The Grocery Shopping ListI

I  have taken to doing my weekly shopping on Friday afternoon after I leave work.  I do most of my weekly shopping at Wal-Mart and today was going to be no exception.  Unfortunately, I had left my shopping list at home.  I realized that on my way to work, but chose to not turn around, as I knew most of the items that were on my list. 

There was one item that I could not recall that was on my list.  I had put it on my list early in the week and I just could not recall what it was.. During my work day, I would think about my list and what that one item might be. Finally, after I left work and was on my way to Wal-Mart, I remembered what that item was.  Unfortunately, Wal-Mart was not stocking it.  That was not unexpected, and I will go to Pets Mart over the weekend to purchase that item.

Can You Believe It? I CannotI

I was thinking about it tonight.  Haiku was born in the spring of 2002, so she is now 16 and a half years old.  She ate turkey tonight, early on, and ate a lot. She joined us in the computer room, where I had the space heater on.  It really was not that cold out, and the whole house heater was not running, but we wanted it warm in the computer room. She slept contentedly for quite a while. 

About 9:30 PM, she cried aloud, as if she were in distress.  I offered her liver and turkey, and this time she chose the liver.  Then she went to bed, but Taki was on her pillow platform on the bed.  I showed her an alternate pillow platform, and she settled in there.  Just checking, some 40 minutes later, neither Taki nor Haiku are on the bed. Taki is back in the computer room with me, but who knows where Haiku is.  

Cell Display Screen

The display screen on my cell phone used to be very bright, and it dims automatically in a power saving mode when it is idle. A few weeks ago, coinciding when the basketball season started, I noticed that the screen was very dim.  I noticed this when I was in the United Supermarkets Arena,  home of the Texas Tech basketball teams and the women's volleyball team.  It did not really bother me anywhere else, and I thought it might have something to do with the lighting in the arena.  But I just was not satisfied with that explanation.  Yesterday while I was in the arena, waiting for the men's basketball game to begin, I started looking for a different answer.  And found it in settings, under Display and Brightness.  The brightness setting was set to its very lowest.  I think this occurred during the last update.  That is one of the things that distresses me about updates, they change settings that I never thought about, and have to go looking to try to change it to the way I like it. 

A Sports Day

Saturday, the 24th, was quite a sports day.  It started with the Texas Tech football team playing Baylor in Arlington, Texas.  The Tech team lost.  I went to see the Lady Raiders basketball team play the Houston Baptist Huskies.  The Lady Raiders won.  I stayed to watch the Red Raider basketball team play the Northern Colorado Bears.  The Red Raiders won.  The NBA Boston Celtics played the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas.  The Celtics lost.  Well .500 is not the best average, is it? 

Celery Leafs

Whenever I buy celery, Haiku expresses an intense interest in the celery leaves.  I usually save them and dry them, to use as celery flakes in cooking.  I put them in a plastic dish I put on top of the microwave.  One morning, that dish was on the floor, most of the celery leaves in it gone.

Wednesday, I was cutting up celery for the Thanksgiving dressing.  It was a new package of celery, and I was stripping the leaves. I was sitting at the table.  Haiku got up on the table and started snuffling through the celery leaves.  So, that dish of celery leaves became hers.  Every once in a while she has been chewing on the leaves in that dish; they are actually disappearing quickly.  

Kitchen Clean Up

I cooked a Cornish Game Hen meal for Thanksgiving today.  One of the things that Lisenby taught me when we were cooking complex meals was to clean up as we went along.  I washed dishes 3 times today as I was preparing the meal, including once because I cleaned out some large dishes from the refrigerator and put the contents in smaller dishes. I allowed the dishes to drain dry, and put them away when they were dry.  When I was done cooking and eating my Thanksgiving meal, there was very little clean up left to do. 

It might seem wasteful to use soapy water three times.  But, on the other hand, many of the dishes I was washing were greasy, so the soapy water lost its effectiveness quickly, anyway.

Weather

It has been a pleasant day today, and the sun was out earlier. Now, at 3:30, the sky is overcast, and it is almost as dark as it would be at pre-dusk. I think our weather over the next few days will get cloudier and cooler, but maybe not so much precipitation.

