Gainful Employment
Cathi was on the telephone when I plopped down on the
bed in front of her. "Yes sir... okay... what time do you want me there?... Uh
huh... Okay. Thank you, Goodbye." "I GOT THE JOB!" she yelled slapping me hard
across the back of my legs with both hands. Once the shock and pain had passed,
I asked "You mean the receptionist job?" "No the other one!" she replied. "You
mean the 80 family social work job? I thought you DIDN'T want that job. "Yeah"
she said pulling out a complicated looking pay scale chart "but I realized that
with the month off in the summer and the holiday and sick days the pay wouldn't
be as bad as I thought." About that time Zach came in "Mom got a
job?"
We decided to celebrate the news by
having dinner at Chisholm. As we were leaving, an old man pulled up in front of
the house with a load of cantaloupes. He motioned to me and I wandered over to
ask him how much he wanted for them. Instead of answering, he held up his hand
with fingers spread. I didn't get it at the time but he appeared to be saying
they were mine for the taking or as Cathi so delicately put it he was offering
"a five finger discount." In the course of our conversation we learned that his
name was Martinez and that he used to be a bullfighter. Apparently, 20 years or
so ago, he was gored by a bull and made headlines as a result. My repeated
offers of payment were refused and we ended up with five nice ripe
cantaloupes.
After dinner and a quick
trip to Beeville we dropped the boys off at the tennis courts and continued the
celebration with a Margarita at the Lucky Horseshoe. Unfortunately, Cathi wasn't
able to finish her drink before darkness fell and we were forced to pick up the
boys and return home.
The house was ripe
with the smell of cantaloupe when we opened the front door. Cathi doesn't care
much for the smell or taste of cantaloupe so I got to work slicing them up and
packing them into baggies. It looks like the boys and I are stocked up on snacks
for the next few days. I also took the opportunity to cut up the pineapple we
purchased a HEB a couple of day ago. Zach hovered over me the whole time and I'm
pretty sure he snuck more than his fair share of pineapple before I finally cut
him off.
Having just read some of the
recipes in the "Peoples Guide to Mexico," I decided to chop up the Pineapple
rind and use it to whip up a batch of Tepache, described as a mildly alcoholic
brew and an excellent cure for constipation (not sure I like the sound of that
last part). According to the recipe, the naturally occurring yeasts in the
pineapple rind are all that's needed to jump start fermentation. I'll let ya'll
know how it turns out.
Posted: Thu - July 31, 2003 at 11:45 PM