April 6th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning all, I hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

Last night was a lot of fun, but all the rich, yummy, food I consumed is taking its toll on my tummy this morning. Oh, the joys of getting old! Hopefully things will calm down before my guests arrive at six.

I had a bad headache yesterday, so I took two aspirin and laid down for an hour. Unfortunately that hour put me so far behind, I couldn’t get the house completely finished, showered, dressed, and out the door by 3:45, so I could be in Stockton by 4:30. So my hubby, he can be really sweet at times, told me to go. He would skip the appetizers, stay back and finish straightening up, and then I could come and pick him up on my way to salad.

So that’s what I did. I pull into the driveway of the first house at exactly 4:30, less than thirty seconds after the other two couples, so they were all still standing in the driveway. After greetings, we trek up the walkway as a group and ring the bell. Jan and Bob were a little surprised to see us all standing there. Jan had thought we were arriving at 5:00. No big deal, we all pitch in with the final prep work, and the appetizers start getting passed fifteen minutes later. They had made a shrimp, avocado, lime salad which was very light and refreshing. They also had two kinds of sausage, one had beets in it, and one had pine nuts. Never in a million years would I have selected either of these sausages off the shelf, but let me tell you, they were delicious. They had a bunch of other stuff too which was yummy, but I’m not going to bore you with every detail.

I snuck out of there a few minutes ahead of everyone else, and got home twenty minutes before we needed to be at our next stop. My hubby did great. The slip covers I washed were back on the family room couches. The heavy folding table was out of the family room and back in the garage. The Colby droppings weren’t anywhere people would be walking, and even the bread was cut and in a bag, in a basket, ready to go. My husband had just gotten out of the shower when I arrived, so when he went into the bedroom to get dressed, I quickly went into the bathroom to straighten it up, and then we were off.

The timing worked perfectly. We arrived at Hank and Debbie’s right on time. Fran and Curt, the other couple, arrived a few minutes after us. We all sat down and had a lively discussion on a variety of topics, over regular salad, fruit salad, and some scrumptious homemade bread Debbie had made. It was so nice, and we were having so much fun, we were late leaving, so we arrived back at our house at exactly 6:59, a minute ahead of when guests should be arriving.

Luckily for us, the other guest, except Fran and Curt who were following us to our house, were hosting the salad stops, so they were running a few minutes late as well. By quarter after, Fran and Carl, and Stella and Victor, had arrived, and all eight of us were seated and enjoying our soup. The loaded potato soup was the big hit last night. Everyone chose that, and then Curt and Carl had some gumbalaya. It’s funny, the last time, it was the gumbalaya that went, and I had a whole pot of the other soup I had made. Normally I will not repeat from year to year, but because it was such a big hit, I decided to make it again.

Well, PJ will be happy. It’s one of his favorites, so I’ll send a few containers home with him tonight. Then I’ll bring a container to RV’s, because she said her husband would enjoy it, which leaves only one, so that’s not too bad. As for the potato soup, one serving container is for Syd, RV’s daughter, and one serving container’s for Bri, Dani’s friend, and that’s all she wrote. The pot made twelve servings – Dani had a bowl for lunch, and I sampled a little, and there’s a half a serving left over.

As far as getting ready for today, all I have to do is put away the china we used last night, wash the wine glasses and the two crock pots, one of which is going home with Bec & Lenny, run to the store to pick up the fresh broccoli I forgot when I went shopping on Friday, then cook it and the meat. We may need to drag the heavy table back into the family room, because otherwise we won’t have enough places for folks to sit and eat. If it was finger foods, it wouldn’t matter, but this is roast beef, mashed potatoes, and veggies. You can’t exactly cut roast beef on your lap.

Even with the extra table set up, there still won’t be enough seating for everyone, but it will be close. If we utilize the coffee tables in both the living room and the family room, plus the heavy table and the extended kitchen table, we have table space for twenty-two. There are, possibly, twenty-four coming. Oh well, whatchya gunna do? Cindy can cut Holly’s, and Bec can cut Noah’s (they’re the youngest of the kids), and they can kneel down at the other side of the coffee tables. We’ll figure it out, we always do.

Okay, I want to get some serious writing done on FTQ before my house wakes up, so I’m going to skedaddle. I hope y’all have a lovely day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Drip…drip…drip…

Drip… drip… drip…

I stare at the ceiling, wide awake.

Drip, drip…drip

I toss. I turn. I try to block out the sound with my pillow over my ears.

Drip… drip… drip…

I have a big day tomorrow. I have to get some sleep.

Drip, drip, drip… drip

Ugh! I get out of bed, and go into the bathroom. I tighten the faucet.

Drip… drip… drip…

It won’t stop. Out of desperation, I shove a towel into the sink to silence the sound. I can deal with the plumbing issue tomorrow, after a good night’s sleep. I return to bed, snuggle down, and, on a sigh, close my eyes.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…

ARGH!

Your Next Challenge is:

Write a story containing the following three: Onion, Dastardly, Anthony Hopkins

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.