thought) idea for a Jerry Springer-like reveal where we invited them all and didn't tell them, but in the end everyone was OK and it was all fine.

I went home and took a nap. Jeff and James were coming down later for us to go buy the paint for my bedroom, and for them to look at colors for painting their house. At the moment though, I thought I needed the extra sleep more than I needed to have a perfect (or even reasonably clean) house when they arrived.

That lasted until I woke up, and realized that my house looked like an old junk car lot. Everything was covered in pollen because I've had the windows open lately whenever possible. I got out the duster and the vacuum and did the flight of the bumble bee through the house, trying to make it look as if someone civilized lived there. The consequence of this was that I hadn't showered when they got to the house. I hated to make them wait, but them's the breaks sometimes.

We went on to Home Depot to get the paint. I gave the friendly paint man my swatches, and while he mixed colors we looked at exterior colors for their house. I was basically no help at all. They knew what they wanted, and the debate was mainly about hues, on which subject they pretty much dismissed my suggestions, other than to go outside to look at the colors. It is absolutely impossible to pick out colors in the store. There is no scrap of any light found in nature inside, and the colors look completely different in sunlight. James was taking one color sample out at a time, so eventually I just started grabbin handfuls and following him out.

We got that basically settled, but my ceiling color didn't come out right. To the point that the paint man agreed that the color was wrong. So he had to re-mix both gallons. By this time, Billy was texting us to find out where we were. But there was little we could do. We got the paint, ran by the house to drop it off, and dashed for Billy and Russ's house.

Ben and Willie were already there, and there was remarkably little awkwardness. There were a few moments where things could have gone odd, but I was prepared to just wade right in with a tirade of words and an attempt at a charm offensive. Very little of that was needed though, and we had a lovely visit. We sat out on the deck to eat, and it was just beautiful. After supper we had a post-prandial smoke and just settled in to enjoy each other's company.

We did move in later because Billy said the mosquitoes are already out, plus it was getting a bit nippy to be outside in shorts, but everyone had a really good time. It was a great evening.

But I didn't get a ^&%%$$#!! thing done on my hat today.