Waiting for my house to smell good

Justin is coming over for dinner tonight, although he may not know that I am making dinner, and to celebrate his birthday. I have struck out purchasing a pumpkin pie, his favorite, so will opt for raspberry sherbet for dessert. In the meanwhile, I have country-style ribs cooking away in the oven, right next to a roaster with a single rib and sauerkraut for me. Justin won’t eat it but I will. All that was added to the kraut was maple syrup from Cracker Barrel plus some salt and pepper, oh, and a sprinkle of caraway seeds. This reminded me of my plan to clean out my spice cabinet, as I told Mom and Linda, some might even be from when I got married 37 years ago!

Listening the radio is no fun today as the reports regarding the falling markets make my stomach roll. I just wish someone with skill and ability would step in and grab this situation by the reins to get it under control. Calls for the resignation for Geithner are being made but that would merely pacify for a short while. The capitalist system and its management are under attack and I ‘fear the fear’ people have will allow the powers that be to step in and wrest yet another part of the private sector into government control. Or at least intervention. Yikes!

This morning I had a meeting with some folks to give a brief rundown on the WELS Worship Conference recently attended. It was exciting to again visit the seminars/workshops and special worship enjoyed, and the concerts. Wish I could put the enthusiasm in a bottle to spritz around the room on days when mine has dissipated. One of the members from GS was complaining yesterday about the music being too loud during the service, claiming her hearing aids either have to be turned off or removed in order for her to tolerate it. This is not unusual at all from this lady, it is the order of the day, unfortunately, but this time it was the organ being too loud. While others are rejoicing to have the organ operational again, some take issue with its presence during the singing. Spritz, spritz, spritz……

During my meeting with them, I had gotten a phone call from my friend, Brenda, asking me to lunch. YES! We have been having troubles getting together, and it does not help to have me gallivanting all over the upper Midwest half the summer. She is pleased to have her granddaughters for 8 weeks and is making good use of her time with them before they head back to their mother’s home in NC. Our service was incredibly slow at Steak n’ Shake as it seems the kitchen was short staffed (as I was standing at the register, saw a young man filling out an application! Give him an apron—now!!!) but we managed to get done in time for Brenda to get back to work almost on time.

Also I had gotten a text message on the way to the meeting from Justin, lamenting his sore throat and clogged airways, and he asked me to get him some medication to take to break it up. Originally I was going to take it to him on the job, now doing lawns three times a week, but he messaged me to say he will just take it when he comes over later. Poor guy! I hope it’s not allergies….we had both taken a pledge to not have allergies so that would really stink!

Last night I was on a lengthy phone call with a friend from church and while we talked, I hung up clothes and such from my luggage. It is getting there, folks, it is getting there!!! Most of what remains is stuff not requiring hangers but must be dealt with prior to the suitcase being put away. It should be retired for a few months now, God-willing, and my room returned to its normal untidiness. The only room in the house where I hang out, as a rule, and the only one allowed to be untidy. Go figure! Besides the luggage, I have two baskets of towels and other stuff to be dealt with, much of which is from when my houseguests were here!! There is just so many other things I would rather do than that!

A few moments ago I wandered into the kitchen to get ice in my glass (bought a bag at Winn Dixie the other day!) and the aroma of cooking sauerkraut wafted to my nostrils. It is starting to smell awesome in here, but I wonder if Justin will feel the same way. Perhaps his congested passages won’t acknowledge the kraut at all! I can barely see out my bedroom window right now as I have stacked my soda cans along the ledge next to my desk. Before I left for my trip, I had told Connie that I would make the effort to recycle my aluminum cans, and, being true to my word, I have them accumulated for disposal. Now I must find a way to get them down to the bin….plastic bags, perhaps? A couple months ago our building began recycling with the majority of it being glass bottles and newspapers/magazines. The cans will mostly be mine, it seems, but no wine bottles for me.

Bon appetite!