Lowdown on the Hoedown

Whew! The travelers have arrived at their respective destinations (Chris in McKinney, Texas for two weeks- Kenta back home in Kagoshima, Japan) & peace is settling upon the garden like the down from the dandelions on the lawn. Wait. Dandelions? We’re not suppose to have dandelions on our lawn- Chris will have a fit- I’ll add it to the list.

What list, you ask? The list of things I’ll be doing on my “vacation” next week. Yes, three more days of work & I’ll have Spring Break off for the first time since high school. Around here, Spring Break = Spring Cleaning, so Sam & I will stay busy completing projects that keep getting put off during the year. Top of the list was “Clean out the garage & have a Yard Sale” but since that is Chris’ domain, I figured I’d best wait until he is back & can make rational decisions about getting rid of stuff. Heck, all that stuff looks like junk to me- I’d rather not end up in marriage counseling because I threw out his Great-Grandfather’s antique bean-can label collection worth thousand’s of dollars.

Anyway, it’s been the usual whirlwind around here, with varied & disconnected events filling our days, so I will resort to the tried-and-true “Bullet Entry”

v My daughter is again trying to single-handedly turn my hair white- it’s a long story (& I don’t know how much is true) but it boils down to she got fired from the job she’s had for 1 ½ years. There goes her health insurance, not to mention a steady income, & her with overdue medical bills & back rent still owing on her old apartment. Fortunately she had never taken any vacation, so her separation check was pretty decent- enough to cover her expenses for a couple of months. After dropping that bomb, she told me she’s headed to LA for a week to visit friends. Wait a minute- didn’t you just lose your job? Her reply- “Don’t worry about it.” Yeah, right- I’m not going to worry. While she was down there, she blew through more than half of her money- she bought a surfboard for crying out loud! Why? Because she was bored & there was nothing else to do. To top it off, she lost her cell phone (uninsured, of course) & had to buy another one. The only bright spot was on her return, she ran into a friend who was able to give her leads on two part-time jobs- she started last week at a hookah bar & will start this weekend at a Mexican restaurant, both of which are walking distance from her new place.


v On the “Hope for the Future” front, my son Robb started his new job with the utilities district in Orlando. It’s not his dream job (he’ll be working in the motor pool), but it is a foot in the door for other opportunities. Besides, the money is better then wrenching at a dealership for flat rate, & he gets full, paid benefits right off the bat, including matching contributions into the 401K. He is quite happy- he’s been after this job for nearly a year- & is planning on moving in with a friend until he finds the place he wants to buy.


v Lest I forget about my youngest (like that is really a possibility), Sam played his first varsity match yesterday. He & Gilbert beat the #2 doubles team Monday at practice, so they were bumped into league play on Tuesday, against Edison High School. He was pretty tightly strung Monday night & all day Tuesday, thinking through his game & praying he would completely embarrass himself or his team. There was a pretty good turnout of spectators, including two of his favorite teachers, his best friend, & his new girl friend (haven’t met her yet- I’ve only had her pointed out to me from across the track, amongst a crowd of 12 girls). Oh, yes- they won- 6-0, 6-3! Needless to say, he is quite pleased with the outcome (even got their names in the newspaper this morning, along with the score & mentioning their “match debut”) & has hopes to play again soon.


v We had lovely weekend weather, which we put to full use. Saturday was spent doing the regular weekly house-caring duties, which is finally including mowing lawns (I love the smell of fresh cut grass) & weeding the beds. I thinned the carrots, caged the tomato, & trimmed the sweet herbs to dry for tea. The leaf lettuce was ready to begin picking, so we made small salads & sandwiches for lunch. That evening was the second “House to House” dinner, with the theme of “St. Paddy’s Day”. The hostess made up a proper dinner of corned beef, cabbage, boiled potatoes, & soda bread, & the guests brought salad, appetizers, & gingerbread for dessert (that was mine). It was a nice evening, though I’m having a little problem getting to like this month’s hostess; I know she’s a godly woman & committed to serving our church family, but something about her rubs me the wrong way. For example, as we were gobbling up the dinner, each of us saying how much we liked corned beef, she kept saying (not in a joking manner) “Really? I think it’s just gross! I don’t know how you people can eat that stuff.” She chose the meal & theme, & I felt it was rude to disparage something her guests were obviously enjoying. I don’t know, I suppose I’m being overly sensitive- not every one has the same idea of what is polite. The next dinner is at our house on the 28th; I’ve chosen the theme “It’s Your Birthday” (hint, hint) & plan to do a picnic in the back yard, so hopefully my would-be friend will be nice.


v Sunday, we took the day off of church & headed up to Sacramento. First stop (after Jamba Juice, of course- Kenta & Sam are as addicted as I am) was the Ikea store- I needed to pick up two more chairs & cushions for the dining room table; besides, it’s a fun store. We ended up with some kitchen gadgets, a set of drawer organizers, & a portable campstool to take to the Games, then hit the prepared food area for picnic goodies. We went downtown to Sutter’s Fort & spread out on the lawn for a light al fresco lunch, before touring the Fort & the nearby Indian Museum. Later, we went down to Old Town by the river, poked around in the shops, & watched the steam engine train carrying passengers up & down the line. ( If you ever make it to Sacramento, a must see is the California Railroad Museum & adjacent Discovery Museum of Gold Rush History; they have wonderful exhibits, many hands-on, & it’s real easy to spend an entire day there.) We drifted home around 4:00 & the boys promptly headed to the mall for a souvenir-buying excursion. Chris & I took advantage of free dinner tickets at the new Chili’s that is getting ready to open near our house; they were doing employee training, so the menu was limited & service a little slow, but, hey, it was free!

I’m looking forward to a relatively quiet couple of weeks; besides Easter services & Spring cleaning, I don’t have much in the way of plans other then 1) finish the last border on the church quilt top, & 2) attend the monthly Garden Club meeting next Wednesday. I’m hoping to swing a day in Golden Gate Park, but if it doesn’t happen, I won’t be heartbroken. Toodles!