An unexpected outing

can be awful or excellent.
I went out to lunch yesterday. The lunch bit was "unexpected". I was aware that I might be going out during the afternoon. I had made a time for that in  the day but when I arrived back from yet another trip to the chemist for the Senior Cat and myself he said,
    "J....rang. Can you ring her back? She wants to know if you want to go out for lunch."
Now I rarely, almost never, do this sort of thing. I was expecting to meet J... and G.... for "coffee" in the afternoon. We wanted to talk about our plans for a Christmas tree. (Yes, we are thinking about it already.) The two of them had put their  heads together and decided that lunch might be nice.
One of them was on holiday, lives alone, and doesn't need to worry about other people's meals. The other is married but he was out and about and doing things. They were free.
I thought it through before I called J... back. P... who does two hours of heavy cleaning once a fortnight was coming  but she would be here well before I left. What's more she knows what to do. I had no qualms about that. I also knew that, if I prepared something for the Senior Cat, she would make sure he heated it up and ate it. So, I wiggled things a bit and yes P.... just about pushed me out the door with, "Go on. I'll look after him. You deserve a break. And don't feel guilty."
And she did look after him. She even did his little bit of washing up.
I did feel a little guilty because the care of the Senior Cat is my responsibility.  P....has her own elderly parents to worry about. 
But I was able to give her a small box of tomatoes as well as what we pay her.
I hope I can give her some more next time too because we are so extraordinarily fortunate to have someone like her. She does the things I cannot do, cannot reach or am not strong enough to do or am not agile enough to do safely. We don't pay her enough but she refuses to accept any more. She screwed something in yesterday. The Senior Cat had not got as far as his shed to get the screwdriver but P... asked me for one and did it - because she saw it needed to be done. I was grateful because it was two hands job really and the Senior Cat doesn't like standing up without holding on to something.
When you find someone like that - appreciate them. Tell them you appreciate them. They are worth far more than the anonymous masses who barely do their jobs and do them reluctantly.
Thank you P... for helping me have that unexpected outing.