Half Finished

by Lauraine Snelling

  She checked the freezer. “You might have told me you emptied the ice cream carton.”

  “Do we have bananas?”

  “One.”

  “Think Andy and I are hankering for banana splits for dessert.”

  She frowned. “Along with peanut butter cookies?”

  “What else are we having for supper?”

  “I’m putting the lasagna in the oven now.”

  “I’ll get French bread then too.” He closed the line.

  Back out in the greenhouse, Ginny breathed a sigh of delight. Inhaling the greenhouse perfume always made her smile. She had at least an hour. The flat of trailing petunia seedlings was next. Using the garden knife, she cut the flat into squares and dug out the first two to move to the four-inch pots all lined up in an empty flat. She used a pancake turner to slide under the squares and lift each into an individual pot. A quick press, add a bit more potting soil, and gently mist her babies. She set that flat on the shelf under the bench and pulled out another to repeat. She’d just finished her fourth flat when she heard the truck turn in the driveway. Petunias done. The peppers looked ready to do tomorrow. This was her first year to try eggplant so she had started only a few.

  Although Fred’s garden grew about anything they planted, she loved to try new things.

  As soon as the truck stopped, both twins came running to the greenhouse to greet her.

  Addy stopped at the door. “Grandpa said he wanted peanut butter cookies. What kind do you want?”

  “I want cowboy cookies.” Andy poked at her.

  “Not today.”

  “I thought we could make some for the UFO meeting. We can keep ’em in the freezer.”

  “Can you keep Grandpa from the freezer?”

  “Good point.”

  “What’s a UFO group?” Andy gave his grandma one of his questioning looks. “I thought you didn’t like Star Wars.”

  “This group is for people with unfinished projects.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. Unfinished projects is UFP.”

  Leave it to Andy—things had to make sense for him. “It’s okay. Grandpa is going to go too. You got any unfinished projects?”

  “Yeah, his book reports.” Addy poked her brother in the ribs.

  “Schoolwork doesn’t count.”

  “Why not?” She looked at her grandma. “You going to take Mom along? She has lots.”

  “I’ll ask her.” Ginny pulled off her gloves and stuck them in her apron pocket, then hung her apron on the hook by the door. “Let’s go bake cookies.”

  “I’m hungry.” Andy put on his I’m starving look.

  “I know. There are sandwich makings in the refrigerator. Addy, why don’t you call your mom and tell her to come here for supper. Andy, same for your dad.”

  “Oh, good. We won’t have to have hot dogs again.”

  “Gee, that’s what we have for snacks.” Ginny put a sad look on her face.

  “Graaan’maaaa.”

  “She’s teasing,” Addy picked up the stick and threw it as far as she could down the driveway. “Go, Spook.”

  Thank you, Lord, for these two. Ginny followed them into the house, where they took the stairs two at a time. Such boundless energy. What would they do without them?

  Chapter Four

  What if no one shows up?” Roxie bit her lip nervously. She was wearing her plain gray tennis shoes today; she always wore them when she was nervous.

  MJ grinned. “We are going to have SRO, you wait and see.”

  “SRO?”

  “Standing room only. We better ask Anne if she has any more chairs.”

  “Ever the optimist.” Roxie straightened the tablecloth on the table waiting for goodies. She opened the container and took out a lemon bar. “I never should have made these.”

  “Stress eating?”

  “What else? I’ll go ask Anne.”

  Anne was just putting the final touches on one of the trays they used in the diner to carry plates to the tables, now covered in cookies. She held both hands, flat out, in a quieting motion. “Easy, my friend.” A knock at the diner door grabbed her attention. “See, people are starting to come. Would you please unlock the door and point them in the right direction.”

  “Of course. MJ wanted to know if you have extra chairs stashed anywhere else.”

  “I’ll take care of that. You go to the door. Oh, and leave it unlocked.”

