Stradersday

It seemed everything was in place for me to get the restful night’s sleep my body so desperately craved. We didn’t have the kids, we were in early, and drank minimally. Sadly, though, that wasn‘t to be. I didn’t get up until almost 8am, but most of my sleep would best be described as light, and then on & off. Honestly, I felt ill again – a little nauseous and really tired. I still managed to complete my exercise routine but postponed my run for a little while being more concerned with my well being. Mindy got up around 9:00am and after a little coffee got ready to head off to school. That’s right. She was heading in to school to begin the process of bagging the school year. Originally, I thought that I might be working in the yard and possibly even planting flowers, but the weather wasn’t conducive to those activities. It was cool, gray, and rainy. It looked like I felt! While Mindy readied for her day away, I left for my run. It wasn’t such a bad run, but I was stiff and it caused me enough concern to clip a mile off of my route. I thought that I might do so for up to a week depending on how I feel/heal. I also promised myself that once I was home that I would take a dip in the hot tub. This is something I often say to myself while on my run but usually skip it once home. Today was different. I kept my hot tub commitment. And boy did it feel good! It made a huge impact to my stiff muscles. After hot tubbing I decided to get caught up on a couple nagging inside chores. Just as well, too since I wasn’t feeling so hot. I finished sanding and painting the trim around the new counter tops. There were a few spots of exposed unfinished drywall where the new granite didn’t cover exactly like the old laminate. I had to spackle, sand, and paint. I spackled two weeks ago and rough sanded earlier in the week. That job took about an hour total. I was thrilled to finally have that 100% behind me. In addition, I watered some flowers. Come 2pm I darn near collapsed into the recliner for a much needed nap. I used the heated massage pillow too. It was nice. I woke to clearing skies and sunshine. That helped me get my butt in gear. I got up and dressed determined to make my way toward Straders and possibly even Lowe’s. It was time to purchase summer flowers. I spoke with Mindy who was still at school working on her class room (wink-wink). She wouldn’t be home for some time yet. I took my time heading to Straders. I even made a pit stop at McDonald’s after getting hungry for the first time in a handful of days. I bought two regular cheeseburgers – nothing else. Getting back to Straders. I was hopeful that I’d beat the crowds by shopping the weekend before Mother’s Day and just after some crappy weather. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as it could’ve been had it been nice and warm all day, but just the same, there were still plenty of folks to contend with. Today’s goal was to purchase a couple hibiscus and possibly two hanging baskets. That’s been the way I‘ve started the past few years and it’s worked well. Left to my early plan, however, I would’ve been planting annuals this weekend. But like all aggressive plans, that was contingent on good weather the many weekends prior. Currently, I am about one weekend behind schedule, but still OK. I found two exceptionally healthy hibiscus plants, one yellow and one red. The price was about half of what they were just a few years ago. That made me very happy! I checked out a few other things too. I bought a couple new hanging baskets constructed of stainless wire and moss, as well as five lawn waste bags to keep at Gloria’s. Onto Lowe’s. I spent $120 at Lowe’s. I bought two new fiberglass pots for our hibiscus that match our deck furniture. Plus, I bought a couple black iron roll-around plant stands. I also bought that bolt, washer, and nut for Mindy’s park bench after two years. Lastly, I bought a dog run for Ykraps. Homeward. At home I unloaded my bounty by putting everything in its place. I was especially excited about placing my two new hibiscus plants in their new pots and on the deck. They looked nice. I still needed to get some new potting soil before permanently sinking them in their new home, but at least I could see how nice they’d look Mindy got home around 5:30pm. We had originally talked about going out for a nice dinner this evening, but with me still feeling a bit uneasy we chose instead to stay home and chill. All I ate were some cheese covered nacho chips around 7pm. I’m not sure what Mindy ate. She wasn’t that hungry either as it turned out. Around 8pm she put in her new DVD, Coach Carter. We watched that for the next 1.5 hours. Immediately after, we headed for bed. That’s two weekend nights in a row in bed before 10pm. Please don’t tell any of my friends!