Let this year be a lesson to me. Leaving Christmas shopping until the last minute is INSANE.
By 7 a.m. I was on the way to the grocery store. I hadn't made a list; instead, I Googled various recipes or recalled ingredients as best I could. In the morning I'll check to see if I have everything I need.
In the dairy aisle I came upon a man who was peering at the cheeses. As I grabbed a couple of blocks of cream cheese, he spoke. "Excuse me. Do you happen to know what kind of cheese goes into a cheese ball?" Let's hope the rest of his shopping went better.
At my next two stops I bought things for myself, as you do. If you're me. Two stores yielded nothing for anyone. On a whim I went into Old Navy to look for pants for my brother. I'm not an Old Navy shopper and have one question: Do all Old Navy stores smell funky? I was glad to get into the fresh air again.
The shopping center I was at has parking around the perimeter. A driving lane separates the parking lots from the stores. On busy days like this it's a long wait to cross. I wanted to get all fussy about it, but I kept reminding myself that whatever annoyances I experienced today were my own fault. It worked pretty well until I went to Trader Joe's, home to the most oblivious drivers ever, and that's saying something given the drivers in this city.
I called Mica around 11:15. I was standing in front of a Fitbit display and needed advice. I'm giving one to my brother. He isn't tech savvy. I needed to make sure he wouldn't need a smartphone (he has one but doesn't understand it very well) to access the information he'll use.
She was hoping we could have lunch, so as soon as I paid, I headed across town, picking up burgers from a barbecue place along the way.
Mica works from home. Oh, I don't think I mentioned that her mom isn't able to come for Christmas. She came down with the flu which aggravated something else, and her doctor told her not to drive that far. I just lost my train of thought. No idea what I was going to say.
I suppose I wanted to make the point that I was at Mica's. After lunch, I took the little white dog for a w-a-l-k, during which he exhibited signs of not feeling 100 percent. I had intended to continue shopping as soon as we had eaten but decided to stay and keep an eye on him while Mica was on a conference call.
Wonderful visitor that I am, I ended up crashing in the basement for a couple of hours. I didn't really sleep -- the little white dog decided to nap with me, which I love, but was restless and kept walking on me and sticking his nose up the back of my shirt.
Mica wanted to take me out to dinner for my birthday. It is the first year in decades that there's been an opportunity to celebrate my birthday before it happens. She's usually leaves for her mom's around now. We postponed dinner, though, to keep an eye on the little white dog. He's definitely under the weather, but I suspect he'll be OK tomorrow.
As for me, I need some serious sleep tonight. Tomorrow I have to go to Menards to find a last item or two for my brother, to Sam's Club for some final ingredients and to Mica's to make a variety of snacks and do a smidge of baking. My brother will take me out to dinner tomorrow night, and if I have any energy left at all, I'm going catch the band I mentioned yesterday.
This is the least Christmassy Christmas I've ever had. Attending church will help a bit, but overall this has been a strange holiday season.
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