Dinner with UJ and AB

Saturday, January 5th, was a busy day. We had planned to spend the majority of it in St. George because we need to get the condo ready for the new renters. However, never ones to miss the opportunity to mix business with pleasure, we left here early, drove down in a pounding rainstorm, and met up with Barb and The Pearl at the Temple. We did the 8:00 AM, and had a bite of breakfast before beginning our work at the condo. We met with three handymen and I went through and made a list of what needed to be done in each room. While I made the list, Bubb and Auntie Nell oiled cleaned cabinets, etc. I went over to Lowe's and got most of the supplies, including a new cordless drill (mine died recently). Unfortunately, it takes nine hours for the batteries to charge, so I was not able to do any of the drilling jobs (new mini-blinds, door stops, fixing the sweep on the screen door, etc.). Instead, I had to be the plumber, a job I am ill equipped for. I changed both toilet seats, changed the hot and cold water feed lines to the master bath sink, and replaced the drain/stopper assembly in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish either sink job (more parts are needed).

The bright spot was our dinner appointment with Jim and Barb and Rol and Nell. Auntie B has been making tamales, as she does each holiday season, and we shared in the bounty. They were wonderful. She had made a fresh cranberry relish (it had a jalapeno in it) to go with the tamales, and it was exquisite. You can see she set a lovely meal before us.

Our hostess also prepared a lovely, decadent, and limey dessert for us. Auntie Nell supposedly provided the recipe, but can't remember the occasion (it sucks to get old!). It tasted as good as it looks in the photo. A very nice evening was enjoyed by all and our thanks to our host and hostess for entertaining us.

After dinner, the talk turned as it does more and more these days, to morbid topics like burial plots and funeral arrangements. Uncle Jim has said for years that he wants a Viking funeral on Ivins reservoir. He even wrote a column about it in the local paper. We talked about the plans and the great wake he is anticipating. He even showed us his new sword, adorned with the symbol of the "Brotherhood of the Monkey Head", and demonstrated how it would be laid on his chest as his funeral barge is pushed off from the shore. Uncle Roland pointed out that we might be able to see the sword after the pyre sinks, because Ivins reservoir is only a couple of feet deep.

Buboppy