Party Time!

I didn’t sleep well Friday night, but fortunately I had my book to read. I finally fell asleep again and woke up at 6:45 AM. I made some coffee and posted the Blog entry.

Then I stripped the bed and put the bedding in the wash machine. I got cleaned up and left the house for my 10:00 AM haircut appointment.

Friday morning, I had noticed that my left-side low beam headlamp was burned out. So, I had picked one up at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. I had tried to con the guy into installing it (hey, they did my wiper blades, right?) But he said company policy didn't allow him to. Iknew I should have gone to Auto-Zone!

So, when I got home from my haircut, I took the old one out and replaced it with the new one. This always is quite difficult as the battery is right behind it and you can barely get your hand down there. After several tries, I did get the new one into the hole correctly. Then the only problem was to get the clip installed to hold it. I managed to get one side in, but could not get the other one. But it was getting late and the light was working so I gave up for today.

I made up the bed with the freshly-washed sheets, pillow cases and bedspread.

I left for Jake and Carla’s at 1:30 PM. Lu had hitched a ride with some friends from Virginia who were coming to Michigan to visit their son or daughter for the weekend and was going to be at Jake and Carla’s today, spend the night and then ride back home first thing in the morning. So, we are having a family get-together.

I was there five minutes early (thank God!) and Carla was still getting dressed. She said Jake had followed Lu to pick her up after she dropped off a rental car. Whiskey was at the groomers. So, she appointed me the door guard and went to finish getting dressed.

I unloaded my share of today’s feast: An assortment of crackers, some small pita rounds, some big pita rounds (Carla’s planning on turning them into chips) some spinach dip and a bunch of green grapes for the cheese plate (you always need something besides cheese and crackers on a cheese plate).

Then I went to watch the door. I got the door opened before Jeremy could ring the bell. So, he and Riese brought in their contribution: Salad fixings and the makings for root beer floats.

I wound the cord up on the vacuum cleaner for Carla and put it away. She came out and greeted her guests. Then she started putting together the appetizers and declined all offers for help.

Jake dropped off Lu and then went to get the dog. When he got Whiskey home, he then excused himself to take a shower and change. Hey, does this mean I get to rag on them for being late?

Carla cut up the big pita rounds into triangles and baked them to make “pita chips.” Then she artfully arranged the cheese platter and another tray that had an assortment of olives (I liked the Kalamata the best), some pickled artichoke hearts (they were good!) my spinach dip and some hummus (I hope I didn’t forget anything).

So, we noshed and visited. I didn’t have the cheese I thought was cheddar, I liked the softer cheese that Jake couldn’t name, but my favorite was the smoked bleu cheese. Man, that was good! And, it went well with any of my crackers I tried (I had like four or five kinds).

The spinach dip (courtesy of Westborn) was excellent as always on the little pita rounds. I didn’t try the pita chips, because I really don’t like hummus all that much.

An hour or two went by when Riese (who didn’t eat any appetizers) asked when we were getting the pizzas (Lu’s share). So, after some discussion about favorites, Jake ordered online two pizzas from Dominos: one cheese only (Lu and Riese) and a meat-lovers for the rest of us. Lu did ask me what my favorite was, but I explained that I only planned on eating one piece so ordering my favorite was silly. I like the meat-lovers, too.

But, in case you are interested, I like a thin-crust cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms and banana peppers pizza.

When the pizza showed up, everyone else but Jeremy and I were either talking or watching TV. But the two of us dug in! I had my one slice (it was excellent, BTW) and, after a while, that was sufficient. I was tempted to get another, but I still have 15 more pounds to lose.

When Lu finally came to have hers, she asked, “Where’s the salad?” So, Jeremy dug it out. Lu used a bowl and mixed it with some goat feta cheese she brought for all of us and some dried cranberries. I was a little full so I passed on it then.

They wanted to play a board game, “Rummy cubes.” Fortunately, you can have only four players. So Jeremy said he just wanted to watch, and so did I. Unfortunately, Lu had brought her game and Jake and Carla had theirs, so Jake declared everyone had to play (Groan! I have hated board games ever since I was a young lad and my brother Joe used to kick both me and my sister Anne’s butts in several long hour sessions of Monopoly – he knew how to get the money even back then!)

Before we started, I did have some salad. It was good, but I wasn’t fond of the sweetened cranberries.

So, Jake, Jeremy and I teamed up. We played two hands (no wait, that’s cards) and I lost big time, both times. I told you I hate board games!

I noticed how tired I was (Whiskey, too) so I announced my departure somewhere near 7:30 PM. Both Carla and Jake tried to get me to take leftovers home, but as I explained, if I have them I’ll eat them and I shouldn’t.

I almost made it out the door when Lu suggested she wanted a picture of me and my two sons (she’d taken several photos with her phone after the games). So, I unzipped my leather jacket and we stood in the living room while she took two photos. God know what they looked like...

When I got home, I let the car run and looked at the headlights (they looked odd to me). Then I shut the garage door and went in to check the mail I’d grabbed after treating the cats. Then I filled in the Blog to date and spent the rest of the evening either watching TV or reading the magazine that came in the mail.

About 10:00 PM, I was wishing I’d taken home another slice of that pizza or some spinach dip and small pita rounds or, yeah, some of that smoked bleu cheese and a box of crackers, LOL! But, it was a good day!