Weekend Visit

Aside from worrying about getting frostbite here last Monday and even on Tuesday -when the temperatures dipped way, way down to the minus zero mark with wind chills making it feel like it was 20-30 below zero those days, things have otherwise been generally quiet and calm. I had a very nice weekend though. Friday evening, Katie and her boyfriend left for the weekend to be at his place and that left me alone. Something I don't normally like very much but every now and then, it's nice to be able to do what I want in my own house without risking disturbing anyone else. I finished delivery of the few orders of Avon I had this past campaign early Friday evening, which is always a big relief regardless of how big or how small my order may have been. Always good to get them all distributed, ya know. (I do still have a couple orders I have to collect the money due on them but they aren't difficult customers so that won't be a problem.) What is the problem once again with the current campaign though is finding customers who aren't still suffering from financial woes from Christmas and who are ready to get back into the game of purchasing things for themselves -daily need items, or a special piece of jewelry or maybe a cologne. Sales is really punk still for this brochure and that does worry and scare me more than a little bit! If my sales is under $150 per campaign, the percentage I get from that is not enough to cover my ordering the number of brochures I need to distribute for the next campaign and to also purchase some samples. This didn't used to be this way back when I did the Avon thing 20 plus years ago but times sure have changed, haven't they? But anyway, back to the good things about this past weekend. Saturday, because my son was coming down to have dinner with me, I cooked a big kettle of spaghetti sauce and then, cooked two bags of mini raviolis to put in the sauce. I debated initially about cooking that much ravioli but decided it wouldn't go to waste because this just happens to be one of my son's favorite meals and besides, any leftovers would be gone early in the week by Katie using it most likely then for her lunch. And I was right about the quantity of ravoli! Clate ended up having three helpings of it Saturday at supper time and then, late last night -after having brought a video down here to watch -he had a fourth helping then around midnight! Yes, the boy can eat when he's been starving virtually all week on the road, ya know. My older daughter and older grandson also came up Saturday evening and the four of us enjoyed some fun time watching the video that Clate had brought down. If you like action films, kind of on the gangster side of life, the movie "Lawless" is a good piece to see. It's based on the true story of 3 brothers in West Virginia during prohibition and their moonshine activities. Really a very good movie, in my opinion. Since Kate wasn't here last night, and Clate decided to spend the night here, along with Alex (my grandson) (my daughter went next door to our neighbor's house as that's her best friend who lives there and she spent the night with her enjoying the time.), the guys could have gone upstairs and had a choice of beds -either Kurt's single bed for one and Kate's double bed for the other -but neither of them wanted to do that. Instead, Clate decided to take his chances on the very uncomfortable sectional-type sofa here and Alex likes to sleep in my recliner chair. Hey -it was their choice, no one forced them to sleep there, ya know. Well anyway, this morning, Alex told his mother and me about what woke him up. He was awakened initially by Pearl, our cat, who had decided to join him on the recliner by perching on Alex's left shoulder. Then, he didn't realize this initially but Sammy (the dog) had decided to sleep with him too except Sam had managed to get up in the chair and was laying atop Alex's chest! Alex is a big kid -all of 6 ft 4 inches tall -and built very much like an offensive guard on a football team but somehow or other, he hadn't noticed that Sam had joined him. Well, it seems that Pearl decided she liked Alex's ear as she started batting at his ear which is what initially woke him up. Then, she started batting about on his chest too at Sammy. Alex said he reached up and pushed Pearl to get her to quit hitting at his ear and his chest and when he turned his head back, facing the front, he was a bit stunned then as Sammy had his face right up in Alex's face! He said that really startled him and he then shoved Sammy off his chest and the chair, sending the poor little mutt skidding across the living room and he came to rest about 5 foot away beside the still up Christmas tree! Needless to say, Carrie and I both had a good laugh over this scenario as Alex related it to us! We had a late breakfast then of oatmeal cooked with brown sugar and butter in it -something my kids and I all like but which has become now a running joke on Facebook between a neighbor and good friend of ours and me about which is best when eating oatmeal -cooking it my way with the brown sugar and butter or plain with milk on top of it! My friend (Jackie) and I have been taking pot shots for the past two days now about having oatmeal with or without milk on it is basically the issue. I say "no milk on oatmeal; milk on the side" and she says only insane people would eat oatmeal with butter and brown sugar to begin with but without milk, it just isn't right. Okay -two divergent opinions about a food item and it will be fun to see how long we can keep this little game going. This afternoon, Carrie and Alex got in the fridge and scarfed up the remainder of the ravioli so that meant Mom had to cook something else then for supper. Lucky for them (and for me too) I had a package of eight thin-sliced pork chops which I thawed in the microwave and then, made my own rub (sort of) for them by combining several different spices with a little Marsala cooking wine, brushing that on the chops and then, braising them on top of the stove. Add to that a dish of Au Gratin potatoes (which Alex loves) and a dish of mixed vegetables and we managed to have a very nice supper. THe rub I concocted met with great satisfaction from Carrie and Alex as well as Katie who came home after we had finished eating but there were 2 pork chops left and she polished them off! Clate came down late thinking there would still be leftovers but by the time he got here, all leftovers had been polished off so he ended up slicing up some Polish sausage with cheese in it for his meal tonight. He and I then were going to watch a video I purchased shorting before Christmas - "The King's Speech" but he ended up falling asleep through most of the video. I had my normal little spell where I dozed off too -not because the movie was boring because it certainly wasn't but rather because it seems most anything I eat hits my system like the stuff they say is in turkey and which turns every one to mush after eating a meal! But I only missed maybe 10-15 minutes of the video so I can watch it again now and hopefully be able then to view the whole thing! Tomorrow, I have a doctor's appointment with the counselor I'm seeing now. The medication he had prescribed for me seems to be agreeing with my system so that's progress at that level. Time will tell the story though on how well this all works out for me, I guess, so wish me luck! And that's pretty much all it takes for me to have a nice, pleasant weekend! Visitors -especially my daughter and grandson -plus my son being here -really make it very special in my book!