Guests

Last night was cold. The temperature got down to close to freezing, and this morning we woke up to our first frost of the season. It's shaping up to be a beautiful day; bright blue skies and quite a bit of color still left in the trees. My morning coffee tastes so good when it's chilly! 

It's been a busy week. Last Wednesday I took a personal day off from work and my aunt Linda drove to Florence to spend the day with me. I was excited to show her our house, since this was her first time visiting. Gregg and I worked hard to make sure everything was sparkling clean and tidy, and although our home is modest, I was proud of it. The dogs even got baths and were sweet smelling, so the whole family put our best foot forward!

It was great to see her. She looks so much like my grandmother, and her voice and the way she speaks reminds me so strongly of my dad that it almost made me tearful a couple of times. I'm touched that she's trying to build a relationship with me. My mother made it so that I had very little contact with dad's family growing up and took every opportunity to smear and demonize them to me. Now that she (my mother) is not in my life anymore, I'm seeing more clearly than ever how wrong and unfair that was. Anyway, it was a nice visit. We went to lunch and then I gave her a tour of Florence. She lived here years ago but hasn't been back in over 20 years so a lot has changed. It was fun to show her around. She also enjoyed meeting George, Poppy, and Marco. Especially Marco! She asked for a picture with him to show her husband.

 Aunt Linda and Marco

The house and yard are still pretty clean from her visit, which is a good thing, because this coming week, I'm hosting my large book club. There will still be some last-minute vacuuming and shining up surfaces, of course, but thanks to that deep cleaning we just gave everything it won't be too bad. I've already had about a dozen people RSVP "yes" so it's going to be a big crowd. Big by my standards, anyway.

The book we're reading is My Life in France by Julia Child. I thought it would be appropriate for a book club taking place the week before Thanksgiving. There won't be any fancy French food, though. I love to cook but figured out a long time ago that going to a lot of effort making everything from scratch for a big party is really wasted time. Everyone shows up at once, talking and laughing and wolfing down whatever goodies are on offer, and they barely notice (and don't care) whether the refreshments are homemade or take out.

 I'm planning to make pulled pork BBQ in the crockpot for the main dish. It's economical for feeding a lot of people, easy to make, and always well received. There will be a hot cheese dip, too, with assorted chips and crackers, and deviled eggs (made from pre-hard-boiled eggs from the deli, which eliminates the worst of the work). I'll probably make a small crudité platter for something lighter, and there will be a couple of bakery pies for sweets. It should all be very manageable, and hopefully I'll be able to relax and enjoy my guests. 

And when book club is over Wednesday night, I plan to be done with entertaining for the foreseeable future!