It was a very quiet end of fiscal year yesterday. I'd finished up an emergency purchase order on Wednesday and I think by the time lunch ticked over on Friday that only one of the other groups had only one contract left. It was beautiful out at lunchtime, breezy and not quite seventy, with a bright blue sky, and I had a wonderful nap before going back in to finish a few things before Bonnie Kennedy's retirement get-together. Robin had given us 59 minutes of admin leave for doing so well this fiscal year, to be taken any time this week, so I spent a half hour at Bonnie's party and then headed home—traffic was already backed up, even at 2:40 p.m.. I arrived home only a minute or two before James got home from Kaiser, having had the second of the three iron infusions they want him to have. Funny, I noticed James has been crunching ice for a year or so now, and the nurse told him that ice crunching is one of the signs of low iron in your system. I wonder why that happens.

Unfortunately, the little pouch where James keeps his insulin and syringe fell out of his pocket at Kaiser, so we had to go back up to Town Center where the security officer would be holding it for him. Since we were already in that area we had supper at Uncle Maddio's across Chastain Road. It was cool enough that we could have eaten out on "Maddio's Paddio," but we didn't.

Next we went off to Publix by way of Barnes & Noble, where we both bought a couple of magazines. There were some good twofers at Publix, including Fiber One brownies, but we passed on the leg quarters because there just isn't enough room in the freezer. I also pounced on the Christmas issue of "Country Sampler" and "Victoria Christmas Bliss," neither which had been in the bookstore. By the time we got home, we only had a couple of hours to relax before needing to go to bed.

Sadly, we didn't make it to bed all that early, and I was a bit punch-drunk this morning after only six hours sleep and that interrupted by James' restless leg (it slides off the side of the bed and starts striking against the wooden bedframe, where it gives an almighty THUMP like a wooden mallet striking a peg, and I'm afraid he's going to hurt it). It was great when we got up, though, 52°F and the sun just rising in pink and orange stripes as we headed east down South Cobb Drive/Delk Road toward Betsy's Hallmark. It was Phase Two of the ornament premiere and James wanted his F-16. He actually bought three, "one to leave as is, one to repaint and decal, and one to give away." I presented him with $12 worth of coupons to help with that, and used the discount ornament card on mine: the "Foxy Couple" ornament, plus another ornament and something else as a couple of gifts. It was only after I'd paid that I noticed something else two for the price of one that I liked, but I did go back and get one for me, and one for a gift. Now I wish I'd gotten more. It was a good product at a great price.

We skipped across the road and discovered the best time to go to Trader Joe's on a Saturday: 8:30 a.m.! We bought more harvest spaghetti sauce and also more quick-cooking barley as we'd liked the first batch. James cooked it in salt-free beef broth and it came out quite nice.

James wanted more diabetic socks, so we drove up Johnson Ferry Road to the Walmart there to get him some. (We stopped for breakfast at IHOP first.) We could not find calf-length diabetic socks like he's been buying for years, so he had to get the crew length. Everyone says "you shouldn't go to Walmart" for various reasons; well, I'd quit going there if they weren't the only ones with stuff we needed! You can't get citrus-scented Renuzit anyplace else. Or Milk Bone Gravy Bones; everyone always just has the Flavor Snacks. (Or musk-scented Mennen Speed Stick, but we weren't buying that on this trip.) The one thing I couldn't find was cheap 11x14 frames, so I just got two 5x7 for the little owl prints I bought at DragonCon.

From Walmart we went back to Michael's with our 40 percent off coupons and got two 11x14 frames for $5.42 each. Dipped into Williams Sonoma for a few minutes, but, of course we can't afford anything in there. James was looking for a tea infuser and they wanted $10 for the cheapest one. They had a lovely autumn leaf platter! I didn't even dare look at the price tag.

Finally we stopped at Sprouts to get more beef bits, giant drumsticks, and some salads for lunch. By the time we got home, it wasn't even one o'clock. We spent a nice afternoon watching PBS, including vintage Antiques Roadshow, and Rick Steves in Turkey, and dozing off (Martha Stewart bores me silly).

For supper we beat our way through Saturday night traffic to O'Charley's with a coupon. What we saved on the meal we used to give the waitress a nice tip! We just has a small unseasoned steak each, with a baked potato and some salad, all delicious, and you can keep your expensive gourmet stuff, thanks very much. After that, we tried going to another Hallmark store to see if they had the item I'd liked so much at Betsy's, but no dice. If I want it, we are going to have to go back there. I did see the Marjolien Bastien autumn ornament that I'd somehow missed this morning: a squirrel on top of a bushel of autumn goodies. Plus I found the item I want to give Juanita as a retirement gift, which I've only been looking for since June. So I guess it worked out in the end.

Sadly, although it's gotten cool again tonight, the temps are starting to rise again starting tomorrow and will be 85 ucky degrees by Monday. For heaven's sake, Summer, take  your toys and go home. Even the smaller trees down here are starting to turn. They're looking forward to a long winter's nap and you out of their hair. Now, git!

Labels: autumn, Christmas, food, shopping, television, work

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:50:00 PM

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