Maria walked through the door with
two jars of preserves she had made with her very own little hands, peach and tomato. This immediately put her on good footing with Dad. Patsy, (I still can't believe this one) brought him an almanac. A few weeks ago I ordered an almanac for Dad, because just about everyday for a month or so, he mentioned that he wanted one. He loves them, but for obvious reasons was not able to pick one up this year. When the one I ordered arrived in the mail a few days ago, he was completely underwhelmed, saying that he could make "hide nor hair" of it. He then gave it to Connie when she came over. When Patsy handed him the one she had brought, it became obvious that it was "the almanac" he had been requesting. How the heck was I supposed to know? I thought all almanacs were equal.
Little did I know. After they left, he called me over, and pointed out two pages with recipes. There were several he wanted to try, and wanted to make sure I saw them. He told me not to forget the page. Yea, yea. He kept the damn thing on his table by his bedside the rest of the day, and it's still sitting there this morning. He just keeps thumbing through it, and finding "something new" each time he looks at it. Arrrg!Just as I knew he would, Dad fell in luv with Maria! Everyone who was in the room could see it. She plopped down beside him, leaned into his space, and started talking to him as if they were old friends. Everything about her said, "Old man, you're just gonna luv me," and he did. I pose the question, "Who on earth could resist Maria?" She has several things going for her though, she makes homemade preserves (and brought some to him), she lives on and has a working knowledge of farms, she's knowledgeable about NASCAR(I'm still trying to get over that one.), and she (Are you ready for this?) was born in Germany. Who knew? Dad loved this, because his family is from Germany. No matter that she was actually born on a military base, it was still Germany to him. This morning when I gave him his orange juice,
Dad ~ That Maria was born in Germany; did you know that?
Me ~ No, Dad, I didn't know that.
Dad ~ Yep, Germany, can ya beat that?"
Me ~ No, Dad. Can't beat that."
I probably did know Maria was born in Germany, but I guess it just didn't impact me the way it did Dad, so I didn't remember. Go figure! On her next visit, I'm sure we'll learn that she's a long lost relative. Bek and I decided he would probably want to put her in the will if she stayed much longer. I told Bek, when he asks how to spell her name I'll spell it wrong.
Patsy, Maria, Bek and I went to lunch at Panera's. After lunch we went next door to Ben and Jerry's for dessert. After that I took them to my favorite thrift shop. They found lots of bargains.
Bek had gotten an apple with her lunch. On the way home, she dropped it. She said, "Oh, I dropped my apple." Maria said, "Well, it's better than dropping your pessary." In unison, we all said, "What's a pessary?" Answer here. After reading the answer, I'm sure you will agree, Maria is correct, it is much better to drop your apple than your pessary.
It was a great day, enjoyed by all. Only one problem, I miss all of you even more, if that's possible.
The only downside: When Dad tastes Maria's preserves, I'll have to listen to stories about her all over again. He's found a new friend.
