Comfort reading

I always have a book. I keep old paperbacks in the car in case I decide to stop at a fast food place for lunch (or any other place to eat). The trick is to have a book you are interested in enough to read during a meal, but not interested enough in to take it in the house - thus depriving yourself of a book to read when the need arises. I've been known to detour to a book store to pick up something to read while I eat, if I can't get home.

I don't understand people who don't read while eating alone. Reading at the table used to be forbidden when I was growing up. We could read the paper (the funnies, of course) at breakfast, but since lunch was in the dining room with a tablecloth and Peggy serving and the whole family present - books were not allowed.

The pattern changed a little when we got TV - we would eat supper in the kitchen and watch our one channel.

Now both Byron and I read through meals AND have the TV on.

Comfort reading is also what I have when I can't sleep. They say that stewing in bed while not sleeping is counter-productive and makes for bad memories of your bed. So I usually move to my chaise longue where I have a good light, and read. I usually don't choose that new thriller or the psychological mystery at that time. This is the time to reread an old, comfortable favorite. Some of mine are the Mary Lasswell novels about the three old ladies in San Diego, Agatha Christie mysteries, Phoebe Atwood Taylor's Asey Mayo and Leonidas Witherall mysteries, the Cheaper by the Dozen books, or Betty MacDonald's "The Egg and I" or her Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books. You don't want anything troubling, which might keep you awake.

Now that I have a Kindle (thank you to the family for the Mother's Day gift!), it will be interesting to see if my pattern changes. i tried it out this morning at Panda Express. I downloaded "Tea for the Traditionally Built" by Alexander McCall Smith and it is great. A wonderful feature is your ability to choose the size font that you can read most comfortably.

It will never take the place of the book in the bathtub, however.

Party paranoia

I'm having a luncheon for the Junior League of Dallas Garden Club Committee, of which I'll be President next year. It's a turn-over meeting, meaning that past officers are supposed to "turn over" their notebooks (this is the Junior League, you know). It would have been so easy to just invite them all to the Woman's Club or to a restaurant - but no - I decided to host them at my house.

I figured that for the cost of the Woman's Club, etc - I could entertain at home and get some of the things around the house fixed for the same cost. - Like replacing the St. Augustine grass in front that has grub worms (I did add nematodes, which are supposed to kill the grubs), getting the front door painted, polishing up the front door knocker and door knob, putting out colorful, perennial, shade-loving plants, and cleaning up the house. (Except for Byron's study - we'll just shut the doors on his study.)

I'm having chicken salad, fruit salad, rolls (Sister Shubert), two-bite brownies and potato chips - which all sounded easy last week.

Tip - put all the serving dishes - plates, glasses and polished silverware - in the dishwasher before the party. I made the mistake once of not doing this and having a guest look askance at a plate with dried-on scrambled egg.

It will all be over at 1:30 tomorrow, and as Rick Reilly says "1 and a half billion Chinese don't care."