Wednesday, May 06, 2009

May 6, 2009: Another day of Monsoon Misery...until later afternoon.

Ahhhhh, yesterday???? To tell the truth, I spent almost the entire day in the yard, which was still very wet when I began mowing.....and only the parts that were not very tall had dried out by the time I finished....the tall, newer planted grass was very wet and made it really difficult to cut through it. I spent almost six hours in the yard, pushing that damn mower and getting all kinds of wonderful(?) exercise. FYI, it normally takes three hours to do the complete job, so it was way more than twice as long to play this catch-up "game" of getting control of the lawn. After I finished....I had to rake several areas just so that it would not kill out the brand new grass which we planted last fall. And.....during the entire ordeal yesterday, I had to stop five times and turn the mower on it's side and scrape out the wet mulched grass which collected underneath to the point of almost choking out the mower.........it was the worse time I have had of mowing this lawn since we purchased the house in the winter of 1992!!!!!!

As soon as I could "finish" this job, I jumped in the shower and cleaned up my sweaty sagging hulk, put on some clean clothes and headed to Cape Girardeau. Our granddaughter, Rachel, was once again performing in the Cape Middle School percussion ensemble called Shere Khan yesterday evening. As soon as I got to Cape a bit after 4pm.....I headed for El Alcapulco....a Mexican restaurant which I had not eaten in....and since it was Cinco de Mayo Day....I thought this was a great time to try it out.

Well.....I was not impressed!!!! I suppose I have been jaded because I have been to soooo many authentic Mexican restaurants....cafes....in the border towns of Texas and in Nuevo Progresso, Mexico. I ordered enchiladas filled with cheese, covered in a tomato-based sauce filled with beef..(much like pulled pork), and the sauce was very dark with chili powder added to add to the spicy flavor. It was accompanied with shredded lettuce and some guacamole sauce on it. To cut right to the chase.......it was very bland, very "Americanized" so as to not offend our tastes, and i was very disappointed. The chips and salsa brought with my Margarita were not good.....mass manufactured chips which were not real tortilla chips...and the salsa was just adequate. Down south, the salsa is always nice and warm(temp)....and goes down soooooo wonderfully on the fried tortilla sections. The Margarita......UGH!!!!! It was "Happy Hour"....and even with the $1.87 for the drink.....it was soooooo weak and too sweet and.......it was not "hand-made" as it came from one of those large machines that makes things like "slushies". OK.....I won't go back there again......perhaps I should have gone to El Torrero" there in Cape.

Afterwards, I spent a little bit of time in Barnes & Noble.......reading a few mags while sipping a cappuccino.....which also is another story for me to get the "right" ingredients in the correct measurements....and, I won't go there tonight!!!!!

From there, I picked up Becky and Rachel....and we went over to the Cape Middle School. The Shere Kahn....the 6-7 grade audition percussion group.....performed, as well as a few of their members in a small vocal ensemble. This is the same group I heard in December in one of their concerts.....and they also were honored by being chosen to perform this past January at Tan-Tara Resort for the Missouri State Music Educator's Association's state convention. They are quite good, very talented....and last night they performed two numbers that were composed by two of the of the members of the group.....7th graders!!!!!!!! I was/am really, really proud of Rachel.....and she does such a conscientious job with the various instruments that she performs on for the different pieces of music. WOW!!!!!

And....after the performance last night, the director.....Pam Dumey(sp?)....whom I have known for years.....asked me if I would like to direct a number next year at one of their performances. And....I told her I would be delight to do that!!!!

Returning home last night, I collapsed on the sofa...and quite obviously, I didn't get this little post written.

Today????? I was awake before 7am.....DAMN.....and getting my sagging hulk out of bed, I opened the drapes in the bedroom and OMG.......what a dismal day it appeared to be out there. And....for the most of the day, it WAS!!!!! I made a trip to W-M to pick up a prescription for the 1st Lady....she is STILL with her Mother in Monroe City......and then I went to the local lumber yard to pick up a new sliding door handle/lock as the old one had just decided to quit working.

Returning to the stick and brick......I sat and read, surfed the net....and then in the late afternoon, the sun slipped out.....and it became a beautiful evening. The lawn looks sooooo good with the several Azaleas which we have planted over the years all looking sooooo gorgeous. But....I have about 10 large geraniums to get planted, some new red mulch to lay down over the front entrance where I have some plants.....and just other trimming to get done. Tomorrow??? MORE RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And soooo, before I become a bit depressed over this forecast......I can say that, as usual......

LIFE IS REALLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!

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