Cowboy beans day!
I mean, Lindsey’s birthday 😏

I woke up to a heavy frost, in heavy frosty fog. It just looked frigid. Once again, I’m thankful for creature comforts, that I don’t have to carry in wood to have heat, or boil water over a fire to take a bath. I just would not make it in a pioneer life. I’m too lazy. Forget hunting for meat, it’s about too taxing to even go to the grocery store anymore. It’s not the trip, it’s the people you have to contend with, oblivious to the world around them.

JA called and we discussed all the aspects of roping practice yesterday. It’s like most men with hunting, you don’t need to go and watch, you’re gonna relive it every step of the way the next day.
He tried to talk me into coming over again today, they were gonna rope at noon. I once again reminded him I had plans to eat mountains of beans.
“Oh, that’s right,” which is what he always says, whether I’ve told him of my plans or not. He wants to act like he listens, at least.
“I mean, if you’d buy me a helicopter, I could be both places at nearly once.”
“Well, the problem is, where you gonna land it here?”
“We’ve been over thisssss,” I told him witheringly. “The roping pen. And it will be speedier to help dry it out.”
“I don’t think one fifty thousand dollar helicopter will dry it out very quick.”
“No, I want the Black Hawk. And I can hover.”
Alas, no helicopter, be it el cheapo 50K or grande Black Hawk is in our future, so no roping for me.
He’s just mad I wouldn’t come exercise MLK and he’d have to lope his own circles. I suggested utilizing Joey, since he likes them so well.

I had a couple of leftover sausage patties from breakfast yesterday that I intended to take to work this week for breakfast, but the weather called for something more hearty than avocado toast, which is what I initially had my heart set on. I had just eaten them, a biscuit, and a couple of fried eggs, when Jason texted to come on anytime. It was 10:00.
Um.
They had told me one o’clock for beans….but I guessed maybe they just meant come hang out. Jason said I had three hours to recover and be ready to eat again. Mission accepted.
So I got ready (no makeup, no point, and I wasn’t about to wash my hair and then sit in front of a fire all afternoon) and swung into Dollar General for gift cards and a phone charger. That particular Dollar General doesn’t sell beer, it’s too close to the school. I wondered if I could even buy beer at 11 on a Sunday? Well, I was fixing to find out.
I whipped into Food City. There were no signs up, so I selected the Sam Adams winter lager and a new peach cider from the Angry Orchard people. I was taking a gamble on both, but if Jamie was gonna be there he’d have the ol’ standby, Mich Ultra, and all would be well.
Onward.

Lindsey bought herself a new car. Not new, new, but new to her. It’s a Subaru Outback and very nice. I’m tickled for her. She was scared to take the Ranger over to Ben’s, and her big truck is hard on fuel, so I think she’ll be very happy with this. It suits her. So I sat in it and she pointed out all the bells and whistles and talked about her discount. That girl is 60 if she’s a day! It’s great to see somebody that age so conscientious for a change.

I was all alone on my alcohol consumption. Jamie stayed home with a migraine and he’s my only drinking buddy. What a drag. The peach was going down easy. I was 3/4 of the way when O’Dell and Geraldine pulled in, so I snuck around the corner of the barn to finish it off. Jason swore up and down they wouldn’t care but I didn’t want to be disrespectful. I don’t think his mom likes me very much, anyway, since I’m divorced. She’s of the mentality you’re supposed to work through anything, including drug addictions and crack whores, I reckon. Sorry, I wasn’t built that way. But I didn’t need to give her another reason to look down on me.
The party started picking up as more people got there and the food got closer to being ready. The onions had made Christy cry, and she kept apologizing for the sniffles. (And blowing her nose and using hand sanitizer. I should use her as an example for JRN). Lindsey was in her element, fielding phone calls, Facebook posts, and text messages, plus all of her nearest and dearest in attendance. Ben was more talkative this time around, and I like him better all the time.
They set up a few games and I tried to make myself invisible but I knew it was only a matter of time before I got roped into cornhole. I like it until I start losing, which happens almost instantaneously. Then I start talking trash, which puts the opposing team off their game, and I can catch up, but then it gets tricky with the 21 and not going over and they’re throwing the game by purposely missing and I get overly confident and it’s always a disaster and takes me 5x longer than it should to simply lose. When I want to be drinking beer by the fire…or in this instance, finishing my caramel pie. John Delozier is an old hand when it comes to dealing with my acerbic tongue and was immune to my pestering.
O’Dell and Geraldine took their leave right behind Tim and Christy, so I requested permission to open another bottle. Permission was granted, and I cracked open the Sam Adams I’d been dreaming of all day.
And it was turrible.
So much for that. I guess it’s good there are so many alcohol products I don’t like. Keeps me from being an alcoholic. That and my strong aversion for throwing up.

I mistakenly assumed we’d be hanging out by the fire for the evening but Christy wanted to play cards, and since the crowd had thinned by this point, the rest of us trooped inside and clustered around the table. I sat in the corner to watch and antagonize. Poor Mikey, Leanne’s boyfriend, he’s never spent much time around me, but he got a dose of exactly how obnoxious and unhelpful I can be in my competitive state. Leanne spurred me along, sticking her tongue out the corner of her mouth and scrunching her nose.
Great fun.

Mikey did not take to Rummy, but he did better with Uno. Good thing. He was about to get stoned on the courthouse steps.
Got me a hair appointment for the Friday after next. I knew I was looking pretty unkept but when Christy reminds me, it’s past time. And of course she’s even busier than usual around the holidays so I hopped to it. Unfortunately she didn’t have anything before Thanksgiving, and this was an afternoon appointment when I should be in Bowling Green, but I’ll either have to go late or not go at all. I’m not opposed to that. I got my Kevin time in already. I just hate I didn’t get to see Craig and Lori.

I eventually extracted myself when talk kept running to a mutual friend that has pierced my heart and carved out a sizeable slice to carry around with their knife, leaving me bleeding for a time. I’m no poker player, my heart is right there on my face, and I just couldn’t take any more. I could hide behind my sunglasses outside when all the stories were being exchanged. It didn’t help I had envisioned this day being different, too.
But again, I brought it on myself. I gotta toughen up. I should have known better. I did know better. Live and learn. FAFO.
I didn’t want to go home, and I never did make it to the store yesterday, so I decided to run by there on my way home. It sure doesn’t take long to spend $100. The only meat I bought was chicken. I did finally find those Little Debbie Christmas Tree inspired muffins, so we’ll see how those taste. It doesn’t look like they have filling, but everybody says they’re wondrous, and I couldn’t pass them up after my valiant searching all month long.
No way was I able to try them tonight, though. That caramel pie was too much. I didn’t need to eat any more sugar for a week!! I hope I can sleep tonight. Maybe I should get a project in mind in case I can’t….I know the ceilings need painting….oh, I’m tired just thinking about that….

Love and beans from Appalachia,
~Amy