I'm free!

It is a beautiful sunny morning here...everything is green now, the garden is growing well. It is my second day of unemployment. I have only one task for today, to apply for unemployment. Tomorrow I will look at job listings. I don't even have a reason to cook, because the house is full of food.

I always love my home, but this time of year, when the sun is streaming in, and it is warm but not hot, it is a real source of joy. It is clean today, because we had guests for Easter dinner yesterday. I was stressed for a couple days beforehand. Ray was gone all day Saturday, driving a van full of students 5 hours each way...in the rain. This meant he was not here to help me...and I worried about him.

Saturday morning I made banana muffins to take to a 3-hour UUFA meeting, which was fine. I did not find it as tedious as some. I drove home happily enough and ate some lunch (leftover Tunisian stew and cauliflower-cheese pie). I had time to scrub the sweet potatoes and put them in a pot on the stove before the phone rang.

My Dad is selling his truck. This is, generally speaking, a good thing. We like having a truck to haul firewood or manure, but don't drive it much. We now have 3 cars and a truck for 3 people. He doesn't really want to keep paying insurance and registration for 2 vehicles. And it is a shame for it to sit and not be used, really. We have tried asking friends and neighbors and placing an ad in the local paper. Now we have a listing in Auto Trader, as of Friday. I suggested that we use my home phone instead of his cell phone, in part because we have a family plan and use most of our minutes every month.

I had a call Friday night from a man named Mark. He seemed legit, so I called my Dad and gave him Mark's number. Unfortunately, it took me several tries to get him. Maybe his phone was somehow on silent. Eventually, Mark decided to drive here from Atlanta to look at the truck. Then, later, he decided to wait and come Saturday instead. Hence, the phone call about 1:30 Saturday. He was on his way and had tried my Dad but no answer. He was planning to bring cash to pay for the truck and my Dad and I were a little nervous, so I had agreed to go over to his place and be there when the buyer arrived. I spent the afternoon chatting with my Dad about lots of things, great and small. Every now and then Mark would call and give us an update. "I'm on Atlanta Highway, I'll be there in 15 minutes..." A half an hour later, "I went by the turn, I'm turning around, I'll be there soon..." Anyway, eventually he arrived. His wife, Emily, came in and sat with me while Dad and Mark drove the truck. Then Mark came in and they talked a bit. He wasn't happy that it was a standard transmission (although that was in the ad), he thought he would have to repaint the whole thing, which would cost him over $1000. He hemmed and hawed and finally offered $2000 less than the asking price. My Dad was pretty annoyed, he had already given him $1000 off. In the end, they left without the truck. We had lost most of the day and had nothing to show for it...except experience...and an afternoon spent together. We had been planning to go out to dinner to celebrate...but we went out to dinner anyway and had a lovely time.

It was after 7 when I got home. I turned the sweet potatoes on and baked a cake. I overcooked the potatoes, dumped them in the sink to drain, and left the cake layers cooling and went to bed. Ray got home before 10, but I was sound asleep. The next morning we were up early, cleaning and getting ready. I felt awful, sneezing and congested, although I am fine now. It must be the allergies that everyone complains about, although I have not had it before. We ate breakfast, I made the filling for the cake, and put meringues in the oven. I peeled the sweet potatoes and cut them in half and put them in 2 9x13 pans.

We drove to the Fellowship, sang at the first service and rushed home. We stopped at the store to get some milk. I felt a little better when we were home and working on getting ready. I whipped the cream and frosted the cake. I put butter and salt and pepper on the sweet potatoes and stuck them in the oven. We cleared and cleaned and got out plates and linens. Ray was vacuuming thoroughly when the first guest arrived, so he put the vacuum away and the party began. My Dad brought a couple bottles of wine. He got there early enough to work in the garden for a bit and change his clothes before company arrived.

Here he is now!