Went to the mall to get some exercise and not freeze in the process. We're not 'mall walkers' per se, more like mall strollers (legs and lower torso), ooops, found something (eyes and upper chest from breathing heavy sighs), extract wallet (arm muscles), and buy it (tear ducts)...
Having exercised, we stopped at Chick-filet and had a small bowl of chicken noodle soup (more exercise - lifting) and relaxed after such a strenuous half hour.
Left the mall and headed to Trader Joe's. We have found they have some really good buys from a food standpoint. We found some cranberry almond biscotti which sounded pretty good. And, we bought some veggies as well. So far today I've only had an apple, two hard crackers with sunflower butter and honey, and the bowl of chicken noodle soup. This is to make up for the all the desert I ate yesterday. My wife didn't want anymore, so I felt if I didn't get rid of it, I would be eating it for several days. It was something called a truffle of trifle, take your pick. It was made with angel food cake, vanilla pudding, raspberries throughout, and topped with whipped cream and shreds of white chocolate! Needless to say, it was all I could do to manage to eat most of the half that was left! So, today, I'm atoning for my effort!
Went to see "Me and Orson Welles" last night at the Westhampton at Grove and Libby. Excellent movie! It was not only enjoyable, but there were some previews of upcoming films that look really good as well. They seem to come out with too many good movies all at once, and then there are none for a long spell. We managed to get a free drink and an almost free popcorn. It used to be free, but they now have it 'free for a dollar'. However, one does still save some money doing it that way.
We have entered the season of the gum balls! That is the dreaded time when all those little balls hanging from the gum trees begin to drop so that they can grace ones yard. If the ground is hard, one can sprain an ankle walking across ones yard. If the ground is soft, then one pushes them into the ground as they walk, and the next thing one knows is that they have a lot of new gum trees sprouting in their lawn. I use the term 'lawn' loosely, as what I have is a yard that was covered pretty much with crabgrass before I killed most of it, and currently have a few strands of grass remaining with a lot of mud.
I spread $60 worth of grass seed in December, after which it was immediately soaked by one of the many monsoon rains we have in December, to be followed by our snow and freezing temperatures. I will be interested to see if any of it germinated. Next month, I'm going to spread fertilizer and lime. Why? I have no idea, except that I like to think I'm cultivating a lawn with real grass. Last resort - buy a spray painter and spray paint the yard green. I've been hoping it would all turn to moss. Moss is perfect! Green, soft, doesn't need mowing or fertilizing, but, no luck so far, except in the driveway. But then, I can get grass to grow in the driveway. Perhaps I'll start parking in my yard...
New Year's Eve was a quiet one for us. Went to bed around 11pm. Ginny said she was awake at midnight but did not hear anyone firing off firecrackers as in the past. I was glad they didn't. At least I got to keep sleeping!
Short story is going well. I have no idea where it's going, but that's part of the fun - letting the characters drive the story and take it where they want it to go. Many times I have been pleasantly surprised as where they took me. But then, sometimes they lead me down a dark alley and I can't find my way out.
Well, I guess I'll plug in the TV and watch something...
