So we use it!
After getting the new furniture and planting flowers and filling the new planters, it was time to start entertaining. Our first guest was my Mom. She had found a whole beef tenderloin in her freezer that had been there since she and Dad moved out of the house. She wasn't at all sure what kind of shape it was in, so she soaked the whole thing in Wishbone's Italian salad dressing for a week and brought it over here. Jay cut it into manageable chunks and grilled it. It was fantastic! If you've never marinated a roast in Italian dressing before grilling it, I highly recommend it. It was so delicious that the three of us ate half that tenderloin in one sitting. I should be embarrassed but the truth is, I'd do it again if given the chance. What we didn't eat made wonderful sandwiches for the next few days.
Later in the week, we had Jay's sister, Patty and her daughter, Jenna over for dinner. Josie and Nick joined us, too. We made Emeril's Piri Piri chicken, which is one of our favorite summer meals. You rub the chicken breasts with Emeril's southwest seasoning, grill them, smear them with Piri Piri sauce, then smother them with jicama orange salad (the recipes for all can be found in E's New New Orleans cook book). It's almost unbelievably delicious and virtually fat free if you use skinless breasts. There's a tablespoon of olive oil in the piri piri sause but no one eats the entire jar of sauce. Nick and Josie were preparing for a garage sale a few days later, so we sent all our junk off with them. I think they made a few bucks but I know they got rid of a lot of stuff. I love garage sales! We got the funky metal lobster that hangs on our deck at a sale a few years ago at a sale on the next block. I think we paid $2.00 for it.
I got the giant round piece of plywood that our Mr. Sunshine is painted on at a garage sale, too. It's about 4.5" in diameter and as soon as I saw it I knew what to do with it. I painted a giant sun face on it and years ago, Jay had it attached to the garage. Despite many layers of varnish, it had finally started to look pretty weathered. When we had the house painted the workers took the sun down. I sanded off all the curly varnish and repainted the face. Then I ruined the whole thing by applying old, brown varnish.
Note to self: If the varnish looks brown, don't use it.
When the varnish dried, I sanded the whole thing down and repainted it again. Bought new varnish and a few days ago, a friend of Jay's re bolted it to the garage for us. Mr. Sunshine is back up and smiling benevolently at the neighborhood!
We bought a new umbrella for one of the tables on the deck. The old was had a problematic design; no crank, no pulleys, you just pushed it up and jammed the cotter pin into the center to keep it up. We are old. Our shoulders hurt. It was a pain to put up. So we replaced it. For years, we bought our umbrellas at World Market but a few years ago, they abandoned the umbrellas with pulleys for this lesser design. Bad decision. The new umbrella is NOT from World Market and is wonderful. It has an apple green umbrella. I took the old umbrella and put it in my stand in the secret back yard but before I had a chance to use it, the wind knocked it over (it wasn't even up!) and the frame shattered. I kinda suspect the umbrella was so depressed over being banished from the deck to the secret back yard that it committed suicide. I think I have another umbrella (it's yellow)in the garage but I haven't seen it this spring, so I'm not sure. Jay will never admit to throwing out things that belong to me but in his defense I'm pretty sure he honestly doesn't remember. This is not because he has a faulty memory, it's because he doesn't bother to remember anything that isn't important to him. Which sounds bad but the truth is, I'm just like that, too. Plus, he tries not to do that, which is why I think the yellow umbrella may be stuffed up in the loft.
Also last week, Ty and his whole family came over for dinner. Ty brought steaks which Jay cooked up for us while the big kids, Xena and Babalouie and I went for a walk around the block. I walked, the kids rode their scooters, which they'd tossed in the car. They were going to take another turn around the block without me but Xena wiped out in the driveway and skinned her knee. She limped into the house, cleaned it up and Coach (the grandkids' name for Jay) put neosporin and a bandage on it. Xena, the Warrior Princess, totally cowboyed up: she didn't cry a tear through the entire process.
After dinner, Ty and Megan went to a movie and the kids and I made cookies and watched Hook. I haven't seen Hook in 20 years. It holds up! Xena and Babalouie loved it. Kitten wasn't sure it was her cup of tea but once Peter starts flying, she was all in.
Ty and Megan saw Top Gun: Maverick, and like everyone else I know who has seen it, gave it all the thumbs up they could muster.
The day after that, Katie and Adam had an out of town wedding to attend, so Katie brought BoopityBoop over here for a sleepover! Zach and Sara joined us for dinner, which they actually brought. It was baked stuffed shells and it was fabulous! While Zach and Sara were preparing dinner, Boop marched through the kitchen, a toy wooden rifle on her shoulder. She told us "I'm gonna go catch some deer for dinner."
We had a lovely dinner (no venison, the stuffed shells didn't need it) and it was great to hang with Z&S. Jay gave the girls piggy banks, which he'd found at Hobby Lobby. The banks are identical (like the girls) but I painted a gold monogram on each so the girls will know which is whose. They're very into earning money right now and wanted to do any chores we assigned them for payment. It was great! They cleaned up after dinner and then helped tremendously with getting their bed made up. In the morning, they cleaned up all their toys, helped me strip and break down the bed, carried all the linens to the laundry and even hauled the inflatable mattress back to the basement for me. I paid them well. Next time, I think I'll have them mop the kitchen floor: they love the Swiffer wet jet!
Everybody wins! That's why capitalism is great; it works. Don't blame Capitalism if some people go nuts and indulge in greed or materialism: that's like blaming the cake for making people fat. Capitalism is the only economic system that places the responsibility for moderation squarely on the individual. This is why it works better than all the others.
I took BoopityBoop swimming. We went down the the beach and they had a lovely time. It was hot, windy and wonderful. The only reason we left at all is that it was time for dinner.
The morning after the sleep over, we took them to Church with us. They behaved themselves like they'd been raised in a convent although after Communion one did ask "how much longer does this go on?" I said "One more prayer and one more song" and her sister asked "how long is the prayer and the song?"
Not too long.
Then, we went to brunch. Zach, Sara and Katie all met us at the restaurant. It was a lovely place over the river (Mendota Heights) which was new to all of us. I got a breakfast sandwich that was fantastic: an eggy BLT on a focaccia bun. Everyone gave the place two thumbs up.
The weather has been beautiful summer all week. We've gotten a bit of rain but only after dark. Jay and I have been out on the hill watching the sunset nearly every night. So far June has been great and it's only going to get better: Jay's birthday, then Father's Day then our wedding anniversary!