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Sunday, April 1, 2018

EASTER PARADE!

With the Easter weekend fast approaching, I thought we may experience a slight slow down in work.  The traditional patterns have become recognisable, and that is why it has become easier for Samantha and I to take off for the weekend at this time.  However, as I think I mentioned, this was not going to be the case, this year, as we are (hopefully not for too much longer) a 'man down'.  In the grand scheme of things, the postponement of the 'mother-daughter' weekend, (and I stress the word 'postponement',) was for the best!

Although I had completely cleared both my desk and email 'in-box' on Friday, I came into work with both being full.  I was nothing, if not focused, and worked tirelessly throughout the day.  The car park situation was worsening, as it appeared I was being 'taunted' by the staff in the adjacent building, as they would pull into our spaces, and waited for a while, before leaving their vehicle, then sprinted across to their office.  I wondered if I was getting slightly paranoid, but when you call to someone and they stop, put their head back, and turn around to retrace their steps, before you have said a word, you realise paranoia has not set in!  

Image may contain: dogI was pleasantly surprised on Tuesday, when I received a text.  "Hi, it's Jamie."  Apparently, she and her family were going to be in Marble Falls over the weekend, and she knew it was not too far from Austin.  Would we like to meet?  "Who is Jamie?" asked my husband, whose memory sifts through items quicker than water through a colander. I explained that her husband, and Steph's father, were very close friends, and that I had joined them all for dinner last summer.  "If you want to, sure, we can meet them".  I wasn't surprised that he agreed, per se, and waited for the follow up questions, but none were asked.  I replied to Jamie that we would like to meet up, and perhaps she could suggest somewhere, as I was not au fait with the neighborhood, and despite it being Dana's stomping grounds some thirty five years ago, he too did not really know the area particularly well anymore.

The clouds rolled in on Tuesday afternoon, and sometime after midnight the storm started, with my bedroom lighting up as if a spotlight had been faced towards it, followed by resounding claps of thunder.  Eventually the flashing lights and crashing noises became part of the night, and I fell back to sleep.  I awoke to the sound of battering rain on the windows.  

Joe did not answer my text message, so I assumed he was still in New England, or was not going into work early.  I had made some French macarons, almond danish pastries and some almond shortbread and had planned to take a selection to the shop. I had  nail appointment at nine, and as Joe had not responded, was going to go into work before departing south, but this too did not happen.  Instead, I prepared dinner for the evening, and headed towards Michelle!  Gail, Joe's lady friend, text'd me shortly before I left the house to say that Joe had left his phone in Vermont, and thought I might be trying to contact him. He was at the shop!  Alas it was too late for me to make the journey.  

