A very nice Memorial Day

Yesterday was really the nicest day, a really lovely holiday that was full of enjoyment and a mindfulness that we were able to have a pleasant, simple time in our home together because of the men and women who gave their lives to keep our country free.

Aisling made us a delicious breakfast of french toast sticks, maple syrup and spicy sausage. She had the table all set by the time the rest of us yawned our way downstairs, including a sign that read "Welcome to Aisling's Bed and Breakfast." The syrup was in a bowl with a ladle (she couldn't find the pitcher) and the cold milk was in the cute bottle that matches the dishes. I have to say, being served a restaurant-style breakfast while still in my jammies was a very satisfying way to start the day.

We didn't have the money to spend on gas for a trip to the cemeteries we usually visit, so we just passed the day at home. The weather wasn't sunny, but it wasn't stormy, either, and my husband and I spent hours sitting on the front porch reading, both of us engaged in John Grisham novels. My husband was blazing through Grisham's newest book, The Appeal, dragging his eyes from the pages to say things like, "Boy, you are really going to like this book" and "Wow, this is definitely one of Grisham's best." When he finally turned the last page, he shut the book with a sigh and said, "Well...."

"Well?" I inquired, looking up from The Runaway Jury.

He took a contemplative bite of the cookie he had in his hand and said, "It didn't end the way I wanted it to. It ended like real life."

"Grisham is bad for that," I said. "Remember The Firm? And The King of Torts? And what was that other one? Was it The Broker?"

"To be honest, they all kind of run together into good stories with bad endings," my husband admitted. "I think I'll read Prince Caspian next."

I snorted. "Don't expect it to be anything like that dumb movie."

"I know. You told me. Allllll through the movie. All. Through. The. Movie," he said. "We both hated it. You hated it because you said it was nothing like the book and I hated it because you wouldn't stop telling me how much you hated it. Meelyn told me I should read it and come to my own conclusions."

An hour later, chewing on another cookie, my husband looked up in disbelief from the treasured C.S. Lewis tale about the prince from Telmar and the re-awakening of Narnia and said in disbelief, "This book is nothing like the movie!"

"Technically," I said, "the movie is nothing like the book."

"Whatever," he said, chewing.

Rain pattered down gently from time to time. The dogs snoozed happily, awakening every once in a while to bark at the neighbor's cat, which had the nerve to brazenly walk onto its own front porch across the street and sit there licking its paw, if you can imagine that.

Later on in the afternoon, we sat down with the girls and played a game of Clue, which Meelyn won, as usual. I made the first deduction and turned out to be wrong and my husband covered himself with disgrace about ten minutes later by making the exact same guess as I did. His defense was that he hadn't played Clue since he was ten years old, so we gave him a break.

Dinner was our take on the Outback's Alice Springs Chicken: I marinated four chicken breasts in our favorite Italian vinaigrette for about an hour, and while my husband grilled the meat, I sautéed Vidalia onions, green peppers and sliced Portobellos (all now available at ALDI - sweet!) in a pan with butter and a clove of garlic while also stirring seasoned fried potatoes in the iron skillet. Meelyn had made a vanilla cake earlier in the afternoon, so we had slices of that later in the evening after she frosted it with milk chocolate frosting.

We prayed our rosary early and then met again at the tournament arena -- the dining room table -- to play a game of Sorry!, which Aisling won. Her sportsmanship was not the best and she crowed and preened herself until I thought I was going to have to lock her in a cage with a perch and a seedy ball.

One of the things that made the day wonderful was the fact that the television was off for the greater portion of the day. Oh, there was some video game playing and some computer time, but for the most part, we read, played games, ate and talked.

It was such a good day.