Things that never happened—and one wonderful one that did

Today I got dressed twice in “go out into the world” clothes only to pull them off and get back into my T-shirt and flannel pants. My oldest daughter, Megan, and her family were here and made a point of wanting lunch at the deli. But by the time they had picked up her new car (the reason they came to Fort Worth) and picked up the son who had gone home with Jacob, they were running out of time and had to cancel lunch. Megan was as apologetic as she could be, and I wasn’t heartbroken. I just put that T-shirt back on and fixed the sauce for tonight’s dinner sandwiches.

I was making Italian tuna sandwiches on ciabatta rolls with a sauce of parsley, olive oil, capers, anchovy, and garlic. The sandwiches would have that wonderful Totino’s tuna in olive oil with hard-boiled eggs and watercress. So I got it all ready, put on my company clothes—and my guest never showed up. I had a half a tuna sandwich, store-bought, with cherry tomatoes and hearts of palm. I may see if Jordan will eat the sandwiches tomorrow. I had planned to make her baked eggs on a bed of artichoke hearts and topped with Parmesan, but she is leery of anything but scrambled or hard-boiled eggs. We’re to have brunch after early church when Jacob is an acolyte. I fear she won’t like either of my offerings.

Other than that, it’s been a wonderful twenty-four hours. Megan and her husband, Brandon, came in last night with their two boys, Sawyer and Ford. Ford and Jacob are best buddies and were ecstatic to be together. We went downtown to Del Frisco’s Grille on Sundance Square for dinner. I don’t go downtown often, so I had forgotten how magical and electric with energy it is, especially at Christmas time. I felt more alive and optimistic than I have in months. Just thoroughly enjoyed the evening, the company, the restaurant, everything. Probably had an extra glass of wine. We were all so tired we went to bed shortly after we got home.

So now, I’m home, reading a book for a competition I’ve agreed to be part of, and perfectly content. But I may want to go downtown again sometime soon. Fort Worth is a wonderful place to live. Much as I love Texas and its history, I just sometimes wish we weren’t in the most conservative, redneck state in the Uniion.