I got to Michelle quite quickly, considering the rain and the amount of traffic accidents, and traffic light failures.  The typical 'Austin in the rain' effect was in force, and over-cautiousness was the order of the day.  It was as if everyone was taking a driving lesson, having never sat in the drivers seat before.  I found it quite easy to weave in and out of lanes, as everyone appeared too afraid to go more than ten miles an hour.  The roads were slippery, but over-cautiousness can be just as dangerous as taking no caution at all!  I was not reckless, just careful.  Michelle had several cancellations as the rain was too much to bear for some of her clients.  I was rather surprised. I could understand if it was icy, or even snowing but I have found that Austinites, despite the abundant variety of 'wellington' boots and patriotic and 'keep Austin weird' designer umbrellas available, do not like to go out in the rain.  Boots are worn when it has been raining, and umbrellas are carried in case the sun becomes too hot!  The typical feminine parasol is not carried by the 'Westerner'.  Michelle was also a little perplexed as her phone continued to buzz with people not wanting to venture out in the rain.
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My 'Union Jack' umbrella has seen better days, but instead of opting to go down the line to the 'drive thru', I told Samantha to order her Starbucks, on her phone 'app', and I would go into the shop to collect it. I thought the queue for the window may be a little too long.  It was long, but there were also no parking spaces near the door!  Out came my old faithfully 'brolly', and it opened with little resistance.  It did not form a perfect coned circle,  but was more of a mixture of curves and straight angles.  I do have a new one, somewhere, but this is my emergency handbag weapon against pelting precipitation.  I managed to get into the shop without getting too wet, but had to ask which beverage was hers, as there were several cups on the counter, and none appeared to have names.  "We do our best!" said the member of staff whom I asked, and who removed the cardboard sleeve from each cup to reveal the name.  Last time they had written it upon the sleeve, so I was looking there.  I thanked her for her time, and went back to the car.  Trying to get into the car, with a small space between my vehicle and the one that had pulled in next to me, leaving a slither between, gave me next to no room to open my door.  My 'old lady' has become rather security conscious.  I can 'plip' the car to lock it, but the 'plip' does not actually release the lock, so I have to do it manually with the key.  The passenger side does not have a key opening.  I have to get in from the drivers side.  I tried to slide between my car and the one next to me, brushing my clothes along the side of both.  I had not worn a coat as I had an umbrella and was not going far!  I opened the door, let the umbrella rest upon the roof of my car, and put the cup in the holder.  I then had to close the umbrella before getting into the car, rather than being able to sit in the car and then close it.  By the time I was in my seat, I looked like I had been for a swim, fully clothed.  Now it was time to go to the office.

The car park was full.  This was not my morning!  I recognised a couple of 're-offenders', but did not want to make a scene by going over to their building and demand they move.  Looking like a drowned rat, they probably would have charged me for water damage on their carpet!  Samantha appeared, umbrella in hand, and stood in a space which had just been vacated.  I thought she was helping me, but she wanted to make sure her coffee arrived in her hands, hot!  

Texts from Jamie suggested various places we could meet.  They were going to go hiking.  Would we be interested in joining them?  Dana hiking?  I politely declined.  They thought about grabbing dinner on Friday night and going to a live concert.  Would we be interested in joining them?  Dana at a concert?  I politely declined.  There was a fabulous winery, where they had an opportunity to sample various varieties of wine.  Would we............ Dana is teetotal.....I politely declined.  I wondered if I would hear from them again, as I had made an excuse for all the options.  However, I was being a little over-cautious (which just goes to show, it happens to us all) and we decided to meet for dinner on Saturday night.

The rain stopped shortly before lunchtime, and Samantha and I walked to Randalls, where we picked up some items and returned to the office.  My jacket was still soaking wet, and although the rain had stopped, I was getting wetter.  The water bottle in my back pack had not been sealed properly, and was leaking.  The tops of my trousers were soaking, which was interesting as it was the only place that had been fully protected from the rain!

By Thursday I had given up policing the car park.  We had received a note from our management agency, regarding the issue, and recommending that no one from our building park in either of the three adjacent parking lots.  It appeared there had been some violators.  The afternoon was quiet and most people appeared to be leaving early for the holiday, one of which we were not going to be taking advantage.  

Samantha, who had been suffering from a sore throat for most of the week, sent me a message on Friday morning.  The small white spot on her tonsils had grown, and she was not feeling well.  She had shivers, and her head was pounding.  She said she would try to get into work later but I did not hold out much hope.  After all, Friday is her 'early leaving' day.  

Image may contain: foodI drove myself to the empty parking lot, and entered the office early.  I cleared away all my 'swag' from this year, and last, and managed to tidy up and throw away a lot of 'trash', which had accumulated over the past few months.  Being a 'man down' had meant that this job had taken a back seat and I was glad to be able to find homes for my many pieces of memorabilia and 'knick-knacks'.  I had also decided to take a new approach on Monday, and take a peace offering to our neighbouring building, perhaps some macarons or meringues, to try and decrease the tension.  I would maintain my British 'stiff upper lip' and take the proverbial bull by the horns.  My 'European' style desserts have been a big hit with the locals so far.  I was hoping they would could be seen as a piece de resistance.  I had made some quiches for the office, and received the utmost accolade from my husband, when he told me that my salsa was better than one of the famous brands that is a 'staple' here!  Oh the joy!  Of course (as my daughter was so quick to point out) this was only 'his opinion'!  However, I would see if the desserts had the desired effect!

