Confessions of a One-Track Mind

Did get to the food bank with Mb, but not much else. Went to WalMart to deposit cash/check, went around in circles trying to remember what I needed---light bulbs, damn it, as two of them have blown in the last two days---did get bathroom tissue, the mega pack, so I don't have to worry about that for a while.

Saw some $3 pants on the clearance rack and had to speak sternly to myself. I don't NEED another pair of black pants---or grey ones, for that matter. Didn't get any clothes, yay me, I have plenty. Tried on a shirt I've had for eons---was way too small when I got it, it now fits nicely, and I just realized I've already got some shorts that will work with it, I don't NEED new ones.

Came home feeling "off"...queasy from the heat and a headache---! I still have the headache, despite a nap. I'm not decaffeinating, so it isn't that...mostly it feels like my temples are in a vise, but there's also an ache at the back of my neck. I'd just as soon go back to sleep, but I doubt that's gonna happen.

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This is far from the first time I've "sat" for the C's. However, since my last stay, they've made some changes I heartily approve of. For one thing, the guest room is no longer the smallest bedroom (the one with the hideous east-facing windows). Things have been shifted around and I'm in a southwest-facing room that's as big or bigger than my bedroom at home, and it's right next to the bath.

Alas, it still has the same ultra-firm mattress, but there are a whole flock of fluffy new pillows, the lamps can be reached from the bed and---drumroll, please!---it has a wireless internet connection and a cozy desk right next to the TV. Yeah, life is good.

The C's are about the same distance from their local WalMart as I am from mine. I migrated up there this afternoon because I'd forgotten my toothbrush. I often bump into people I know at my local---as witness the other day when I ran into Jazz, SO and Mb (in that order. (Of course I noticed the dog first!) Mb and I were even wearing the same shirt, hers in apple green, mine in regatta blue.

I wasn't expecting to see anyone at this store, but I wasn't even in the door when Someone called my name. It was T, who was with his mother. (His folks live nearby.) We said "Hi", not much more, and went our separate ways.

I spent most of the afternoon reading (I picked up a couple books the other day at the library). Had a shower and washed my hair, set up "my" laptop, and am contemplating plugging in a DVD as Sundays aren't a great night for TV, IMO. I brought a few things with me, including Justified and Sons of Anarchy (Both season 1). Or maybe I'll reimmerse myself in Crossfire....

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I've had a craving for root beer barrels since July 4th weekend. Trouble is, they were sold out at WalMart (I only go there and to Aldi these days, and Aldi doesn't carry them.) and have been ever since.

Until tonight, when I snagged a bag, and oh yum! Just what I wanted.

Got home to some completely unexpected GOOD news for a change---an email from a friend who sent me what I'm regarding as an early birthday pressie. Between that and Friday's postcards, I am feeling rather less ruffled than I have been. It's a nice change.

And now, off to take a shower. My skin is so salty by the end of the day, sometimes I think I'm going to wake up transformed into a bag of pork rinds---and I don't even like pork rinds! (And I'm trying to be good about salt, since my ankles have been swollen to Clydesdalean proportions.)


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This afternoon I dropped off some books at the library and sat down for a while to enjoy the beautiful free air-conditioning that my tax dollars are paying for. While I had my nose buried in a book, I was greeted by CapeGypsy, who was also there to stock up on her weekend reading.

From the library, I went to WalMart to pick up a few necessaries...caffeine and ice cream among them. As I was migrating from cheese and lunch meats to bread, who should I run into but MrCapeGypsy.

I know it's a smallish town, but what are the odds?!

As I came out of WalMart, it started raining rish. By the time I got everything into the car, I was soggy. By the time I got out of the parking lot, it had almost stopped raining, and was on and off all the way home. I'm really very glad I had my wiper blades replaced a while back. There hasn't been a lot of rain since then, but it sure did come in handy tooay!

Yes, it IS the rainy season---June 1 was the kick-off for hurricane season:




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The corn casserole needs some tweaking. It was tasty, but a bit dry. Next time, I'll use fewer crackers, and if it isn't being served at once, not bake it as long so it can finish cooking while reheating. I will definitely be making it again, because it was quick to throw together with stuff I've usually got on hand, not overly expensive, and rib-sticking good.

The pudding, on the other hand, was fairly fabulous. I used two packets of instant chocolate pudding, one regular, one sugar-free. The packets each made 3 cups; I put them in the bottom of the bowl, added two tablespoons of unsweetend cocoa powder, which I blended into the mix with a spoon before adding two cups of 1% milk. I blended this well with my trusty hand mixer, then kept blending at low speed for two minutes while adding a quart of lowfat chocolate milk. Rich, but not as sinful as all that.

The clothing swap was fun, as always. (Sorry you didn't make it, ang5fam!) I'd managed to drip something onto the pink blouse I was wearing, so as soon as I scored a new top, I changed and left the new one on. It's little grey-white squares on a black grid background, long-sleeved, stretchy, and went really well with my dark grey skirt and shoes. Also acquired a light silvery-grey LS top, an identical one in pale pink, and a couple of AI's signature one size fits all tops, one a button-up in some great greens, the other an open-front jacket in great blues and purples (I almost had to wrestle someone for that one, but she was sensible enough to see that she was too short for it.)

Bearing in mind that the last time I got an ensemble for S, it was a 10/12 White Stag that hung on her like pajamas, I acquired a WS outfit in 8/10, so we'll see.... And several folks benefitted from my surplus. CapeGypsy got a few tops and a black dress that was one of those "What was I thinking?!" purchases from Goodwill, and StormValkyrie got a blue mesh "dress" that she is planning to show off to MrValkyrie. Woohoo! AI got a little vest that's cute, but I just never wore it.

Stopped at WalMart on the way home...I was there yesterday, and picked up, among other things, a package of AA batteries---which somehow, didn't make it home. I don't know if they didn't get put in the bag, or what, but I looked in the car, and everywhere else I could think of, and zilch! I went to the service desk, showed them my receipt, and they told me to go get another package. No fuss! I was afraid they were gonna say, 'Too bad, so sad', but I was in and out in no time. Yay, WalMart!

I have leftovers of both my contributions. And lunch has worn off....
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It occurred to me that I didn't mention the "all roads lead to WalMart" experience I had in yesterday/Friday's post. First, I ran into a gal I used to know from the billing service---she wasn't woring there when they closed down, but she'd heard about it. And a little later, much to my delight, I bumped into SpaceCadet, a former UUCC member whom I adore but seldom see.

The first words out of her mouth were, "My God, you've lost weight!". And since it's been over a year since I've seen her, I smiled and agreed. I wasn't even dressed UP...it was icky rainy weather, so I had on my old indestructible denim shirt-dress and the new grey shoes.

Said dress I've had since...good grief, I got it in the fall of 2000. I remember, because I was working at the Dysfunctional Family Business at the time. My coworker loaned me the money to get it from the consignment store I found it at because it was a couple days til payday and she said anything that awesome I should snag immediately and not trust that no one else would buy it in the meantime.

Mind you, I haven't been able to wear it all of that time. From about 2002 til 2005, I couldn't get into it at all. (I blimped up from about 345 to 393---my heighest weight---then took it off when I started writing again. Not overnight, but over the course of about six months of skipping lunch to write, coming home and parking myself in front of the computer to write some more, etc.) I didn't wear it often at my last job, because it's more casual than I usually dressed for that. Yes, it has princess seaming, but still, it's NOT fancy. But for running around on a drippy day, it works well.

Anyway, SpaceCadet and I exchanged email addys and yakked for a bit. She reminds me a lot of my favorite cousin, except that she's less uptight and not Lutheran.