St. Patrick's Day

I finally got a full night's sleep. In fact, I overslept an hour on Wednesday morning. So, I had to hustle a bit to get to work on time. But, before I left, I took the slow cooker crock out of the fridge and put it in the slow cooker and turned it on low.

It was, again, cold in the morning (37 degrees here at 7:00 AM), but it warmed up quickly as the sun rose (50+ degrees at 11:00 AM).

I went over to the physical therapy place and dropped off a box of candy and a card for Maureen. She wasn't there, of course, (it's St. Patrick's Day). As always, the receptionist urged me to go over to her house (She decorates it like some people do for Halloween and has a buffet feast and an open bar from noon until forever). This time, the receptionist even gave me a Yahoo map to her house and a personal invite from Maureen. I debated this all afternoon. But, I decided you must maintain a professional distance between you and your therapist, so I didn't go.

When I got home after work, the smells of the corned beef reached into the garage. It was 63 degrees and sunny at the time.

My friend B___ sent me an IM that it was beautiful outside and suggested I make a drink and go outside and give him a call. So, I tried. The phone was dead! I checked and the phone and TV were both working. But, the telephone light on the modem was blinking. I tried calling B___ on my cell phone and found the minutes I had left had expired. So, I sent him another IM, explaining the situation and then went to the cable's Website and found out how to reset the modem.

I did that and then checked the phone. It worked!!! So, I fixed another drink, went out on the front porch and called B___. While we were talking, across the street in the parking lot, I saw a bunch of kids having fun. In my count, there were four kids on scooters, two on in-line skates and three on bikes (one with training wheels). It really was a nice day!!!

Back inside, I started the Wednesday wash. Then, I took out the corned beef and vegetables, put them in my cake pan, covered it with tin foil to stay warm and stuck that in the microwave (or I could have used the oven, both are insulated). Then I cut the half head of cabbage into four chunks, put them in the liquid and turned it to high. I set the timer for 30 minutes and then put the wash in the dryer.

I watched a taped show while I waited. Then I cut off the fat cap on the brisket, sliced it against the grain and plated a dish. I topped the corned beef with store bought creamy horseradish sauce (you can, of course, make this yourself).

The dinner was excellent!!!

I hung up my clothes and then put the rest of the dinner (such as it was - the brisket shrinks like you wouldn't believe) in the fridge for either another dinner or maybe Rueben sandwiches.

I watched TV until 10:30 PM and then went to bed.