About Me

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Ten years into widowhood, after one year of incredible happiness and nearly 14 years of single blessedness. Retired, and mostly enjoying it. Still knitting. [Zen]tangling.again after a brief hiatus.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

“Calm and uneventful”

Thank you, Secondborn; it was a good thought.

Yesterday was neither, but neither was it bad. Our server went out about 3:30, thankfully after I had printed off all of the outgoing mail, but just as I was preparing to save a new letter. A collective groan rose up throughout the office as my co-workers realized that the server was down.

Me? I just closed down one window after another, and then I grabbed my knitting. I was still able to go online, so I caught up on the Yarn Harlot and Crazy Aunt Purl and Mason-Dixon Knitting and my kids’ blogs.

I had emailed the new guy while still at home, that while it was Knit Night, and I did not have to [get to] work overtime, nobody was expecting me at my usual haunt, so if he needed me or just wanted to see me, I was available. He responded that he didn’t know what his kids’ plans were for the evening, but I was welcome to come, and he didn’t know what there might be for dinner. I replied that I owed him a bucket of chicken (a promise made shortly after he got his diagnosis) and would be happy to deliver on that promise. So I went to the websites of the three major chains, and I did a little nutritional research.

KFC, Chicken Express, and Church’s all use MSG. I called him to ask if Panda Express (which does not) would be an acceptable substitute. And that is how I found myself at the head of a long line of hungry Dallasites, ordering a family meal with spicy beef, that delectable orange chicken, and honey walnut shrimp, plus spring rolls, steamed rice, and fried rice.

The kids were there for dinner. His son blessed the meal as we stood in the kitchen, his arms folded gently around his impossibly slim and lovely wife. After the amen, I asked him if was more fun to fold his arms, now, than when he was eight years old? Definitely.

There were not a whole lot of leftovers, but the steamed rice and the last dab of orange chicken came home with me. They have a rice cooker (and better rice in their pantry), so everybody won.

I only stayed an hour or so, as much for my own need to sleep as out of consideration for the new guy. Came home, puttered a little, and was in bed at a reasonable hour.

Tonight I see my hair magician, and then I am hoping for a quiet evening at home, with a side order of puttering. I have been slogging away at a pesky long-term project, and this morning I think I passed the tipping point.

I hope they fixed the server problem overnight. But I am taking plenty of yarn in case they did not.

2 comments:

Jenni said...

You might check out the chicken from Raising Cane's. it is even better than Chicken Express and I couldn't find out about MSG online, but they say all their food is fresh, not frozen so you might be ok if there is less of a need for preservatives.

AlisonH said...

There is a purpose in everything. I'm so glad you all got to share that time together.