Fun on the weekend

 

My blog has been quiet for a couple of nights, mostly because there didn’t seem to be much to say. I worked at my desk, but nothing seemed remarkable. Maybe I just had a springtime case of the blahs. Anyway, the Alter/Burtons had fun this weekend.

The picture above was taken Saturday night at HG Sply when Jamie came to visit (that’s Jamie leaning over my shoulder—Jacob, the picture taker, sort of cut half of himself off). Jamie lives in Frisco, but his work as sales manager for an international toy company takes him all over, especially to Los Angeles where he spends a lot of time (happy coincidence: his youngest daughter, Eden, is in school at UCLA). Upshot is Jamie doesn’t often have time to get to Fort Worth, so his visit is always a treat.

Dinner at HG Sply was a new treat for me. We ate on the patio, which was handicap accessible (it’s a long walk from the parking, so Jamie pushed me in the transport chair). Because of a funny quirk in my digestion, I am watching what I eat—so I happily watched myself eat salmon, sweet potato and grilled avocado half with chimichurri sauce. Wonderful meal! After dinner, we sat around, visited, laughed a lot, and had a good time.

Friday night, Jean and I planned to go to our favorite Japanese restaurant, Tokyo Café, but by the time we called, they were booked. So Jean got us take-out—she had a yakisoba noodles with tofu and vegetables (no tofu for me, thank you!). I ordered salmon crudo—I had scant idea what it would be except that it had salmon sashimi. It was delicious but next time I’ll probably just order sashimi.

Today, Jordan and Christian went to the Hidden Garden Tour in Fort Worth—all the gardens were in Crestwood, a lovely older neighborhood with beautiful trees and grand old homes. Despite of unseasonably high temperatures, they report a good time. I like the TCU skeleton.

So tonight, we’re all home, and I have fixed a cilantro/lime chicken salad. We’ll have a green salad with it. And I have a good book for the evening.

The week wasn’t that blah, really. I did a lot of work. Finding Florence went to beta readers, and I already have the first report back, so that’s tomorrow’s project. I wrote my May column for Lone Star Literary Life (if you don’t know that free, online weekly newsletter, you should look it up), I did an small editing job for a nonprofit here in Fort Worth, wrote a book review, and finished the recipe section for Finding Florence, despite the fact that the computer kept eating the recipes. Now, as another week looms, I have projects to look forward to—edits on the new mystery, a story/recipe to compose, and choices to make about my next project.

I close with a nostalgic picture of the Alters on the Fort Worth Zoo train—Jacob must have been no more than three or four, but I can’t imagine what accounts for the funny look on his face. A good memory.

Hope this is a good week for everyone—may the weather cool off in Texas.