Thankfulness

Today is Thanksgiving, and I have a lot to be thankful for:  I have a good career and job. I have people who care about me.  I have a good home. I am able to take care of my needs.  In addition to a meaningful career, I do some meaningful volunteer work.  I have a faith that sustains me. 

  

Texas Tech Men's Basketball

Earlier this week, the Texas Tech Men's Basketball team played in the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri.  The first game was against Southern Cal.  Tech won.  The team faced Nebraska the second night of the Classic, and I watched the pre-game show. Two of the announcers opted for Tech to win.  They also said that Tech might be a team the Duke team would lose to when they face them later in the season.  The Texas Tech basketball team has obtained some national credibility as a team!  Go, Texas Tech.

And it does not hurt that during the second game, Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech alum and former football quarterback at Tech, and now headline making quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, was in the audience.

You cannot pay for publicity like that!

Medication Renewals

Recently, I signed up for medication notifications from Wal Mart, where I get my prescriptions filled and refilled.  It did not work correctly at first, but what it does is notify me when my prescriptions refills are ready to be picked up.  

Today it notified my that I had three prescriptions that were ready to be refilled. I had been monitoring that, and because I had plans for Monday and Tuesday night, had planned to order the refills Monday night so the refills would be ready Wednesday. I went ahead and ordered them refilled today, and was sent a message that the prescriptions would be ready after 10 AM on Monday.  I learned from past experience, that they will hold prescriptions for about two weeks, but they will still be in the system if you need them after that. 

I was shopping at Wal Mart late this afternoon, and when I was in the check out line, I received a message that my prescriptions were ready. I checked out my items, and took them to the car, then went back into the store and picked up my prescriptions.  That could not have been more convenient!

How can you beat that service?

A Long Day

I did not have any plans for today that were expressly time related:  I planned to go to recycle, go to the library, shop at Pet's Mart, fill the gas tank in the Vue, and pick up a few items at Wal Mart in an effort to be prepared and stocked for the holiday. 

I slept in.  Saturday morning, I arose early, before 7 AM because I could not sleep, so I was glad to be able to sleep in today.  I took my time this morning, feeding the cats, watching TV, doing chores including laundry, reading a little, and watching TV.  I had a light lunch, then showered and ran the errands I had on my list.  It took about 2 hours.

Because it gets dark so early, I thought it was much later than it was when I checked the clock about 6:30 PM.  It has been a slow night, and time has dragged. I do not mind. Some days are just like that.  

A Wierd Happening

Last night, I had something weird happen at my house.  I was sitting at the dining table, that looks out a north facing window onto the covered stoop of my front door.  The blind was drawn.  About 930 PM, the door bell rang.  I did not respond immediately, but when I did, all I did was look out the front window. I young man, Anglo, I think, with curly hair, glasses and a grayish shirt, maybe a hoodie, was walking away.

I was disconcerted, and after some deliberation, decided to call the Lubbock Police Department.  I used the non-emergency number.  I explained my concern, and that while I was disconcerted, I was also concerned that the young man might need some help that I was uncomfortable opening my door and finding out about. I was told they would send officers to check.

I was treated courteously and seriously, although they may have thought I was wasting their time. I hope not, but I do not know. I did not want this person to come back and try to invade my home, but my front porch light was one of the few on in my neighborhood, so he may have needed some help and tried the house with a light on.  I don't know. 

I hope the young man is okay. 

Sick Day

I did not feel well when I woke up this morning, and went into work late, and came home early. I spent most of the afternoon on the reclining sofa, reading.  That kept my feet up, and is the most relaxing place I can be during the day.  I had a couple of throws covering me and the space heater on. It was comfy and cozy and I enjoyed the book I was reading. 

Reading like that is very relaxing and helps me to recuperate mentally and physically. Even if I read late into the night.  

The downfall is that by 8 PM tonight, I thought it was much later.  I did not feel tired, it was just the length of time that I had been home It has been a long night, but not in a negative sort of way.

