Spur of the Moment Memorial Day Barbecue & Then A Night Without Cable & Internet

The holiday started out like it should: sleeping 15 minutes longer than usual, knowing the day was wide open, and then pouring a bowl of cereal only to slosh it with clumpy, lumpy sour milk.

It sucked.

Then the day turned into replacing that milk, but also heading out to get new running kicks, only to be distracted by a rendezvous at a few stores with Kaitlyn and Pam. By afternoon, Michael wondered about a barbecue and I sent a few texts out to get a feel on who was around. Long story short, Mt. Pleasant filled up by 6 and we had steak tips, hot dogs, shrimp, fish, and plenty of vegetables. It was a wonderful and delicious, spur-of-the-moment occasion.

We also had guests from Cork, Ireland, as Ciara's mom was still in town for the Fairfield University graduation. She took interest in the corn-hole game and with a few Mt. Pleasants in her system, she decided she wanted to have some action (and did very well for her first time). No one has seen the ESPN Corn Hole tournaments and I came inside to see if I could find one of the series airing. Nope. Cable and the internet were out.

By 10, when everyone left, I realized how boring a house can be when one can't go online, write, read articles, or peruse cyberspace. I sort of short-circuited because my evening rituals had to stand still. All I could do was clean up all the dishes and put them away (which took plenty of time).

The older I get, the more I realize how important holiday barbecues actually are. For years, I remember all the Amalfi neighbors getting together to unwind and chill out. People need mind-free food-fests with silliness, games, and non-stress conversations.

When I first started grilling I thought there be'd plenty of food to last the week. That was not the case. People came and they were hungry (and of course, everything was delicious, too).

Now back to the office I go.