A Pleasant Weekend

It’s rare that we get a weekend as simple as this one. Many weekends feel like they are full of chores, and have some social activities to boot. But this one was less busy than usual, I allowed myself to put things off till next week, and no harm done. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s ok to procrastinate.

Friday my spinal cord injury support group met, which when you really boil it down, is really a group of friends getting together over lunch. Sure, we have some interests in common, but aren’t a lot of friends like that? I then spent my afternoon making crème brulee, and what I fondly call balsamic tar (reduced balsamic vinegar becomes like a syrup). These foods were for dinner guests on Saturday.

Saturday Jim and I went to Whole Foods in the morning, and I spent the afternoon cooking. The menu - first course: mandarin oranges and avocado on romaine with a homemade orangey dressing and grilled shrimp. Second course: filet mignon stuffed with gorgonzola and shallots, wrapped with prosciutto, drizzled with tar, and served with grilled summer veggies. Dessert was crème brulee with a chocolate hazelnut sauce. Wines with all courses of course, our guests brought 2 bottles and we had a dessert wine to pour. It was a fun evening – good food, good company.

I like to cook. I guess that is apparent. You could say I cheated with my marinades for the veggies and shrimp, for I will take a decent salad dressing and doctor it up. And the chocolate sauce was not my own. But I don’t feel shame in this, the food was awfully good!

Sunday David and Amy invited Jim and me out for Mother’s Day Brunch, which I enjoyed. That’s about the right amount of Mother’s Day fuss for me – a couple hours of time with family. And this afternoon I talked to my 3 mothers – my own mom, Jim’s mom, and my ex-husband’s mom. I read the New York Times and SD Union- Tribune totally (a rare happening, more usually I read the funnies and clip the coupons and set aside the serious news for later), and finished my book club book. We had salmon for dinner, which Jim cooked on the grill.

Aside from doing stretches and extra time in the bathroom, and the SCI meeting which barely counts in this category, I can’t say my weekend was shaped by my disability at all. I suppose whether I choose to count the SCI support group as disability related is as much related to my frame of mind as anything. If I have topics I feel a need to talk about, or my disability is feeling oppressive then I’d call it disability related. But last week it did just feel like a group of friends coming over for lunch. Which isn’t to say I didn’t get anything useful out of it. Someone suggested that I get my leather gloves relined with nylon when the silk tears, an interesting idea that I just might try one day.

I have a list of ideas for future blog posts, subjects I want to write about at some point. But for this last weekend it was nice NOT to focus on my disability too, to just live and not be conscious of how much time it takes. And this weekend it was easy, because I was mostly doing things I enjoy very much – cooking, being with friends and reading.

And now, as Sunday evening is coming to a close, I’m starting to think about what my week has to bring, what my TO DO lists will include. I know this week I’ll have to chase down my doctor for that signature for my wheelchair, and I think I’m due for a dexascan of my bones. I need to make an appointment for the garage to look at my car’s brakes. I’ll figure out the rest of my projects tomorrow morning. I don’t want to ruin a good feeling with too much planning right now!