My Nearest Dearest and her family had been on vacay for two weeks. I'm still relatively new to CO and so don't have all of the family and friends that I did back in TX. I have lots of friends here, I do, but Caren and her family are the closest to us physically and otherwise.
I also learned that most people in CO are either gone during the summer or have company. Why one would leave CO during the summer is beyond me. I know, I know....I went to TX for 3 weeks this summer but I vow to never do that again! It was dumb to be in the "screeching heat," as Drew would say, when I could be enjoying temperatures in the 80's and with little to no humidity. I had to see my Texas People though. I missed them so MUCH!! I'll see them in the Spring, when Texas is in bloom and the weather is lovely.
Anywhoo, while Caren was gone I tried to round up some play dates for the kids and I. I was able to schedule 3 such dates. That's right 3 in two weeks and they happened to be the last 3 days before Caren's family was to return home. It was so good! After days of entertaining myself with Tostito Lime Chips, books and laundry, it was so wonderful to see some of my girlfriends and their little ones.
Caren came home Friday and I "killed the fatted calf." OK, not really but practically. I put a roast in the crock pot so when they rolled in at 5:30 she would not have to scrounge around her empty kitchen to feed her hungry brood. This also ensured that I would get to hug and kiss them all. ;) Ha! I also made a chocolate cake because I missed Caren's and her oldest's birthday while they were away.
As always when I try to cook for my Personal Chef Friend, I screwed it up. Really? How does one screw up a Duncan Hines box cake that I've made a million times. Well I'll tell you. The first layer fell so there was a huge well in the middle of it. No problem, I thought, I'll just fill it with something. I looked for strawberries but we were out so I just filled it with extra chocolate frosting. Yummy but ended up being a bit too rich. Also the second layer was somehow bigger then the first and so I thought I'd just trim that little over hang off...BIG mistake. Then there were crumbs and they got all up in the frosting. The end result was a grainy looking chocolate mess. It's the Curse of Cooking for Caren. Arrrrgh!
No one seemed to care but me. Typical. We sat out on the back patio enjoying our meal.
"The texts you sent me while we were gone were cracking me up!" Caren laughed as she read them aloud:
"Come home soon! No one will play with me. Make that 'us.' No one will play with the boys either.
Won't you come home Bill Bailey? Won't you come home?
Hurry home. Never mind. Take your time. The giant pimple on my face is keeping me company. His name is Desperado.
Drew is craving your pear pie.
Tooooomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya tomorrow! You're only a day awaaaaaay!"
"Hilarious or pathetic? By the way, have you been properly introduced to Desperado? He's a mean little cuss. That reminds me...I need to have Aaron buy Desperado his own plane ticket for our trip to New York."
The Husbands sat with us on the patio drinking wine and catching up. Our kids periodically ran through the patio; laughing and screaming. There was talk of back to school shopping and plans for the last days of summer. Ahhh! All is right on my part of the mountain again.
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