  Roxie turned the lock with one hand and pulled the door open with the other. “Welcome if you are here for the UFO meeting, and the diner is closed if you are wanting supper.”

  “The UFO meeting, of course.” Three women filed in.

  “The meeting room is straight through there.” Roxie pointed the way. She thought that due to her years as a real estate agent, she knew everyone in town, but she didn’t recognize any of them. She turned to greet two ladies from her church. “Welcome, meeting room is in the back, but you already know that.”

  “Were we supposed to bring our projects?”

  “You could if you wished, but this is basically an informational meeting. Glad you could come. And here is Jeff! Good evening, Jeff.”

  A wizened old man grinned as he entered. Roxie happened to know he was a widower whose only son had recently married. She knew nothing more about him. “Good to see you, Roxie. The poster didn’t say what kind of unfinished projects.”

  “All kinds. No restrictions.”

  “Good. Wait’ll you see what I have.” He walked on through to the back.

  Amalia entered with a big smile. She was wearing a crocheted-and-starched floppy hat tonight with a long blue grosgrain ribbon. “Hi, Roxie. Would you believe I have three other hats that are not completed yet?”

  Roxie laughed. “I sure would.”

  Ginny and Fred came through the door.

  Roxie said, “So good to see you both! Fred, I can’t believe you have any unfinished projects.”

  He chuckled. “Are you kidding?”

  She lost track of the number of people she greeted, all the way from two college students to a granny with a walker, several with canes, and three other men who were not husbands of those attending. The back room was beginning to sound like a convention center.

  “Told you so,” MJ said with a chuckle. “Let the adventure begin.”

  The men were standing around the back of the room and several of the younger people were sitting on the floor when Anne’s Gary brought in more chairs so the others could sit.

  “This is it, no more room. You could sit around the tables out here.” He motioned to the guys.

  Three women stopped in the entrance. “We’ll sit out here.”

  MJ tapped with a spoon on a glass. When that didn’t work, she tapped louder and raised her voice. “Can I have your attention, please?”

  Addy, who was sitting on the floor in front, put two fingers in her mouth and near to blasted the eardrums of those right around her.

  People laughed but they did settle down.

  “I hate to break up discussions like this but we do need to get the meeting started.” MJ paused. “Thank you, thank you.” When the hush finally won, she smiled at those gathered. “Welcome to the organizational meeting of our proposed UFO group. I will start with a confession. When Roxie came up with this idea—and it was her idea, not ours together—I was pretty skeptical. Let’s face it, this is kind of a loony idea. But now that I see so many here, I am not the least bit skeptical. This is an idea whose time has come.

  “Our goal is to assist each other with finishing projects that we already started. I get the feeling some of us have plenty of those and all of us have some. I was planning on going around the room so each of you could introduce yourself and perhaps one of the projects you would like to finish, but I never dreamed we’d have this many. Roxie, who was the greeter out there, was afraid it would be a bust.”

  Roxie nodded. “True. Glad to see you all. We promise we will have a larger room the next time we meet.”

>   “How did you think this up?” someone from the group asked.

  Roxie answered, “That’s next on the agenda. MJ and I were talking one day about trying to get some things finished, when I said I’d heard about a group like this and followed up to learn more. That group sent me their guidelines.” Roxie handed MJ the paper.

  MJ muttered, “I thought you were going to present this.”

  Roxie shook her head. “You’re doing fine.” She liked that MJ had something to supervise again. What would Roxie herself do if she ever retired from selling houses?

  After shooting her friend a dirty look, MJ continued, “First off, let me ask a couple of questions. How many have three to five UFOs at your house? Raise your hands.” Most hands in the room went up. “I see. How about ten?” More than half the group again. “Okay, between fifteen and twenty?” Far fewer hands this time. “Anyone with no idea.” She raised her own hand and counted five others.

  “I’d give some of mine away if someone else needs more to do,” one of those women said. Laughter answered that one.

  “I figured I’d have a contest and whoever guessed closest to the number I have would get to keep one of them,” MJ said.

