Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Yeah, my memory sort of starts with our kids and then comes forward. It’s not that I don’t remember people and things, but I also feel like, when there’s an old memory, I try and recall where the kids were.”
I laughed at him. “Like, I was undercover for three months, when did I see my kids?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling at me. “Exactly. It’s hard to think of me being me without them. I think of myself as a father first, then a husband, then a child, a friend before a sibling, because I like my friends more than my siblings––”
“Sam,” I scolded him.
“What? It’s true. You know they’re annoying. And Mike right now. Jesus, did you know he sent me his profile picture that he put up on Tinder?”
“Let me see,” I prodded him, and he pulled up the text chat with his brother and showed me. “What’s with the hair?”
“Yeah. Even Jon Bon Jovi cut his hair. Gimme a break.”
I was laughing when Aaron and Duncan got back to the table.
“Do you know what your daughter just told me about calamari?” Duncan asked Sam.
“Oh God, don’t tell me,” Aaron said flatly. “I told her she’s not allowed to call and tell me random facts anymore. She grosses me out, and normally it happens when I’m about to eat.”
Sam was waggling his eyebrows, and I knew that his friendship with Aaron would not make sense to people who didn’t know us, but inside our circle, we all understood. There was a lot of love and laughter, and that made it all work.
That’s it, everyone. Not as big an update as usual. I’m sure next month’s Halloween recap will be far more fun.
NOVEMBER 2022
Hello, all, and welcome to He Said, he said for November 2022. I hope you all had a lovely Halloween. Here at the Kage-Harcourt house we had a different one than normal without the boys, but my life is starting to take on a new reality, and as the smaller holidays add up without them, I’m finally getting used to the ebb and flow.
The great news is that both my kids will be home with me on Friday the eighteenth. Kola, Harper, and Jake are flying out in the morning, and Hannah will be home with her laundry around five. I’m over the moon. I can’t even begin to tell you. Sam is pretty happy himself—he says there’s lots of yardwork to be done. He’s not fooling me one bit.
Back to our Halloween. It started off with me getting my daily check-in with my son. He calls to ask questions like, What is my shoe size in slippers versus shoes? Do I eat kale? What does braising mean? Do I like chorizo? And my favorite of the last round, What is a giblet?
“We’re being invited to an early Thanksgiving meal and—what is that?”
“It’s the generic name for what comes inside the turkey,” I explained.
“What?” He sounded horrified.
I had to explain that when you got the turkey, there were things inside of it.
“There are? That sounds disgusting!”
“The giblets are normally sealed inside the body cavity and––”
“I’m gonna puke.”
“––there is the heart, liver, gizzard, and neck.”
“I’m never eating turkey again.”
“I use the neck for gravy, pitch the liver and gizzard, and cook the heart and then cut it up as a treat for Dobby and Chilly.”
There were retching sounds on the other end of the line.
“The neck isn’t eaten, just boiled. As I said, I use it for gravy.”
“Oh dear God.”
“Some people,” I began hesitantly, “cook the giblets and add them to stuffing.”
“Ewww.”
“Lots of people love it, and I’m sure, if cooked correctly, it adds a flavorful component.”
“You sound like a cooking show.”
“Well, I don’t like them added to anything, and the gizzard and liver I’ve never done anything but pitch. Ever.”
“Is that why I’ve never had them?”
“Yes. Your grandmother and I both hate them, which is why you’ve never had them.”
“Harper and Jake have never had them either.”
“I’m not surprised. I’m sure a great chef can make something delicious with them, but I’ve never been a fan.”
“How will I be able to know what they are? Christine says her mother puts them in the stuffing.”
“Whenever I’ve had them, they’ve been like hard cubes that taste like liver. I understand some people make a pâté with them.”
“Gross,” he assured me.
“Just pass on the stuffing. It’s very nice of Christine’s mother to invite you guys over for Thanksgiving. Take her a good bottle of wine. Use your credit card for that.”
“Okay.”
“Why is she cooking early?”
“Christine is spending Thanksgiving with her dad and her stepmother and their kids this year, but she still wanted to have the holiday with her mom.”
“That’s got to be hard.”
“I think Jake’s kinda sad about missing it with his mom too. She’s taking us all out to dinner before she leaves on her trip.”