As Martha Would Say, It's a Good Thing

Hugh and I celebrated our anniversary the way that most old married couples do; we both took the day off, just to be called in for emergencies (him to drive the ambulance because he had agreed to be on call so the full time paramedics could schedule time off, and, me because I am always on call and clearly cannot plan a nice relaxing day again, ever).

We did manage to go out for a nice dinner, however. We went to our favorite little Italian place in Hooterville. We started the meal with bruschetta pomodora and a glass of good wine (Hugh had beer; twenty-seven years and I still haven't managed to make a wine drinker out of the man). For the main course, Hugh had the salmon plank while I opted for the special, which was a ravioli zucca in a creamy wine sauce (that's pumpkin ravioli for those of us who don't speak fluent Italian). It. Was. AMAZING. I am now on the Pinterest hunt for a copycat recipe that I can recreate at home.

Before we left for dinner, Hugh surprised me with a borrowed dryer. Since we have been without ours for the past three or four weeks, and, since our new set is still somewhere in transit, my laundry has been accumulating. While I have enough clothing to dress a small nation, the laundry was starting to overtake my closet, so, having the use of the dryer was a happy surprise, indeed (Hugh arranged to borrow it from our new tenant in the apartment above the hardware store; she had it in storage and doesn't need it currently).

So, yesterday, I ran six loads of laundry and now have a closet full of clean clothing again. It really is a good thing.

Today, I am planning to finish cleaning the house (started yesterday while the laundry was running) and to hit the grocery store. I haven't done a full shopping trip to the Hellmouth in months, and, after cleaning out the fridge yesterday (science-experiment-level food decay in the vegetable drawers, y'all. I should be ashamed), it is clear that I am long over-due.

Now, is this the way I would like to celebrate the long Labor Day weekend? It is not. I would vastly prefer to be with my children and my friends, buzzing about on the lake, spending the nights in Jenny (our ancient motor home; pronounced Jennn-ay, ala Forest Gump), laughing with Jana, and soaking up the last of the summer sun. 

That is not my life right now. Right now, I am grateful for two full days off (fingers crossed) and the opportunity to get my house back in order. I am also cherishing the memories that I have of better days and looking forward to better days to come.

It's all good.