Saturday. Glorious day. Waking early, Jenn stretches and thinks about what lies ahead of her. A day of peace. Nothing overly demanding. Nothing overly difficult to do today. She rolls to her side and realizes the cat has stretched the length of himself out on her comforter, again. He'd found the new house to his liking and made it his domain, as would have been expected. Some day she's going to have to find a way to keep him off the bed, she thought. Yah right. Scratching behind his ears she hops out of bed.
Downstairs she smiles as she witnesses the sun just peaking over the rooftops. The sun. What a welcome site in February in the Northwest. She wondered if it would be cold today or if they'd get a peak of what Spring promised. She hoped for the latter.
Pulling her coffee maker out from under the cabinet, she smiled, secretly admitting she really liked the fact that she had a new counter to pull her coffee maker from. She glanced around the spacious kitchen and felt at home. Finally. A home. Not hers, she mused, but she could make it her's none the less, and she would. She has.
Coffee brewing, she opened the back door to test just how "springy" it was going to be. Shivering, "Not yet," she thought. Still a little brisk outside. Sliding the door shut she sighed, and wondered what the day had in store for her. She turned as the coffee maker beeped, announcing that her elixir of life was ready. She knew that she probably drank too much coffee for her own good, but she'd make that change another day. Maybe she'd give it up for Lent. She laughed at the thought. "Yah right and maybe I'd give up breathing," she said outloud to no one.
With her elixir of life in her hand, she settled on the couch to watch the morning news. Marveling, as she watched, at how the silliest story makes the news these days. She guessed it was better than all the bad that's out there.
It was time. Time for her favorite activity of the weekend. She glanced to the countertop where her brandy snifter of recipes sat. Some probably thought she was a bit crazy to put all her recipes on little strips of paper in a snifter to pick from weekly. She really didn't care. She knew she loved cooking, and loved trying all these new recipes. Some were good enough to repeat. Others were suitable for the shredder. She'd keep the bad ones for at least a year though as she'd put them in her annual cookbook. Just because she didn't like them, didn't mean one of her family members or friends wouldn't.
She probably could cut back on some of the more "fattening" recipes in her arsenal. But she'd think about that next week. Looking at her calendar she knew she needed three new recipes. Dipping in, she chose. Opening it and reading it, she tossed it back thinking it was way too much for just one person. She continued this exercise until she found three that might due for a single girl.
A single girl, how she despised those words. Someday, she hoped, maybe if she was really good, or if she gave up coffee, she'd find her Principe Azul - which was Spanish for Prince Charming. Shaking her head she laughed at the thought. No, she figured her life was for just her to enjoy. Unlikely she'd find someone to put up with her and her ways.
Sifting through her recipe file she finds the three new recipes. Suddenly she remembers the family will be over Sunday for dinner. She'll need one more recipe. What sounded good? What has she already made that was, perhaps, a bit healthier? She knew just the recipe. She'd made it in January and loved it instantly. She added that recipe to her pile.
She went about the rest of her morning. Doing laundry. Trying to change her sheets, and finding that the cat had taken up home on her bed, still. She knew she probably shouldn't give in to him so often, but he was so cute. He gave her hours of amusement. Sometimes just looking at his facial expressions made her laugh. She needed help. She was thinking about how to change her plans for the day because the cat was asleep on her bed.
Glancing at the clock she realized she had to get moving. She was volunteering for a 3Day Getting Started meeting again today. She smiled at her reflection and was proud of herself for giving back. She wasn't going to walk in the 3Day this year. It had been an experience to end all experiences. Changed her forever. She still carried the thrill of the event with her even today. Instead of walking, she decided to support it by volunteering. And she loved going to these meetings and listening to the stories. She knew she'd cry again today. She always cried at these things. The bloody video they showed. Guaranteed to make her cry. Today! Today she giggled she would not cry. Much.
She backed the car out. Still thrilled by the idea of having a Mustang. It was a beautiful day after all. Rolling her windows down, she glided along. She loved the wind blowing through her hair. Someday she'd own a convertible. A Mustang one to be sure. What other type was there?
She turned the music up and started on her way. She'd be going back to her old neighborhood today. The first neighborhood she lived in when her parents moved her to Washington in 1986. It had been a sad, sad day when they left California. She could feel the heartache as if it just happened. Somehow she'd survived, just like her mom had said. And now, some 22 years later she was sure to smile if the song Careless Whispers came on the radio. While it made her cry like a newly widowed woman in 1986, now it just made her smile. Strange turn of events she thought.
She finished up the 3Day meeting and hopped back into her Stang. There was just enough daylight left for a quick trip by the old house. Up the hill, rounding the corner, it wasn't like it was. Where once stood brilliant Douglas Firs now stands townhouses, and condos that were more expensive than their large house they lived in in the eighties. Not deterred, she climbed the long hill, as if she was just on her way home from high school. At the top, she turned to the right. There it was, the house. Not quite as she remembered it. She remembered it being larger, much larger. Had time changed her that much. It's yellow now, with white trim. The unholy ground cover was still there. God she had hated that ground cover. It was only pretty in the spring when the pretty yellow flowers bloomed. She sighed a heavy sigh and turned to leave. She thought about the memories that house held. Not all good, but most were. She couldn't complain. Her childhood wasn't perfect, but it was a good childhood. Mostly.
She curled up on the couch with yet another book. She'd finished another last night. That was 4 this month already. She was on some kind of role. Now addicted to a new writer, she admitted to herself that she just might have a small amount of OCD. Once she hooked on to something, she rarely let it go until she was ready or bored. Flipping on the TV to see if just in case something was on she couldn't live without. Flip. Flip. Flip. She maneuvered through the channels. So many channels. So little to see. Then she stopped. Grinned a wide toothy grin, Grease was on TV. What a naughty movie it was. It was perfectly innocent when she saw it for the first time in the 70's - she thought it was the 70's. Then as a college student she'd watched it again and was shocked and a little embarrassed when she had realized what some of the comments phrased. Her favorite song Grease Lightening was one. That John Travolta...he could sure dance and sing...couldn't act back then, but he did Grease Lightening better than any of them. She laughed because the TV station was skipping past the not so family orientated lyrics of Grease Lightening. She had to admit, her love for hot rods might have started with Grease Lightening. And what the heck was up with the seran wrap in that scene.
She settled in to finish the movie and start a new book. It was 9PM and the cat would be hungry. Again, the cat. She surely needed a life. She'd think about that next week.
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