a forgotton blog...

so today . . . i wanted to blog. i really did. but it was a very average monday. my school kids were wild. i was tired. (why am i always more tired on monday after my weekend, than on friday after my work week?) so i looked in my "blogs i started, but for some reason never finished" file to see if there was anything in there worth salvaging. and there was. in fact, i found a complete blog that i had never posted.

that is unusual. there are times when i start a blog, and then it just doesn't work out. so i start over. or i give it up and go to bed, blogless. in fact, my "blogs i started, but for some reason never finished" file has 53 unfinished blogs in it...

...and one totally, completely finished one.

why didn't i post it? because it happened on august 2, 2010, which is also my mom's birthday, and i wanted to write a birthday blog about my mom. and then i wrote about how the cosmos hates me. and somehow, as i wrote blog after blog, i sort of forgot about this one. so here it is--a brand new old blog...

so today . . . i had a lunch meeting. with my daughter.

i love lunch meetings, mostly because it means i get to go out to lunch. diandra is the youth pastor at our church, and since i lead worship in the alternative service (which is her responsibility) we occasionally need to get together and work stuff out.

we met at chick-fil-a. i love chick-fil-a. you know why . . . we ate, we discussed important issues, and then . . .

"i need to go to target before i go home," i said. diandra perked right up. she loves target! "want me to come with you?" she graciously offered. that had kind of been my evil plan--i've never known her to turn down a trip to target. "yes," i said. "we can take my car and then come back for yours." chick-fil-a is conveniently located between our house and target.

so off we went. my mission? scissors and folders on sale at back-to-school prices. diandra's mission? keep me company--at least that was her obvious mission. you and i both know that the odds of her leaving target without any money leaving her wallet were slim.

we waded into enemy territory and were immediately met with temptation. why oh why do they put the cute dresses right inside the front door?!?! we looked, but we didn't touch. for at least a minute and a half. diandra kept saying, "why are we here?" oh yeah . . . school supplies. then we would head in that direction, until we got sidetracked once again. by the time we found the scissors and folders, diandra was holding two cute tops. to which i added 12 pairs of school scissors, because i couldn't hold the scissors and pick through the folders with only two hands. and we didn't have a cart, in order to discourage unplanned purchases (which was clearly not working all that well.) i was finding that the cheap 10 cent folders were not in great shape. i wanted unbent ones in a variety of colors, so it took some sorting. diandra kept saying, "why don't you just buy the packages of 10?" it was pure economics--the folders in the package were 15 cents each instead of 10 cents! she stood there trying to keep 12 pairs of scissors from falling out of her arms while i looked for perfect 10 cent folders. but there weren't a lot of color choices, so after several minutes of searching, i just grabbed two packages of the slightly more expensive (but also more colorful) folders and moved on. i ignored the daughterly eye roll . . .

we moved on to the shoe department--not because we were going to actually buy shoes, but because we were in target and you just never know... diandra was moving purposefully toward a pair of boots. i was preparing my motherly speech about how many pairs of boots does one girl really need, when i saw someone with a handbag exactly like mine in the next row! i found this somewhat surprising, in light of the provenance of my bag. i stepped back to get a better look . . . and realized i was looking into a mirror. (ok, in my defense we were in the shoe department and the mirror was short, so my face wasn't visible.)

we escaped from the shoe department and moved on to plastics. can i tell you how much i love plastic containers?!?!?! i have a very specific storage problem i am trying to solve, and i thought ice cube trays and plastic drawers might just do the trick temporarily. i found the plastic drawers, but didn't know if ice cube trays would fit inside. so we went in search of ice cube trays.

target does not appear to stock ice cube trays.

i find this odd. i think it is a little arrogant to assume that everyone has an automatic ice cube maker in their refrigerator. not everyone does, you know. and besides, ice cube trays can be used for many things, not the least of which is making flavored ice cubes!

i decided to take my chances and get the plastic drawers anyway. i already have ice cube trays at home, and if they don't fit, i am sure i can find another use for the drawers.

before checking out, we made a quick trip through the $1 section--or at least, what used to be the $1 section. now it is apparently the $2.50 section, which was somewhat disappointing. especially when you consider that $1 would be a much better price for most of the stuff found there.

we paid for our purchases and drove home. we both had projects we were anxious to begin. i pulled my car into the driveway, and thought, "oh, diandra isn't home . . . " except she was. she was sitting right next to me in my car. which was odd, because her jeep was no where to be seen . . .

