So the Memorial Day weekend had it's fair share of highlights, both good and bad. Friday at noon started with me picking up the rugrats from school so that they could finish packing for our roadtrip to North Carolina for a family reunion. Once they were packed, the missus returned home from work so that we could pack their things in the car and get the hell outta Dodge. Well, leaving Dodge wasn't that easy. There was an accident on I85 4 miles north of 285 that had everything at a standstill. Not knowing there was an accident, we got off on I285 at Chamblee-Dunwoody and took backstreets to I85. It was there that we discovered the problem. 1 hour later, (approximately 6 miles total), we got around the accident and were on our way.
The plan was to drive to Charlotte and sleep overnight. Bad idea! There was a NASCAR race in Charlotte this weekend (skip that idea!). So we ate in Charlotte (wonderful Mexican place called Cinco De Mayo near Concord Mills Mall in Concord, NC) and decided to drive to Greensboro to find a hotel and crash. Not only were we able to find a hotel, but we found it cheap (40 bucks!). So we decided to get two rooms, one for the kids, one for us, so that we could have some 'private' time sans kids. We told the kids that the plan was to wake up by 7:30, pack, be dressed, and ready by 8:30. We received a phone call from them at 8:15am indicating they were packed, dressed, and ready to continue on (gotta love my kids!!).
So, we drove to Henrico, NC for the family reunion. It was approximately 2.5 hrs from Greensboro. We got there around 11:30AM just as many were pulling up. Because this is my wife's family, most of these people I don't know. So you do what every member of a family married into it does: SMILE....A LOT! It was great to see some familiar faces as well as learn a few new faces and look to see how big the kids have grown since the last family reunion.
So we left, Henrico, NC around 5:30 PM on our way to Hampton/Newport News, VA to visit wife's aunt and grandfather. Hampton is about 2 hours from Henrico, NC. My wife's aunt (wife's father's sister) is dealing with cancer and rounds of radiation/chemotherapy. She's lost about 50 lbs, but her spirit is really strong and to see that is encouraging. We ate apple pie for dinner (I had a beer as well), visited her grandfather briefly, before we off to sleep for a early morning departure of 6:00 AM Sunday morning.
The 5:00 AM alarm buzzed and I was not ready to budge. Driving that distance takes a lot out of you. But I was really looking forward to my Sunday evening plans :-) So we got up, and were on the road by 6:00 AM. What's funny about all of this, my wife is not a morning person. However, she was up and ready to take on the world. I guess a date with her boyfriend is what it takes to motivate her (lol I'll keep that in mind for future reference). But we arrived in Atlanta at 3:30 PM.
Before I could take our two bags out of the car, she was already in the house showering in preparation to leave again. I fell asleep and never heard her leave (lol). However, I had my own date to prepare for. So I did a little work in preparation for the upcoming week in the office, showered, and even gave myself a homegrown edge. I thought about shaving but didn't see the point because 1) I shaved Friday morning and 2) I don't grow hair all that fast on my face. I did get in a quick workout to get the pheromones pumping through my body.
The date with W could not have gone any better. I picked her up and we went to a coffee house in downtown Decatur. We won't discuss me walking into the yogurt shop next door, but it was entertaining. We discussed everything, her past relationships, my days as a swinging couple, how the missus and I progressed toward polyamory, our needs/wants/desires and all types of scenarios we might encounter. It seems as though we both really like each other and respect our differences enough not to make the other too uncomfortable. I just hope for me, personally, that I can be someone positive to influence and enhance her relationship with her husband. And from the sounds of our discussions on Sunday, I think I have become that positive influence :-)
So why the picture of the soup? One of the many discussions with W was about the fact that she is not a great cook. She'd probably kill me for putting this here, but oh well. She mentioned the fact that she likes to make various types of soups (and the light goes on for everyone). It was at that time I remembered I had a couple of ham bones in the freezer and wanted to thaw one . So from the moment she mentioned making soup, I've had ham and bean soup on the brain. So as I type this entry, the smell of ham and bean soup in the crockpot permeate throughout my home. If you're interested, I'll list the base ingredients used to make the soup:
1 Ham bone with some meat on it
1 lb of dry great northern beans (soak the dry beans overnight in a pot for 6-8 hrs)
1 qt of water
1 qt of chicken broth
1 medium onion chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped
1-2 carrots sliced
1 minced garlic or 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
2 bay leaves
1 spring of rosemary or 1/4 teaspoon of dry rosemary
1-2 basil leaves or 1/4 teaspoon of dry basil
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Cover with lid and turn on high to cook for 4-5 hrs or low for 8-10 hrs.
That's all I have for now. I hope W realizes that the meal my wife and I consume tonight was inspired by her. I see a wonderful future with her and look forward to more great dates and conversations.
- MSS
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