When I arrived, Michael and I talked about a few things he wanted to get done during my stay, since he was on vacation. One of his goals was to clean out the garage. We decided to start on the bay beside Camille’s car and see how it went.
We definitely underestimated how long that would take. Like most people, he had a number of little projects that had been set aside with the usual promise: “I’ll get to that later.” In a few cases, “later” turned out to be today, more than ten years later.
Since I had no idea where things belonged or how to fix anything, the easiest way for me to help was to be his gopher. I brought things to him, put things where he directed, helped lift awkward items, and vacuumed where needed, things like that. We worked for about four hours, then called it a day. My highlight was getting to work the power washer.
In the evening, we went to see Jeff. As it turns out, Jeff’s mom, Linda, was in town from Buffalo too! It was great to catch up with the two of them, and I finally got to meet Raquel, Jeff’s girlfriend. Camille grabbed a chilled bottle of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, and off we went!
Jeff said he was going to throw some things on the grill. Turns out it was Aidells Pineapple and Bacon Smoked Chicken Sausage. I have died and gone to heaven. He served it with Linda’s potato salad, and let me tell you, the potatoes were cooked perfectly. Linda makes amazing potato salad, and one of these days, I’m going to have to ask her for a culinary lesson.
Raquel brought out a bottle of Stella Rosa Black Cherry wine, which was also very good. It’s a sweet dessert wine, but it was the perfect finish to the evening. Camille and I both had a wee bit too much to drink, but hey, we weren’t driving, and Michael was fulfilling his Big Brother Duties.
