I Will Tell You This: Never Order Salmon at a Sports Bar
And other things that've been going on lately
The latter part of March was rough, which is evidenced by my absence from here. In the time that I’ve been gone from these parts we lost our beloved Salem unexpectedly and the grief hit really hard. (She made a guest appearance here and here.) For any of you who’ve loved a dog, you know. Salem was part of our family and her absence is felt at every turn. People have asked if we are going to get another dog and— for a lot of reasons— I do not think we will. Chief among those reasons for me, right now, is I never want to open myself up to losing a pet again.
Two weeks later, we celebrated Easter by going back to where we are from to be with our oldest daughter and her family. Fun, right? Family time! Spring! Easter service! Easter lunch! And, yes, that’s what we thought too. The first clue that our plans were not going to match up with our reality was the flat tire we got en route. Yes, folks. We got a real-life, change-it-on-the-side-of-the-road flat tire. (To be clear, my husband changed it.) Our youngest daughter and I sat inside the car and had this conversation: “Mom, is that pee in a bottle over there?” And sure enough, she had spotted a gatorade bottle that contained a very ungatorade-like substance inside it lying on the ground near where my husband was changing the tire. I did not point it out to him at the time but, since he reads this, now he knows.
We got back on the road, arrived at our destination and took the whole crew out for a fun family dinner at a local sports bar. What I wanted was a burger and fries. What I opted for was the salmon special they were offering. It sounded good and it was the healthier choice. (Yay for making good choices! Ahem.) I noticed as I was eating it that it maybe wasn’t cooked as much as I would prefer but there were a lot of us at the table and the server was already frazzled taking care of all of us plus other tables, so I reasoned, it’s probably fine. Don’t make a big deal.
It was not fine.
I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible stomachache that lasted all the next day. I was convinced that if I went to church with my family I would throw up in front of a bunch of strangers and no one wants that on Easter Sunday. So I stayed in the hotel room and felt sorry for myself. And after church— because we had to check out of the hotel room and I did NOT feel like going to lunch— we unceremoniously drove back home. Thankfully with no flat tires this time.
Reader, it was not the worst Easter we’ve ever had. That title still belongs to the Easter where I bit into a pecan on a salad (where I also opted for the healthier choice instead of the burger and fries that I wanted, I will add. Do you notice a theme? Because I do.) and cracked my back molar internally, tearing (we would later discover) the nerve in half. I spent that Easter in bed smacked out on painkillers till I could get into the dentist when they reopened on Monday.
So it was not the worst Easter we’ve ever had, but it’s vying for its spot in the family annals.
In the midst of this unpleasant life stuff, I’ve still been working away. My page proofs for the new novel required one last read-through, as it’s my last time to see the book before you guys do. That task comes with its own pressure, as you can imagine. (So when I say “any errors you find are my own,” it’s kinda true. Gulp!) I’m continuing to put out The TWITCH over on The Book Tide each week (please subscribe if you haven’t already— that thing is a labor of love for me!). I’m also doing a LOT of pre-launch things as the release date creeps closer (October 1!!) This week I got to sample narrators for the recording of the audio version of the book. It’s going to have a full cast and I am SO excited about that! Oh, and also, I’m writing a new book that is due in six months. In my mind I’ve turned the hourglass over and that sand is just a-flowing on through.
On the family front, our youngest had her senior picture shoot this week (sniff!). And of course we’ve also been following our beloved NC State Wolfpack through the ACC Championship all the way to the NCAA Final Four! So, there’s been good mixed with the bad, fun stuff right alongside work stuff, and always, always something to be thankful for. I hope wherever you are— and whatever you’re doing as spring blooms all around us— you’re finding the same. Just remember never to order salmon at a sports bar and you should be fine.
Been awhile since we’ve chatted! Losing pets really take a chunk out of your heart and you swear you’ll never recover…and you don’t! It’s hard to imagine taking that chance again. I admire you taking one for the team at the sports bar but get the wings next time! Chicken is healthy-ish! Looking forward to books and narrators 😍
So sorry to read about your sports bar culinary “experience”! Hope you’re feeling better!