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| Dinner - Compliments of Cousin |
Today, my cousin who is visiting from Australia, blessed me with her company and a dinner she cooked and brought, and which we enjoyed! Chicken curry, dhal, sauted green beans, and kale shredded and cooked. What is pictured above are the leftovers, as I forgot to take a picture before we ate!
I made the rice (not pictured) and a fruit salad with strawberries, kiwis, and an orange, for dessert. Cousin declined the offer of ice cream with the fruit salad, so it was a very healthy dessert.
Before cousin arrived, after I came home from work, I did a little more last minute cleaning and cleared the kitchen counters! Nothing like having company over to motivate me to clean the house! LOL. Maybe I should just regularly schedule visitors every other week, or so.
Cousin and I had a nice visit. It was the first time we've spent time together by ourselves in a very long time; we've had at least one other family member with us on prior occasions when we met. It was good to get reacquainted, to exchange our views on various things, and have a meaningful conversation about religion and our personal beliefs. Before we had dinner, she said a prayer that really touched me and I feel blessed by her prayer. And she referred to me by a term we used all the time in Sri Lanka - "cousin sister". It is a colloquial term, but cousins are not just cousins, in Sri Lanka; they are "cousin sisters" and "cousin brothers".
Cousin's mother and my mother were sisters. Cousin's mother was the oldest of the four sisters; my mother was the 3rd sister. Mother used to say how stylish her oldest sister was as a young lady with her pretty dresses and hats that she'd wear to church. When my mother was in hospital to have me and was having a difficult time with it (she was in hospital for over a week trying to have me!), her oldest sister came to stay at the hospital overnight with my mother and be with her. I have fond memories of visiting my aunt (cousin's mother); I remember she used to have ducks and chickens in her backyard and that was such a novelty to me. Aunt was a good seamstress and she would do excellent smocking. I still have a blouse she smocked for me. On one of my visits to my aunt's home, I must have been about 9 years old then, I was just getting interested in paperdolls and my cousin and her older sister went through several of my aunt's magazines that had paperdolls printed on them and cut out the paperdolls for me.
After dinner, cousin left to visit another cousin (she was staying the night with her). I packed some of the leftovers for my lunch for tomorrow and put the rest away for another day.
Today, I am grateful for:
- My cousin visiting me and bringing me dinner
- The lovely prayer she said
-The opportunity to have a meaningful conversation
- Family who care
- A relatively clear kitchen counter!
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| The relatively clear counter! |
Tomorrow morning, I am scheduled for my ultrasound. My appointment is for 9:30 a.m., but I was told to be there at 9:00 a.m. Which means, I need to leave the house by 7:45 a.m. to allow time for traffic. Which means, I need to wake up by 7:00 a.m. Which means, I had better post this and say my nightly prayers and get ready for bed, as it is already 1:25 a.m.!
I will do my May Monthly Goals update, tomorrow.
How was your Wednesday? Did you have a good day? Do you find that having company over motivates you to clean? Or do you routinely keep your home "company ready"?
I'm glad you had such a good visit with you cousin. And look at those leftovers. Looks like enough food for a week!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Live and Learn. Lot's of leftovers! I took some to the office for my lunch today and will probably take some tomorrow, as well. :)
DeleteHope the ultra sound goes well!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a wonderful visit with your cousin. Lovely memories.
Thank you, Sharon. Yes, the ultrasound went well, although I don't get the results yet. They will be sent to the doctor and I will check with the doctor's office, next week.
DeleteIt really is impressive how close your family is even though you are spread about the world. Did you leave your home land for a better opportunity or ?
ReplyDeleteSo nice to have enough food to enjoy another time. Best wishes that the ultra sound goes well.
I do clean regularly but it looks lived in, husband has his newspapers laying about etc. Do we feel that people will think less of us if the house is not "company ready"? Yes I do clean/tidy a bit more when company is expected!
Thanks, Sandy. The ultrasound went off well, although results won't be available for a bit longer. The technician said they will be sent to the doctor and to call the doctor's office, later next week. I will be going in to the doctor's office on Monday to have my port flushed, so I will ask if they received anything yet, although, most likely, it'll be towards the end of the week before they get anything.