. . . because it was still sitting in the chick-fil-a parking lot.

i thought freestyle was just for olympic skiing . . .

so today . . . we ate lunch at hometown buffet.

i like hometown buffet. i am the only one in my family who does. diandra refuses to eat there--she will go across the parking lot and eat all by herself at panda express rather than come into hometown buffet with us. rollie's reactions are mixed. he can usually find something he likes, but it is definitely not his favorite place to eat--it is probably not even in his top five.

that is, until today . . .

we went to hometown buffet today, because we were avoiding carbs, and there are a lot of carb-less choices there. (well, if you stay away from the dessert area and the cinnamon rolls--which they inexplicably put on the salad bar!!!) i came back from the salad bar with a plate full of yummy stuff. rollie came back with a plate full of tiny tomatoes and cucumber slices. and three sodas.apparently our hometown buffet has upgraded their soda fountain. they now have the new "freestyle" coke machine. we now have more beverage choices than anyone needs. there are soda choices in this machine that are not even available anywhere else! rollie's first three choices were grape coke, vanilla coke, and peach fanta. yes, he is somewhat partial to fruit flavors . . .

i had a diet coke. with a lemon slice from the taco bar. i am so adventurous . . .

rollie was pretty excited about his drink choices. i was not so sure. i'm not adverse to a vanilla coke now and then, but grape coke?!?!? raspberry coke?!?!? i'm sorry, but that is just WRONG!!! rollie, however, seemed to think it was delcious! i think he made more trips to the freestyle coke machine than he did to get food!!and i had a diet coke. with a real lemon slice in it.

i did take a sip of his grape coke (it was gross!) the vanilla coke was pretty good. i declined his offer of a taste of the peach fanta. but the point is, there were drinks of just about every flavor in this machine. rollie continued to drink, and i went back to get some meat.

i could tell rollie was enjoying his beverages. even as he sat drinking one of them, i could see the wheels turning inside his head, already thinking about what he was going to have next . . . that is the thing about this machine--there are over 100 choices!

rollie had a big smile on his face the whole time we were there. he said it was the best meal ever from hometown buffet. but he didn't really mean meal--he meant he liked the beverage choices.

i don't think i am a fan. the machine was cool, the technology of it is interesting, (because they are not keeping a supply of 100 different drinks in there--think about it,) and it is nice to have all of the choices. but only one person can use it at a time! and because of all those choices it can take that one person a looooong time to decide what to fill their glass with, so the wait to quench your thirst can be daunting . . .

in the end, i still got the same drink i always get--diet coke with lemon. because that is what i like. and this new machine? i'm glad it is there, because now rollie will jump at the chance to eat at hometown buffet. but for me, it just adds one more layer to my own personal hell--a place where i have to make more decisions . . .

insanity? or persistance . . .

so today . . . the twitter saga continues . . .

rollie is winning. he tweets more often than i do, he is funnier than i am, AND after less than 24 hours, he has more followers than i do. i do not like this.

i had a rough morning at school and could hardly wait until lunch. i had chick-fil-a leftovers, but i needed soda. aaaaand just maybe a brownie. so you know where i had to go. on my way out to my car, i checked my messages and there was a text from rollie--"eating lunch at my favorite restaurant--rubio's. they have a killer quesadilla."

and i was headed to 7-11.

i could just picture him at rubios with his kindle and his soda and his quesadilla, having a lovely lunch under the palm trees . . .

. . . while i was driving to 7-11 and then eating at my desk.

you see, this is the problem with only having half an hour for lunch. that isn't enough time to go anywhere to relax and eat. which got me to thinking . . .

some days i wish for a corporate job. i wish for a job with a cubby and a computer. but today i was wishing for a job with an office and a computer. because i kind of think an office and a computer might also come with extended lunch hours and an expense account. which i kind of think i might enjoy.

and then i thought i needed to tweet that, because rollie tweeted about his lunch, and i thought mine might be more amusing. AND if i added a picture of the 7-11 sign, i would win! because he didn't tweet a picture.

hehehe . . .

so i pulled up to 7-11, wrote the tweet, and got out of my car to take the picture. and the screen on my phone was black--nothing. that was weird. so i closed that program and just opened the camera program. still, the screen was black. uh oh . . . i went in and got my soda (and 3 brownies--hey, the weekend is coming,) came back out and tried it again. still black. i tried two more times, pointed it up and down and at my face, and still got nothing.

albert einstein has said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. call me crazy, but i kept thinking, "surely this time it will work . . . " of course, it didn't.

i finally gave it up and went back to school. i ate my leftovers and finished out the afternoon.

then tonight rollie was teaching his class, and i was sitting here doing stuff on my computer and eating the frosting off of my leftover chocolate cake. i decided to tweet that, and as i looked at the remains of the cake i thought, "that would make an interesting picture to go along with my tweet." so i pulled up my camera again, but guess what? it still didn't work.

now i am thinking that i am really, really glad i have insurance on my phone, because i foresee a trip to the sprint store tomorrow for a replacement. i really, really need a phone camera that works--especially now that i am tweeting :) when rollie came home, i was telling him my tale of woe, and he said, "let me look at it."

