A Million Bucks

This is Day 14 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Today's prompt is If I had a million dollars. Please visit the other participants for more stories. Better late than never.

It would be nice to have a million dollars just to play with. I'd probably start with my dream house. A two-story house with a full basement and walk up attic (I love storage space) on at least ten acres with an attached two-car garage with bonus room, and a huge workshop for hubby with heat and A/C, partitions for different tasks (electronics, metal working, miscellaneous tinkering), a bathroom and refrigerator. Save the beer for after working with the power tools, please.

There would be a wrap around porch, an upper level deck with an outdoor kitchen, and a stone fireplace in the backyard, all excellent for entertaining.

I'd have a spacious kitchen with lots of drawers, cabinets and counter space. A must have would be a walk-in pantry with lots of shelves, drawers and slide outs for canned goods plus a main level laundry with a way to hang up jeans, dry sweaters and storage for laundry supplies - again with the storage.

It would have office space for both of us, plus two master bedrooms, one on each level, and two guestrooms upstairs with an additional bathroom. The main level would also have a powder room. The main living area would be an open floor plan with a big fireplace and lots of natural light.

In reality, if I were handed a million dollars, no strings attached, I would probably donate some, save some, buy hubby a new truck and maybe buy some version of my dream house.

What would you do?



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Tuesday Wines, Wednesday Chores

This is Day 13 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Today's prompt is The day after last night. Please visit the other participants for more stories.

This topic could conjure up all sorts of tales from the truly bizarre to the painfully mundane. Last night was fun but definitely not bizarre, and today leans more toward the mundane.

The third Tuesday of each month is our wine club meeting (American Wine Society). We are currently meeting in a private room in a downtown restaurant, where many of us have dinner first. 

After dinner, we began with a half hour social where we chatted with friends, talking about our cats, the weather and the dreadful parking situation. 

During the meeting, Sara Gutterbock, from Mutual Distributing Co., gave a delightful and educational presentation of Ancient Wines for Modern Times, and we tasted two whites and three reds, all from Italy, as she talked in detail about the varietals, history, locations, and ideal growing conditions for each. 

These were not your run-of-the-mill grocery store wines, not that there is anything wrong with that. That's where most of mine come from, but many of these varietals are rarely found outside their region. For the whites we had a blend of 25% Pinot Blanco, 25% Pinot Grigio and 60% Tocai Friulano (now called Tai) and a 100% Garganega Soave Classico. For the reds, the first was a blend of  90% Monica, 5% Carigano, and 5% Bovale Sardo, followed by two single-grape wines, Nerello Cappuccio and Uva di Troia.

We sampled the wines with a variety of cheese, crackers and salami that complemented the wines, which were all available for order. We enjoyed them all, and ordered some for ourselves.

As for the day after, it begins with watching Netflix and writing this post while hubby has breakfast with a group of amateur radio enthusiasts. Then comes the more mundane task of hand-washing all the tasting glasses from last night, unloading the dishwasher and a host of other daily chores. 

Rumble, rumble, thump -there goes the garbage truck. The recycle truck will be along later -then we'll haul the bins back to the house. The neighbors across the street have a large piece of trench-digging equipment at work in their yard. It is 26 degrees, and I don't envy those working outside as we anticipate the onset of snow showers this afternoon.

Yep, just another Wednesday...the day after Tuesday night.



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Can You See Me Now?

This is Day 12 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Today's prompt is Dreaming. Please visit the other participants for a peek into they're dreaming about.

Today we continue Eli's story. The last we knew he was invisible.

Eli left the bar and headed home. He had to walk because a car driving itself would be hard to explain. He knew he had left Paul in a bad spot but there wasn't much he could do. 

"Excuse me," he muttered as he bumped into a fellow pedestrian. The gentleman looked startled. "Really, I have to be more careful and I need to stop talking to myself, I'm in enough trouble as it is. Just got to get home."

Finally he rounds the corner to his house, bolts up the steps, then checks to see if anyone is looking before he opens the door. Safely inside he collapses on the couch. "I must be dreaming. That's it! I'll just lay here and sleep and when I wake up everything will be all right."

Morning dawned bright and sunny, birds chirping, and the paper landed with a thump in the driveway. Eli roused himself from the couch, squinting at the sun streaming in the window. "Why am I on the couch? That must have been some night last night". 

He dragged his groggy butt into the kitchen and made some strong black coffee. "I must have really tied one on. At least it's Sunday so I don't have to go to work. Maybe I'll just get a shower and watch TV all day.

