Battle, Pickles, Welcome & Good Eats...

Every year at least once I have to contend with my mother's health care. Last year I gave them letters and they agreed to begin to notify me so I can help Papa with this stuff and it doesn't get lost in the shuffle or forgotten. It was all okayed and I kept expecting to get something in the mail like we have received in the past. Just in case there was a mix-up I kept asking Papa about it. Sure enough, I asked Papa again at the end of one day when Neff and Mike were here, and he remembered getting a phone call of some kind. We went into his apartment when I dropped him off from our outing and, sure enough, they telephoned and gave him a date and time and he had not given it to me.

Tuesday was the day. I'll not share all the details, just let me say that once again it is not a cut and dried situation. Again I have to get more paperwork, work more with bank accounts, visit a lawyer, and get all the 'stuff' back within a deadline. My word of caution to others would be...prepare now for this point in your life. Many more of us are helping our parents and it takes lots of time and patience.

Then I hurried home to get a few things done before it would be time to finish my pickle relish. It was home curing in the fridge for its 24 hours. I got the water bath boiling, filled my jars and finished up the process. It felt really good to see those jars full of pickles. I got 11 pints of pickle relish. I had about a half pint extra. I put it in the fridge and tasted it after it was cold. Oh my is it delicious. I had Claude taste it and he agreed. I suggested to Claude that we grow cherry peppers and then pickle them this way. It might just give us the right amount of sugar over vinegar taste to make them perfect for his Milano sandwich recipe. Claude used this extra bit of pickle relish in tuna salad for stuffed tomatos for dinner the other night. It was yummy.

We ended up with a total of 11 pints of pickle relish, 12 pints of dill pickles and 16 quarts of dill pickles. These will be fun to eat this winter.

I had to finish the pickles up quickly because Claude had us an invitation to another reception. This time we were headed to the Marriott to meet the new President of Toyota in Georgetown. We dressed in our Sunday duds and headed the red Buick toward Lexington.

On the drive down Claude tried to prepare me and Katelyn for meeting this new person. He informed us his name was 'Will Smith'. I couldn't believe that and questioned him again to be sure. Claude confirmed, "Yes, his name is Will Smith...and he is a tall African American!"  I was incredulous. Was that an amazing coincidence or what? Will Smith is one of my favorite actors. It was going to be easy to remember the man's name.

We got to the Marriott and found the rooms for the reception. Claude and I were given nametags. Then we got in the receiving line. Behind us were Jim Calloway and his wife. Mr. Calloway is the president of Whitaker Bank. He is a delightful man. Plays in a band that does bluegrass Music. (Imagine that in Kentucky!) We bank at Whitaker Bank and Katelyn opened an account there to deposit her earnings thru the summer. We told her this was the president of the bank where her money resides. We had a cute conversation about that with Mr. Calloway and his wife.

The receiving line moved into the ballroom where there were tall tables (like you find in a bar) set up at intervals in the ballroom and several tables with different appetizers. People were getting a drink and appetizers and standing at these tables to talk after meeting 'Will Smith' and his wife.

Then Claude realized something confessed he made a mistake. Turns out the new president of Toyota is 'Will James'. Katelyn and I really got a laugh out of that and tried to get it firmly in our heads so we didn't slip us and call him Will Smith instead.

Will James and his wife are very friendly, easy going people to visit with. He worked at the Georgetown Toyota plant years ago, then in Indianapolis and California as president of Toyota plants. He was now returning to Georgetown.

Toyota is a big employer in our area. They are also extremely community minded. They donate and support a lot of things in the area. They are what you call 'good neighbors'. It was really nice to have that reception so the James' could meet the local leaders and begin forming that great working relationship we have all enjoyed in the past. When all the other car manufacturers were shutting down because sales were low or non-existent, Toyota did not open the manufacturing plant, but they did continue to pay their employees and requested they spend their work time doing community service in the Georgetown area. The city provided the opportunities of things they needed done. It was an amazing process to observe and feel very good about.

We by-passed the appetizers and headed out to the car. It was sooooo humid and soooo0 hot that you could hardly breathe. There was just moisture in the air and not oxygen. We were grateful to get across that parking lot and into the car and get the air conditioning running.

Katelyn and I were both starved. Claude suggested that since we were already in Lexington we go somewhere there to eat that Katelyn had not eaten at before. We actually headed a couple of exits down I-75 to Max & Erma's. Then Claude remembered there was a Chipotle's in that same area. Katelyn loves (I mean REALLY loves) Taco Bell. She had never eaten at a Chipotle's. So we changed our plans and headed to Chipotle's.

Just as Claude pulled into our parking spot the sky opened up and it was like someone above was pouring buckets of water on our car and in that area. We sat in the car and waited out that storm, grateful for the rain and hoping that same thing was happening 30 minutes up the road in Sadieville.

Katelyn LOVED Chipotle's. We got her chips and guacamole and ended up bringing them home. She was stuffed with her burrito bol. Claude and I both felt the server put much more in the burrito bol than usual this time. Not a complaint, just a fact.

Then we waddled our way to the car and headed back to Sadieville.