Another lovely day

I felt very much the matriarch today at lunch. Last night Colin texted to ask if we would be able to meet for lunch at Carshon’s at noon today. He and his family plus close friends were driving through on their way to spend spring break skiing at Wolf Creek in Colorado. Well, of course, you know with a request like that we rearranged our schedules. Jordan and I did a quick grocery trip and then I made an even quicker run to Central Market for curbside pickup. I have gotten in the habit of doing what I call “ordinary” grocery shopping at a local chain but ordering special items from Central Market. Today that included Dover sole, ground sirloin, blue cheese, smoked salmon and a few other things.

At 11:55 we were at Carshon’s where Stephanie and Theresa made a table for twelve work even though they were already busy. Colin has literally been eating at Carshon’s all his almost-fifty years and does not ever think of coming to Fort Worth without going there. You’ll note, he didn’t come home—he went to Carshon’s. Theresa takes one look at him and says, “Rebecca. No Russian dressing.” Jordan and Christian splurged and had another designer sandwich, and Jacob seemed to like his bagel and cream cheese. The family of four that my kids always ski with joked that this was not their first time at the deli, and they knew exactly what to order.

But I had one of those special moments as I sat at the head of the table and looked at all the twelve people. I thought, “I made this happen. This wonderful moment. These are my kids, their children, their friends. How blessed we are.” Later, Jacob sort of echoed that. Waiting for Christian to bring the car up, I sat next to him—and he immediately scooted away. I joked about it, and his cousin Kegan sat between us. “Juju,” Jacob said, “Kegan doesn’t see you very often. I live with you.” I hope that was a brag and not a complaint.

Sophie had a good day too. Here she is in that classic position that indicates a dog feels perfectly safe and perfectly content and at ease. Christian and I had a good laugh at the one leg sticking straight up in the air. She actually sleeps that way a lot in the daytime.

Tonight, Jordan’s longtime BFF, David Barnes, came for happy hour. Nice now that he lives just blocks away, even though his wonderful new wife, Kelly, was out of town. We had a great visit, with lots of projections of what they would all look like as they aged. Funny, but my warning to them was not to laugh it off too lightly. Christian, whose father is bald, did a projection of himself as bald—much better than with long hair.

They went inside for dinner, but I chose to stay in the cottage. I made an avocado/blue cheese/cherry tomato salad with lemon and cooked the Dover sole I bought today. Although a friend told me about a recipe with brown butter and capers, I chose to use the garlic/herb butter I bought by mistake and need to use, and I left out the capers—that particular fish is so delicate in flavor I didn’t want capers to overwhelm it.

Amount of work I got done today? Zero, zilch, nada. Maybe tomorrow. But then again, that’s what being eighty and retired is all about. It was a lovely day.