2015: the year I get three vacations, and no rest
August 4, 2015

Friday was hot but dry and beautiful, Saturday like wise, and Sunday was very hot, very, very

windy, and eventually--at about bedtime, very, very stormy. We got around an inch of sorely

needed rain, so I'm not complaining.

Friday ended up being kind of a busy day for me. I stopped after work to check out

summer clearance sale at Meijer. I had a few minutes to kill before my dentist's appointment,

and that was a fruitful way to spend it. I picked up two tees--marked fown from $14 to $5.25

each. I'd have gotten more, but the only others in my size were ones I already had, or white.

Umm-no. Me and white don't get along at all.

Dentist was a pain in more ways than one--in the chair by noon, but no dentist for another

forty minutes. Then an hour's worth of drilling & filling. I got three fillings, and a $200.00

bill. I made an appointment for my next cleaning (in January), but I have to say I will

probably be cancelling that, because I want to switch to my husband's dentist and change my

insurance to the PPO plan.

Got out of there at a quarter till two, and I was starving--but still numb, and not allowed to

chew for a while. So I zipped over to Shirl's, got a strawberry malt, and headed home for a

few. Gave the dog a break, shared my malt with him, watered the flowers on the porch,

accepted a package from UPS, and then read till it was time to head over to the salon for a

very much overdue cut and wax.

And I still wasn't done. After the haircut, I had to stop at the grocery store and pick up

some deli salads and buns for dinner, before I was finally allowed to go home and squeeze a

little bit of a nap in. Got up at 5, tended to the dog, got the burgers out, took a quick dip,

and had a cold beer waiting for Spouse when he came in at 5:30.

We sat out at the picnic table and had our drinks--he was hitting the Schlitz, and I had some

rum mixed in my pineapple-mango punch drink. Then we grilled the burgers and enjoyed a

nice simple dinner of burgers, potato salad, and coleslaw. Easy cleanup.

After dinner, I remembered that I hadn't opened my package, so I did that. I knew it was

my new shoes: Propet Travel Walker II walking shoes in grey. What I didn't know was how

much I was going to love them. Light, comfortable, well-fitting, and cute, to boot! I was a

little worried, because walking shoes and I are not a good match. Spouse talked me into

getting them, because he loves his Propet shoes so much, and he had a discount code for

30% off. But I love them. I may be buying more of this brand; they have some of the most

adorable-but-practical casual shoes and sandals I've ever seen.

I was pretty wiped out by that point, despite the short nap. Dental work tends to take it out

of me, even when I don't have anything else going on. Hit the rack hard at 9:00 pm

and didn't get up till 7:00 on Saturday.

Which was a delicious time to get up. I was feeling a lot better--which is not to say great,

because that's pretty rare. We threw open the windows for a while, since it was pleasant out

and the house needed airing. I had a quick cup of coffee, then hit the pool for a while,

watered the flowers, and begged a shoulder rub from Spouse, because I've been hurting

fairly bad lately. His elbow saved my life--he got it in there under my shoulder blade and

popped something loose that desperately needed to be popped. Then I went and got

cleaned up & dressed. Between the long sleep, the swim, the shoulder treatment, the

shower, and the new shoes, I really did feel great! Like a new woman.

We headed out to do the weekly errands, and Spouse brought up our mutual birthday--he's

planning a birthday getaway. (OF COURSE he didn't consult me! How long have you been

reading this diary?!) Door County; a/k/a "The Cape Cod of Wisconsin", a/k/a "Wisconsin

Dells for Yuppies". I already have time off that week, and he has time off that he requested,

so he's planning an excursion that would start Wednesday (birthday) and end on Saturday,

enabling us to get out of there before the weekend influx tourists.

Whatever. My biggest problem with this kind of shit is that he makes the high-level plans

without me, then expects me to do all the research and make all the descisions on details.
And then he turns around and does what he wants anyway. Plus, there's the whole thing

where anticipation gives him something to live for, whereas the longer I have before an

event, the more time I have to really dread it. My only condition is that we go through

Appleton, and stop at Anderson Pens. And he'll somehow manage to stiff me on that--wait

and see.

He decided what he wanted to cook for the weekend: grilled ham steak, baked sweet

potatoes and tossed salad for Saturday night, corncakes & sausage for Sunday breakfast, and

pressure cooker chicken & dumplings for Sunday dinner. So we got all the necessary

ingredients while shopping. Came home after errands, and had a bit of lunch, then napped

for a couple of hours--I started out great, but he ran me ragged!

After napping, I got up to find he'd suffered a change of heart, and now he wanted to go out

, but he didn't know for what. So I went out for a swim while he made up his mind. When I

came back in, he'd decided on Italian food. So I ended up showering and changing again, so

we could go try this place in Racine he wanted to check out.

Well, the good news is, I think we've found a replacement for Dino's--as close as we're going

to come, anyway. "Mike & Angelo's". Decent, basic Italian menu, thin-crust pizza, and the

prices, service, and food were all great. We'll be going back there.

By the time we got home, Spouse just wanted some jello and his bed. I was a bit slept out, so

I attempted some online shopping--I wanted to find new curtains for the back door. Since

the tree came down next door, the morning sun blazes in through the sheers and goes right

down the stairs, so if you're coming up, you get blinded. Didn't have any luck, though--it's

hard to find curtains small enough for a 26" x 30" window. Online, anyway. I finally gave it

up and went to bed.

On Sunday, he made his corn cakes and sausage for breakfast, and after the mess was all

cleaned up, I finished the laundry and we got dressed and went out for a couple of things.

He wanted to go to the Wisconsin visitor's center and get some literature on Door County,

and we had to run to Wal-Mart for (wet) dog food and a couple other things. And we found

a cute pair of curtains! just the right size and weight, in a cute, coffee-themed print,

predominantly shades of brown. Got a new, low-profile rod, while we were at it.

Came home, hung the new curtains, looked over the information on Door County, and

took a nap. It was so blazing hot--even with the strong wind that was blowing, it was

miserable out--that we decided to just have a bite of something cold for dinner. Neither one

of us was in the mood for chicken and dumplings.

I got up after a while and went swimming, but that was a struggle, due to the winds still

howling. I was pulling leaves out of there as fast as they blew in, and they blew in as fast as I

could pull them out. And wrangling the cover was a real experience, as well. Came in, made a

turkey sandwich and called it supper, and then did my usual evening rituals: did all my setup

for morning and played some computer games before bed.
READING:

"The Heart Line"(1907), by Gelett Burgess. Just started this; it seems to be about a charming

charlatan who reads palms. An eyebrow-raising description from Barnes and Noble:

"The Heart Line' explores old San Francisco's heights and its depths, the elegance and

wealth of Nob Hill and the noisy, kaleidoscopic tinctures of the Barbary Coast. In this

setting Francis Granthope, Fancy Gray, Clytie Payson, the monstrous Madam Spoil and the

devious Doctor Masterson weave their tapestry of purity and debasement, adoration and

hatred, loyalty and treachery, charity and greed. 'The Heart Line' was Gelett Burgess's

heartbroken elegy to the city he had come to love - and that no longer was."



LISTENING:

Van Morrison, Jake Bugg, Jack Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie, Cheap Trick.



INKED UP:

Re-filled the Blue SkilCraft Executive (medium nib) with a Waterman Serenity Blue

cartridge, and I have a whole new appreciation for it. Much better behaved with some good ink in it.