August 20th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good morning! I am back in the Garden State, and seriously draggin’ tail. I don’t get it. I went to sleep my normal (local) bedtime, and woke up three hours later than I usually do, and I’m still wiped.

For some reason, flying west to east messes me up. Logically, it would make more sense going from east to west, where you would have to repeat time. Think about it. You leave New York at noon, and arrive in California at 1:30, but it was a five and a half hour flight. Your body is saying it’s getting near dinnertime and the locals are just finishing lunch, and unless you’re planning on going to bed at 7:00 local time, your bedtime is skewed as well. It would make more sense the jetlag would hit you harder going in that direction, wouldn’t it?

Whatever, I just take a short nap this afternoon and I’ll be back on track. I’ve got the laundry going already, and the only other thing on my agenda for today is to completely clean out the car so we can start loading Lys’ stuff. I figure if I stick our luggage into my mom’s car, then all of Lys’ stuff will fit in the van with no problems.

The one thing I don’t know yet is what kind of room she has, so I don’t know what kind of sheets and bedding to get, if she needs a TV, if we need to pack her fridge. I’m wigging out a bit, because we are down to two days to shop for stuff. We leave Friday morning for NC.

Ugh! I just realized I have something else I have to deal with today, a house sitter. Colby is going off to vacation at Grandma’s house, but the kitties need tending to. Perhaps my nephew will be willing to stay here for three days.

Oh, I forgot to tell you in yesterday’s blog about Monday night’s dinner. We went to the Saltgrass Steak House, because we had heard good things. Plus, we were in Texas, so we had to have one steak dinner. The place was packed, so that was a good sign. Our waiter, Thomas, was a little goofy, but very nice. The place was noisy, there were dead animals mounted to the wall – even a rattlesnake, and the air conditioning was blasting. Now I don’t know about you, but I sure didn’t pack a sweatshirt to take with me to Texas in August. I was literally shivering sitting there at the table.

Our dinner was placed in front of us, and Thomas asked if I needed anything else, and I said, “Yeah, a sweater.” He shrugged and said, “The owner likes to keep it cold in here” then walked away.

Fine, whatever, maybe the hot food would warm me up. Chewing wouldn’t be an issue since my teeth were already chattering. I cut my first section of steak, and take a bit – 95% grizzle. So now I’m looking around for a discreet way to spit out this hunk of meat in my mouth. Luckily, Thomas had left several of the drink napkins on the table.

The next bite, the same thing. Okay, so maybe it’s just this edge of the meat. I turn it around, and cut from the other side. Same thing. How about the middle? Nope, no better, and no Thomas in site to say anything to. I gave up on the steak, and focused on the Monmouth sweet potato on my plate. It was yummy.

I fill up on the sweet potato, and as soon as I lay the fork and knife on my plate and push it slightly away from me, Thomas swoops in and says he’ll take that out of my way, the instantly disappears before I have a chance to say anything about the poor quality of the steak. When he see my husband finish his dinner, he reappears with the dessert menu.

Now I have my opportunity. We decline dessert and I tell him I basically had to spit out half of my steak because I couldn’t chew through it. His reaction – sorry, that happens sometimes – and then hands us the check. Not for nothing, but if I’m paying $18 for a steak, I want to be able to eat the dang thing.

Consider this public service announcement #2 (or is it #3?), if you are in Arlington, Texas, the Saltgrass shouldn’t be your first choice of steakhouses. Heaven knows there are dozens to choose from in the area.

The washer just buzzed, so I should go deal with that. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

A squeaky floorboard…

You have ten 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.