  “Good idea but then you’d have to dig them all out and count them. Not me.” More chuckles.

  “You’re right. Me either. So, how many have quilting projects?” A good portion of the room. “Knitting? Crocheting? Weaving?” The numbers were dropping.

  “How about needlepoint?” Several raised their hands.

  “Woodworking? Stained glass?”

  “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

  “Uh-uh.” MJ shook her head. “Remember, no new projects.”

  “Oh, that’s right.”

  “Does anyone else do tatting?” one lady asked as she looked around the room for another who did. One more lady raised her hand.

  One of the men, Jeff, piped up, “How about building an eight-foot peapod?”

  MJ’s mouth dropped open. “That’s a lot of peas!”

  “It’s a boat—a little boat like a punt that you sail or row around in.”

  “I’ll help you,” Fred offered from the back. “If you’ll help me with a big, heavy chest of drawers.”

  “Deal!”

  “Hmm, hadn’t thought of that as a by-product. Any others? Oh—painters?” Several hands went up.

  “I do house painting; that might be a bit difficult to work on with the group.” Ready chuckles skipped around the room.

  “Well, as we said, anything goes. I can see we have a critical need for such a philanthropic group.”

  “We’re going to need to meet more than once a month.”

  “That might be a good idea too. Let’s review the other group’s suggestions and see if we agree.” MJ consulted the paper in her hand. “Now, the first premise is, we promise not to start anything new.”

  “Uh-uh, I’d never get to start another new thing in this lifetime.” Anne shook her head. “I can’t sign something like that.”

  “I agree. I still haven’t started a baby quilt, and it is due in two months.”

  “This is our group; we can do what we want. I’m just going to read their suggestions.” MJ glanced around the room for agreement. “Okay, they meet once a month; we might want to meet bimonthly, like the first and third Thursdays or some such. Even though we don’t feel we want to sign something, we can still pretty much agree on the value of not starting anything new. Right?”

  “Oh, yeah, it sounds good. But…”

  “I know,” someone ventured. “How about we take pictures of the finished projects so we all can celebrate.”

  Roxie bobbed her head. “Now, I think that is a good idea.”

  “Me too,” Amalia, who’d been rather quiet, responded. “Any idea where we will be meeting?”

  Roxie replied, “I was talking to Maureen at the Yarn Shop, and she has offered her place. Remember, everyone has to bring their own projects and supplies.”

  “I can’t go in that store without buying some of her wonderful yarns.”

  “Ask her to close the cash register?” More chuckles.

  “What do you think I am? Stupid?” Maureen herself asked from halfway back. “But I promise no sales hype.”

  “Just going in there is addictive.”

  “Glad to hear that,” Maureen said with a smile and a wave. “If we are too crowded we’ll have to find a bigger place, but we can start there.”

  “Great. Now what’s next?” MJ studied her list. “Here. There will be no business meetings; we just show up and get started. We want to keep this as simple as possible.”

  “How about a list of names with contact information?”

  “Good idea. Now, about the day to meet.”

  “Not on Wednesday night, like this one.”

  “I know, church night.”

  “What about Thursdays?”

  Amalia wore her pondering look. “You know, people say they dread Mondays. Perhaps this would be something to look forward to.” She nodded while she spoke. “I know I would.”

  “You look forward to everything, O bringer of sunshine,” someone from the back added.

  “Ain’t that the truth?” This brought more chuckles.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” The blue ribbon on Amalia’s floppy hat swayed as she nodded.

  “Meant it as one.”

  “She makes the best pies,” another added.

  “I know. Why, she brought me soup for a whole week when I was down with the flu. Saved my life.”

  Amalia rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t that big a deal.”

  MJ raised her voice. “Let’s get back to the topic. Amalia suggested Monday nights. Any discussion or other suggestions?”

  One woman offered, “I wish we could meet in the morning or afternoon. I don’t like being out after dark in the winter.”

