A dear old roommate of mine moved out of state to Washington, D.C. and bought a sleeper sofa for her junior suite in the center of town. I was impressed. I was invited for the first weekend because I’d lived there so had seen all the monuments and museums, and we could go to the market and get blue crabs and make a feast.
Shortly thereafter the roommate replacement was driving me bonkers so I had to leave my home and go to my own single place. It had already been rented but when I saw the 8X10 of Judy Garland I knew where to go and when I was working for the Speaker of the Assembly and the owner’s father was on the Appellate Court the match was made.
I took my training seriously from my former roomie and bought a sleeper sofa for the living room. This was a lovely turn-of-the-century building where every window had fold-in-blinds and they met the woodwork to look gorgeous. I had seven windows looking out onto the main street in town.
To make things right before my Aunt and friend visited (I was so nervous) I bought bookcases and went to work with an allen wrench. I was using the short end to twist, not a good idea as I got the entire bookshelf backwards and had to undo it and go again until about 4:00 in the morning. Everything was set before they arrived, and I can’t even remember what I made for dinner because using an allen wrench the wrong way makes one’s hands hurt for a few days.
Aside from the truck noise (I was on the only street with two-way traffic) they were OK. Sometimes we do things backwards, and they work out despite ourselves. This first exercise in self-reliance worked out and went on to others. For folks who think only NYC women are smart, think again. There are a lot of us out here, even in the hinterlands. We make a difference in our lives whatever the cost. While you look at concrete, we see mountains. Cheers, have a great day! Dee
Cooking with Dee 