DeleteYes, for the most part, we cousins do make an effort to stay in touch and connected. Social media has been a great help towards that, I think. We each left for different reasons (and a few cousins chose to stay in our country of birth), but, yes, for the most part, we left for better opportunities or because spouses had parents who had settled abroad and they wanted to rejoin their parents, etc.
I guess we want our visitors to form a good opinion of us and one way to do that is by having a "company ready" home?
I hope your ultrasound went well and that you got the other matter resolved. My blood was boiling yesterday when I was reading your post about the referral needing to be started all over again. My blood is starting to boil again just thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteHow nice of your cousin to cook for you while she was visiting. I like reminiscing with my brothers and sister and I see them too :)
Aw, thanks for being so upset on my behalf, Nathalie. Very sweet of you. I suppose it was too much to expect things to go smoothly? Today's ultrasound went OK, for the most part. Results will be sent directly to the doctor, I was told. I am to call the doctor next week to find out about them.
DeleteIt's nice to look back and reminisce, isn't it? It's kind of funny to see what we remember and don't.
Your sister cousin sounds lovely
ReplyDeleteYour supper looks yummy
And the ultrasound will be reasuring
Siobhan
Thank you, Siobhan. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed on the ultrasound results! :)
DeleteYour cousin's dinner contribution looks delicious, and how nice to reminisce with her one-on-one for a change.
ReplyDeleteI hope your ultrasound went well. I don't like early appointments, I'm generally not much of aa morning person. In fact this morning i actually went back to bed after breakfast because I have been having the most horrendous allergy attacks and even medication didn't make a lot of difference (I had to add nasal cortisone spray to my antihistimine tablets.) I got up in the night for an hour because I couldn't sleep for the discomfort. However, this morning's rest helped and I'm just hoping that the pollen season will be over soon so that I can get my life back!
Bushlady
Bushlady, I hope your allergies get better, soon. Glad you were able to get some rest, this morning.
DeleteI, too, don't like early morning appointments, although, I suppose, technically speaking, 9:30 a.m. isn't that early in the morning. It's just that getting somewhere on time in our morning rush hour traffic takes a lot of time. Also, they wanted to give me an early appointment because I had to be fasting and not even drink any water for 6 hours prior to the ultrasound. I have got used to drinking a glass of water in the morning, and just knowing that I couldn't drink any water made me feel thirstier! Funny how that happens, isn't it?
This is such a sweet post Bless! It is wonderful for you to share memories f your family with us!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. I enjoy sharing my memories and glad you enjoyed reading about them. :)
DeleteHa! I remember the first time I heard the term "cousin sister" and was really confused as to what it was supposed to mean! Was out with almost all my cousins at the time. One cousin's husband was equally confused by my reaction, asking how one could know whether the cousins were male or female, unless specified the Indian way!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had time to talk properly with your "cousin sister". Something I have struggled with since most of my friends got married and had children, is lack of one-to-one time with them. Invariably they turn up as a couple or a pack and to them, that's fine, but I rarely feel that I have made a connection and sometimes just feel incidental to the occasion, or even lonelier, as a result.
Ha, ha, yes, how else would one know if male or female unless specified? It makes perfect sense, doesn't it? :D
DeleteIt really is difficult to have one-to-one time with married friends, even if they'd like to, especially if they have to arrange for childcare in order to do so. But, maybe once we all start socializing again, you might be able to find more opportunities to get together for some "us" time with your friends. I wish you lived closer than an ocean away. I might not have gone on 12 mile hikes with you (or even more than a mile!), but, I'd be happy to talk about the meaning of life over a cup of tea and a slice of cake. :)
It was an interesting point but when I thought about it, I realised it is invariably obvious from the context, and if it isn't, it's irrelevant!
DeleteI have no expectation of a change to friends' availability post-Covid. It has been a problem (for me) since people began to pair up and do everything together. The result was that after many years most of my friendships became superficial and kind of worthless. I have accepted it now but I appreciate a good chat when I can get it!
Yes, tea would be good but I think I should leave the cake to you!!
Ha, ha, yes, I'll make the cake! :) I make a good cup of tea, too; only the best Ceylon tea! Friends are interesting creatures, aren't they? I've learned not to expect a lot from them!
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