(you know what this means, don't you--he was going to do exactly the same thing i had done, but the camera was going to suddenly, magically work.)

i handed him the phone, and a few minutes later he handed it back. and sure enough, now the camera worked. i don't know why, but i was stunned. i shouldn't be, because this happens. all. the. time.

"what did you do?" i ask.

"i just turned it off and then turned it on again," he said.

could it really be that simple? and why didn't i think of doing that? and now i have missed two photo-taking opportunities!! and what if it happens again?

i think it is admirable that rollie helped me. he could have just left me camera-less, but he is a nice guy. he knows i am electronically challenged, so he helps me out when he can. he probably should have just left my phone camera alone though, because you know, with my picture taking abilities i am probably going to win the twitter war. eventually.

unless he starts posting pictures too . . .

let's just not forget who we are here . . .

so today . . . was not a typical friday. we planned to detour from our usual schedule of going to the movies as soon as i escaped from school, because of a scheduling conflict. so our new plan was to meet for lunch, and then come home and spend the afternoon catching up on all our favorite shows that tivo had thoughtfully recorded for us. we needed a low energy afternoon.

but trouble loomed. i texted rollie on my way out of the school parking lot to tell him i was on my way, and he should go ahead and order food. his return text informed me that rubio's was really busy, so he couldn't order the food--if he left the table he had managed to score, we would lose it. and while it was a really nice day, i was pretty sure i didn't want to sit on the concrete in the middle of the town center to eat my burrito.

rubio's is CRAZY on fridays at lunch time. we didn't know this, because as i said, we are always on our way to the cheap movie theater at that time. but we learned our lesson today . . . after guarding a table, standing in a long line, braving the crowded soda machines, and finally getting our food, we found ourselves practically sharing our table with another couple. they seemed like perfectly nice people, but their voices were LOUD. everyone's voices were loud! and we were trapped next to the window with no easy way of escape, surrounded by a sea of people.

this is my idea of hell.

i know, we live in a metropolis and you think we should expect this. but usually there is enough room for everybody. usually we don't have to share our table with people we don't know. usually i can put my handbag next to me instead of having it crowd my lap. usually i don't have to plan my trip to the soda machine like i'm trying to cross the freeway in a game of frogger.

but not today. today it was, well, you know what . . .

i couldn't eat. i just wanted to flee! i spotted a table outside and said to rollie, "do you mind if we move outside to eat?" normally he is up for that, and it was a beautiful, perfect day. but here's the thing--he had just spent the last 45 minutes fighting to hold onto our table while waiting for me to get there, and i thought he might have formed an attachment to it. but he was ready to move out into the wide open spaces too, so i made a break for it. because when changing tables, there is always the risk that you will end up without one. so rollie stayed where he was, i took my food and dashed outside to the empty table, only knocking down two little old ladies (not really--but only because none got in my way,) while rollie stayed in possession of the indoor table. then, when he could see that i had laid claim to the outdoor table, he picked up his food and joined me.

and there we sat. in the warm sunshine, in our tshirts, under the palm trees, eating mexican food. in march. this is why i love california!

finally we could talk to each other without having to yell. we were catching up on what our mornings had been like, and what we needed to do this weekend. and rollie said, "there is so much to do, and i don't want to do any of it!"

wait a minute. huh? this is a very un-rollie-like statement. rollie is king of the work-first-then-play-later philosophy of life. and i am really glad he is, because that allows me to be the queen of do-whatever-i-feel-like-doing-until-a-deadline-must-be-met philosophy. and then he said, "i guess you are rubbing off on me."

oh nonononononono!!! this is not ok! i am the one who goofs off and waits until the last minute to get things done. rollie is the one who plans ahead and makes sure the important stuff is taken care of. he cannot start putting things off until the last minute! nononono! my world will tilt off it's axis!

i was sitting there trying to think of what i could say to get the planets back in line, when he said, "you are the . . . " and i just knew he was going to say "wind beneath my wings." i don't know why i thought that--he doesn't usually talk in cliche's. so to head him off, before he could finish i said, "anchor beneath your bow?" because apparently i am taking him under with me. he just looked at me and said, "no, i was going to say, the 'i'll-do-it-later goddess.'"

oh. what, he doesn't think i am the wind beneath his wings?? i could be the wind. in fact, i think i am. i am the one who makes it possible for him to be the responsible one, since i am the goofing off one. really. he is the wonderful, thoughtful, organized, get-it-done, be prepared boy scout that he is, because of me.

i know. it is so unselfish of me to be the disorganized, where did i put it, i'll never get it done, you need it when? one. but that's just how i roll . . .

