GinohnNews

G: Last Sunday we went to the New Deal Cafe for a going away and birthday party for Ronda. She is leaving for a Peace Corps mission in South Africa on the 19th! She was also auctioning off some of her possessions to raise money— some of which was going to the New Deal. I don't usually participate in these things but I ended up really wanting a few items. I helped out by modelling some of the dresses she had for auction. One was a Renaissance dress, handmade as a bridesmaid's gown Rhonda wore to her mother's wedding. I didn't have a dress like that and I knew it would cost a bundle if I bought one at the Renn Fair, so I started it off with a generous bid. Later I wore it around and got a lot of compliments. Then a competitor who shall remain nameless outbid me! I never thought that would happen. We had a short, faux angry bidding war, but when I jumped the price a lot higher than our increments had been going I scared her out of the race. I lost a few others though, but may get to borrow some of those items if needed! Everyone there was a friend. There was a raffle to get a phone call from Ronda from S. Africa on your birthday, and I won one of the 5 slots! It was a very fun party.

For our Fourth, We went to Alex's (of Alex and Renee) parents' house about an hour south of here. They have a beautiful house on a nice chunk of land on a tributary of the Potomac river. We went out on their boat and ate amazing guacamole made by Alex's mom. I got the recipe, it's a lot like this one. We stopped and swam - it wasn't very hot out and the water wasn't too cold, but it was a bit stinky. We were also going to take turns being towed in an inner tube but we never got around to it. We filled up on an excellent picnic lunch and sat around chatting on their lovely deck. I hope we get pictures from them because we forgot our camera. We watched home-style fireworks that people set off across the river and upstream a little. A very nice, lovely day.

This past Friday we held our last official First Friday party. In case you didn't know, John and I have had a gathering the first Friday of every month ever since we moved in together, over 10 years ago. The party has grown over the years from a smallish gathering to a pretty big bash, and we were a bit tired of throwing it month after month. At the same time, we've had many great times and we know a lot of our friends were very attached to First Friday, but it will probably become a traveling party, finding some home each month to be in. At least for a while. And every once in a while, we'll throw another bash. So long FF, and thanks for all the memories!

J: This morning I was enjoying my newest hobby—dish washing—and the sink was clogging a bit, so I turned on that wonderful garbage disposal that Joe installed years ago (thanks again) and something clattered and sounded wrong. I turned it off, reached down into the drain and fished around. Found a rubber band. Turned the disposal on again and it just went "hummmm" without turning or chewing. I turned it off, reached down and fished around. tough plant matter or plastic, couldn't tell. On again— "hummmm." I turned it off, went under the sink and looked around, knowing that even if I didn't know a durn thing about disposals, I had a chance of seeing something. I jostled it around a bit, and then noticed a little hole at the very bottom. On the floor of the cabinet there was an allen wrench. I put it in the hole and turned it. I had no idea what I was doing; I was just glad the allen wrench fit. Something utzed, I could feel it. Back to the top. Made sure it was off, reached in again and nearly cut myself on some thin glass. Pulled that out and turned it on. Clatter.  I turned it off, reached down and fished around. found two pieces of a pull tab from a beer— the leftovers from our last First Friday. Turned the disposal on again and it made a very happy "I'm ready to eat" sound.

Anyway, the disposal is still working and I'm glad Joe left the mysterious allen wrench and I was able to use it to the best of my advantage. And I'm glad I was smart enough to turn the disposal off each time before I reached into the sink— unlike that time a few years back when I fiddled around with the insides of a light switch.