Ding Dong!

     For those who are getting to know us, Beeps is my 6yr old daughter, and is in the first grade.  Ding Dong is a game Beeps and I have played as long as I can remember.  It largely consists of me being at "home" wishing someone would come visit me because I'm oh-so-alone and am in dire need of company LOL!  Hence someone comes to my "door" and rings the doorbell.  The visitor to date has varied from a new neighbor girl next door, to a dragon or dinosaur, and even a long lost relative (seriously, I don't know where she comes up with these ideas!!)  These games usually last about 5-7 minutes depending on what we have time for, and what else I'm trying to get done that day, and yes, admittedly, what I can minimally get away with, because sometimes games like this hold me prisoner :/

     Well, yesterday, I promised to dedicate an entire 15 minutes to ding dong.  Yesterday came and went, and due to Grandma McCreary's delivery of Highlights magazines in the mail, Beeps' attention was diverted elsewhere and I managed to escape another day.  She remembered at 9p.m.  So today was THE day!  And for the record, this all took 45 MINUTES, so here's hoping her "ding dong" tank is full for at least the week!

     I agreed to a set of 3 "ding dong" games ,which ended up being a series of sorts.  The first game I title, "Disparaging Woman in Winter," and it started with me in the home, and the premise here (we were trying on winter accessories just before) was that I had apparently hired a girl in the springtime to shovel my driveway in the winter.  And I already paid her :p  But wintertime came, and I forgot about this girl, and was in SUCH a woeful state that I was stuck in my house.  So cue shoveling sounds, and my assumption is that it must be my neighbor...but the sound is getting closer!  THEN...comes the infamous "ding dong!" sound.  Whoever could it be??  She introduces herself as the girl I knew in the springtime!  No idea where this "girl" came from  :p  Anyhow, she reveals to me she shoveled my driveway, and I was sad because I couldn't pay her.  But, wait...what is this?  I ALREADY paid her, yay!!  So she bestows on me her cold weather accessories as a token of our new friendship, and takes me outside to build snow horses.  Then we shower sprinkles on the horses, and they become magical pegasi (pegasuses?)

     Then I moved into the kitchen as I asked to put the game on pause, and I began to ponder what was for dinner, and grabbed a handful of Craisins to stuff in my mouth.  So Beeps decided the next installment was (another thing we quite often play) "Beeps' Famous Food."  So I left the kitchen so I could "ring" the doorbell, because you know, we always ring doorbells at restaurants, lol.  Anyhow, Beeps said I had to drive up first, so I left, and got in my "car," drove to the restaurant, parked, and entered.  Oh, I forgot, I was supposed to pretend that Beeps was the girl who shoveled my driveway, and to act like I didn't know.  So when I entered in, she jumped up to welcome me to Beeps' Famous Food.  I began to reply, when I pointed to her with a , "Hey!  I know you!"  Insert Beeps' giggles and squeals :)  I told her I thought she looked really familiar...so she revealed her identity much to my shock and surprise (:p).  I told her I traveled a long way and was cold (I WAS cold!!) so I was looking forward to some good home cookin'!  She offered me a seat and asked what I would like.  I asked her about soups.  She told me she made a good chicken, vegetable and bean soup (that is all in one soup, not 3 separate, just for the record lol), and also a "just" vegetable soup, to which she added off the record that it was better than mine (ha!).  Then she went onto the desserts they made, because you know that is often her favorite part :D  But I had to reel her back to the soup menu, because I was freezing!  I asked her if they made corn chowder.  Yes.  Chili?  Yes.  Beef and barley?  Yes.  I then asked her what their best soup was.  Back to the chicken, vegetable and bean soup, so I asked for a bowl of that, and some hot tea, black to be exact.  And crackers for my soup.  And I was told I needed to ask for oats and carrots for my magical horse (the pegasus) because now she was outside.  And she gets mints for dessert, but not until she eats her oats and carrots.  :)  The soup came, and it was DELISH!  So hearty and warm...warmed me to the core!  The hot tea was just what my cold bag of bones needed :)  While I was eating, Beeps described to me the house specialty of dessert, a cool peppermint pie.  she was to bring out a piece for me and my horse, because you know, it's mint.  And horses like mint.  Boy was that pie refreshing after a meal of toasty goodness!  Inserted into the plot now is a made up character, Beeps' "mother," who lives with Beeps in the restaurant, which is now a restaurant/hotel.  She only comes down int he evenings to work, cleaning up the place and keeping out the riff-raff, because she is also a policewoman.  So a superhero of sorts :)  Oh, and in talking with the mother (for Beeps temporarily changed characters) I learned that this was my SISTER and that Beeps was my niece...and it was no wonder why I thought they looked so familiar!  :p  Beeps told me her mother offered to let me live in one of the rooms upstairs...but this goes into the 3rd installment...Hotel.

     In "Hotel," I was offered a place to stay so I could move to Lynchburg (because it was now revealed where we are) and learn to cook in Beeps' Famous Food.  And we were a hotel/restaurant on campus at Liberty University (we took a recent trip to the area in early Sept).  Elated, I asked how much it would cost.  Exactly one dollar, was the reply!  But before any of that could take place, I had to have some hot chocolate and house made pumpkin pie...but there was no pumpkin pie left!  Beeps offered to make some fresh, but I was SO disheartened, knowing that the pumpkin patch was SO far away :(  'Silly!' exclaimed Beeps, for she informed me that she has a garden on her roof!  But we needed the magical horses to take us there.  so we hopped on the horses, but we fell off on the way up, because it was really far.  however, the horses caught us in this bubble gel like sac that they somehow had with them, and they were amazing things, these sacs.  We were perfectly contained and unable to break out and fall to our death!  We arrive at the patch (Beeps is REALLY stretching out the plot at this point so I am encouraging her to get to the point), and stuff all the pie pumpkins we could get our hands on...so we didn't have to take a return trip anytime soon.  That was a scary ride!  Back in the kitchen, she whips up that pumpkin pie lickety split!  And boy was that the creamiest pie I ever did taste!  Full of laughs, giggles, food and fellowship, we ended our final installment of "ding dong."

Hope you enjoyed reading about our lengthy shenanigans!