He padded down the hall to the bathroom, gulping down some aspirin with his last swallow of coffee.  He looked in the mirror and then he remembered. Last night he was invisible, and he left his car, not to mention Paul, at the bar. He peered closely at himself. "I look like crap, but at least I'm visible. I guess I was dreaming." 

His shower finished, he pulled on sweatpants and an Aerosmith tee shirt. Suddenly a bird landed on the ledge outside his open window. It was a beautiful bird with a thin gold chain in its beak. The chain fell to the ground as it spoke, "Hear what I say, Eli, you were not dreaming."

Eli's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "What? A talking bird?  Mother...?"


If you want to catch up on Eli's adventures:
Birdman
The Princess
Eli and the Redhead 
The Winged Woman
Meet Eli's Mother
Eli, Where Are You?

Edited to add links to previous posts.

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Baseball and Hot Dogs

This is Day 11 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Today's prompt is The best stadium food you ever ate. Please visit the other participants for more delicious posts.

Most of us have fond memories of food from our childhood. Whether it was our mom's homemade lasagna or a memorable chocolate birthday cake, food has a way of transporting us back to the past. - Homaro Cantu

I have no recollection of ever having eaten stadium food, at least as I suspect is being referred to in this prompt. I have grabbed a quick snack at a concession stand before a concert, but that was never anything to brag about.

Image Source: Dennis Wilkinson

So I will tell you a little about what I think the perfect stadium food would have been. My aunt and uncle lived in New Hampshire, about 50 or so miles outside of Boston, the home of the Boston Red Sox. The games were watched religiously, and if not televised then listened to on the radio. 

This was back in the day of Carl Yastrzemski and Carlton Fisk, among others. Now as far as I know they never actually went to the games, but were avid fans, nonetheless.

How does that relate to stadium food? Back in the day, there were these delicious hot dogs that I knew as New Hampshire Provisions. They don't exist now, at least not like they were back then. Even the last time I had them, they were not the same. But back then they were the "best hot dogs ever". The flavor and texture were great and they used natural casings so their was a slight pop when you bit into them. Pair that with the classic New England butter-grilled buns and it was an absolute delight. Just thinking about this takes me back to those summer visits, eating hot dogs and watching the Red Sox.


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Jenna's Misfortune

This is Day 10 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Today's prompt is Misfortune. Please visit the other participants for more interesting views on this topic.

Sitting there in the pub, Alex listened quietly as Charlie shared what was known up to that point.

Image Source: Dave Newman

"It seems this photographer took a picture of Jenna during the SWAT rescue and associated her with the mob, and then some whack job gets it in his fool head that she is some sort of mafia princess and kidnapped her. He is holding her for a $1 million ransom. He's obviously not blessed in the brains department. The kicker is that the mob leaders don't know or care who she is or what happens to her. That makes her useless to him if he figures it out, and him a target of the mob just because...they've offed people for less.

"So it seems she had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...again" stated Alex solemnly. 

"Well" said Charlie, she does have a habit of dating the mafia."

"That could change...when we get her back" replied Alex. "I guess we're off to New York. What was she doing in New York anyway? Wait a minute, she said something about auditioning for a part in a play but I didn't think she was serious. That'll give us a place to start. We'll hit the theaters, show her picture around and see if anyone has seen her."

Charlie agreed and called for the jet. "It's 9:30 now, we can be there in two hours. Do you have your go-bag with you?"

"Always! I'll meet you at the hangar."

"Touchdown at 11:30, Agent Shore" said the pilot as they boarded the plane. 

"Thanks!" Charlie checked his messages and called Kim, their liaison in New York, to get rooms reserved, contact information and a list of all the theaters.

"Hey Charlie, I always figured to go the theater when I was in New York, but this isn't what I had in mind" stated Alex wryly. "So where are we staying?"

"The Hyatt Midtown. It's not The Plaza, but it'll do. I just hope you don't snore this time. This is New York City, we get one room and I've got first dibs on the shower" said Charlie looking over his glasses at Alex.

When they arrived in the city, they had their list of theaters and contacts. "What are the chances we can find anyone to talk to tonight?" questioned Alex, eager to get started.

"I get your impatience, Alex, but the last performances began around 8 p.m. It's almost midnight so the theaters are probably closed now. I got a text from Kim and she has arranged space for us at the Midtown South PD, so we'll go there first and meet with the officer on duty. We want everyone on the same page," said Charlie as they climbed into their standard black SUV rental.

For more adventures of Charlie and Alex:

Risky Business

Aliens, Really?
The Colombians
The Key
Stranded
The Last Laugh
The Morning After

Bears, Beans and Beer

Kidnapped

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