Have you ever had the feeling that something you were experiencing was surreal. Two months ago I had that feeling again as I sat at the pasta bar at Carabbas. I was by myself so the noisy pasta bar was a quicker option than the short wait for a table. Plus, the evening before it was me scurrying around in a kitchen, attempting to stay 1 step ahead of servers and other kitchen help. See, we had our first (of many, hopefully) Widow’s Banquet. For some reason someone thought I would be a good candidate to head up the food. What was up with that??  Anyway, food went well, except for the Salisbury Steak (aka Poor Man’s Steak) wasn’t quite cooked and so we had to scramble to get that taken care of. So, if you make SS for a big crowd and bake it in an electric roaster, make sure that the meat is fully cooked/baked before you smother it in gravy for baking. That is your free tip of the day. We used a recipe that calls for cream of mushroom soup and cheddar cheese soup instead of just CoMS. It’s much better. That’s your second free tip of the day.

So anyway, there I was sitting at the pasta bar at Carrabbas and it was oddly relaxing to watch them busy clanging pots and pans and slamming oven doors and hearing an occasional song belted out by the person who was manning the grill. Pun intended.

Later that evening I was at JoAnn’s Fabrics, having taken my good old time picking out sale items to be purchased with my additional 20% coupon. As I was standing in line, waiting to have my fabric cut, I was intrigued to watch 2 young mothers, who I guessed to be in their early 20s and army wives, each getting a small stack of printed fabric cut. They had 3 well-behaved toddlers with them. The ladies were happily chatting about the little dresses they were going to make for their daughters. And one of them was getting terrycloth to make washable wipes.

As we stood there, another interesting character came by to have fabric cut. This young lady had the most unique assemblage of clothes. She had a plain black t-shirt on. Now there’s nothing unusual about that. But her skirt was one of those that were sold maybe 20 or more years ago. Remember the ones that had 1″ pleats the whole way around the waist, were polyester with a polka dot pattern? She had cut it off a little above the knees and it wasn’t hemmed. To top her outfit off (pun alert), she had a red stocking cap on, the kind like we were 20 or more years ago, not the trendy knit caps currently available. Like the kind I wore when I was 6 or 8 years old and it always smelled kinda musty. We lived on a farm and they probably didn’t get washed very often.

And then, I was the last person to get my fabric cut for the evening and it was literally closing time but the lady was in no hurry. As she was casually snipping away, she was talking about her husband, soon to be ex, she hoped, who was waiting out in a car for her. She had finally made a break from him and the long stemmed flower he had brought in for her didn’t impress her any. Having no personal marriage advice to give her, I gave her a listening ear instead. There is so much sadness in this world and the breaking up of a marriage is one of them.

The other day I was in the Verizon store 4 hours with my boss and co-worker, waiting as the salesman set up a new account for us and then set up 5 new phones for us. And to think we thought it would take about an hour. Eventually the conversation went something like this:

Me: I’m so glad that others [from church] have learned to use the hotline. I think people were getting tired of hearing my voice.
Co-worker: I’m tired of hearing your voice.
Me: And that is supposed to mean what to me?
Boss (offering an additional comeback): And I care because …..?

Gotta love sarcastic bantering!

Today in the office, boss, co-worker (same one), plumber and I were talking about people winning the lottery. We had a lively discussion with 2 of us declaring how that much money ruins lives and the other 2 arguing the other side. I said, “You couldn’t pay me to win the lottery! You would never again know who your true friends are [vs. those out for your money].” Said plumber, “Yeah, but then you could just buy new ones.” Cracked me up!!!

I had to spend about 2 hours on the road today to deliver some paperwork. I got to listen to the Braves opening game! I finally figured out why I enjoy listening to them. It’s certainly not because I’m a sports fan. Their announcers have the sort of humor that I enjoy. See, it’s kind of like my critiquing of fiction books. If the style of writing is bad enough, the moral of the story can’t redeem it. Anyway, here is 1 little tidbit (not verbatim) of today [21-year-old Jason Heyward, had just hit a home-run at his first at-bat, an exact duplicate of last year’s opening game except for the number of pitches]:

Announcer #1: He is really showing his age. This year he hit a home run on the second pitch.
Announcer #2: Yeah, by the time he’s been in the major leagues for 10 years, he won’t be hitting a home run until the second day of the season.

Tonight the very green outdoors is nearly surreal. Because only 2 months ago the trees were bare and the grass was brown. We’ve had a warm February and March and now rain off and on for the past 5 days so things are nearly bursting with green. And to think that some of you up north are experiencing snow. Can’t hardly believe it.

And some friends from N.D. are experiencing something surreal as they wait in the hospital with their 6-year-old son who has been having seizures. [Actually got an update as I write this and it believed to be epileptic seizures.] Please keep them in your prayers as this cannot be an easy thing to face. And to many others who are facing difficult situations, I’m sure they know that feeling as well.

Have a great evening y’all. I’m wishing that cleaning the house tonight wasn’t so real.