LITE BUDDHISM

Ever walk through a store and stop dead in your tracks when you see something truly incredible, something so seemingly once-in-a-lifetime? That happens to me sometimes. Mostly with shoes. I'll halt and emit a little gasp of awe. Seriously. I think there's something innate in the way some women feel about shoes. I see the great ones as wearable art.

This stop-and-awe happened a couple months ago when I was walking through a home decor store and laid eyes on a chartreuse ceramic Buddha figure (that Jessica picked up on in my Special Delivery post).

Oh my gosh. I have to have this. And for six bucks, I'd have been a fool not to buy it.

When my sister, Mal, was visiting a while back with the purpose of helping me do some house dejunking and reorganizing and restyling, I was taking her through the house telling her what I liked and didn't like. When we reached my office door I stopped before opening it and said, Ever purchase a piece so spectacular that you can hardly believe it's yours? She said she did. Well, when I open this door you're going to just die over how great something is.

I opened the door, she looked in, and she cried out, Oh please tell me you mean the Buddha!

Well, of course.

When the husband was doing my bidding last night with the hanging and such, we placed a shelf sconce thinger just inside the front entryway very near my Fam Proc poster. I'd designated something very special for that little shelf. Upon it I placed my perfect purchase.

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As a side note, in a few minutes our doorbell is going to ring. It will be my coworker and her two teenaged kids. I've invited them over for dinner. To you that might seem ordinary, but here, in this house, it's momentous.

When I tell you that I'm not at all social, I am not exaggerating. Illustration: we have lived in this house for a bit over three years now and these are the first non-visiting-from-out-of-town family (or Rabid) that we've invited to our home for a meal. A meal I made. Just before moving here we bought a terrific dining table--solid wood, round, seats eight--and I sat down at it for the first time ever today when I was putting out the plates and such.

I'm so defunct in the cooking for company department that I had to talk with Whitney about just what I was going to feed these friends of mine.

Here's what we'll be eating:

• pesto pasta with cherry tomatoes and olives

• Whit's Summer Fruit Salad

• Italian white bean salad that I found online

• roasted garlic peasant bread with a lemon-sage butter I made (whoa)

• and an Apple Betty (sort of like an apple crumble only way better) for dessert

I am excited to have them come over to hang out (and it was terrific incentive to finally get all that stuff up on the walls). We have a nice and good sized house that gets absolutely no play from anyone that isn't me and el husband.

However, I can't believe that I had the outlandish idea to actually cook. I was on my feet for four hours, chopping, mixing, peeling, blending, and on. I spent most of that time thinking that my cooking sister is a complete idiot to make this cooking nonsense her hobby--and I didn't even have her chaotic environment while I did my thing. The Rookie's insane.