Cheers to Marvelous Men

No doubt, Triangle Park is a girlie-girl group. But enough already. Last week, it came time for some man inclusion. We love our boys (fathers, brothers, grandpas, uncles, nephews, cousins, fiancés, boyfriends…). In particular, Jeff Sweeney a/k/a Babe and Dad.

Babe and I barbecued pineapple chicken shish kabobs last weekend (lead topic in his guest blog). Oh my, they were palette-pleasing to the extreme! Usually when it’s “grill night,” Jeff does his thing and I kick back. But this time was different. I jumped in by choosing the marinade, peppers, chicken, mushrooms, and overall theme: Pineapple Poultry Kabobs!

He said I got control-freaky when I tried to tell him how the coals should simmer and when the kabobs needed attention. So, I told him that I knew more about cooking because I did it more often. He said, oh no, this is my territory. I said, hmmm. We bantered back and forth amusing ourselves with chuckles and chimes, eventually losing interest.

A drool-worthy aroma and smoke spectacle from our deck soared into the sky. It was enticing! I had an urge to invite friends passing by but was let down by our culinary quantity. What we did have an abundance of was admiration for how incredible our grilling team-work panned out. Here’s the marinade if you you’re interested: https://www.vitacost.com/kona-coast-marinade-grilling-sauce-paradise-pineapple-teriyaki

That cook-out was our official first one as empty nesters – sniff sniff. Zoom, just like that the kids are gone. We miss them terribly, but are looking forward to just-the-two-of-us time in the future.

Some things won’t change though. For instance, there will still be a lot of travel in our lives. Travelling is how Jeff and I came together in the first place (Atlanta, GA to Salt Lake City, UT). We were seated side by side in the very last seats of a Delta L1011, by the bathrooms — flew home on the same flight too, but weren’t seated together. In baggage claim he asked for my number. I told him it “was in the book” (remember that?) but I didn’t spell my last name: Corkill. It’s not the easiest name to decipher and only my initials were listed. Spoiler alert: He cracked the code and found me!

Since meeting on Delta many moons ago, we’ve toured the world. You might wonder: how can anyone travel so much, it’s demanding and strenuous? Well, glory be to God, we no longer ride in the back of the aircraft, by the toilets. This small improvement makes flying a smidgeon less arduous.

It’s tasteless to brag about oneself, perhaps even team-work barbecue? But it’s ok to brag about your kids, right? What about husbands? Can we brag about husbands? Hopefully so because I’m about to…

Jeff Sweeney is an: