We bid farewell yesterday morning to our dear friend Mary, who had spent almost three whole days at the Stick Farm.
Whatever muscles I use for laughing are well exercised when Mary is around. She got me going immediately when I told her she would have to accompany me to a parent-teacher event at Katie's high school and she created the character "Aunty Pepper" on the spot. Aunty Pepper would not go alone, of course, so "Uncle Salt" was enlisted (see my Facebook profile pic). We then decided we'd introduce Aunty Pepper as a mute, so she wouldn't have to actually say anything to Katie's teachers Mary's miming of "I'm mute" was priceless and very nearly incapacitated me.
Mary's a very easy guest. She just parks her van in the yard and voila, there's her bedroom. We brought her a steaming gallon of coffee every morning, and that's pretty much all she required. Plus, she practically took over my kitchen, where, despite our best efforts and I'm sure to Mary's well-tempered disgust, at least one of our shih tzus has decided to relieve herself on an irregular albeit fairly frequent basis.
Feeding people has never been my strong point -- Rex has been my rock in that regard as we raised Katie, once breast-feeding ended. I was really good at breast-feeding, but good hostesses offer other options. Luckily, Rex was available to grill pork chops one evening, and the next night Mary tossed us a mean salad. Lunches at our little Limerick cafe and a riverside restaurant in Kennebunkport filled in the gaps,
Anyway, today, about 24 hours after Mary left, it occurs to me that she must be wondering why I didn't once turn on the dishwasher whilst she sojourned. To my credit, I did rinse dishes and put them in the dishwasher. But here, dear reader, is the reason I did not push the Start button:
Our $25 Craigslist dishwasher makes so much noise, we literally only start it when we are on our way out to somewhere. And I mean, one foot out the door. I actually made a recording of it on my phone, and if it's still on my phone, I will upload it soon. Stay tuned!
Whatever muscles I use for laughing are well exercised when Mary is around. She got me going immediately when I told her she would have to accompany me to a parent-teacher event at Katie's high school and she created the character "Aunty Pepper" on the spot. Aunty Pepper would not go alone, of course, so "Uncle Salt" was enlisted (see my Facebook profile pic). We then decided we'd introduce Aunty Pepper as a mute, so she wouldn't have to actually say anything to Katie's teachers Mary's miming of "I'm mute" was priceless and very nearly incapacitated me.
Mary's a very easy guest. She just parks her van in the yard and voila, there's her bedroom. We brought her a steaming gallon of coffee every morning, and that's pretty much all she required. Plus, she practically took over my kitchen, where, despite our best efforts and I'm sure to Mary's well-tempered disgust, at least one of our shih tzus has decided to relieve herself on an irregular albeit fairly frequent basis.
Feeding people has never been my strong point -- Rex has been my rock in that regard as we raised Katie, once breast-feeding ended. I was really good at breast-feeding, but good hostesses offer other options. Luckily, Rex was available to grill pork chops one evening, and the next night Mary tossed us a mean salad. Lunches at our little Limerick cafe and a riverside restaurant in Kennebunkport filled in the gaps,
Anyway, today, about 24 hours after Mary left, it occurs to me that she must be wondering why I didn't once turn on the dishwasher whilst she sojourned. To my credit, I did rinse dishes and put them in the dishwasher. But here, dear reader, is the reason I did not push the Start button:
Our $25 Craigslist dishwasher makes so much noise, we literally only start it when we are on our way out to somewhere. And I mean, one foot out the door. I actually made a recording of it on my phone, and if it's still on my phone, I will upload it soon. Stay tuned!
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