;)

what's next?!? purple ketchup to dip your gold french fries into???

so today . . . no blog.

i'm having sinus issues and trying not to get sick again. that means more rest. so even though under normal circumstances i might start a blog at 10:25, tonight i'm not--i'm going to bed instead. it doesn't mean i don't love you--it just means i ran out of time. i don't know where the evening went! so i will just leave you with this . . .

on tuesdays rollie works at home writing his sermon, so he always brings me lunch. i only have half an hour for lunch, but it takes him about an hour and a half to make it happen--he has to go get the lunch from somewhere, bring it and eat with me, and then clean up and head back home. i really, really, really appreciate this. not only the food, but the time and effort too.

until today.

today, i had to drink my soda out of this cup:
i have come to terms with living in lakerland. they are on the news. they are on the tv in the man room. i have to endure their gold and purple flags flying off of cars during may and june. and i have learned to cope with all of that pretty well.

but on my drink cup?!?!

i commented on this unfortunate situation at lunch today, and rollie kindly said that next time he could bring me a small soda instead (which does not apparently sport laker propaganda.)

i don't know . . . maybe i can just ignore it. how long can they have these cups anyway?? basketball season only has six more months to go . . .

we try something new . . .

so today . . . rollie brought me lunch as he usually does on tuesdays. usually he gets our lunch at subway. usually i have a six inch tuna sandwich with double swiss cheese on honey oat bread with lots and lots of lettuce. and a gigantic soda. and sometimes even chips! usually he has turkey with double swiss cheese on wheat bread with lots and lots of vinegar. and a soda. and sometimes even a cookie. or three!

today as i was heading out to his car to eat, i received this text--"i'm here and i have something new and yummy for your lunch." had i read this message earlier, i am sure i would have had all kinds of thoughts about what new and delectable treat he had found and brought me. and i'm sure chocolate would have been a main ingredient. but i only had about 10 seconds to think about it before i saw subway cups in his car. ok, whatever new and yummy thing he had brought me had come from subway . . .

i got settled in the car and saw chips--a good sign. then he said, "they had a new kind of sandwich at subway today, so that's what i got!"

we eat a lot of subway sandwiches, but they have this terrible habit of creating new sandwiches that we fall in love with only to discontinue them a few months later. the last time this happened, the sandwich was called a "pizzioli" and had pepperoni and marinara sauce and cheese and i don't know what else, but it was heavenly fare!!! we ate that sandwich several times a week. and even after they discontinued it, "our" subway would still make it for us--they put it on the menu as a "local favorite," until their regional manager made them stop . . . (i don't like him or her very much anymore, whoever he or she is . . .) so now i tend to avoid the new sandwiches because i know a couple of months down the road they will just break my heart by uttering those terrible words, "i'm sorry, that sandwich is no longer on the menu."

but there it was. the newest sandwich. rollie said, "it is barbeque chicken with ranch dressing. and i got foot long ones, because i am going to play basketball tonight so you can have the other half for dinner!"

see how he takes care of me? when rollie plays basket ball at night, he doesn't eat dinner. he has found that eating shortly before running up and down a basketball court for a couple of hours is not a good thing. so on basketball nights, i am on my own for my evening meal. but not today. today i was going to have the other half of my new sandwich. i sure hoped i liked it!

i took a bite. mostly bread and lettuce. i took another bite. mostly bread and lettuce and dressing. at this point, rollie has had a few more bites and he says, "this barbeque sauce is hot! it is not what i expected--less sweet and more peppery!!" i love hot flavors as long as they are not flaming--but rollie does not. what does he order when we go to a mexican restaurant? cheese quesadilla, no salsa--just a tortilla and some cheese! but now he has this foot long sandwich with hot barbeque sauce on it. i take a few more bites and then i taste it too. it is pretty good. but it seems to get hotter with every bite. and rollie has twelve inches of this stuff to eat!!

i know he is suffering, but he keeps at it. finally he takes the last bite and slurps some soda. i notice that our sodas are disappearing much faster than usual. i continue to eat my six inch sandwich because, as many of you know, i am kind of a slow eater. as he sits and waits, he says, "my mouth is still burning!" that sauce was pretty hot, even for me. i ask him sweetly, "do you want some of my barbeque chips?" he is not amused. so i say, "maybe you need some ice cream." he probably thinks maybe i just need to . . . of course we do not have any ice cream. but he breaks out his chocolate chip cookies and seems to think that is helping . . .

and it probably is. there isn't much that a good chocolate chip cookie can't cure.

except maybe a smart alecky wife . . .