Everything Stops for Tea

We, that’d be Jen, Oni and I, have a weekend ritual that is just about sacrosanct. Tea time! OK our version involves an array of munchables, guacamole and a nice Pinot Noir (I think that last bit’s redundant) but this still counts as tea despite the decided absence of Darjeeling, Assam or even my fav Lapsong Souchong (how can you NOT love a tea that smells like filthy sweat socks but tastes like the most brilliant Italian Roast?). We begin at 3 or 4 and that totally makes it tea time.

In warm weather we sit on the veranda (our term for the porch which joins our two houses), reading and occasionally grunting at each other over the top of our respective sci fi novels (I’ve mentioned the high concentration of geekosity in our combined domiciles, have I not?). Bob brings his radio outside so he can listen to the game for a bit before declaiming “why did we buy perfectly good houses if we’re gonna sit outside?” I think his record for outdoorage is about 36 minutes -- this, of course, being one of the contributing factors to our soul matedness.

In the cold weather, Jen, Oni and I nest on their big couch and watch movies or TV shows on disk. Sci fi....but you knew that.

Right now, we’re big into Dollhouse. Yeah, another Joss Whedon series. Frankly, that guy could urp  on a dark sound stage for 40 minutes and THAT would probably be well worth watching. Funny trivia bit -- my old roommate Cynthia’s younger sister dated Whedon in college. And her current husband used to be a writer on Angel. Yeah, I’m so close to the fame, I practically glow.

Lately I’ve been itching for a vacation. Not one of my big travel ones but a stay at home, week long tea time, kind.  I feel like reading in bed until 10 (I’m normally up and at ‘em at 4 AM -- yeah, I hear you groaning from here and I’m deaf for god’s sake! Somebody’s got to feed the cats -- poor things got stiffed on the opposable thumb deal), going for a little walk on the beach (which is, just so you know I’m not expending an iota of energy, across the street) and then curling up on the couch for my Pinot Noir, roasted seaweed and rice crackers (oh hush, they’re fabulous!) and Buffy (final season, thanks). And, because I’m sure you were wondering, my favorite characters were Spike, Xander, Giles and Willow, particularly when she went all evil.

(Parenthetical Aside? No thanks, I'm good.)

I’m just worn out lately and this pretty much seems like an ideal vaca. OK, let’s throw in the fact that I’d get to bug The Amazing Bob daily--“can you bake me some oatmeal/butterscotch/spinach cookies again today? can you make me those tofu/eggplant pancakes again? How about baking a carrot cake today?”

Yeah he loves me despite my gustatory oddness.

Everything Stops for Tea--Long John Baldry