Thursday, September 15, 2011

Lead in to the Dinner Party

This morning I hopped out of bed as usual at 5:30 AM, as Richard was slipping out to go to the golf course. He took a day off because the semester starts Monday at the U, and for him, that will mean more than more of the same: his department was eliminated, and there is only him and one other writing instructor left of what reportedly will become a new writing center. Why they needed one is beyond me, but that's okay. It's their dime.
The phone rang about 6:30, as expected. It was Liz, telling me where to meet her for our morning walk. We went down to a lovely little park tucked neatly into a corner across the street from a mini-mall. It was meticulously maintained, with a little creek, sculptures and other art work, a peace monument, and paths. These were not too well maintained, sad to say: lots of dog poo from the many dogs walking there with their owners. Since there were no bins to dispose of the waste, it was left where it was, I guess. We saw a white heron and an egret fishing in the creek, but no other wildlife.
After our walk, it was already getting a little warm. We went home to cook. It's amazing how much fun cooking is when you don't have to do it alone. Things go much faster when you can chat, and the work seems much less onerous. Unfortunately, I noted that I SHOULD have left the chicken in the sauce overnight, but I'm sure it will be edible, just not perfect.
Though I don't want to have another party soon (too expensive!), I will definitely do it this way again, if I can talk one of my guests into being a sous chef (sp?).

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