Cooking lessons, selling pups, LuLaRoe

Yesterday evening was a bit rushed. I did not get home until about 4:40 because I stopped by Prime Metal in Bridgeport on my way home. I had to order the trim pieces for the well house and the goat barn. I am trying to get the well house enclosed before the severe cold weather we have in the forecast for late this week. I am not sure I will make it but I am giving it my best shop. Unfortunately, I did not have time to work on it yesterday. I really wanted to seal up the front edge before the predicted rain started today but I did not make that deadline. By the time I got home, Mama and Victoria were through feeding and Victoria was headed out to the LuLaRoe lady to try on a dress. Mama began quizzing me on whether or not I wanted to help her decorate the house and was both disappointed and shocked when I reminded her about our cooking lessons and taking Yilin and Cheyenne to Masters Club Christmas Program Practice. The look on Mama’s face was priceless when she realized she had forgotten and had scheduled a puppy visit for 5:30.

It was too late to cancel out on the family coming to see a pup because they were headed to Chico from Bowie as I was reminding Mama of our other commitments. The family has a special needs child and they currently have a large dog that is very near the end of his life. That dog had been a valuable part of the child’s life so far. They are looking for a dog to grow up with their four-year-old autistic child – and we have the perfect pup to fill that need. They fell in love with one of the males and left a deposit with Mama. We are giving the pups their first shots either tonight or tomorrow. The family will pick up the pup Thursday. They are very excited. Even though we had to rush a bit, they were satisfied with the visit and the selection. We now have only two pups left and there seems to be a strong interest in them. My hope is that by the first of the year our birthing center/day care will be empty.

Victoria hurried through her appointment and as she and Mama talked back and forth Mama confessed that she was buying yet another dress. She told me it was okay because she was paying cash for it; as though that made it somehow not cost us “real” money. I did not fuss too much. We were running late to get the girls to the practice at church on time, but it was not a matter of urgency. The girls were watching for us from the windows of the restaurant as we drove up. Lin was watching also. I think he was more excited about the cooking lessons than Alex was. Victoria and I stayed at the restaurant as Mama ran the girls to the church.

Alex had the lesson all planned out, so we started right away. We prepared Mie Fun, a rice noodle dish that has become one of our favorites. Cooking Chinese cuisine is all about the preparation. In the kitchen, they have all the ingredients ready to be cooked. Whether those ingredients are meats, vegetables, seasonings, rice or the various kinds of noodles, everything is cut, chopped, ground, mashed or soaked so it can be put together in whatever combination is required for the dish being made. Ours required egg noodles, chicken and shrimp, green onion, cabbage and a variety of spices. I did all the cooking this time while Victoria watched and took pictures. It took about fifteen minutes to complete our first dish – which Victoria took to a table and began devouring while I stayed in the kitchen to make a soup and watch Alex make some of the selections that had to be refreshed on the buffet. By the time we were done we had the Mie Fun, a tofu soup and some Bok Choy in teriyaki sauce to take home.

When Mama got back with the girls, we all sat and visited while the three of them ate. It was a fun evening.