Weekend Words

What a great weekend this was……perfect weather (until it got a little cooler today, but still nice), and lots of thoughts clanging around in my brain!  So, it is time for  a brain dump and to just ramble on about the things I did this weekend and other random thoughts.  Not sure where to start, really, guess I should just jump in with the weekend activities and go from there.

Thursday was St. Patrick’s Day – we had Irish Pub music playing in our office area all day, which was interesting.  I went by Southern Jewelers to drop off the items I gathered for their Scavenger Hunt contest – I am now in the running for the Grand Prize – a pair of 1/2 carat diamond earrings!!!  Yes, that is a 4-leaf clover on my cheek!

Friday evening wasn’t all that special.  I thought about going out to eat, but ended up just staying home.  I didn’t want to be out too late, anyway, because Friday night is my night to watch “The Defenders” and “Blue Bloods” on TV.  I LOVE those shows!  Yeah – I DVR them, but I’d still rather watch them when they air, unless something really special takes priority over them.  But, when I got all settled in and comfortable in front of the TV, I discovered that – for the second week in a row – both shows were preempted by basketball games!  Uugghh!  When is the basketball season done so that we can have our TV back???  At least last week, was just local games, so there was a “new” episode of each on and I was able to catch them on HULU the next day.  This week must have been wider spread coverage or they were reruns, because I haven’t seen new episodes posted on HULU, yet.  So, I ended up watching a couple of hours of back-to-back “Say Yes To The Dress” episodes – most of which I saw before, but sat through again cause there wasn’t anything else that interested me on!

Saturday was cool, though.  The weather was FABULOUS!!!  80+ degrees, sunny, and totally enjoyable!  The weather has been very good the past several days, but Saturday, I actually got to enjoy it because I wasn’t inside working all day!  I bummed around the house and played with the girls most of the day and took a much-needed afternoon nap.  Then, I got ready and went out for the evening.  First, I had a perfectly cooked rib eye steak dinner at Cafe 121 – YUM!!!  Then, I went to the Temple Theatre and got a ticket to the Saturday performance of the current show – “Proof”.  The show wasn’t to start for an hour, so I took the opportunity to stroll around downtown and enjoy the gorgeous evening.  It was still 70+ degrees and so quiet and peaceful.  I looked in all the store windows and just wandered around in an attempt to walk off just a little of the delicious dinner.  I got back to the theatre and it was still a little early, so I sat on the bench outside and continued to enjoy the evening.  Between dinner, my stroll, and my time at the theatre, I was able to say hi to several people I know and that was so nice.  The show was good — as always, the Temple Theatre did a very nice job of bringing the performances to life.  After the show, I went back home and had the chocolate pound cake I got “to go” after dinner at Cafe 121.

The other neat thing about Saturday night was the moon.  It was not only a full moon, it was a super “pedigree” full moon!  Apparently, it was the closest it has been to the Earth in about 20 years, so it appeared much bigger and brighter than the typical full moon.  It was quite beautiful.

So, today – the last day of the weekend, but the first day of Spring – is Sunday!  It was cooler today – a friend on Facebook said it best:  “Only in NC can the last day of winter be 84 and the first day of spring be 54!”  But, I don’t care – it is still the first day of Spring and I am so happy to see this day come!  It was a rough winter for just about everywhere in the country this year!  I love Spring!  It is my favorite time of year – with the exception of the pollen weeks!

I went out for a little bit.  I needed to fill my gas tank — something I dread, along with most of the rest of the world!  I started to head to Lowes Foods to fill up there, but decided to go to the Murphy Express station at WalMart, instead.  I’m glad I did!  Along the way, most of the stations I noticed were posting gas prices of $3.50 – 3.51 a gallon and there was one place I noticed that was $3.49.  Murphy Express price was only $3.46!!!  Five cents cheaper than most other places.  Then, I was REALLY glad I went up there, instead of Lowes Foods — I went by there on my way back and their price was $3.52!!!!  What’s up with that???  I thought they were supposed to be a discount gas station!!!  I usually go there because it is closer, but will definitely go to the other end of town from now on!  Six cents a gallon less is absolutely worth the drive to save!

Then, I had lunch at the Dairy Bar and went to get some groceries. 

Other thoughts:

• The Food Lion on Hawkins Avenue is going through major renovations.  I mostly like the changes – looks more like some of the higher end grocery stores and is very pleasant to shop in.  The only problem I have found, so far, is the produce section.  They have fruits and some vegetables on old-fashioned looking market carts – very appealing to the eye!  But, they are high to begin with and then they put some of the items in baskets on top towards the center of the cart – nearly impossible for short people (and I’m sure some elderly people) to reach.  I wanted to get some pears – they were in those baskets – I looked around to see if there were more somewhere lower, but there weren’t and the baskets were no longer full, so the pears were down inside the baskets, almost hidden from my view.  So, I stood on my tippy toes and reached the basket and pulled it forward to dump a few pears out onto the next shelf so I could pick out a few and then put the rest back.  The same thing with the sweet onions I wanted to get!  So, I stopped by the Customer Service counter and told the lady there that I had some feedback for her about the new design.  I said it all looks great, but that the carts in the produce section make it very difficult for short people (and also mentioned the possible elderly it may impact) to reach.  I told her my story about what I had to do to get some pears and sweet onions.  She seemed genuinely concerned and promised to pass the information on.  Even just putting some both in the baskets and within reach would be a big help.  I know – all stores have high shelves that have always been a problem for us short folks, but I can deal with that – I can usually get up on my toes and use my finger tips or a pen from my purse to knock a box off the top shelf and if there aren’t any within reach that way, I either get a different brand or sometimes a kind fellow shopper reaches it for me.  These baskets are different – you have to reach over the lower shelves on the cart and then down into the basket!  Not good!  I hope they fix it!
• Pet peeve of the day — people who think they are the only ones in the grocery store and that no one else needs to get down the aisles or look at the stuff on the shelves!  I linger longer than I probably should when trying to decide what to get, if not something I normally buy, but I do try to stay over to the side and watch for people who may need to get around me or may want to get something in the section I might be blocking. 
• I had to get new tires on the pony this week.  Ronald changed my oil last weekend and noticed several spots with exposed threads and bald sections!  So, I went to Perry Brothers and got new tires and a front end alignment.  The guys at Perry Brothers were great, but it was still a hefty expense I wasn’t planning on…….oh, well!!!  Them’s the breaks!  (oh, dear – don’t let the use of the word “breaks” be a trigger for new “brakes”, too!)  The old girl may be 6 years old, now, but she only has 52,000 miles on her – I would think that tires would last longer than that!
• With all the stories about purse snatching and other such crimes we hear about far too often, it was a real joy to read the letter to the editor in today’s Sanford Herald about the happy ending for the lady who left her purse in the cart in WalMart parking lot.  Apparently, when she realized she left it, she went back assuming it was long gone, but discovered that someone actually found it and turned it in – there it was waiting for her!  Sad, though, that the person who turned it in didn’t leave her name so she could be properly thanked! 
• I got a little bloody nose this morning — I was wrestling with Megan on the bed and we were having fun, until she rolled around the wrong way and banged her hard head into my nose!!!  It didn’t bleed much, but man, it was sore for a couple of hours and still tingles a little!  That’ll teach me!  hahaha

I think that’s all I have to talk about today………