Barbecue in the Rain, and other tidbits

One of my mother's house guests bought two huge racks of ribs and commented to me that they would taste really good barbecued (HINT HINT). My mother doesn't BBQ, so it was really meant for me to pick up on, which I did, and offered to BBQ for the group. They were going home today, so last night was my only chance before they left. So there I was, barbecuing in the rain last night, with a few minor casualties as usual with ribs. We had a side dish of hashbrown casserole which called for cream of chicken soup, which I took from my mother's cupboard. She claims to have bought it recently, possibly at the local store. I didn't mention my concern to them about the best before date until after we had all eaten. It was stamped February 1997...however, we are all still alive and well today, so it couldn't have mattered much. Getting things that are out of date are not uncommon for that store, which is partly due to low sales on some items, so they may sit for a while...but 1997???

The sun has finally poked its head out again today. I have laundry to hang out, so thankful of that! I only have just a few days left of my vacation...sigh. Then I have to return to the land of dysfunctional families (not that I couldn't find that here in my own, ha ha).

I've spent some time off and on since my arrival, sorting through boxes upon boxes of old stuff from my house. When I moved away, my then husband was still living in the house and we weren't really sure what we were doing with it. I moved with just a few boxes and a half a dozen suitcases. So when we rented the house the following year, the tenants boxed up all of our old crap and sent it on over to my parents barn. Where it has sit since 1998. Sigh again...so now I have to go through all this crap, keeping only what is useful in the house, or sentimental enough for me to lug home or back to the house to store. I have thrown out bags upon bags of USELESS CRAP and boxed up many things for donation to the church in Burgeo, mostly books. It has proven to be very hard to throw out some things...why do we attach so much sentimental value to things?

And then there is my father, rifling through what I have thrown out and picking out the strangest things to keep. A ring box??? A French composition book??? old pieces of cable??? He is much more of a packrat than I am, but not for sentimental things like I kept, such as stories my daughter has written, programs from my high school graduation, and Girl Guide badges...he keeps junk he might use for something someday. The irony of it all is guess who will likely be stuck going through all of THEIR stuff when they move out to a seniors home, or pass on...ME. So once again I will be throwing that crap out...SIGH!

I would much rather be lounging in a chair, reading another book...now reading We were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates. Its not bad, I've just begun. I recalled the second book I read at the cabin - The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks.

onward...