Even with Wednesday a holiday, I needed this long weekend as a respite from work. And, looking at the weather report, I didn't want to spend too much of it outside. Besides, I had plenty to do inside...well, after catching up with sleep on Friday. By nine thirty I was busy: there was housecleaning that needed to be done and a few other things to catch up on. I also went downstairs and finished shifting around the books in the library, moving the science books to over the humor books, and shifting my Albert Payson Terhune books to the top of the bookcase they were in so more books could be fitted into the hardback fiction bookcase. I did think about going out, but changed my mind after refilling the bird feeders!

I finally sat down about four, and that's the way James found the three of us, Schuyler with her head under her wing, Willow sacked out on the chair, and me asleep on the sofa, when he got home from work. We went to Ken's Hometown Grill for supper, and then couldn't think of anything else to do, so went home and watched episodes of The Big Bang Theory instead. We are presently watching a bit of a dog's breakfast of the series on WPCH: they restarted the series on the Sunday airings, so we have gotten to see the pilot and the next two episodes. The 7 p.m. weeknight show is presently on season two and the 7:30 airing on season four, so we have a mishmash of Leonard/Penny and Leonard/Priya and with and without Amy and Bernadette.

Saturday James had to go to work, and was out the door about the time I got up to go to the Farmer's Market. I didn't stay long, as we still had supplies from the previous week. I did get some plain goat cheese, as they aren't selling the three-pack of the onion and chive I like as they did earlier in the year. (We have chives, and we do have minced onion, so it will be do-it-yourself goat cheese.) And two cucumbers as I think the one we have at home is soft. There were a wide variety of dogs in attendance this week along with the standard Greyhound Rescue attendees: a blue merle collie in full coat and a younger dog with coat just starting coming in, a West Highland White, several large black Labrador-type dogs (and a black puppy with black-spattered white stockings trying to make friends with one), and the rest of indeterminate parentage.

From there I went directly to Kroger and did the weekly shopping. At least the bread here doesn't have cornmeal all over it like the rolls from the Smyrna Kroger. Picked up yogurt, bananas, four Edy's Slow-Churn ice cream cups for dessert, some beef bits for Sunday supper, as well as the bread; apparently they've quit making the chocolate angel food cake, which was a great low-cal dessert. Phooey.

And I was home before noon which suited me fine. Did some more housework, and some reading, and some things on the computer, and fell asleep again waiting for James, but was just about to take Willow out when he finally arrived home. We picked up Dragon for dinner and that was that. Chatted with Emma and Mike later on, and I finally started watching the rest of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration that I recorded from BBC America. This began with a service at St. Paul's Cathedral. (I thought it was Westminster Abbey, but wondered why the entrance looked different...well, that would explain it...LOL. There's a pizza parlor and a Starbuck's just outside St. Paul's!) They did some lovely close-ups of the decorations on the ceiling, which looked like complicated Byzantine patterns (not Byzantine, but it had that air). Loved the beautiful music, and the Archbishop of Canterbury did a nice sermon about dedication, which included this passage from Romans:

Then since the gifts that we have differ according to the grace that was given to each of us: if it is a gift of prophecy, we should prophesy as much as our faith tells us; if it is a gift of practical service, let us devote ourselves to serving; if it is teaching, to teaching; if it is encouraging, to encouraging. When you give, you should give generously from the heart; if you are put in charge, you must be conscientious; if you do works of mercy, let it be because you enjoy doing them. Let love be without any pretence. Avoid what is evil; stick to what is good. In brotherly love let your feelings of deep affection for one another come to expression and regard others as more important than yourself. In the service of the Lord, work not half-heartedly but with conscientiousness and an eager spirit.

The closing blessing was from Thessalonians, and I figured that even if you are not religious, you can stop after "honor everyone," and it's still good rules for living.:-)

Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak;
help the afflicted;
honour everyone;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.

Instead of being in bed before two, we spent a fruitless half hour searching for my phone, which wasn't on the charger. I tried calling it, but Timeriffic turns off my ringer at night, so it wasn't making any noise. Well, found it in the sofa cushions, but I can't for the life of me remember why I left it on the sofa back so that it fell down there! Updates? Checking out an app? Who knows?

Which is why I appreciated this so much when it was posted in my Christmas movies and music group!: "Memory" Spoof.

James, for some reason known only to God, was up by 8:30 this morning. I went back to sleep, taunted by dreams of Schuyler sitting on my shoulder. Sigh. We ate breakfast and then decided to do something, so we drove up to Town Center Mall to walk around (because Cumberland Mall is just entirely too boring). Town Center at least has a Yankee Candle and a Disney Store and a Brookstone among the entirely too-many clothes and shoes and clothing accessories stores. Bleah. We parked at Sears and the first thing we saw upon entering the mall is that the old Waldenbooks is a clothing store...diarrhea! Stopped in the Best Buy mobile store and in the Verizon store to look at the newest breeds of smartphone (good grief, even the new phones are still operating on Gingerbread [Android 2.3.5]?), found pumpkin bread for dessert at the Starbucks, wandered among the fascinating but mostly overpriced gadgets at Brookstone, stopped at Yankee Candle where I found a gift for [mumble], looked at more eyebrow-raising gadgets at the As-Seen-on-TV Store, then went up the escalator to find the Hallmark store gone (no Hallmark store at all anymore...how weird!) and visit the Disney Store before wandering down the mall back to Sears. We found the toddler Merida doll which a friend had mentioned: I don't like dolls, but this one is adorable: she looks like she has the very devil in her. LOL.

We came home via Kroger to pick up my prescriptions, some orange sherbet for James, and a newspaper, before spending the rest of the afternoon watching documentaries about Yellowstone on the Destination America channel: lots of snow. Screw summer; if I ever go to Yellowstone I want to go in the winter to play in the snow! James made beef bits with onion and mushroom for dinner with Ramen noodles on the side and a cucumber and tomato salad, and the pumpkin bread was a nice change in dessert: you could eat it and imagine it was fall. :-) Then more Big Bang Theory (hey, I think a Doppler effect costume is really clever; better than a "Scream" mask or another dumb vampire) and Holmes Inspection. But alas, it's almost time for bed, and for purchase orders to take over my sanity again...

Labels: animals, chores, food, shopping, television, weather

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