Dinner out? Not so much.

December 21, 2007
Peoria, AZ

Well, I really goofed the other night. Since Geri spent the whole day in the kitchen, I had expected that she’d want to go out for dinner. Au contraire. It’s leftovers for you, buddy. This wasn’t a huge issue, since we had saved some pasta from the weekend and everything was ready to go. All I had to do was pop the cork on a nice Chianti.

Wednesday and Thursday were “continuation” days. Geri finished up her cookies. Some were “in progress” and needed to rest or chill before being finished, and others were just on her list of things to try. All of them came out tasting great, and she's started neighborhood deliveries.

I kept working on the TV project, adding a brace to the arm holding the dish and fabricating some trim strips to cover up the multiple cables running along the ceiling and down the wall on the patio. This, too, is a multi-step, start-stop process, as I had to cut each piece to fit the angles and paint everything before assembly (sounds like Dave and Sandy, except that I’m doing it all myself).

I got everything ready and put up, but had too much of a gap between the trim and stucco, so I decided to put a bead of caulking compound in place. Of course, I had no paintable caulk on hand, so another trip to Home Depot was in order. While I was there, I decided to pick up another one of the 18 volt tools I’ve been eyeing: you bet, caulking gun. I know it’s the height of laziness to need an electric caulking gun, but it actually worked pretty well. I was having so much fun that I got out the tube of concrete mortar patch I’d been saving and fixed up some cracks in the rear wall.

Now, I’ve got everything ready for the final painting, although I’ve also decided to put on another brace for the dish at a 90° angle. Will this project ever end?

Today was a day for errands, not projects. Geri had a hair appointment at 11:00 AM, so I dropped her off and picked up Merlin’s meds from the vet before stopping at the coach for a few things. I’d just gotten home when she called that she was ready, so I picked her up and we headed out past Surprise to Sun City West where she had a physical therapy appointment. With traffic, we just made it. I hung out (PetsMart, Home Depot) while she was there, rather than drive all the way home and back.

On the way home, we stopped at a local butcher shop that we’d heard about. It was small with a limited but good selection, so we picked up a few things (flank steak for tonight, sausage to make pasta sauce, and a crown roast of pork for Christmas). If these things turn out OK, we’ll add them to the list of places to shop. They’re pretty close to the dogs’ groomer, so it could be a planned stop when we take the pups in. Now, if we could only find a good fishmonger…