Shifting Gears

Hubby is now home from his extended vacation (that means golf, golf and more golf – BORING!), the dog is elated to have his buddy home and I’m thrilled because I sure did miss him.  Hard to believe I was a happy independent woman when I met him!

Friday after work Burl drove me to Branson for a sleep-over with one of my dearest friends – we had planned is for a couple of months knowing Burl was going to be out of town but when he came home early he decided to drive me down and have dinner with us and then Bev brought me back on Saturday since she was coming to Springfield anyway.  Worked me for – I didn’t have to drive and I got to enjoy the company of 2 of my favorite people.  When we arrived she had a bottle of wine waiting for us which we proceeded to polish off in no time – then decided we really didn’t want to venture out for dinner so she finished a pot of Reuben soup (VERY yummy – only 34 grams of fat per serving!) and we dined on that.  Burl headed home after dinner as we were working our way through the 2nd bottle of wine.  That done we curled up on the couch and started on a big pitcher of my 100-calorie frozen raspberry margaritas (recipe available if you ask) which I had brought.  Bev had been instrumental in preserving my sanity when I got divorced 20 years ago and since she just went through the divorce experience I was ready to lend an ear to her as well as engage in alcohol therapy.  We didn’t solve every problem known to man (or perhaps caused BY men!) but we made a stab at it – laughed, cried, drank, repeated therapy!

Saturday morning we were remarkedly NOT hungover and after lingering over coffee we decided to tackle a little retail therapy and have brunch.  After a detour to the outlet mall we ended up at Little Hacienda restaurant on 76 just west of White Water for delicious tortilla soup – then went to Eureka Trading Post which is a great little boutique further east on 76.  There I discovered a purseket which I had seen in Oprah magazine – an item that was on my “things I’ll tell my kids to get me when they need a gift idea” list.  It’s a handy-dandy purse organizer that fits inside a purse and means you can transfer stuff from one bag to another more easily.  Naturally I went ahead and bought it (sorry kids) and so far it’s rating about a B+ or A- – the little pockets could have a bit more expansion on the sides but overall I think it’s going to be a hit.

Got home by late afternoon in time to enjoy the evening with Burl.  It’s now Sunday and we’ve been to church and to get my diet Coke at Mickey D’s and now I’m ready to start tackling the exciting job of getting tax crap together for our CPA – the fun never ends.