It’s been a strange few days around here, because Kathy and several friends from church have been spending the last four and a half days down in Orlando, Florida. (It’s a dirty job, but somebody had to do it.) That means that I have been the only adult around here, which is a rather scary thought- but Bobbi and Ellie and I have managed to survive if not thrive in her absence. Some highlights:
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*I must confess that I did not cook a single meal while Kathy was gone. The closest I came was when I browned some ground turkey that I noticed was about to expire – but I gave it to the dogs. (Actually, I mixed it with their regular dog food.) The second closest I came to cooking was when I opened up a bag of Chex Mix with my bare hands. Otherwise, I let the good folks at Soup Depot, Subway, Taco Bell, Chipotle Grille and McDonald’s do the cooking. (They do such a nice job.) Except . . .
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*. . . I did indulge in a special meal at Sweet Tomatoes down in Waukegan. My wife will not even consider going there after a nasty experience earlier in the year when she became violently ill a few hours after eating there. So on those occasions when she is out of town, that’s my chance to sneak down to Waukegan and taste some Moroccan Lentil and Garbanzo Bean Soup and other uncommonly delicious (and healthy) treats. Sarah Gorke and Nic Sluss-Rodionov kept me company, which made it even more fun. Then for dessert I had us go to the Baker’s Square restaurant by Gurnee Mills – a hop skip and a jump from Sweet Tomatoes – because I knew that one of my Carthage voice students was working there that night – and it was so fun to surprise him there. (And the slice of French Silk was positively sinful.)
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* I let the dogs sleep with me . . . something that is absolutely impossible to do when it’s Kathy and me. The first two nights it went just fine, but Saturday night they must have crowded me because when I woke up the next morning I felt like five Irish dancers had rehearsed right on top of me. So last night, I had to leave the dogs downstairs – and the look they gave me seemed to say “Wait a minute! I thought we were friends!”
* My wife seems to think that Ben Gay is part of some terrorist plot because she can’t stand the smell of it – and believes it to be nothing but a placebo. But I gotta tell ya that Sunday evening, when my neck and shoulders felt their worst, I slathered on Ben Gay by the gallon. (I had on so much, it made Andrew Johnson’s eyes water during his makeup lesson. I’m serious.)
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* I drove Kathy’s vehicle rather than my own- and learned the hard way that if Messing Up A Car were an Olympic sport, I would be that guy from Jamaica whose last name is “Bolt.” In the blink of an eye, I managed to turn Kathy’s car into a rather disgusting echo of my own – and only some intensive cleaning this evening…. plus a trip to the car wash to use the vacuum…. allowed me to restore it to its former beauty.
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* My biggest indulgence of all was in bringing up Met Player on the Metropolitan Opera’s website and playing opera excerpts full blast. The dogs didn’t seem to mind- and I loved hearing Leontyne Price’s voice rattle the windows.
But I am more than willing to put aside all those bachelor pleasures. . .. opera at full blast . . . supper at Sweet Tomatoes . . . Ben Gay by the gallon . . . because it will be so good to have my wife back home again. Just waking up next to her is worth all of those bachelor indulgences times ten.
pictured above: One of Walt Disney’s most famous bachelors, as he resides in Downtown Disney.