WHAT A DIFFERENCE A VISIT WILL MAKE!

When it is just the two of us, TLW (The Little Woman) and myself, we tend to have an established pattern in our lives. It is predictable and reliable. She knows what I am doing and she tells me what I need to know about what she is doing.

It is usually the same kinds of foods in the house, the same snacks, anything I don’t like, and all healthy.

Then, right before Thanksgiving, I happened to be in the closet in the kitchen, (I come out once a day to use the toilet) and I noticed this bag of cookies. They seemed to me to have potential as a ‘happy’ bedtime snack, with a glass of milk. It had everything in it, all the essentials for a happy snack, including chocolate chips and nuts.

I went into the refrigerator, and there sitting under my nose was a container of soup. Broccoli and cheddar soup, and now I am beginning to realize, the cookies weren’t for me!

“Don’t touch that soup!” came the admonishment.

Being the man in the house I retorted: “OK” (She isn’t pushing me around)

“And those cookies, you can look at them, but don’t touch.”

Once again, I summoned up my courage and asked: “How come?”

“Your son is coming home from school for Thanksgiving.”

“When does he go back?”

“YOU take him back on Sunday.”

Doing the math I realize, 4 actual days to keep him occupied. The soup and cookies don’t stand a chance beyond 2 days. I might as well kiss the cookies goodbye, and the soup he will inhale before he is even in the door!

I tried to figure out how I might delay the inevitable. Talk politics! That’s it, and to really get him going, say something he will agree with, and then slowly turn it into something he doesn’t agree with. Yes the plan is brilliant; it is a master plan, one that will blowup in my face! I’ll be arguing from behind the bathroom doors, in the cars, over dinner or lunch, and even in my sleep! Besides all that, he argues while he eats!

Then it occurred to me, what am I doing? I hate broccoli and cheddar!

Then another idea comes to mind, #2 Son is a big supporter of the Wall Street rally, Zuccotti Park, here he comes!

No, that will only get me in trouble with TLW.

I come to realize sadly, that the world is passing me by. And so too, are the cookies.