James and I were both exhausted by the time the news rolled around last night, so we were in bed fairly early for a Friday night, and thus awoke without alarm about 8:30. It's so nice to awake naturally.

We had some breakfast and I walked Tucker. It was nice and cool this morning, but it's going up to 70 this afternoon. So much for nice weather! Presently James left for his club meeting (clad in his new "I don't stop and watch airplanes...oh, wait, I do" T-shirt) and I collected my things and headed out. First I returned my library books, then I went to Walmart. I was looking for Crayola's big set of 152 crayons. Unfortunately, when one walks around Walmart one always finds more things one needs to buy.

I came out with: a new hose (the old one is leaking), a new nozzle for said hose (since ours is cracked), two different jewelry findings for crafts, some Gold Bond medicated powder, a desk lamp, a 40-watt-equivalent LED bulb and also a 60 one, a birthday card, some compression socks for James, the Blu-Ray of Inside Out (because everyone raved about it), and a two-pack (for only $7.50, which is much cheaper than anything online) of the first two movies of The Librarian series (I picked out the third on Amazon later on). And I did get the crayons, and tried a different kind of sugarless spearmint gum. I hadn't chewed gum in years until vacation, when I needed it to keep awake while driving, and I've been chewing it occasionally, buying Orbit again like I did in Norwood. I like the new gum (Equal?) because it's in sticks like regular gum, but the flavor isn't as good. It isn't as spearminty, just minty, and leaves an aftertaste. Pity.

From Walmart, I zipped down the East-West Connector to Cumberland Mall, which, by that time on Saturday afternoon, looked like an anthill. I stayed there long enough to get gas at Costco, then split for Barnes & Noble, mainly to use the bathroom, but I picked up an anti-glare screen for my Nook tablet and looked around at the books to see what I want to come back to buy when James comes along. I am still looking at the book about the NYPD cop and also a fantasy novel. The coupons don't expire until Mother's Day, though, and I may just wait, since it's not like I don't have anything to read. LOL. (I did buy a couple of adult coloring books, one a mini-periodical and one of English farm scenes.)

Finally I had lunch at Tin Drum (no, not over that obsession yet), then came home. I had plans for the rest of the afternoon. First I gave Tucker a walk, then I pulled out the vacuum cleaner. I was determined to finally clean off my drafting table, which I bought way back in the late 1970s to do artwork on. It has become a horizontal storage wasteland for a couple of years, covered with various items including a basket of notecards (from when I was writing to Jen when she was underway), a pretty glass trencher of birds I was given (it should be out where people can see it), the autumn decorations for the dining room that got put away when Christmas came (now that spring is waning, I can put them back out so we can ignore, inside anyway, summer completely), and just general junk. I vacuumed and dusted underneath, polished the work surface (it's solid wood), and then put the new desk lamp in one corner of the desk and my Ott light at the other corner. I also put away some Christmas cards on top of the cabinet where I store them between Yuletides. I haven't paid full price for Christmas cards in years! :-)

Everything isn't really put up yet, but the desk and surround is clean, and I tidied the craft table by the simple expedient of putting projects together. Meanwhile it was getting later and later. I had already made my way through two gifts and was working on a third when James finally got home; and men say women talk a lot!

We had supper at Giovanni's and had talked about going to Barnes & Noble tonight, but it was almost already 9 o'clock. Instead we came home and I finished that third gift and also a fourth after I took Tucker for his final walk of the night.

(I used the 40-watt equivalent in the desk lamp. The 60-watt made it downstairs in the lamp in the library. I hope it lasts. The regular light bulbs keep burning out. Now that I have watched the lights for a while the "soft white" isn't really equivalent to a real light bulb; there is still an odd whitish glare to them, but it will have to do. I ended up using the Walmart findings in my gifts, too, so I'm glad I went. No, I haven't used the crayons yet. I have to put them in order. No, I can't color without putting them in order. It would Just Be Wrong. I'm OCD that way.)

Later on watched Vicious on WPBA, then Sinking the Lusitania and this week's This Old House. The latter, where they are building the kit house, is actual kind of boring. I like it better when they renovate old homes.

Labels: decluttering, food, shopping, television

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