Surprise!

It's pretty nifty when a blah day turns into something special.  No humidity (yay!), but already close to 90 degrees, I was having a sit-down after barn chores and contemplating what to do with the rest of the day.  Probably a quick run up to the market if for no other reason than to sit in Truck's A/C and the possibility that the store would also be cooler, as well as restocking supplies.  That's when I got a text from Clay, saying that he'd be up "in a bit," and "see you soon."  Holy cow!  Wracking my brain, trying to remember if I'd known he was coming, I checked prior texts to see if he'd let me know and I'd forgotten (always a possibility).  Nope, this was a most welcome surprise visit, and wasn't I glad that the house still looked nice from my prior guest?

As always when the Kids are coming up, my first thought is, "What will I feed them?"  Checking refrigerator, cupboards, and freezers, I wasn't coming up with much, or at least not much that didn't require a lot of cooking, not an appealing thought in the heat.  Clay had said in a bit and soon, so I didn't want to leave, just in case.  We need to work on our terminology, as it turned out I would have had plenty of time to make it up to Holiday and back.  Plan B:  teriyaki chicken breasts from the freezer and roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts; let the oven do the cooking.

While we were waiting, I took Bess out and put her in her pool and soaked her to the skin.  It was a good indication of the heat that she barely gave a shake when she got out, preferring to drip dry.  I know the feeling.

It's been quite a while since Clay has come up.  Like Dave, Clay has been working long hours and more than five days a week.  I was so happy that he chose to share some precious time off with me.  NASCAR was having a Saturday night race, so that was on our agenda.

Ralph usually comes out briefly when there is company, curious as always to know what's going on.  Celeste, not so much.  She takes off to the bedroom at the first sound of a vehicle in the driveway and stays in hiding for the duration.  There are people who've never seen her, period, so it was a huge surprise when she suddenly appeared in the living room, and an even bigger one when she allowed Clay to pet her.  It was worth commemorating the event on film.  (I know, I know we don't use film anymore.  Give me a break.)

Enjoying Clay's company darned near made me forget how hot it was.  It was the race that turned out to be blah, one of those go-round-and-round races.  Neither of our guys even finished in the top ten.  Phooey.  Dinner, such as it was, turned out well.  Clay walked with me to put the girls to bed and surprisingly, they all behaved well and went directly to their rooms.  Clay has that effect on animals.

All too soon, it was time for my son-by-another-mother to leave.  It was a great day.