Cold Snap

We had a cold snap this week, with temperatures as low as the high 20s or low 30s.  After a couple of days, I was walking into work with some co-workers who said they were ready for summer.  I reminded them that it will get warm again, unlike other parts of the country. It did get warm today, but it will be cold again over the weekend. 

My co-workers agreed that we would see warm weather again, without having to wait until April or May of next year.  

Turkey

Some time ago, I bought some turkey from the deli, and Haiku was very interested in eating it for a few days. The next time I bought turkey, Haiku was not really interested.  Today I but a turkey and cheese sandwich from Subway.  Haiku was very interested in the turkey  and I gave her some off the sandwich..  I bought a foot long, and ate half for lunch and half for dinner.  I took all of the turkey off the dinner sandwich to feed to Haiku, but tonight she ate a good serving of liver.  I will offer the turkey at another time, or if she wants a snack later on, which is possible, if she did not get her fill earlier.  

Basketball

I bought season tickets for the Texas Tech Lady Raiders Basketball Games, which might be a rip off.  The tickets average out to $5 a game, and they are being sold singly at $3 a game. Oh well, I wanted to be supportive of the new era under Coach Marlene Stollings, and as a season ticket holder, I get preferred parking, free entry to other Tech female sports that are also Olympic sports, and some restaurant discounts for restaurants I do not usually frequent.  

Tonight was the season opener for the Lady Raiders, and they won.  I was smart enough to check the men's basketball schedule, and know they had a home game scheduled about an hour after the women's game.  That meant my ticket was good for both games.  I planned to work my 8 hours, and leave in time to go home, feed the cats and get to the Lady's game before it started at 5:30 PM.  I had dinner at the arena, and stayed for the men's game, too.  The men also won!  

This year, there is only one other double header at the United Supermarket Arena.  It is scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I will plan to attend both games that day.

There are other days that the men's team and the women's team play at home on the same day, but the amount of time separating both games allows for emptying the arena and the parking lot and charging two admissions.  What a bummer!

Haiku Would Not Eat

This has been a horrible week. I could not get Haiku to eat liver, even a little bit.  She would eat a little bit of dry treats, and the Special Kitty dry food that I feed to the outside cats, but she would not eat anything else.  She licked a little bit of gouda, but that could not sustain her.  I was so worried.  Because she is eating dry food, I have to think she does not have the infection of gums that Sake had.  I cooked a chicken breast one night. She slurped up the juices but ignored the tiny pieces of chopped up chicken in the dish. 

I thought she might have a hairball, and I had some gelatinous hairball remedy that is salmon flavored.  She did not object to my putting it on her paws, and cleaned it up and sniffed the tube, so I let her eat some from the tube. I did not want her to get sick, so I limited the amount. It was late at night, so the next morning, I made a trip to the grocery store, before I went to work, to get some salmon based foods, but she turned her nose up at those! This was really frustrating.

The next night, she lapped up the hairball remedy on her paws, and ate some more from the hairball remedy tube. She took some Gouda, but she does not eat little bitty bites of Gouda.  She only likes to lick it from a piece, so I cut it in small chunks, and hold it for her to lick. She ate some dry food.  

I finally got smart, and fed the outside cats the rest of the container of liver she did not like, and defrosted another. She ate that well, on Thursday morning and Thursday night, Friday morning and Friday night.  The crisis has past.  Almost. On Friday night, I went out, so when I got home, she wanted more liver, which she got, twice.  But she wanted me to go to bed with her at what would be a normal bedtime for me.  But because I was out, I am still winding down.  She finally decided to come sit on her chair in the computer room, next to me, so I can pet on her while I am on the computer.  Hopefully another crisis has passed. 

The Back Scratcher

For years, I have been using the eraser end of a pencil as my back scratcher.  At work, I use my plastic ruler.  Sometimes, I can twist my arms around and find the spot that needs scratching, but not usually.  I was at the store a couple of weeks ago, and saw a back scratcher.  I did not look at the price when I put it in my cart, but it turns out it was only a dollar. 

