I really love it when Michael has an early tee time, because it gets me going early too!!!  He left on Saturday (6/25) at 7 AM and I leapt up to begin cleaning.  Gale and Phil and Michael and I are going out to dinner tonight and then coming back here to figure out when we are going on a short golfing vacation together.  Gale’s house is ALWAYS immaculate….my house will in no way look like Gale’s, but at least it will be as clean as I need it to be to satisfy Michael and me!  I know it sounds strange, but I really do enjoy tidying up the house because I love how it looks when I’m done.  And I get the added perk that Michael NEVER FAILS to notice how nice the house looks.  He really is a terrific husband about things like that.  He always notices any little thing I do for him or for us, and he comments on it and thanks me for it. ….I am very lucky!  It makes all the difference in how I feel about doing many things.  By NOON I had finished cleaning, making ice cream and running errands (delivering some ice cream, returning some make-up and dropping off a check) on my bike, so I got to settle down and sew a bit.  I went upstairs again at 3:30.  I had made the chocolate decadence ice cream for dessert, but I wanted some kind of small, crunchy cookie to go with it.  I’ve had a recipe for these lace cookies for about 6 months, so I made them up.  Susan came over to visit while they were baking, which was good because it seems like we haven’t seen her in forever!  Phil and Gale picked us up at 5:15 for dinner.  We ate in a pub in Waxhaw (a nearby town) and although the food was good and the prices were also, the noise seemed deafening.  That was a tiny bit disappointing because it just makes it hard to talk or even to enjoy your food.  Michael had a tiny headache when we left…I was ok because I had put in ear plugs!  Anyway, we headed on home to the ice cream and cookies.  Michael ended up not liking the taste of the cookies, because he doesn’t like molasses that much.  Gale and Phil both said they liked them, so I sent a bunch home with them.  We picked out 3 weeks where we could potentially go on this golfing vacation.  Once that is settled, I will be able to schedule a trip to Virginia to visit Ginny!!!