Saturday's Story

I got up for real at 7:00 AM on Saturday. It was snowing so hard at the time, it was like a white out! Seriously, I couldn't see the trees in the backyard. But, that only lasted about 1/2 hour and then it stopped. I made some coffee, and then fried up some ham and two eggs over easy. This, along with buttered toast, was my breakfast.

I'm not quite sure why, but I'm not all that anxious to get going today. And, given my "live in the NOW" beliefs that I eagerly embraced in the late '60s, I am just easing into the day. My famed "To-Do" list will have to wait until I get around "To-Do"ing it!

But, I finally do get going and hit the shower (I declined to shave today, still stuck in that hedonistic mode). Another cup of coffee and I hit the road on my weekend errands. My plan is to get everything done today (when its supposed to be at or above freezing with some snow or rain or wintry mix) and then just hibernate tomorrow when, as my daughter Amy alluded to in her comment yesterday, we have an Alberta Clipper coming (Thanks, CC!)

Speaking of Alberta (Oh, you should see it! The mountains, the open spaces and the cattle ranches between the modern cities, it's really a gorgeous place, but you REALLY have to like cold and snow!!!) I thought I'd do a quick check of the predicted highs / lows for Sunday. Redford, Michigan (me): 14 degrees F / 6 degrees F.; Rogers, Minnesota (Amy): 0 degrees F / -8 degrees F. And, Canada Cathy's home town in Alberta, Canada (where this is all coming from)? 25 degrees F / 12 degrees F!!!

Then, just for fun, I thought I'd check my daughter Melissa's forecast for Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina: 60 degrees F / 29 degrees F. Damn, girl! I am worried about you! Don't forget your sweater!!!

Okay, enough sarcasm. I headed out about 10:30 AM and got home at 1:30 PM. I did the bulk of my shopping at Meijer's. Now, for those of you who don't shop at Meijer's, they don't have bag boys. The cashier scans each item and then put it in plastic bags hung on a carousel of sorts. As they fill out, she spins the carousel and then you take it off and put it back in your basket. You become, in fact, an unpaid bag boy for yourself! Anyway, there seems to be two extremes to this process. Depending on which checkout person you get, they either pack each bag too full, things fall out going home and you have to repack everything in the trunk before you carry it into the house or they only put, like, two items in each bag and you end up with a couple dozen bags for your trip. This particular woman was the "too many bags" kind.

The weather doesn't know what to do! It either rained or snowed throughout most of the trip. My errands ended at the library and then I drove home. After carrying in and unpacking all those damn bags, I started cleaning the house. I got all the cat hair sucked up everywhere and the kitchen and bathroom floors washed while my bedding went from bed to washer to dryer and back. I read while the floors dried, then made up the bed.

My lunch consisted of the last burger and the end of my split pea soup. Both tasted great! That freshly-made bed was calling to me, so I laid down for a nap at 4:00 PM and slept until 5:30.

Hmmm... what's for dinner? Not sure yet, but I got out an acorn squash from my mini-roots cellar. My plan is to stain the plant stand (while its still warm enough in the garage) and then darn my slipper socks while watching TV. Sounds like a plan, right? NOT!

Melissa called at 7:00 and we talked and we talked and we talked... Finally, after 9:00, I said I had hang up and eat some dinner. She thought I'd already eaten, but I explained I don't usually eat dinner until around 7:30 PM. So, we said our goodbyes, but it's too late for anything fancy now. I just grilled hot dogs on the grill pan and ate three of them with yellow mustard on buns. I went in and watched a taped version of Jamie Oliver's new cooking show. Then I turned off the TV and read until after midnight when I finally went to sleep.