  Several assents from around the room.

  MJ looked at Roxie. “It’s your meeting now.” And she stepped back.

  Roxie stepped forward. “I know driving in the dark is difficult for many of us, but if we meet at Maureen’s shop, evenings would be better. If we meet after she closes, we wouldn’t fill up her parking lot and block out paying customers. Besides, I know some of us work during the day; we aren’t all retired.”

  Jeff pointed out, “In the summer, the sun rises in the north and sets in the north. Plenty of daylight. We could meet in the evening all summer and then change to mornings or afternoons when the days get short again.”

  “Excellent point!” Roxie said. “Anything we set up tonight can be changed; does anyone object to evenings until, say, September?”

  Lots of head shaking, no frowns.

  “Good. Let’s agree on a day.” Roxie paused. “Let’s start with the two nights mentioned, Monday and Thursday. Those for Monday, raise your hands.” She counted. Way more than half. “Okay, Thursday.” Monday was obvious.

  “Hey, you can’t vote for both.” Roxie stared at one couple.

  “Why not, we are good for either.” The two looked at each other and shrugged. “Made sense to us.”

  “Whatever.” MJ looked at Anne, who shrugged back at her. That couple had been married so long, they always thought alike, or at least it seemed that way. “Okay, Monday night it is, at least for the time being.”

  One of the men sighed. “Means no Monday night football.”

  “Tell your TV to save it for you. Hey, fall is months away.”

  The snorts around the room obviously came from women who could not care less about football.

  “Good reason to have it on Monday night. How about first and third? Any dissenters?” Roxie paused. No one spoke up. “Then that will be our night. One good thing is that this is our group—if something isn’t working, we’ll change it.”

  MJ studied the calendar Roxie handed her. “So we meet at the knitting store a block down the street from six to nine next Monday for our first working meeting.”

  “If s
ome of you want to come early, the door will be open and the coffee on,” Maureen amended.

  Addy raised her hand. “Can I bring cookies? Grandma is going to teach me to knit.”

  “Sweetie, you can bring cookies to my shop anytime.”

  Amalia reached over and patted the girl’s shoulder. “I just had an idea. You and I need to talk.”

  Ginny looked between her granddaughter and her friend. “Uh-oh. Be careful what you agree to, Ads.”

  Jeff’s voice from the back asked, “How can I bring my peapod to Maureen’s?”

  Maureen grinned at him. “Out in the parking lot under the roof where I park my car. Be cold in the winter but perhaps you’ll have it done by then. You give us a challenge, we will work it out.”

  “All right, are there any more questions, discussions?” MJ nodded. “Good, then, the beverages are on the first table out the door along with the cookies and bars. Anne, anything you would like to say?”

  Anne stood. “Just thanks for coming and hope to see you again soon. By the way, lattes are on special for the next two mornings, until noon. Prices at the cash register. Omelets are the breakfast special for tomorrow. Now come help yourself; I put Addy’s name on the tray of cookies she baked. Addy, stand so they see who the whistler is.”

  * * *

  A half hour later, MJ closed the door behind the last attendee. “Well, our project is on the way.”

  “I’d say; what a turnout!” Anne picked up the coffeepot. “Even if half these people show up…”

  “For sure.” Ginny handed her trays to Addy and picked up the iced tea and lemonade pitchers. “I better get this kid home before her dad scolds me for keeping his daughter out late on a school night.”

  “So Jeff wants help with his peapod. That will be good.” Fred joined several others in setting the room back to rights. “This won’t take but a minute. Hey, Amalia, you want a ride home? I can throw your bike in the back of the truck.”

  “Thanks, but it is still light enough out.”

  “Thank you all for your help cleaning up.” A few minutes later, Anne jangled her keys by the door. “See some of you in the morning.”

  “And you start baking muffins at…?”

  “I know, morning comes early.” She locked the door behind them, and she and Gary turned off the lights as they made their way out the back door to where their car was parked.