Barbara J. Hamby

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Spite and Malice vs. Sugar and Spice

My lady barber, who’s Italian, is entertaining to say the least. She complains to me about other customers. I wonder what she says about me to them. Today, we were talking about cooking and I told her I really don’t cook much anymore. Most of the time, I just heat food. She said she used to like to cook, but lately she’s losing interest. She claimed she recently lost her temper for the first time in her life. She came home from work, after being on her feet for eight hours, and cooked the pork chops she had bought for her husband, the beef for herself, potatoes and other vegetables and put them on the table. He took a bite and began complaining the pork chops were tough. She said she picked up the edge of the table and slid the dinner into the sink. I didn’t ask her who cleaned up the mess.

There were times in my life when I was tempted to do something similar. I always liked the scenes in movies where someone threw plates around, but I also knew if I did it, I’d be cleaning up afterwards. Somehow, that diminishes the drama, in my mind.

Last night I won six straight games of Spite and Malice, our new card game. Finally, Al won a game so we could call a halt. I had such incredible good luck, that I regretted not buying a lottery ticket yesterday. Over the long haul, he is seven games ahead, so I have more work to do. (Word Grammar control does not like the construction of that last sentence. Too bad, I think my English teachers are all long gone now, and this is informal writing.)

I’m enjoying the anticipation of the cruise next month to the Mexican Riviera. We received the documents today describing the shore excursions that are available for each port. Also, the festive aura of this time of year is exhilarating, especially hearing from relatives and old friends.