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I HAD NO IDEA when I climbed out of bed this morning that this afternoon I'd be visiting with a cousin I've not seen in almost thirty years. Danny and his wife happened to be in the area on their way home from three months of living in Bangladesh. Their home is in Washington state, but Danny's father (my uncle, you see) lives here in Pennsylvania, and they stopped off on their journey home in order to see him. I can't tell you how long Uncle Harry has lived in Pennsylvania, but I do know he's lived at some spot or another for a very long time!

Very nearly as momentous (and just as unexpected) was the fact that I whipped up some Chocolate Chip cookies today! (One event had a lot to do with the other, as the whole idea of cookie-making sprang into my head when I searched my cupboards for "a little something" to serve to my guests, and found quite a bit of nothing! [A quick dash to the grocery store followed].)




As might be expected, Reader Dear, a slight problem arose, however, with the cookie-baking: About the time I began measuring ingredients into the bowl (I substituted coconut oil for half of the butter, a move I highly recommend), my guests arrived!

Dear Reader, one doesn't concoct cookies while visiting with relatives who've just come from Bangladesh, and with whom one has never really ever visited before (playing with toys from the basket together at Grandpa and Grandma's house doesn't count; nor does briefly chatting at funerals.) It just isn't done!

So we spent a lovely forty-five minutes together (Uncle Harry is still hale and hearty just two days shy of ninety-five; Danny and his wife served as houseparents for seven young people who were English teachers in Bangladesh; they likely will not go back, Danny's wife was allergic to the dust; Danny and his wife have twenty-six grandchildren [I did some exclaiming, Reader Dear!] And lots more of interest, but of course I can't tell it all!)

And we ate nothing.



As soon as they left, however, I finished making those cookies.
And then, alas, I ate more than a little of "a little something"!*















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*Warm from the oven, chewy with chocolate oozing.
Can I be blamed, Reader Dear?!