I live along.  Do you know how good it feels to have that certain spot, that certain itch scratched?  The pencil is too short sometimes.  I try to use a wall corner, but that just does not cut it. 

I have to wonder how it is that I survived without a back scratcher?

Political Advertisements

I was playing Words with Friends tonight. Often, when I do, I am subjected to seeing various advertisements.  Tonight, many of the advertisements were very vitriolic attacks on Beto O'Rourke  by Senator Ted Cruz.  This made me almost want to stop playing Words with Friends, but really, I usually do not pay attention to the advertisements, anyway.  However, the caustic vitriol of these advertisements indicated to me that Sen. Cruz is very desperate in his attempt to be re-elected.  He must be very concerned by the challenge being made by Beto O'Rourke. 

I hate it when politicians sink to such low, demeaning vitriol against their opponents.  There are so many issues that need to be explored in campaigns, that personal attacks are unnecessary and a symptom of the negative character of the person who is approving those advertisements. 

Standard Time vs. Daylight Saving Time

Once again, this weekend, as we do twice a year, we had a time change. We went from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time.  This is an artificial device to "give" us more daylight at various times of the year.  This is senseless in this day and age. We are a 24 hour society, and daylight does not so much dictate our activities as artificial time frames do.  Why do we bother?  

Texas Tech Museum

I went to the Texas Tech Museum today because there were 4 exhibits that I wanted to see: Ladies in Red; The Red that Colored the World; Red Hot and Quilted; and the Pre-Modern Bibles.  

I was surprised at how interested I was in Ladies in Red,  I did not think looking at women's clothing would be the interesting to me.  I am not a clothes horse or fashionista. I was fascinated by The Red That Colored the World.   Just seeing these two exhibits took me over 2 hours.  I am spoiled because the Tech Museum is just a few miles from where I live and free, so I do not feel I have to wear myself out seeing every exhibit that is there.  I will go back.  

If anyone is interested in more information about the Pre-Modern Bibles  exhibit, there is an item on KTTZ the NPR radio station associated with Texas Tech.  Also,  Faith Matters  is doing a 3 part series on the exhibit. 

Weekend Routines

One of my weekend routines is to fill the Vue with gasoline immediately before or after I purchase groceries.  I had planned to do that Friday, but the lines were crazy busy when I got to the store, and it was no less crazy when I left. 

I did not run errands yesterday, and today when I was out and about, that was the last thing from my mind.  I usually only use 6-8 gallons of gas a week, and the tank is 22 gallons.  So there is no urgency to the matter, but I might want to fill 'er up this week. 

Saturday, A Lazy Day

I was able to sleep in Saturday morning.  I went for a walk, and read for a while before I started binge watching Blue Bloods.  In the course of watching TV, I did housework during commercials.  And got the chores done that I wanted to do.

Then I watched the Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma football.  It was a loud and crazy game to start with.  It ended poorly for Texas Tech.  So sad.

Reading

I am an avid reader.  I like murder mysteries, and I like the series books, although I will read a stand alone if it is good.  I am trying to read more non-fiction, also.

This fall, there has been a lot of sports on TV that has interfered with my reading:  Yankee and Red Sox baseball.  The Red Sox in the World Series.  Patrick Mahomes quarterbacking the Kansas City Chiefs.  The New England Patriots.  Texas Tech football.  The Boston Celtics.  

I have season tickets for the Lady Raider basketball games, and some of the out of town games will be televised. It also looks like most of the men's basketball games will be televised.  I try to listen on the radio, if the games are not televised, for both the men and the women. I cannot read during basketball. 

I used to knit when I watched sporting events, but Taki cannot be deterred from trying to play with the yarn, and it is too difficult to try to knit.  I hate to lock her out of the room, or put her in time out, so I do not knit much any more. 

Instead, sometimes I play Words with Friends, or other word games on the computer when I watch TV. But I am re-learning how to watch TV without also doing something else.

Sometimes, during a sporting event that is kind of boring, I will read during the commercials, and continue reading until I get to a good place to stop reading. 

I love to read. I love books.