Making New Friends While Keeping the Old

 This morning started with coffee on the back patio here in Gilbert, Arizona. There was a leaf blower going the entire time. Dave walked by me and said the guy would be by next Monday morning to do their lawn. Later Elizabeth said, “I know you are retired as boss of the world. Could you do one more job and schedule the yard guy to do all the houses here in one four- hour block of time?”  I am not sure if that is per week, every other week, or once a week. I did not say yes. She has a week though to get me to change my mind.

Instead, I went grocery shopping. (I hear the gasps from people who know that Joe usually does the grocery shopping). Elizabeth was working from home. Joe and Dave were out working on a back deck issue they are tackling this week. So, yes. I went to a Fry’s Grocery store and purchased goodies to prepare a charcuterie board and a fresh vegetable platter with red peppers and feta cheese dip. I spent a bit of time roasting red peppers (I burnt the first batch) and cleaning and cutting up vegetables. I find prepping vegetables soothing, Then I tackled the red pepper dip – a Joe Coehlo favorite to serve at our own dinner parties.

I know more gasps, as Joe usually prepares the red pepper dip. He was out doing errands with Dave. Joe came in as I was making the dip and helped me finish it. I think it’s safe to say if tastes good it’s because he finished it. He tweaks recipes, while I prefer to make the recipe as written the first time and tweak it the next time. The dip I made today was much thicker than Joe’s version. Come to find out he adds the juice from a jar of pimentos when he makes the dip. That’s not on the recipe page saved in his computer. And obviously our brains are not on the same channel. I had been adding olive oil trying to get the consistency of Joe’s dip. Olive oil makes everything better, right? Let’s just say this version is not the fat free version.

Joe added a tad bit of water. Water is good for the body. That should also ‘water’ down the end product. Less calories.

Later in the evening

We are back from visiting the friends of Dave and Elizabeth. The group of people consisted of Elizabeth’s mom – Judy, Judy’s boyfriend – George, Linda Baker, Covert Bailey, Elizbeth & Dave, and Joe and me. It was a lovely evening in an amazing environment. Covert’s home (one of them) is right at the base of Superstition Mountain. The photos at the end of the blog are taken from his property. It was a bit windy and dusty, so the climate impacted the photos.

We sat around and chatted while snacking on the goodies we prepared earlier in the day, drank wine, and ate up the brownies Judy brought. Joe told me later he had 5 of the brownies. They were small. They were dark chocolate with dark chocolate frosting. At least I think they were… I only ate one. It was delicious.

I was more caught up in listening to people talking at the table. Covert, who is a fitness and health guru (Google him) gave me advice: “Buy a Treadmill. Get on it for 5 minutes. You might find that hard. Rest and then get back on it. Stop Dieting.” My husband came in on the advice part and was concerned that Covert’s advice was unsolicited. It was not. I had opened the door with an earlier conversation. Covert’s words were very freeing. I had recently concluded that all the different diets through the years have destroyed my ability to burn fat efficiently. Either that or my body holds on to the fat because it has no idea what in the hell I’m going to do to it next! Either way, all the theories in the world and the excuses I’ve given do not fix the problem. The problem is simple – I don’t enjoy the extra weight on my body. I like to move, and the excess weight limits what kind of movements I can enjoy.

I made a pact with Covert that when I get settled in Minnesota, I will buy a treadmill, get on it as prescribed and report back to him in 6 months on how I am doing. Honestly, I feel lighter already just having someone recommend I stop dieting.

By the way, even though Covert did not say it I know that this is not a carte blanche invitation to eat everything in sight. I will continue to give my body veggies, fruits, and healthy food choices. I am also not going to focus on counting calories. It came up during conversation this evening that one food program Covert does consider solid is Weight Watchers as he does not consider it a “diet.”

I also enjoyed visiting with Linda. She enjoys cooking, loves her dog ZuZu, and possesses one of the warmest personalities I have ever met. Instant connection. Linda also shared stories of her travels and her love for cooking and baking. Sadly, Linda’s husband, Ron, died about 18 months ago and then she lost her mother within a year of Ron. Linda shared photos of several of Ron’s watercolors. The vibrancy and the intricate detail of the portraits of native people (one was of a Mexican mom holding her two children and another a native of a country in, I believe, Central America. I got so wrapped up in the art itself that my brain did not register the location. There was a tiger that I swear was looking right at me in another of Ron’s pieces.

I could have sat and listened to Linda talk all evening. I had to share her though!

Elizabeth’s mom, Judy is quite a sweetheart. I have met her several times over the past several years. She’s always warm and welcoming. In 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 restrictions, Judy and Elizabeth made masks for the company I worked for, and I am certain they made and donated masks for local non-profit agencies. Judy also enjoys traveling. She has lived in Arizona for the past 20 years. Prior to that she made her home in Illinois. Her husband farmed. Every year now she volunteers through AARP to do senior’s taxes. Judy LOVES to dance and makes a mean brownie. Judy met Covert and Linda first and introduced them to Dave and Elizabeth.

The first time I met Judy was in April 2019, she was dancing in her driveway with George.  Thought that was charming at the time.

Tonight, was the first time I sat and could converse with George. He was an engineer during his career – he said he did trouble shooting work. George shared stories of when he was a volunteer concierge helping people traveling into an airport get to their connecting flight. He told the story of a Spanish mother and daughter, they spoke no English, and how through hand signs and the words “come on” he was able to connect them with their airline. He said this work gave him a great deal of satisfaction – to help others.

Finally, to end this evening’s long entry. Covert asked me why I write. We talked about that. His thoughts on becoming a published author gave me some serious food for thought. He had a piece of advice for me. He said, “Print out 10 copies of something you have written and give it to ten people. They can be people you know or don’t know.” I’m going to paraphrase the rest of what he said as I was feeling very emotional during this discussion. He said this would be the only way I could know if I had anything to say that people wanted to read about. People who think you do will give you some feedback. People who don’t think you have anything to say will not respond. That is the only way you will know.

Can I ask a huge favor of anyone reading this blog entry. Does this entry or past blogs resonate with you? I am not asking you to identify yourself, this is my way of printing what I write and getting some feedback. You can make a note at the end of the blog (it will read as anonymous unless you type your name in) or if you are comfortable giving me an opinion with your name on it – you can email me at bethcoehlo@aol.com.

Please be one of my ten people.

Photos taken from Covert Bailey's home near the base of Superstition Mountain. The yard photos are taken from different angles from the homes third floor either from the master suite or from a porch area off of the Master suite.