Sistah Pat

I’ve got to get back to my routine today.  On second thought, there really ain’t no way to do that today.  Rick and Pam are coming over and I’ve got to get ready to go to the retreat tomorrow.

I’ve been looking at cruises this morning (morning?  HA!  I didn’t get up till 9:30!) and I should have known the prices would be higher for the dates we need.  Anything around Christmas or New Year’s and the price doubles.  Can’t wait till I can retire and go anytime I want!  Last minute/Can you leave tomorrow cruise for $250, Christmas Break cruise for $750.  May have to give up on that one.

Planned Ginger Grilled Pork Loin, Lite Potato Salad, Fresh Corn on the Cobb, Watermelon, and Fat-free, Sugar-Free Chocolate Ice Cream with Granola Topping for dessert.  Ever notice how I automatically switch to caps when I start talking about food?  Lay it out like it’s the daily special on a restaurant menu.  Guess that says something about how food figures in my life.

Weighed in at 171.5 this morning.  I know I’ve been negligent about posting my menu and exercise but I’ve been doing okay.  Nothing to brag about.  No treadmill or formalized menu the last few days but lots of exercise in the garden and fairly healthy eating.  Of course, that may go to Hell at the retreat.  I have to be in Lexington no later than 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.  That means I’ll have to leave home no later than 6:30 which means I’ll have to roll out of bed by 5:30.  Yikes!  I didn’t even go to bed last night (this morning?) till 2:30 a.m.  Can’t do that tonight.  Right off the bat, the agenda says we’ll have a “Continental Breakfast”.  Why do they do that?  Why not just say “Doughnuts!  Come and git yur fresh doughnuts!  Custard Filled!  Chocolate Iced!  Fried Croissants!  Danish Pastries!  Come and git em!”  (Well, Patty, why not just say “NO!“) 

Lots to do, gotta get the pork loin marinating.  Should have done that early this morning but I was snoozing!

6:30 - Found a possible cruise.  Five nights, departs out of Mobile, Alabama on December 20th and returns December 25th.  Goes to Progreso, Mexico and Cozumel, Mexico.  Not much of a trip but the boys won’t mind.  We took them to the Bahamas last time and they loved it so this will be something different.  Of course, for them, it’s not about the ports anyway.  It’s about the cruise itself so it doesn’t matter too much where we go.  The price isn’t terrible but it’s still higher because of the holidays.  About $450 per person.   Mobile is only a 9 hour drive from here and then, when we return from the cruise, it’s only another 4 hours to our place in Florida.  If the price is double, I’ll just have to make sure we eat twice as much to get our money’s worth. 

Speaking of eating twice as much, Rick and Pam did not show up and I have 16 slices of marinated pork loin fresh off the grill, boucoup bunches of lite potato salad, a whole watermelon, and ten ears of corn.  Anybody hungry?  I’m fairly pissed and that’s putting it mildly.  We’ve known Rick and Pam for 30 years so I know what’s going on.  They didn’t feel like driving in town today so they didn’t.  Pam will probably call me in the next day or two and say, “OMG!  Were we supposed to come over last weekend?”  Yeah, Pam, you were.  That’s why I called you on the home phone yesterday morning and left a message for you to call me.  That’s why I called you two hours later and left a message on your cell for you to call.  That’s why I called your home phone again this morning and hung up when you didn’t answer.  I know you have caller ID!  I can just visualize it:

Scene:  Pam sitting around in bathrobe with cup of coffee in right hand and fat kitty cat curled up on her lap. 

(phone rings)

Pam: “Oh crap!  It’s Patty.  Don’t answer it!

Rick:  “There’s a message from her asking you to call.  What’s going on?  Aren’t we supposed to get together with them this weekend?”

Pam (pouring cream in bowl for fat cat):  “Yeah, yeah, I know.  We’re supposed to go to their house for dinner today or tomorrow.  That’s probably what she’s calling about.  I don’t want to make that long drive, do you?”

Rick:  “Why don’t you just see if they want to come over here?”

Pam:  “They came over here last weekend and I promised her we’d go to their house this weekend.”

Rick: “Well, just call them and tell them we don’t feel like driving in town.”

Pam: “I did that the last three times we were supposed to go to their house.  She already asked me if there was a problem because we keep cancelling everytime we’re supposed to go to their place.”

Rick: “Well if you don’t want to go,  just call them in a couple of days and tell them we forgot.  Apologize and invite them over here next weekend.  Tell her you didn’t check your cell until Monday and we must have been outside when she called on the home phone.”

Pam: “Yeah, I think that’s what I’ll do.  I’ll see if they want to come out and spend the weekend.”

When you’ve been close friends for 30 years, a casual relationship develops where it’s alright to say, “I know we had plans today but I really, truly just don’t feel like going out.  Do you mind if we do it another day?”  She’s done it to me and I’ve done it to her.  What’s causing the problem right now is that they want to get together with us but they don’t want to make the effort to drive all the way over here.  I understand.  I get it.  The drive is a big pain in the butt!  I know it is because we always have to make it!  The problem is that it appears that apparently, they don’t want to spend time with us bad enough to make the trip and I’m soooooo done with that.  She can call me a dozen times and invite us over and I’m not doing it.  You want to see us?  You come to me.

Gotta go now, I’ve got to eat a LOT of pork loin and watermelon.

8:45 - Booked the cruise.  Little sister booked a room for herself, too!