I sent Jamie a text to see if we were 'still on' for Saturday and she said she would send me a message later in the day.  

We left the office on Friday evening, a little before 5:30.  It had been so quiet up until midday, when I had decided to drive my car home and walk back to the office.  Several papers were sent to us during the time I was out, and I set to processing them upon my return.  Between my return and 3pm, work poured in, and then all went quiet until 4:45pm, when round two began. Fortunately, the bell rang, and we were able to leave.  Dana drove us to the mall, and we ate at Abuellos.  Their salsa is good!

Samantha was feeling better on Saturday, and we chose to stick to our routine.  Sam's and Costco were busy.  We ventured from there to Sears, along the Interstate frontage road, which was having a closing down sale.  There were a lot of items on sale, together with fixtures and fittings, but we found little to buy.  Then we got to the shoe department.  Although I had promised myself 'no more', I found a pair of gaudy crushed velvet, winey purpley coloured shoes, that were so garish, I could not pass them up.  At under $10 it would have been a crime to leave them on the stands.  Admittedly, they were not as 'bright' or 'loud' as some pairs that I own, but they were brash.  We went from there to Walmart and back home.  We agreed that with her being ill, and the dog (although fully recovered) only being out of surgery for two weeks, it was a good thing that we had not gone away.

Jamie had found a restaurant overlooking the bay, and had booked a table.  I was delighted.  

The drive to Marble Falls took a little over an hour, but it was pleasant.  The restaurant was small but had a large patio area, and there was plenty of seating outside.  We arrived first.  Enjoying the view, we waited for our dinner partners, and drunk in the surroundings.  They arrived shortly afterwards.  

Without a lull in the conversation, the evening was great fun.  With Jamie being the 'American', she and Dana discussed the way they had both come to speak 'English-English' rather than us 'English' being drawn to their language.  We chatted about all the differences in cultures and the food!  Dana told his story of how he never knew that he did not eat 'proper' food, until we told him.  We ate 'proper' sausages, and 'proper' chocolate.  Saul agreed that 'proper' sausages was probably the longest thing to 'get over'.  There was a lot of laughter.  Their son, Remy, attends college in a small town in Alabama.  Dana had a friend who graduated from there!  Remy knew the area from where Dana graduated.  We discussed the Hurriane Harvey and how the people of the area had come together in a disaster.  There were almost tears.  Dana asked Remy if there was one thing about him, that defined him, that people should know.  He said being the son of an Englishman and an American woman was probably the most defining attribute.  A very good, and telling answer.  We declined the invitation to go back to their 'lodgings', as we had an hours drive, but promised that we would meet again.  

As we drove back to Austin, Dana asked the question that I had been expected at the beginning of the week.  "So which one was your friend?"  I told him, "neither".  I then told him the story again.  Saul and Steph's dad had been friends.  We met for dinner in the summer.  Jamie and I had chatted all night as we both lived in Texas and had enjoyed each other's company, and swapped phone numbers.  "Oh" was the answer.  "Perhaps they could be our friends now", I said, in adolescent jest!  

The likelihood of the mother-daughter extravaganza has become more favourable, as we may have our 'third' man for the office lined up.  I am quite confident that we shall be successful in our placement.  As a born and bred Texan, he shall have to endure not only learning the dynamics of the job, but a whole new angle on the English language. (Perhaps we should introduce him to Remy!) This may be more of a challenge than he expects!  However, I am nothing if not patient!  

With everyone in England (with whom I have contact) telling me that there is a holiday tomorrow, I am finding it hard to concentrate on going back to work.  However, I have a mission to accomplish and I am now heading to the kitchen!  Will they accept my peace offering?  That I know not, but I shall no doubt let you know in ...... another story!



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