Holly had left for a business trip to San Diego at 6 a.m. and now I was on my own for a dinner party. It was mostly family and I was making spaghetti…something I do with regularity and excellence (how tough can it be?), so I wasn’t too worried. I did have to do some grocery shopping, clean the house and make sure I had all the things we’d need to serve and eat the meal. I figured I was up to it.
I
put the sauce on to cook and headed to the grocery store. When I returned and cleaned up the place, I
called Jason to let him know he should call me when they were on the way over
and I’d throw the noodles in the water.
“I
figured 1:30 p.m., like you told us,” he said.
And he was right about that…but people do tend to run a little late in
our family. Then I heard his girlfriend,
Theresa, mumbling something in the background.
It sounded something like ‘be there at 12:45.
“Um…Theresa
says her parents will be there at 12:45,” he repeated.
“Okay…that’s
in about 20 minutes…when was it you were going to call me and let me know
again?” I asked.
“Yeah…well…um…I
wasn’t?” he said. He can’t lie.
I’d
never met Theresa’s parents and that was no big deal. I didn’t have things quite ready and the
house still needed some work, which was also no big deal. I hung up and ratcheted up my efforts,
though.
They
arrived 45 minutes early…as I’d been warned…and I reveled them with stories of
my accomplishments until Jason and Theresa arrived. When Jack and my father-in-law were added to
the mix, I was making dinner for seven people.
It went off without a hitch since Theresa and her mom brought the salad,
dressings, dessert and bread leaving me little to screw up. They loved the sauce and when they asked
about it, I warned them that I didn’t want to have to kill them by telling them
my secret.
“Ragu
in a jar,” Jason volunteered.
“Well…sure…but
I add lots of stuff to it to make it special,” I said.
“Brown
sugar,” he said.
“Yeah…that…and,
um, other stuff that I, um, can’t …you know…” I said.
After
my clean-up and more about my ‘Tour Ohio’, I noticed Theresa’s mom yawning and
then head bobbing. Normally I wouldn’t
let that stop me, but I knew they needed to get on the road so I shut up. Once they left, I began the process of
refinishing the kitchen table. It’s
loaded with scratches which drive Holly crazy and I’d decided I’d refinish it
as a surprise while she was traveling (she won’t read this while she’s
traveling). It took four hours of
sanding and stripping before I could put my first coat on it and by the time I
was done, was in no mood to ride the trainer.
I plopped down to watch a movie and had some left-over spaghetti. Ah yes…worthless and weak again.
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